I don't know if this can be posted, if not then ,oh well.But look, i'm reading other nba writers say that he will be a good player in the league or at least a potential good player. Meaning that if the grizz can get him at 28th, get him!! - don't worry about what some fans might think, they are already thinking bad about the grizz anyway!!

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/vie...p?t=427070

Ryan Fagan
Counterpoint: Sleeper Douglas-Roberts a matchup nightmare

Posted: June 23, 2008

Quote:When Chris Douglas-Roberts started his Memphis career, he wore a T-shirt under his jersey. His skinny arms and slight build certainly wasn't imposing, so CDR threw on the extra layer to look a bit bigger.

The T-shirt became a trademark of sorts. Until this year's NCAA Tournament, that is. No longer skinny or slight, he was a powerful junior ready to prove to the country -- and NBA scouts -- just how much he had improved since that freshman year. The T-shirt stayed in the locker room, and he went about torching every defense that tried to stop him.

Twenty-point nights were the norm. In the national semifinal against UCLA, he poured in 28 points and it didn't matter who the Bruins sent to guard him. Guards Josh Shipp, Russell Westbrook and Darren Collison tried and failed. Rugged forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute gave it a shot, to no avail. Those four guys all have NBA futures, and none could handle CDR.

Good things happen when Douglas-Roberts is on the court. He is a smart player who knows how to attack changing defensive sets. And yet, as the draft approaches, Douglas-Roberts still is talked about as a late-first- or early-second-round pick. He is not the quickest guy on the court and is not world's greatest perimeter shooter. But, as he proved time and time again in the NCAA Tournament, he is a complete basketball player.

At 6-7, Douglas-Roberts is a matchup problem. He'll become a better shooter with a little more work -- that wasn't a focal point with Memphis' penetration-heavy offense -- and he'll drive opposing shooting guards crazy with his inside-outside game. When experts and fans revisit this draft three years from now, they'll wonder how CDR ever slipped so far.

Good article. I'm really curious to see how CDR pans out in the NBA. I think his unorthodox, unique style has scouts genuinely confused. If CDR is as successful as I think he will be, look for lots of younger players to mimic his style.

MtownTigers916 Wrote:Good article. I'm really curious to see how CDR pans out in the NBA. I think his unorthodox, unique style has scouts genuinely confused. If CDR is as successful as I think he will be, look for lots of younger players to mimic his style.

You are right, i was thinking that in the heyday of the NBA there were many players who had a unique style different from other...............
players...ala...vintage Bird jumpshot or vintage Dr. J dunks. Not saying Cdr will be a superstar but the league does need players that have personalities on the court....

He might not be a superstar in the league but I think he'll have a great career and he'll win a title or two he just seems to have that drive.

I'm praying that if he does slip into the 20's, the Spurs grab him at 26. I hope he is on their radar.

kpigout Wrote:I'm praying that if he does slip into the 20's, the Spurs grab him at 26. I hope he is on their radar.

agree - that would be a great system for CDR...we all see what putting a player in the wrong system can do with Carney...let's hope there is no repeat here...

I still can't believe he is projected so low. I wonder if NBA execs can be so stupid, and then I look at prior drafts and realize, yes they can.

I think it's draftexpress that said he will be in the league as long as he wants to be, and that is right on the money, just like this sporting news article.

I hope he gets a good draft position and good contract with a reasonably good team that wants to use him. All of those things are possible, and could be the benefit of being a little outiside the lottery. Here's hoping there's someone smart out there....

NBA execs are so stupid. Look who they continue to pick and how awful so many high picks turn out to be. They are about 50-50 on top 20 draft picks. Any of us could do that with You Tube footage.

Look at recent history. Darko, Olowokandi, Traylor, Tskitishvili,Bender, Kwame Brown, Arajuo, Marvin Williams, Swift, Dunleavey, Fizer, Vazquez, and, yes, Wagner (I know illness played a big part)

These are all top 10, mostly top 5 picks in the last 10 years. Big Country, Sam Bowie, etc are ancient history. The NBA spends millions of dollars analyzing these players. And they get it wrong so often. Its like when many of you watch a Tiger player have a good game and he becomes NBA material because you like him. Anthony Rice, Marcus Moody and John Grice come to mind, along with many, many more. The guys in the NBA do the same thing.

Isiah Thomas saw Chris Garner take it to Allen Iverson one night in Canada, and that game alone got Chris an NBA shot. It was obvious Garner wasn't NBA material (he was 5'7" and couldn't shoot). They do it all day every day. What they should do is pay a couple dozen unbiased guys who watch a lot of basketball to scout for them. If they all independently come back with the same conclusion, without interviews with players and parents, without dinners or front row seats, then you know you have a winner or la oser.

