GT in the NBA Summer League 2023

tbglover

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
741
4th quarter you saw the upside and limitation for DeVoe in the NBA. The upside is he can operate in the space available in the NBA. He has a handle that allows him to get the offense going, he can get the ball to the right spot on time and if you go under a screen he can burn you with a shot. Lot to like there. On the other side, he plays below the rim compared to the rest of the NBA. So when he goes into traffic in the paint, he has trouble getting his shot off. He isn't NBA explosive but we knew that.

All in all tonight was a great exhibition for him to get a 2 way agreement with Portland. If they do trade Lillard then there are roster spots for a guy like him who can develop as they rebuild. Could be a great situation for him.
With his size and shooting ability DeVoe can play with Scoot on the Blazers. It's just a matter of how his defense has come along. He has the craft to get some penetration to get into the heart of the defense but as you said he sometimes has issues getting his shot off. Hope that he continues to develop a floater to alleviate some of that.
Watching Heat and Suns, Usher looks like he belongs on the court athletically and skills wise but could shoot a bit better

Franklin got in the game but the structure of the NBA does him no favors. Heat played him as a wing - put him in the corner on offense and had him picking up high on the perimeter on defense. Fish out of water. Give him credit for energy in his brief time in
The Heat are noted for their player development so maybe they have a plan in place for Franklin in terms of developing him into more of a 3-4 defensively since he may have the size and athleticism to potentially pull it off
 

Root4GT

Helluva Engineer
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3,045
So all of the narratives of GT having no talent at all was misplaced. Shocking.
Actually at this point we have 2 former GT players who are spot players in the NBA from the past decade. So the we lacked talent during the Gregory and Pastner years narrative is in fact accurate!
 

ESPNjacket

Helluva Engineer
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1,531
Actually at this point we have 2 former GT players who are spot players in the NBA from the past decade. So the we lacked talent during the Gregory and Pastner years narrative is in fact accurate!
AckSHually, discounting the fact in this thread there are multiple guys that are at least borderline NBA players would counter that simplistic take. And we don't even need to get into the guys playing professionally elsewhere.
 

Root4GT

Helluva Engineer
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3,045
AckSHually, discounting the fact in this thread there are multiple guys that are at least borderline NBA players would counter that simplistic take. And we don't even need to get into the guys playing professionally elsewhere.
Compared to our competition we were a bottom 1/3rd ACC Team. Jose and Moses were great college players their senior years. They are marginal to borderline NBA players.

Takk look ent determine a team’s ceiling. Coaching determines a team’s floor.

The CJP years were about right in that regard.
 

forensicbuzz

21st Century Throwback Dad
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Compared to our competition we were a bottom 1/3rd ACC Team. Jose and Moses were great college players their senior years. They are marginal to borderline NBA players.

Takk look ent determine a team’s ceiling. Coaching determines a team’s floor.

The CJP years were about right in that regard.
In my opinion, this is a weak take (no offense intended because I've heard it over and over). College basketball and professional basketball are two different games that requires two different types of players. Whether our players are borderline NBA players or not is not relevant to whether we are a talented college team.
 

Root4GT

Helluva Engineer
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In my opinion, this is a weak take (no offense intended because I've heard it over and over). College basketball and professional basketball are two different games that requires two different types of players. Whether our players are borderline NBA players or not is not relevant to whether we are a talented college team.
Well your opinion is noted. I disagree completely. Teams without guys that can play at the NBA level have a lower ceiling than teams with guys who can play in the NBA. Having some very talented upper classmen who are marginal NBA prospects clearly helps a lot.

Last year's team was really bad. Take Kelly off the team (highest NBA potential on the team) and the team would have been much worse if that's possible.

You don't need 5 NBA level talent players but if you want to be near the top of the conference you need a couple.

This year's roster looks like it has far more players with potential upsides than we have had in a while. It will be interesting to see how well CDS and staff get them playing as a team.
 

