Ryan Boatright & the NBA Draft

[bcisco]

austin rivers stinks. had a few decent games, but a broken clock is right once too.

Actually a broken clock is right twice a day not just once

 

[Matt1010]

Russ Smith is a good comparison to Boat and he went mid/late second round if I remember correctly.

 

[James]

Actually a broken clock is right twice a day not just once

good call; this actually makes the comparison to rivers even more on point. he had two good games vs houston , three total decent games throughout the playoffs. the rest he was horrible. especially the last three games of the rockets series

 

[lange10]

good call; this actually makes the comparison to rivers even more on point. he had two good games vs houston , three total decent games throughout the playoffs. the rest he was horrible. especially the last three games of the rockets series

Dude, Rivers was a lottery pick and he's been in the NBA 4 years now. Boatright is going to be lucky to get drafted in the second round. He is a better player. Plain and simple.

 

[sammydabiz]

Russ Smith is a good comparison to Boat and he went mid/late second round if I remember correctly.

Russ Smith was a 1st Team All-American...

 

[Matt1010]

Russ Smith was a 1st Team All-American...

Thanks for the history lesson...obviously Smith was better but not by a lot and they are very similar players. Both undersized guards who can dribble/score/defend and are very athletic. They had nearly identical offensive ratings senior year but Smith played with a much better supporting cast.

 

[James]

Dude, Rivers was a lottery pick and he's been in the NBA 4 years now. Boatright is going to be lucky to get drafted in the second round. He is a better player. Plain and simple.

so austin rivers is better than second round picks because he was selected in the lottery? newsflash doc couldn't trade his son for a second round pick even if he begged the other team. the verdict is still out on boatright, but rivers is not a good nba player at all and thats a fact.

 

[J187Money]

Not that it would happen but would love to see him play with Bazz.

 

[RichCTBB]

Actually a broken clock is right twice a day not just once

If that clock only keeps military time than it's just once. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

 

[lange10]

so austin rivers is better than second round picks because he was selected in the lottery? newsflash doc couldn't trade his son for a second round pick even if he begged the other team. the verdict is still out on boatright, but rivers is not a good nba player at all and thats a fact.

I didn't say he was a good NBA player. I simply said he was better than Boatright, and I stand by that. Boat, IMO, will have a great career overseas.

 

[Walker11]

so austin rivers is better than second round picks because he was selected in the lottery? newsflash doc couldn't trade his son for a second round pick even if he begged the other team. the verdict is still out on boatright, but rivers is not a good nba player at all and thats a fact.

Rivers would have been in the D League if Doc didn't trade for him. The Celtics were going to cut him. His rookie season was one of the worst seasons ever and he has sucked for the majority of his career so far. He showed a pulse in the playoffs but the jury is still out about whether he is a legit NBA player. Who knows if Boat can find a niche in the league, and I do truly think he is more cut for Europe, but it wouldn't be a huge shock to me if he ended up better than a guy like Rivers.

 

[David 76]

Anybody else just feel proud watching Boat in those clips. I really hope thing break his way.

 

[aceboon]

2nd workout with the Clippers

 

[James]

Rivers would have been in the D League if Doc didn't trade for him. The Celtics were going to cut him. His rookie season was one of the worst seasons ever and he has sucked for the majority of his career so far. He showed a pulse in the playoffs but the jury is still out about whether he is a legit NBA player. Who knows if Boat can find a niche in the league, and I do truly think he is more cut for Europe, but it wouldn't be a huge shock to me if he ended up better than a guy like Rivers.

ha You know how i feel about boat running our offense, i wasn't the biggest fan. But thats because he was asked to be the main scoring option as well as main distributor for our squad, thats a big role that he wasn't ready for.

the thing about boatright thats different than napier, he is an a-1 athlete with very good 1v1 ball handling and speed. Napier was a cerebral threat who broke down plays with his IQ , not his physicals. therefore i'm excited to see him in summer league.

And we all know how hungry this dude is, he has gotten better and better yearly. thomas on the celtics is one of the best pick n roll players in the league, a lot of that has to do with his great lower body and explosiveness. I actually saw thomas play in hs and he was going down the lane and nearly dunking vs prep competition. and lay up lines were insane. Boatrights pro path should be interesting. this summer league should have boat/napier/daniels all playing, at least in the vegas one.

 

[Huskybass]

Boat is tiny, but he is an incredible athlete. I think he just needs the right situation to succeed.

