ESPN Sophomore rankings!

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I like the praise, but maybe they don't watch all the games. Thompson is still rather inconsistent. One more year of growth, that's what he needs. I think he'll settle into a 17ppg / 10rpg / 3ast hustle power forward, maybe reach an all star game or two in our years of contention. If he would just chill out we would probably have that potent hustle 4 now.

I thought that a cool head was the advantage of drafting a college graduate.
 
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/columns/story?columnist=thorpe_david&page=Sophs-091210

(its ESPN insider)

JASON THOMPSON... #3 !!!!

behind Marc Gasol #2 and Brook Lopez #1

although i already considered him a lock to be in the sof. All-star game i'd say its a solid lock now... (not just because of ESPN) i've been hearing and reading nothing but praise about him all year.

I don't have ESPN insider, so I can't see their rationale, but how can they have Derrick Rose out of the top 3?
 
I don't have ESPN insider, so I can't see their rationale, but how can they have Derrick Rose out of the top 3?

ya know... i was like, "what about rose?". i know he's good but he's still a 2nd year player.
 
I don't have ESPN insider, so I can't see their rationale, but how can they have Derrick Rose out of the top 3?


Because he is doing worse than he did last yr. You can tell from the drop in his stats and also.. I've watched most of the nationally televised Bulls games & he is just not the same player as his rookie yr that had much more aggressiveness and desire. I don't think he is a mentally strong player. Ever since the SAT drama and the injury at the beginning of the season, he just doesn't seem right. One good game here and there but mostly so so.
 
Because he is doing worse than he did last yr. You can tell from the drop in his stats and also.. I've watched most of the nationally televised Bulls games & he is just not the same player as his rookie yr that had much more aggressiveness and desire. I don't think he is a mentally strong player. Ever since the SAT drama and the injury at the beginning of the season, he just doesn't seem right. One good game here and there but mostly so so.

Rose is going through the same thing most second year players go through. The league has adjusted to his game and taken away a lot of the the things he was doing last year. Now he needs to adjust that part of his game. Magic once said that the hardest lesson he had to learn about the NBA is that whats here today is gone tomorrow, so you can't stay stagnant. You have to constantly work on you game. Rose will be alright. Its just a matter of time.
 
who has the most upside out of the rookies?

He put Earl Clark as #1 in that Rookie Upside article. :eek: Yes, the guy currently averaging 3 pts and 1 reb. Shocker to find out that Clark is one of Thorpe's offseason clients. However, he's only 50 percent likely to reach 75 percent of his potential or something.

Evans was #2, and Thorpe said that he was very likely to reach his full potential and seven years from now will still be considered the best player from the class. Omri was #8.
 
Can someone with espn insider tell the rest of us what was actually said about JT?

Hint on insider articles: If you grab some text from the opening blurb and google it, often you will find the article posted out on the web somewhere. Not working for this one yet.
 
Because he is doing worse than he did last yr. You can tell from the drop in his stats and also.. I've watched most of the nationally televised Bulls games & he is just not the same player as his rookie yr that had much more aggressiveness and desire. I don't think he is a mentally strong player. Ever since the SAT drama and the injury at the beginning of the season, he just doesn't seem right. One good game here and there but mostly so so.

Well yes, he's not progressed from last year and possibly even regressed; however, he's not THAT far off from last year. To go from top rookie to 12th seems a stretch. Not sure there are many GMs out there that would trade Rose for any of the 11 above him.

But...maybe I just don't understand the rankings. Is it based on YTD effectiveness? The last week?
 
How could he suggest that Clark has a higher ceiling than Evans? Evans has the potential to be a 23 7 6 2 guy. Plus his defensive potential is on par with Clarks. Not to mention the ice in veins... intereresting.
 
Well yes, he's not progressed from last year and possibly even regressed; however, he's not THAT far off from last year. To go from top rookie to 12th seems a stretch. Not sure there are many GMs out there that would trade Rose for any of the 11 above him.

But...maybe I just don't understand the rankings. Is it based on YTD effectiveness? The last week?


I think the Soph rankings is for what they are doing this yr and this yr alone. Of course I agree with you that there are a lot of GMs willing to trade for Rose with the players ranked ahead of him.

But as far as what he's done in his soph yr so far, I think its fair to have him around #10 cause he's actually playing worse than his rookie yr.
 
How could he suggest that Clark has a higher ceiling than Evans? Evans has the potential to be a 23 7 6 2 guy. Plus his defensive potential is on par with Clarks. Not to mention the ice in veins... intereresting.
Those numbers are pretty much what Tyreke has been averaging the last month. Its scary the amount of talent this kid has. He's still figuring out the league, and has a ways to go. Defensively, he has the potential to be an all-nba defender. Maybe not 1st team, but I see Tyreke making a few all-nba defensive teams during his career. When I saw that block on Parker last night, I couldn't help but think Wade is the only other guard in the league who I have seen block a shot like that, after chasing such a quick guard down.
 