Techster

Helluva Engineer
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18,235
Well your opinion is noted. I disagree completely. Teams without guys that can play at the NBA level have a lower ceiling than teams with guys who can play in the NBA. Having some very talented upper classmen who are marginal NBA prospects clearly helps a lot.

Last year's team was really bad. Take Kelly off the team (highest NBA potential on the team) and the team would have been much worse if that's possible.

You don't need 5 NBA level talent players but if you want to be near the top of the conference you need a couple.

This year's roster looks like it has far more players with potential upsides than we have had in a while. It will be interesting to see how well CDS and staff get them playing as a team.

I tend to agree with the whole "The more pro talent you have, the better off you are" take. Doesn't mean having 5 NBA level guys will beat everyone, as coaching/development/chemistry mean a LOT, but it's always better to have more talent than not enough talent.

You look at all of our teams that went to the NCAA tournament. I don't think there's one team that didn't have a future NBA guy. Our best teams had multiple NBA level guys.

Even in football, look at our best teams in the last two decades. The 2006 ACC Championship game team with Gailey was LOADED with future NFL players on both sides of the ball. The 2009 ACC Championship team also had a bunch of NFL players on both sides of the ball. The 2014 Orange Bowl winning and ACC Championship game teams also had a bunch of future NFL players.

In the end, yes you can develop players to become talented college players, but there's a reason why teams that win their conferences and go to the post season have NBA/NFL level players.
 

Jack

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
257
Compared to our competition we were a bottom 1/3rd ACC Team. Jose and Moses were great college players their senior years. They are marginal to borderline NBA players.

Takk look ent determine a team’s ceiling. Coaching determines a team’s floor.

The CJP years were about right in that regard.
Cri
Well your opinion is noted. I disagree completely. Teams without guys that can play at the NBA level have a lower ceiling than teams with guys who can play in the NBA. Having some very talented upper classmen who are marginal NBA prospects clearly helps a lot.

Last year's team was really bad. Take Kelly off the team (highest NBA potential on the team) and the team would have been much worse if that's possible.

You don't need 5 NBA level talent players but if you want to be near the top of the conference you need a couple.

This year's roster looks like it has far more players with potential upsides than we have had in a while. It will be interesting to see how well CDS and staff get them playing as a team.
Bobby always said that for a college team to be in the top ten, they needed three NBA caliper players
 

leatherneckjacket

Helluva Engineer
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Atlanta, GA
Well your opinion is noted. I disagree completely. Teams without guys that can play at the NBA level have a lower ceiling than teams with guys who can play in the NBA. Having some very talented upper classmen who are marginal NBA prospects clearly helps a lot.

Last year's team was really bad. Take Kelly off the team (highest NBA potential on the team) and the team would have been much worse if that's possible.

You don't need 5 NBA level talent players but if you want to be near the top of the conference you need a couple.

This year's roster looks like it has far more players with potential upsides than we have had in a while. It will be interesting to see how well CDS and staff get them playing as a team.
I know it is a different sport, but how much of a pro talent was Joe Hamilton?
 

forensicbuzz

21st Century Throwback Dad
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North Shore, Chicago
Cri

Bobby always said that for a college team to be in the top ten, they needed three NBA caliper players
This seems reasonable. However, Top10 is much more than a successful college program. Having guys that are borderline NBA, but definitely next-level, will get you pretty darn far. NBA game is different. A ton of highly successful college kids don't fit the NBA game. Needing NBA caliber players to be successful in college is horse ****.
 

Techster

Helluva Engineer
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18,235
I know it is a different sport, but how much of a pro talent was Joe Hamilton?

He played 4 seasons in the NFL. He's the only GT QB in my lifetime to ever make an NFL roster as a QB and play for multiple seasons.

Justin Thomas played in the NFL as a slot receiver.
Josh Nesbitt played wildcat QB in the preseason before moving to safety during the regular season.
Shawn Jones was moved to DB.
Reggie Ball made the Detroit Lions as a WR.

Those are the only GT QBs that even played in the NFL from my memory. Hamilton is still the only GT QB since 1990 to make an NFL roster at QB.
 
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