Marreese Speights will be the best big man to come from the '08 draft class

[A.M.G.]

This could be a valid argument....if Gasol was in this draft class.

I said the '08 draft class, not necessarily just rookies.

Owned. Get out of this man's thread.



As for the subject, I don't think Speights will be the best big man in the draft class because he has a stupid-looking face. Admit it, he does.

[Posterize246]

Owned. Get out of this man's thread.



As for the subject, I don't think Speights will be the best big man in the draft class because he has a stupid-looking face. Admit it, he does.

But he makes for a helluva interview!

[EastBayFuNk510]

Better than Brook Lopez.
Better than Kevin Love.
Better than Michael Beasley (if you consider him a big).
Better than Thompson, McGee, Hickson, and Koufos.


If you believe in PER, Speights is first among rookies (and by a large margin). He is 2nd in dunks among rookies with 44 (first is Brook Lopez with 58, who has also played 3 more games and averages 13 mpg more). He has one of the sweetest mid-range jumpers for a big man in the game, not just a rookie, but in the game.

Season averages...

16.0 mpg
8.2 ppg
4.0 rpg
.9 bpg
.45 spg
52 fg%
25 3fg% (1-4)
77% FT (47-61)

January averages (10 games)...

20.1 mpg
10.2 ppg
5.4 rpg
1.4 bpg
.4 spg
56.2 FG%

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CojEs7txPI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3PbS8H6vtk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGOfFDPp00E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFbQdBN4G-0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdFswSQY9q0

Dasher stated in another thread he would take Speights over any player in this draft, regardless of position. I won't go that far. But big men? Definately.

Remember, Greg Oden and Marc Gasol were both drafted in '07.

Yes he shall...even though Im pissed that he left us....but he made the right choice to go to the NBA

Go GATORS!!!!!!!!!!

[saKf]

Kevin Love is averaging a double-double in January in only 23 minutes. He's 20 years old. It's far from a given that Speights will be better than him.

[ZHAKIDD532]

Lopez is going to be a MONSTER averaging 20/10 in about 2 years. Lopez is going to be a more important piece on the Nets ultimately, so he's going to get the numbers that Speights won't. He's starting to get more aggressive already.

[ChuckOakley]

Lopez, Love are 20 years old, Speights is 21 years old.

Love and Lopez are outproducing Speights already at a younger age, so I'm not sure why Speights' learning curve would be so much more pronounced than Love or Lopez.

But I do think a case can be made for any of these 3.

Love's main knock IMO is his conditioning, size and from what I remember hearing a bad back.

Lopez's main knock is that people think he is the most polished and not going to improve as much the others (not sure why given he is 20 y/o)

Posterize, I know you've always disliked Lopez (thought he was going to be a bust to a certain extent/overrated) and are a Sixer fan so I can't take this prediction to seriously. However I will say I did want the Nets to take Speights prior to draft night (not knowing Lopez would fall that far) and consider him a top 10 player from this draft.

[Dasher]

Mareese is a superior scorer to Brook and their rebounding is equal. Mareese is also a better passer and jumpshooter. Not only that, but he plays better man to man defense because of his fundamentals, and strength. Mareese also is a more consistent performer and squeezes a lot of productivity into his limited minutes.

Kevin will always be handicapped by things that he has no control over. He will never be a great defender because his physical limitations. He will be a good, but not great player.

Mareese will be a multiple time All Star.

[ZHAKIDD532]

Speights right now has no pressure on him, and I think that's helping his game. Lopez has to produce in order for his team to win games. I think there is something to be said for that.

[Dasher]

Mareese has had to produce in the absense of Elton Brand. He is on the floor during crunch time and is not a ball stopper.

[ZHAKIDD532]

I guess we'll see. I really don't know much about Speights. I remember during the draft thinking if the Nets picked him up it wouldn't be a bad thing.

I watch Lopez on a regular basis, and he just seems to have an incredible future in front of him. He's going to be backing up Dwight Howard in the ASG one day soon I think.

[ChuckOakley]

Mareese has had to produce in the absense of Elton Brand. He is on the floor during crunch time and is not a ball stopper.

He's not starting is he? I thought Young and Dalambert were the PF and C with Brand out.

Does he play a majority of his minutes with/against 2nd units?

[Styles p]

He's not starting is he? I thought Young and Dalambert were the PF and C with Brand out.

Does he play a majority of his minutes with/against 2nd units?

pretty much the whole 4th 1/4 while dalembert sits the bench. and he does play with starters/against starters alot of the time.

[Hopper15]

Anthony Randolph has a much higher ceiling than Speights.

[Posterize246]

Lopez, Love are 20 years old, Speights is 21 years old.

Love and Lopez are outproducing Speights already at a younger age, so I'm not sure why Speights' learning curve would be so much more pronounced than Love or Lopez.

But I do think a case can be made for any of these 3.

Love's main knock IMO is his conditioning, size and from what I remember hearing a bad back.

Lopez's main knock is that people think he is the most polished and not going to improve as much the others (not sure why given he is 20 y/o)

Posterize, I know you've always disliked Lopez (thought he was going to be a bust to a certain extent/overrated) and are a Sixer fan so I can't take this prediction to seriously. However I will say I did want the Nets to take Speights prior to draft night (not knowing Lopez would fall that far) and consider him a top 10 player from this draft.

My beef with Lopez wasn't that he'd be a bust. I thought he'd be a consistent starter. My beef was I don't like 7 foot centers shooting below 50%. He shot 47% at Stanford and my thought was...if he's shooting 47% against college players what's he gonna do against NBA players? So far he's at 48%.

He'll be fine. I just don't see him becoming a beast. All-star is possible because there's limited good centers. Maybe a 15/10 type guy.

And Speights plays all crunch time for Philly and usually the entire 4th quarter. He should be starting over Dalembert.

[Posterize246]

bump

24 mins
24 points (11-16 fg)
2-2 free throw
7 rebounds
2 blocks
1 steal
0 turnovers

http://insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=119965

Legitment talent who can get 18/10 in two to three years if he keeps working hard. Seems to be better in fastbreaks too than Brand does. Which fits with the 76ers.

pick him up if hes on waivers in ur fantasy leagues. i did that when i heard brand was out for the season.

pts, rbs, blks, fg%, ft%, thats 5 cats. w/o brand they need inside scoring and he's gonna be doing that scoring and bring down sammy d's rebounds and blocks career average by 2 or 3 miles hopefully.

The guy also has some serious post moves that have yet to be displayed.

It is a very nice game, and should be the beginning of his rise to prominence in this draft class. When the refs begin to respect his game more, he will become a real problem for the competition.

steal of the draft.