Thorpe Rates the PG Prospects

by longtimelistenerfirsttimecaller on Jun 19, 2009 1:00 PM PDT

On ESPN's podcast today, Chad Ford says nothing (no surprise there) but David Thorpe rates the PG prospects. He has Rubio as the best in the class (based on his pure instincts for the position) and has Curry and Jrue Holliday ranked equally as the next best group. He has worked out Holliday and comments on his intellect, personality, strong family and desire to play defense... I repeat, his desire to play defense. Thorpe also says that while Jrue had a bad year shooting at UCLA, he thinks his shot is fine mechanically and that he shot lights out in his gym. Thorpe thinks that Jrue's defensive prowess is to be highly valued by teams since point guards so easily blow by their man on most teams. As for Curry, he simply says his offensive game is just so much better than everyone else's that his is the top group.

I wonder if Jrue is really our back-up plan if Rubio is gone.

(This is a FanPost from a member of the Sactown Royalty community. The views expressed come from the member, and not Sactown Royalty staff.)

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I've heard ...

… that Holiday wasn’t terribly impressive in either visit. Jennings beat him off the dribble a lot, and Flynn had success too.

But I didn’t see either. Just passing on what I’ve heard from those who did.

by Tom Ziller on Jun 19, 2009 1:24 PM PDT reply actions

good re-con

posted because I assume anything Thorpe says is worth knowing in light of his connection and affection for K-Mart. I am intrigued by Jrue’s size vs. the other guys.

by longtimelistenerfirsttimecaller on Jun 19, 2009 1:46 PM PDT up reply actions

Really??

"I was really impressed," Kings President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie said of Holiday’s workout.

Full Court Press

by cbsf on Jun 19, 2009 10:34 PM PDT up reply actions

Suprised?

What was he supposed to say?

"Because they don't have four pointers."
- Antoine Walker, on why he shoots so many three pointers

by Ellimist on Jun 20, 2009 2:08 AM PDT up reply actions

Honestly

I really respect Thorpe’s opinion a helluva lot more than anyone else’s on ESPN.

Booyah!

by Dub_TC on Jun 19, 2009 1:45 PM PDT reply actions

With

by eduardo_m7 on Jun 19, 2009 1:58 PM PDT up reply actions

Yep

by Tom Ziller on Jun 19, 2009 2:12 PM PDT up reply actions

Regarding his basketball acumen yes. But he tends to overrate his own clients a lot.

If he was to be completely believed, the Chicago Bulls would have had to field All-Stars in Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah last year.

by Norsktroll on Jun 19, 2009 4:11 PM PDT up reply actions

true

and part of the reason why I like him is because he actually admits he falls in love with his own clients.

Booyah!

by Dub_TC on Jun 19, 2009 8:29 PM PDT up reply actions

Keep in mind

Drafting is a process of projecting what a player can be. Jrue may very well be far behind Flynn, Jennings and Curry but in time will develop into the better player. One common phrase Geoff always throws out after making a draft pick “is room to grow”.

by bignerd on Jun 19, 2009 2:08 PM PDT reply actions

Ok, painfully obvious

Yet there has to be something to this Sacramento – Jrue Holiday connection. Geoff seems really interested in him and there are teams with later picks with no interest.

by bignerd on Jun 19, 2009 2:16 PM PDT up reply actions

agree...

though I wouldn’t say “no interest”… he’s clearly a top ten pick regardless of team or need in this draft. That said, he had a less than stellar year at UCLA, playing out of position. But he was a national all-american high school player going into UCLA. I think its a question of judging “upside” and we all think GP is pretty good at that, as is David Thorpe.

by longtimelistenerfirsttimecaller on Jun 19, 2009 2:38 PM PDT up reply actions

Don't be quick to ...

… conflate a player’s presence in Sacramento with interest.

by Tom Ziller on Jun 19, 2009 2:53 PM PDT up reply actions

yes, but twice?

Generally, for a top pick, I think workouts are probably overrated anyway. I would imagine that the chance to visit with and get a sense of a person is far more valuable than the workout. Afterall, they have loads of tape and live game action to evalutate. But he did come back for a second visit. So far Curry only has one visit on the books (upcoming), Jennings just one memorable visit, Ricky (well we all know about that)… I guess Evans is coming back and Flynn’s been here twice. Nonetheless, the point of the post was that Thorpe has him highly rated. Who knows if GP does?

by longtimelistenerfirsttimecaller on Jun 19, 2009 3:00 PM PDT up reply actions

Flynn only visited once

by Tom Ziller on Jun 19, 2009 4:29 PM PDT up reply actions

It says a lot I think they're asking Flynn to go around when Evans is there

Evil Cowtown Inc: Screwin' Suckaz over since Nineteen Eighty-Five.....