The problem is, that with sports like it is and the money involved. Agents and scouts would find out who these guys are and buy them too!

Its kind of amazing to me that brandon rush is projected around 10-15 spots ahead of cdr. I guess some people think he is better, but i don't see it.

Dunleavey has actually turned into a pretty solid player. The change of scenery at Indiana seems to have helped.

But, yeah, there really are no guarantees in drafting. One can find busts and successes all through each pick in the past drafts, and there is no guarantee the 10th pick pick garner a better player than the 20th would.

Good find. Thanks for posting

Some guy (ex-player apparently) on ESPN last night was talking about how CDR should go a lot higher that he is being projected. But I believe I heard him say "CRD".

As far as the scouts and evaluators, I imagine their highest criteria are muscle mass / strength and "athleticism", and even though he has bulked up from his freshman year, Chris is not a big framed guy, plus he's not the smoothest, slickest mover on the court. If he can't make 'em miss, he's going to get hammered by the big forwards in the league when he drives. Maybe he's deceptively elusive and will make them miss.

Marvin Williams has turned into a pretty decent player as well. Any team that hired a group of normal Joes to do their drafting would end up with a team full of Adam Morrisons and Shelden Williams.

Herff Tiger Wrote:As far as the scouts and evaluators, I imagine their highest criteria are muscle mass / strength and "athleticism", and even though he has bulked up from his freshman year, Chris is not a big framed guy, plus he's not the smoothest, slickest mover on the court. If he can't make 'em miss, he's going to get hammered by the big forwards in the league when he drives. Maybe he's deceptively elusive and will make them miss.

I'm sure that's conventional wisdom, but:

1. if a forward is coming after him, he's already beaten his man, and someone else on his team is open (since he'll be playing the 2)

2. his array of shots in his "old man game" means he will get off his shot

3. he has gotten a lot stronger in 3 years here, and will continue to get stronger in the league. very few rookies are starters anyway (4 or 5 in the last 20 years sound right?) and most aren't expected to contribute much so there is time to build up some more strength while getting "experience" minutes.

cmt Wrote:NBA execs are so stupid. Look who they continue to pick and how awful so many high picks turn out to be. They are about 50-50 on top 20 draft picks. Any of us could do that with You Tube footage.

Look at recent history. Darko, Olowokandi, Traylor, Tskitishvili,Bender, Kwame Brown, Arajuo, Marvin Williams, Swift, Dunleavey, Fizer, Vazquez, and, yes, Wagner (I know illness played a big part)

These are all top 10, mostly top 5 picks in the last 10 years. Big Country, Sam Bowie, etc are ancient history. The NBA spends millions of dollars analyzing these players. And they get it wrong so often. Its like when many of you watch a Tiger player have a good game and he becomes NBA material because you like him. Anthony Rice, Marcus Moody and John Grice come to mind, along with many, many more. The guys in the NBA do the same thing.

Isiah Thomas saw Chris Garner take it to Allen Iverson one night in Canada, and that game alone got Chris an NBA shot. It was obvious Garner wasn't NBA material (he was 5'7" and couldn't shoot). They do it all day every day. What they should do is pay a couple dozen unbiased guys who watch a lot of basketball to scout for them. If they all independently come back with the same conclusion, without interviews with players and parents, without dinners or front row seats, then you know you have a winner or la oser.

The problem is, that with sports like it is and the money involved. Agents and scouts would find out who these guys are and buy them too!

Those are the exceptions, but NBA scouts and execs get it right way more often than they get it wrong. If a guy slips, it's because more than one team has seen a fundamental flaw in his game. Don't get me wrong -talent DOES slip through the cracks (Arenas, for example), and I think CDR is undervalued and will go lower than his talent warrants, but you don't see a lot of second round guys or undrafted FA's making All-Star teams. The numbers seem to bear it out. Just my humble opinion.

DeCoursey is absolutely right. CDR will be a huge sleeper perhaps the best. Remember how high everyone was thinking of him after the tournament and its only from the workouts that he's fallen.

Some team will pick him and he will be a star in this league because of why?

Because he can SCORE, it doesn't matter how high he jumps or how fast he runs, he scores.

Herff - I am on the west coast this week so I got to see all of the ESPN Pre-Draft show last night. At the end of the program, all of the "Experts" were asked for a surprise and/or sleeper. Jalen Rose picked CDR - said that he played with Rose and was the top scorer and a 1st team all american.