Danny was right

[kozlodoev]

... it's been three games.

Still need to talk about something.

Have we depleted the discussion of Kelly's hairo?

[Donoghus]

... it's been three games.

Still need to talk about something.

Have we depleted the discussion of Kelly's hairo?

I sure hope so.

[get_banners]

3 games, people, 3 games. Though I think everyone can agree that there aren't any immediate stars from this draft...though I think people realized that a month or two before the draft. So...don't really see how anything has changed. Nobody is playing like Shaq/Durant/Duncan from the get-go....which is exactly what everyone thought, anyway.

[Mr October]

Just for reference

Kobe Bryant's first career game was November 3, 1996.  He played a whopping 6 minutes, didn't score a point (he was 0-1), had 1 rebound, 1 block, 1 turnover, and 1 foul.  He followed that up on November 5th with a whopping 3 minutes of game action again going 0-1, but was 1-2 from the line scoring his first point.  He added 1 turnover, but had no other stats.  Played 7 minutes on November 6th, had 3 turnovers, but was 2 of 3 from the field (including 1 of 2 from three) for a whopping 5 points. 

In other words, in Kobe's first 3 games he played 16 minutes, was 2 of 3 from two, 1 of 2 from three, 1 of 2 from the line for 6 points, adding in 1 rebound, 1 block, with 5 turnovers and 1 foul.  He didn't have an assist or a steal. 

Not exactly the stellar start to a career that one would expect from a player that will retire as one of the greatest SG's the game has ever seen.

Yep. 19 year olds are going to struggle against pros in their primes. In this era of freshman turning pro, you need a few years before you can really evaluate a draft. I think this class will go down as one of the good ones.

And i think most posters on this board were under the impression that this class was full of star POTENTIAL. No Lebron's. But maybe a couple Mcgrady or Zack Randolph's eventually.

[manl_lui]

Just for reference

Kobe Bryant's first career game was November 3, 1996.  He played a whopping 6 minutes, didn't score a point (he was 0-1), had 1 rebound, 1 block, 1 turnover, and 1 foul.  He followed that up on November 5th with a whopping 3 minutes of game action again going 0-1, but was 1-2 from the line scoring his first point.  He added 1 turnover, but had no other stats.  Played 7 minutes on November 6th, had 3 turnovers, but was 2 of 3 from the field (including 1 of 2 from three) for a whopping 5 points. 

In other words, in Kobe's first 3 games he played 16 minutes, was 2 of 3 from two, 1 of 2 from three, 1 of 2 from the line for 6 points, adding in 1 rebound, 1 block, with 5 turnovers and 1 foul.  He didn't have an assist or a steal. 

Not exactly the stellar start to a career that one would expect from a player that will retire as one of the greatest SG's the game has ever seen.

Yep. 19 year olds are going to struggle against pros in their primes. In this era of freshman turning pro, you need a few years before you can really evaluate a draft. I think this class will go down as one of the good ones.

And i think most posters on this board were under the impression that this class was full of star POTENTIAL. No Lebron's. But maybe a couple Mcgrady or Zack Randolph's eventually.

if McGrady was fully healthy, no injuries whatsoever, do you think he would be better? on par? or still gets destroyed by LeBron?

I mean McGrady in his prime was arguably a top 10 player

[Fafnir]

McGrady was on track to have a better career than Kobe before his back injuries robbed him of his athleticism. Of course you can say that sort of thing about a LOT of players who had promise stolen by injury, gotta stay healthy.

[Jailan34]

Exum has been productive in his minutes off the bench. I like what I see from him, has great athleticism.

[jambr380]

Just for reference

Kobe Bryant's first career game was November 3, 1996.  He played a whopping 6 minutes, didn't score a point (he was 0-1), had 1 rebound, 1 block, 1 turnover, and 1 foul.  He followed that up on November 5th with a whopping 3 minutes of game action again going 0-1, but was 1-2 from the line scoring his first point.  He added 1 turnover, but had no other stats.  Played 7 minutes on November 6th, had 3 turnovers, but was 2 of 3 from the field (including 1 of 2 from three) for a whopping 5 points. 

In other words, in Kobe's first 3 games he played 16 minutes, was 2 of 3 from two, 1 of 2 from three, 1 of 2 from the line for 6 points, adding in 1 rebound, 1 block, with 5 turnovers and 1 foul.  He didn't have an assist or a steal. 

Not exactly the stellar start to a career that one would expect from a player that will retire as one of the greatest SG's the game has ever seen.

Yep. 19 year olds are going to struggle against pros in their primes. In this era of freshman turning pro, you need a few years before you can really evaluate a draft. I think this class will go down as one of the good ones.

And i think most posters on this board were under the impression that this class was full of star POTENTIAL. No Lebron's. But maybe a couple Mcgrady or Zack Randolph's eventually.

To be fair, and you said it in your post - these guys are freshman / sophomores, not straight out of high school like the Kobes and McGradys of the world. If Kobe had played a full season of college basketball, he would have gone much higher and would have gotten more minutes to start his career. That one year of college bball does make a difference, even if some of the guys are still extremely raw.

[D.o.s.]

Just for reference: In Kevin Durant's first professional game he shot 7-22 and 50% from the line on a tanking team that was actively trying to lose games. None of the big name rookies from this class are getting the same sort leeway from their coaches.

