Austin Rivers
Steph Curry/Monte Ellis do it right???? he will have to work on his D a lot but there are ways around that.....also he can play the point too....he plays PG for his HS team pretty much.....and he did it in high level AAU last year when Brandon Knight broke his leg....
At worse he will be Arenas like a scoring point guard. Dude can ball so he will get minutes. Also Bayless is a 6'3" combo guard, Ben Gordon is a 6'3" barely shooting guard. Barbosa is maybe at best 6'4" shooting guard. A lot will depend on his length could possibly grow and inch and also if he has moves that can get himself open like Curry. I think he should because he is a coach's and former players' son. Also he is athletic but does not appear to have NBA blow by speed but I could be wrong.
Delfam, yesterday 2 times I quoted Rivers saying he's 6'5 in socks. Is that not good enough for you? Even if he is only 6'3, which I doubt, he can still play the 2 in the NBA. And Rivers doesn't play point guard, I don't know where you're getting that idea. He is a great ball handler, but he is a scorer first and foremost, and that's ok.
Conventinal Basketball minds would say he is not gonna be that great as a 6'3 sg. Thats the problem with the game righ now to many people put players with unique talents at positions that mask their skills. People saying he can't be a 6'3 sg never seen allen iverson in there life. Great players defy having a position. Magic was a 6'9 pg that lead his team to championships any coach today would put him at sf. Rivers obviously is a good athlete maybe he can't stop Kobe but if you looked over his career no one did one on one. Stopping Kobe is a team effort and even then it might not happen. The only thing you can do to Kobe is try to put up your points because he gets his when he wants them. Also I like Rivers Cockiness the Nba needs players who just tell it like it is instead of trying to sound humbel. Like Lebron tries to sound humbel talking about his talents as if he was born with a divine gift from god to become one of the greatest talents ever. I dont care how physically talented you are if you dont have any basketball iq or work hard you wont make it. Because if it was all about athleticism James White would be the talk of the Nba.
@delfam: He's 6'5 w/o shoes so he's probably 6'6 with shoes (same size as kobe). That's EXCELLENT size for a 2guard let alone a 2guard with his skills. Even if he was 6'3 he'd still be a hell of a player bcuz of the way he utilizes the jabstep and the way he creates space with the stepback..he also has a mean floater. Offensively he has the total package, he just needs to work on the defensive side of the ball and he'll get plenty of that at Duke.
You just sound stupid bro...There are lots of 2 guards who are 6,4 and under. Rivers is a scoring machine. It might affect him on the defensive end in the nba, but it shouldn't hinder him much at all. And like im your father said, he said he's grown a bit (not sure I believe him but ill take his word for it haha).
Dwayne has size, strength, and athleticism that makes his height not important, but I agree, Rivers will probably grow an inch or even two before stops growing and he should get bigger. I don't know the exact measurements of the kid, but lets just say he is 6'3", the only reason his height would be a problem is if his wingspan isn't that great or if his athleticism can't make up for him being undersized.
Ben Gordon is 6'2... Height dont mean &$#%#&@! its about how well you play your position.. When I played at De Anza College in California, I was a top 3 rebounder (12 reb a game) in the state at 6'4... Its about your mentality not your height...
Is he better this year than Brandon Knight was as a senior? I mean because he (brandon)will be be a PG in the league. In HS Brandon Knight was a flat out scorer for his team that was his role to get buckets but he was still listed as a PG on every recruiting site even thought he was getting like 35 a night and like 3/4 asst. If austin is 6'3 he probably will have to be a scoring PG, i understand there are smaller SG's like wade and ellis and further back AI but what they have I haven't seen Rivers do that serious athletic explosion (maybe he does but in the games I have seen I didnt see that I coming down the lane and dunking right through every1, or even that ultra athletic finish) but not to many people have that. He is an extremely talented scorer and his confidence is like a season vet. I hope the rumors of him being 6'5 in socks are true bc I would hate for him to bottle all those scoring skills and insticts to make the move to a pure playmaking type of PG, he is a legit scoring weapon, I wish he would have gone to 'Nova idk if they were in the running or not, but they let their guards go FUEGO.
Like canada said, even if he's 6'3 his gift is scoring not passing. He shouldn't change his game just because someone is putting him into a box because of his height. He's a scorer now, a scorer in college, and will be a scorer in the Nba.
He very well could be exaggerating, but here's the quote...
As for me I've grown over the last month or so. I measured out the other day at 6-foot-5 without sneakers on and I've been lifting weights like crazy. I think I'll be around 6'5 and a half and around 200 when I get to school next year.
Yeah... Rivers has continues to grow and develop into a beast. He's OJ Mayo with a better IQ... The high school, and probably the college three point line is too close for him. His athleticism is well above average, and his offensive repertoire is already fairly complete. If Irving somehow decides to stay another year after this injury, Duke could have... quite possibly, the greatest backcourt basketball has seen. Rivers is that good. They could both be first team All Americans. I see Rivers being 6'5" in shoes. He looks bigger than most everyone on the court. I see him being a ball dominant two guard in the future. But this guy is good., Very very good. And he wants it. You see it in his preparation, his work ethic, and his continuous improvement.
I agree that he can play 2-guard in the league as long as he gets stronger though. We have guys in the league that are are shorter 2 guards like Monta Ellis, Ben Gordon, OJ Mayo, Eric Gordon, and even D-Wade is just 6'4 (but he's a freak of nature and another plane compared to everyone else i named). Its not about how tall you are (unless you are 5'9 like Nate Robinson who is clearly a SG stuck in the body of a point guard) but how well you can understand and react to the game. Their are also different systems in the league that may cater to this guys skill-set. Austin is smooth and patient when he scores, nothing is forced. He has decent athleticism and his game is real cerebral, he takes what the defender gives him. I believe he is good at the 2 position but with an IQ like his and along with his work ethic and people like Coach K and his father in his life he can be extremely effective at PG if he does go that route. DUDE IS A BEAST THO!
best backcourt ever?..ummm no.. maybe if they both stayed for 2,3 years. But could be a very good back court
As far as being too short to get off shots in the NBA that is just a plain dumb comment. Do you know how many sg that are that height or shorter are in the NBA
Eric gordan
Gilbert
Monta
Ben gordan
O.J mayo
ronald murry
Marcus thortan
willie green
just to name a few.
Defense has lil to do with how tall or long you are and more to do with effort and getting to the right spots
Guys who are or sometimes play SG in the NBA who are of comparable size and comparable or inferior athleticism:
Redick
Curry
Hinrich (when Wall plays point)
Arenas
Gordon
Billups (when Lawson plays point)
Ellington
House
Hill (when Parker plays point)
These are all good to very good players. Size isn't an issue and he will only get better. He also is great shooting off the dribble and has a nice high release on his jumper.
Austin is kind of in the same hole as Brandon knight was in in HS as they both play for HS teams that force them to have to score in order to compete in competition. His fresshman year austin was indeed the PG of that team but they lost alot of talent due to graduation afterwards. I do believe that he can become a true combo guard at duke which will help him significantly jus look at Jerryd Bayless for Toronto he is being succesful as a combo guard playing PG
Austin Rivers got for 43 in only 3 quaters guarnteed 40 before the game started. He hit 9 threes.