I'm not really suprised by Rose's rank. He's been pretty underwhelming this year and hasn't been attacking offensively like he did last year. More mental than anything with him so his rank isn't really suprising for a soph power rankings....
 
I'm not really suprised by Rose's rank. He's been pretty underwhelming this year and hasn't been attacking offensively like he did last year. More mental than anything with him so his rank isn't really suprising for a soph power rankings....
He's also got Vinny D as a coach, and John Salmons playing next to him. Has anyone ever excelled with Salmons playing next to them?

Rose will be fine. But I'll say one thing which is pretty clear. I'd much rather have Tyreke than Rose.
 
Similar sophomore ranking here with JT at #4. They give Rose more benefit of the doubt, making the top three: Lopez, Gasol, Rose.

http://nbaprimetime.com/2009/12/10/nba-primetime-rankings-top-5-sophomore-sensations.html

"4. Jason Thompson (PF, SAC)- The Sacramento King’s starting forward Jason Thompson is quickly turning into a top tier four man in the league. His averages of 14.5 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 2.1 APG, and 1.0 BPG are step above from his rookie season and being only 23 years of age, his numbers should continue to increase for years to come."
 
The ESPN comments hit the nail on the head too, about his foul troubles and if he finds a solution, can go to the head of the class. Growing pains and learning the NBA game. In a year he will be at the top of that class assuming he learns how not to foul so much and to catch and shoot down low. Love the kid and glad we have him. Thanks Geoff.:cool:
 
He put Earl Clark as #1 in that Rookie Upside article. :eek: Yes, the guy currently averaging 3 pts and 1 reb. Shocker to find out that Clark is one of Thorpe's offseason clients. However, he's only 50 percent likely to reach 75 percent of his potential or something.

Evans was #2, and Thorpe said that he was very likely to reach his full potential and seven years from now will still be considered the best player from the class. Omri was #8.

Upside isn't about current stats, it's about future stats. And while I definitely don't agree that he has more upside than Evans, Earl Clark actually does have HUGE upside. He'll get more playing time next year, and perhaps show everyone what he can do.
 
He's also got Vinny D as a coach, and John Salmons playing next to him. Has anyone ever excelled with Salmons playing next to them?

Rose will be fine. But I'll say one thing which is pretty clear. I'd much rather have Tyreke than Rose.

Yep, everyone thought the Bulls pulled the wool over our eyes on that trade but look how they've ended up. And I guess to their defense Salmons is playing out of position - and they lost a big time scorer
 
Wait...So w'ell have back to back Top player picks from the last two drafts....Nice :cool:
Now all we need is for Spencer to develop so he can be at the top of his draft class :rolleyes::p:D
 
Wait...So w'ell have back to back Top player picks from the last two drafts....Nice :cool:
Now all we need is for Spencer to develop so he can be at the top of his draft class :rolleyes::p:D

with oden out for the season, if hawes plays well he could easily be the 2nd or 3rd best center from that draft. noah and horford would be the only other centers to challenge for the top spot. horford is really a pf... but whatever...
 
Upside isn't about current stats, it's about future stats. And while I definitely don't agree that he has more upside than Evans, Earl Clark actually does have HUGE upside. He'll get more playing time next year, and perhaps show everyone what he can do.

Clark struck me as more a potentially strong all-around player and solid defender like a Thad Young type rather than a potential superstar on par with Tyreke. For a three-year player who's about to turn 22 and playing SF, which is probably the easiest position to make an immediate impact, to be averaging 3 pts and unable to push 90 year old Hill for court time can't be too encouraging, considering what younger and rawer guys in his draft are already doing.
 
Clark struck me as more a potentially strong all-around player and solid defender like a Thad Young type rather than a potential superstar on par with Tyreke. For a three-year player who's about to turn 22 and playing SF, which is probably the easiest position to make an immediate impact, to be averaging 3 pts and unable to push 90 year old Hill for court time can't be too encouraging, considering what younger and rawer guys in his draft are already doing.

Well that's a judgment call. Personally I think he has all the tools to be a special player, but obviously it takes more than that to actually become one. With his versatility I figured Phoenix would be ideal for him. It's strange that Gentry isn't using him more, especially with a shortened rotation with Barbosa being out.
 
1) that lot is utterly ridiculous. Whoever put it together is an idiot.

2) you need to post a link to a source

3) if that source is ESPN Insider we're going to have to ask you to remove it, as that's a pay service and they get touchy wiht people reposting their stuff out acros the web
 
1) that lot is utterly ridiculous. Whoever put it together is an idiot.

2) you need to post a link to a source

3) if that source is ESPN Insider we're going to have to ask you to remove it, as that's a pay service and they get touchy wiht people reposting their stuff out acros the web

Not trying to offend anyone who is an avid reader, but I seriously don't understand why someone would pay for ESPN Insider. Content is usually terrible and with an aim for creating "reaction" than reporting integrity. I pretty much never go to ESPN.com anymore simply because it seems like everything is pay per view and I feel like I'm constantly getting bombarded by advertising.

.....sorry, off topic....
 
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