[hpantazo]

About the talent is this draft. I know this is premature but as far as instant impact players there are none this year. Wiggins and Parker are average at best . Payton is playing the best. Exum, Vonleah and Gordon cant get off the bench and Randle is already done.

Smart does look like a good pick given the circumstances but most of us were fooled how much talent was coming out of the draft. I guess it will be a few years before we can really determine.

To be fair, Vonleh is recovering from surgery and missed training camp, no one expected Gordon to do anything for a year or two, and Noel is from last year's draft, not this one.

I think this draft somehow got overhyped as having several Bosh, Wade level talents and maybe one Lebron level talent, but there are none. There are at least 20 solid players who all have potential to be long term starters or all-stars though.

[Mr October]

Just for reference

Kobe Bryant's first career game was November 3, 1996.  He played a whopping 6 minutes, didn't score a point (he was 0-1), had 1 rebound, 1 block, 1 turnover, and 1 foul.  He followed that up on November 5th with a whopping 3 minutes of game action again going 0-1, but was 1-2 from the line scoring his first point.  He added 1 turnover, but had no other stats.  Played 7 minutes on November 6th, had 3 turnovers, but was 2 of 3 from the field (including 1 of 2 from three) for a whopping 5 points. 

In other words, in Kobe's first 3 games he played 16 minutes, was 2 of 3 from two, 1 of 2 from three, 1 of 2 from the line for 6 points, adding in 1 rebound, 1 block, with 5 turnovers and 1 foul.  He didn't have an assist or a steal. 

Not exactly the stellar start to a career that one would expect from a player that will retire as one of the greatest SG's the game has ever seen.

Yep. 19 year olds are going to struggle against pros in their primes. In this era of freshman turning pro, you need a few years before you can really evaluate a draft. I think this class will go down as one of the good ones.

And i think most posters on this board were under the impression that this class was full of star POTENTIAL. No Lebron's. But maybe a couple Mcgrady or Zack Randolph's eventually.

To be fair, and you said it in your post - these guys are freshman / sophomores, not straight out of high school like the Kobes and McGradys of the world. If Kobe had played a full season of college basketball, he would have gone much higher and would have gotten more minutes to start his career. That one year of college bball does make a difference, even if some of the guys are still extremely raw.

Yup. Each year makes a big difference when you are still growing into your body, and learning how to be a professional. The leap from 18 to 19, then to 20, and so on. In the 22-25 year old range you pretty much know what you have, even though more improvement will be expected as they enter their primes.

Most of the top picks are 19 year olds, some barely 20.

[SHAQATTACK]

I really think M Smart is going to be a star .  Good thread ,  few guys walk into league and are instant MJ or Larry Bird or such elite stars.   

We have three potential excellent starters in my mind .  Needing another couple years to come into their own . 

[Mr October]

Just for reference

Kobe Bryant's first career game was November 3, 1996.  He played a whopping 6 minutes, didn't score a point (he was 0-1), had 1 rebound, 1 block, 1 turnover, and 1 foul.  He followed that up on November 5th with a whopping 3 minutes of game action again going 0-1, but was 1-2 from the line scoring his first point.  He added 1 turnover, but had no other stats.  Played 7 minutes on November 6th, had 3 turnovers, but was 2 of 3 from the field (including 1 of 2 from three) for a whopping 5 points. 

In other words, in Kobe's first 3 games he played 16 minutes, was 2 of 3 from two, 1 of 2 from three, 1 of 2 from the line for 6 points, adding in 1 rebound, 1 block, with 5 turnovers and 1 foul.  He didn't have an assist or a steal. 

Not exactly the stellar start to a career that one would expect from a player that will retire as one of the greatest SG's the game has ever seen.

Yep. 19 year olds are going to struggle against pros in their primes. In this era of freshman turning pro, you need a few years before you can really evaluate a draft. I think this class will go down as one of the good ones.

And i think most posters on this board were under the impression that this class was full of star POTENTIAL. No Lebron's. But maybe a couple Mcgrady or Zack Randolph's eventually.

if McGrady was fully healthy, no injuries whatsoever, do you think he would be better? on par? or still gets destroyed by LeBron?

I mean McGrady in his prime was arguably a top 10 player

I still think Lebron destroys him most of the time. I put Lebron in that special category with Shaq and Duncan. Those guys were dominators.

Sadly we never saw McGrady perform late into the playoffs. He was great in his prime. But i thought there wasn't a heck of a lot of separation between Kobe, Pierce, prime Ray Allen, McGrady, and Vince Carter. All those guys were beasts and one upped each other in one skill or another.

If you want to sub out the name McGrady in my post thats cool. Maybe sub in Joe Johnson, Rip Hamilton, Klay Thompson or some other lesser all star level guard.

[Moranis]

Further point of reference

Kobe Bryant first three games of his second year

Combined numbers

8 of 32 from the field (0-6 from three), 15 of 17 from line, 31 total points, 7 total rebounds, 9 total assists, 4 total steals, 1 total block, with 4 total turnovers and 4 total fouls, in 74 total combined minutes.

Again that is Kobe's first 3 games of his second year, after spending an entire season in the NBA.  Should we expect a guy who spent just one year in college to be better than Kobe after Kobe spent his entire "freshman" year as a rookie in the NBA.

[boscel33]

Yeah, but the 2015 draft is loaded.