Boat

[tzznandrew]

Kemba was awful during the first half of his sophomore season, but he picked it up the last month of two. This is all based on memory, but I remember him going off against Nova and continuing to play well after that.

Boatright never had a stretch like Kemba did his sophomore year - he was just inconsistent. Very good at times (i.e. the Cuse game), but he couldn't ever put it together for a stretch.

Again, I'm not close to giving up on him, but he's much further away from being a complete player than Kemba was at the end of his sophomore season.

These are just stats, but they are still instructive.

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/6479/type/college/year/2010/kemba-walker

 

[Husky999]

Why does everyone here assume that just because Kemba went from wild his sophomore to all world his junior year that RB will do the same. What if he doesn't and is Jerome Dyson reincarnate and is the same payer his entire 4 years (most likely scenario). He hasn't developed in 2 years so far. No reason to think he will at this current pace.

 

[tzznandrew]

Why does everyone here assume that just because Kemba went from wild his sophomore to all world his junior year that RB will do the same. What if he doesn't and is Jerome Dyson reincarnate and is the same payer his entire 4 years (most likely scenario). He hasn't developed in 2 years so far. No reason to think he will at this current pace.

Jerome certainly improved over the course of the four years at UConn. That last season was difficult for a number of reasons (too many pinned on him). If he had a guard who could shoot from the perimeter in 2009-10 like he had in 2008-09, you would have seen it much more.

As it was, they clogged the lanes and forced him to take many bad threes, so his percentages went down and TOs went up his senior year...but he was clearly a superior player who just didn't match up with the skills that team had.

 

[tentoes4rings]

My thoughts on this are as follows:

-Boatright plays more like a 2 right now and needs significant development as a PG to have any chance in "the league"
-Ryan's game right now is very ratty but as many have pointed out I'm willing to give the kid the benefit of the doubt due to the immense maturation we've seen from many other PGs from sophomore to junior year
-Ryan has always struck me as a kid who will take the first opportunity at a significant payday. I feel some guys think of themselves as 4 year student athletes that want to play in the NBA, I would bet Ryan thinks of himself as a basketball player who also goes to class
-Having the tutelage of a guy who played in the NBA for 14 years and is well connected in the league for at least another year would be by far the best strategy for Ryan but afraid external influences could force him into making a bad decision

Despite all his strengths, I'm not a huge fan of tiny backcourts and wouldn't be that upset if he left provided Bazz stays. That would allow Omar to move to the 2, where he belongs. Best of luck to Boat regardless of the choice he makes.