 

[aceboon]

I respect Silver's opinions because unlike the UConn beatwriters who actually cover the team fulltime I can tell he watches a ton of NBA and actually likes basketball, but I don't agree with this at all. Bazz can get alot(not all) of the same shots off in the pros that he got in college. Bazz couldn't finish at the rim well in college and that's no different in the NBA, but he can still hit guys with pull-up and stepback jumpers, but that won't be his main role, he doesn't have the free license to do it, and you could see last year he struggled with confidence on his shot. Boat's not a great finisher at the rim through contact just like Bazz, neither has a well developed floater in their arsenal, but I think Bazz can get his jumper off much quicker than Boat can. Boat might be able to get to his spot faster due to his quickness but his footwork isn't on Bazz's level and it takes him longer to get a pull-up jumper off with all that elevation he gets. How many times did we see Boat get fouled(both fouls that were actually called and situations the refs let go, which there were many) on his jumper over the past 4 years because of how long it took to get it off, with NBA defenders it will only be worse. Either way unless he is some sort of Isaiah Thomas or Aaron Brooks type discovery NBA teams won't be asking him to do too much anyway in a bench role if he makes it so all of that isn't really a big deal.

 

[James]

Yeah thats a little crazy to say he likes boatright more. While i did say boat is more athletic, he will still get swallowed by traps and he isn't nearly as inventive of a passer as bazz. he should be decent in summer league though if given minutes on a team

 

[tcf15]

http://www.theday.com/uconn-sports/20150624/calhoun-believes-in-boatright

"I've watched Ryan get better," Calhoun said. "By the end of his junior year, he really came into his own defensively. It was the best he's ever played. He had to carry so much this year that it beat him up eventually.

"... I've watched this guy really, really improve his game. To me, I don't know what else you're looking for. That's what I would be looking for if I was a guy drafting him. We watch the games on TV sometimes and (Cleveland's Matthew) Dellavedova and some of these other guys, they don't look like we want them to look. But they can play like you want them to play.

"Ryan is a guy that can jump out of the gym, so he's a terrific athlete."

There are some potential roadblocks for 22-year-old Boatright. His size — he checked in at 5-foot-10, 170 pounds at the NBA Draft combine — is an issue. NBA talent evaluators tend to look down on four-year college players.

Calhoun dismissed those issues.

"He doesn't have a lack of game," Calhoun said. "He doesn't have a lack of stones. He doesn't have a lack of intensity. There's no question in my mind that he has a chance to play in the NBA."

 

[tcf15]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/subur...ft-ryan-boatright-st-0625-20150624-story.html

Even if Boatright is not chosen in one of the draft's two rounds, there certainly appears to be interest.

"It's my size," he said. "They know I can game and play with the best of them. But there are a lot of 5-7 experts out there who have never played the game who think I'm not tall enough.

"I've always been knocked for my size, from high school to college, but it's never been a problem. I like to think I make up for it with heart and pride."

His grandfather, Tom Boatright, echoed an oft-repeated refrain from his grandson's college coach, Kevin Ollie, who played for 12 NBA teams in a 13-year NBA career after starting in the CBA.

"(Ollie) always says is all it takes is for one GM to fall in love with you," Tom Boatright said.

Ryan Boatright doesn't know if any have.

"I haven't gotten any promises," he said. "Interest may pick up in the second round, but I just hope I can get into a good situation, where I've got a chance to play, whether it's by being drafted or signed (as a free agent)..

"At the end of the day, I'm gonna make a lot of money playing basketball. My main goal and hope is to play in the NBA. I don't question myself or doubt my ability."

 

[DALTX]

If that clock only keeps military time than it's just once. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

At least a broken clock is right once (military) or twice a day. A working clock is never right, unless it's perfectly in sync with the master atomic clock.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

At least a broken clock is right once (military) or twice a day. A working clock is never right, unless it's perfectly in sync with the master atomic clock.

UGH!!!

 

[Eskapeesto]

Round 2 over. No Boatright.

 

[Gurleyman]

If the Clips actually liked him, better that he wasn't drafted. He can try out there and not have to compete with a draft pick for perhaps their last roster spot. But other players not drafted may look at the Clips for the same reason.

 

[deedougie]

Round 2 over. No Boatright.

Watched the whole thing to see if he would be picked. Oh well.

 

[huskyhaven]

Watched the whole thing to see if he would be picked. Oh well.