No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....

by pookeyguru on Jun 20, 2009 11:48 AM PDT up reply actions

True

One thing that stuck with me on the video of Jrue’s 1st visit was the giant smile on Petrie’s face during the drills. Maybe he likes the process and he was basking in the enjoyment of opening day. I haven’t seen him smile like that in other videos.

I don’t think the visits were a smokescreen. We seemly have more interest than anyone. It could be due diligence. I don’t see any way to justify Flynn at #4, to many obvious weaknesses. Jennings could fit the #4 pick criteria but the Kings haven’t been a fan of his since Day 1 with Reynolds constantly stating it in interviews. If the Kings end up picking Jennings it would have been the greatest smoke screen of all time.

by bignerd on Jun 19, 2009 3:09 PM PDT up reply actions

I think that is preceptive Big

The normally stoic Petrie did show some teeth for a change during that video. Who knows, maybe he feels a connection with the kid. He can see all that potential and the mind and the heart to make it happen. Who knows?

As for Flynn – I don’t see many weaknesses in his game – it is more the lack of spectacular. He is mature, calm under pressure, a superior athlete – but his shot, shot selection, passing, defense ability to attack the basket are all good and only good. He, like Holiday and all draftees has room to grow – these are kids – the question is always – how much?

I was more impressed with David Thorpe’s comments about Stephen Curry than Holiday. I think I am the only one on Section’s draft board who went Curry and I am sticking with him. He too has been rated high all year. If Rubio is gone, and I am unfortunately confident he will be, Curry is the one.

by betweentheeyes on Jun 19, 2009 4:09 PM PDT up reply actions

oh geez, in the title it should say perceptive (not preceptive)

by betweentheeyes on Jun 19, 2009 5:04 PM PDT up reply actions

damn that would be like...

having a young version of stephen marbury, with the EXACT same atitude… but hey maybe we can get more wins with this guy

by silverguy on Jun 19, 2009 6:56 PM PDT up reply actions

I'm not so sure that Thorpe's the guy to listen to.

He said Russell Westbrook “has a long way to be an NBA player. On a lot of teams he might never get there.” He still thinks Ty Thomas is a potential top 5 player in the NBA and thinks JJ Redick is a starting SG.

Obviously, nobody’s perfect when it comes to breaking down prospects but I’m not sold on Thorpe’s predictions.

My Open Letter to John Hollinger @ www.soulhonky.com

by SoulHonky on Jun 19, 2009 9:04 PM PDT reply actions

Nobody's perfect

And Russell Westbrook did have a long way to go when he was drafted. He just really improved a lot this year. I know I was impressed.

By the way, I just read your open letter to John Hollinger. Great stuff.

by Charlieb on Jun 20, 2009 8:30 AM PDT up reply actions

Ditto, Kudos SH for a nicely written open letter to Hollinger

I had tried going back in the Hollinger archives myself to see where he had placed the Kings draft picks from 2002 – there is no listing. As you correctly point out, the Draft Rater system previewed June 2007.

I had excerpted the Spencer Hawes paragraph which is not complementary. That is what prompted my archival review – and I discovered the same thing you address in your letter – the rater is a revisionist self promoting approach which overstates the good and minimizes (or ignores) the bad. As you more eloquently state – the draft is difficult and unpredictable, and the Draft Rater has not provided any improvement in the discovery process.

If were were following equities on the Dow Jones and Hollinger was our stock broker I would imagine we would be close to the average return rate and nothing better.

by betweentheeyes on Jun 20, 2009 9:57 AM PDT up reply actions

In Hollinger’s system he cast’s the college player to be like a known NBA player. He spends 4 pages hitting you with this amazing statistical analysis than barriers that little footnote. Next time he shows a little table with his breakdown just know part of his statistical breakdown is adding in numbers based on one player playing like Karl Malone and the other like Yi Jilian (based on his own opinion).

by bignerd on Jun 20, 2009 9:32 PM PDT up reply actions

no doubt

take his numbers for the last two Kings seasons – he predicts the wins/losses – one year spot on, another not. But he adds in a fudge factor that he is ambiguous about.

As a Kings fan, I always know that fudge factors are never in the Kings favor (same goes for Mark Steins’ power rankings. This year they had a “smug factor” on the Kings because they were actually as bad, or worse, all season long.

by betweentheeyes on Jun 21, 2009 6:33 AM PDT up reply actions