Lance Stephenson’s ceiling?

but i see lance stephenson as a more talented flip murray, a kind of combo guard whos better at scoring then passing, not an all-star player, but a player with enough talent to earn time and longevity in the league

but i see lance stephenson as a more talented flip murray, a kind of combo guard whos better at scoring then passing, not an all-star player, but a player with enough talent to earn time and longevity in the league

I can honestly see a poor mans Tyreke Evans.

His shots not great at this point but just like Tyreke, he can get to the rack with easy. Both are bigger guards and Lance could use his size to his advantage when he starts maturing. As for play making, Evans has a bigger advantage in that area but Lance should some flashes of play making abilities in his limited games for the Pacers. I think once Lance learns to do the little things, he’ll turn out fine. Hopefully he (and Evans) both improve their shot but I see a hope for Lance 

I can honestly see a poor mans Tyreke Evans.

His shots not great at this point but just like Tyreke, he can get to the rack with easy. Both are bigger guards and Lance could use his size to his advantage when he starts maturing. As for play making, Evans has a bigger advantage in that area but Lance should some flashes of play making abilities in his limited games for the Pacers. I think once Lance learns to do the little things, he’ll turn out fine. Hopefully he (and Evans) both improve their shot but I see a hope for Lance 

He could easily be a 16-5r-5a kind of guy.

He could easily be a 16-5r-5a kind of guy.

If he puts it together along, continue to improve his skills as a basketball player (shooting, defense, learning better shot selection/court-decision making) and staying fit/shape, he can be a very good starting SG.  Even though Indiana is playing him at PG right now, he shoots the ball too much and tends to be a ballhog, he will have to be a SG later down the road.  He also needs to learn how to play team ball, he tends to be wreckless and forces things, he can’t just simply overpower every guard in the NBA, this is not high school anymore, he needs to learn to use his team mates.  Comparison I see for him if he keeps his head straight is Rodney Stuckey, but thats a big "IF", he needs to learn the concept of team ball, before he can even reach Stuckey’s level.

And lets stop the Tyreke Evans comparison, other than body size, and ball handling, the two play very different.  Tyreke has a high basketball IQ, and creates for his team mates, which is the complete opposite for Lance.

If he puts it together along, continue to improve his skills as a basketball player (shooting, defense, learning better shot selection/court-decision making) and staying fit/shape, he can be a very good starting SG.  Even though Indiana is playing him at PG right now, he shoots the ball too much and tends to be a ballhog, he will have to be a SG later down the road.  He also needs to learn how to play team ball, he tends to be wreckless and forces things, he can’t just simply overpower every guard in the NBA, this is not high school anymore, he needs to learn to use his team mates.  Comparison I see for him if he keeps his head straight is Rodney Stuckey, but thats a big "IF", he needs to learn the concept of team ball, before he can even reach Stuckey’s level.

And lets stop the Tyreke Evans comparison, other than body size, and ball handling, the two play very different.  Tyreke has a high basketball IQ, and creates for his team mates, which is the complete opposite for Lance.

Easily?  I have to disagree with that.  Not many players put up 16-5-5 with ease and I have yet to see Lance do anything that remotely constitutes him as a 16-5-5 player in the NBA.  Let see him avg. 8-3-3 before toting him as that caliber of player.  "Born Ready" certainly didn’t seem ready last season.

Easily?  I have to disagree with that.  Not many players put up 16-5-5 with ease and I have yet to see Lance do anything that remotely constitutes him as a 16-5-5 player in the NBA.  Let see him avg. 8-3-3 before toting him as that caliber of player.  "Born Ready" certainly didn’t seem ready last season.

Reality check. We are talking about someone who played about 5 min total last yr and didnt dress for playoffs. The Pacers do not value his supposed skill set. Bottom line he can’t shoot and hasn’t proven in the 5 mins he played that he can get to the rack easily enough. He is a step up from equipment manager. You guys are dreaming high school is over. I would like to see him succeed but keep it real he hasn’t even showed the skills. AJ Price averaged 7 point his rookie yr with very limited pt. Thus he had a role this past season. Lance hasn’t proved anything since highschool and Brooklyn PSAL kids are small. There is no reason for Lance to even have a topic right now.

Reality check. We are talking about someone who played about 5 min total last yr and didnt dress for playoffs. The Pacers do not value his supposed skill set. Bottom line he can’t shoot and hasn’t proven in the 5 mins he played that he can get to the rack easily enough. He is a step up from equipment manager. You guys are dreaming high school is over. I would like to see him succeed but keep it real he hasn’t even showed the skills. AJ Price averaged 7 point his rookie yr with very limited pt. Thus he had a role this past season. Lance hasn’t proved anything since highschool and Brooklyn PSAL kids are small. There is no reason for Lance to even have a topic right now.

Reality check. Lance played well enough in Summer League for the Pacers to give him a guaranteed contract, but his off-court discrepancies kept him off the court until they were resolved, and by that stage they were set in their rotation for the playoffs. The Pacers value him, but he has to keep his nose clean, as their focus has been rebuilding their image after the Malice.

Reality check. Lance played well enough in Summer League for the Pacers to give him a guaranteed contract, but his off-court discrepancies kept him off the court until they were resolved, and by that stage they were set in their rotation for the playoffs. The Pacers value him, but he has to keep his nose clean, as their focus has been rebuilding their image after the Malice.

 @mess.eee             I sincerely disagree about Evans having a "high" hoop IQ, or that he actually creates for others. In fact, the coaching staff was said to have been complaining about him last year because of the fact the only time he passes the ball is when there is absolutely NO OTHER option available. As for the hoop IQ thing, Evans takes far too many bad shots and still plays a somewhat playground style of basketball. Partly why he is able to get those crazy stats yet fail to get W. Just happens that Lance’s IQ is that much lower.

IMO, had you switched the 2 places and Lance had gotten to have the ball in his hands ful time playing for Calipari, and drafted early lotto, you’d be questioning when RekeHavoc was gonna do just that. BTW, I agree whith 23, if Lance has his head on straight and is on a team allowing him to play "his game", 16,5,5 are easily attainable numbers. Just happens that with his offcourt issues and lack of IQ, 8,3,3 are more realistic career numbers. 

 @mess.eee             I sincerely disagree about Evans having a "high" hoop IQ, or that he actually creates for others. In fact, the coaching staff was said to have been complaining about him last year because of the fact the only time he passes the ball is when there is absolutely NO OTHER option available. As for the hoop IQ thing, Evans takes far too many bad shots and still plays a somewhat playground style of basketball. Partly why he is able to get those crazy stats yet fail to get W. Just happens that Lance’s IQ is that much lower.

IMO, had you switched the 2 places and Lance had gotten to have the ball in his hands ful time playing for Calipari, and drafted early lotto, you’d be questioning when RekeHavoc was gonna do just that. BTW, I agree whith 23, if Lance has his head on straight and is on a team allowing him to play "his game", 16,5,5 are easily attainable numbers. Just happens that with his offcourt issues and lack of IQ, 8,3,3 are more realistic career numbers. 

is a better "SHOOTER" than Lance… Sometimes I wonder if you guys watched these players since their prep days… You should have since they only spent a year in college… But whatever… Tyreke Evans is maybe the worst future "Star" in the league… It seems that no one actual believes that he’s NOT a ball hog…  His 5 assists per game is dumb, he has the ball over 90% of the time… And ONLY sometimes go into his PG mode of setting up teammates for those assists, well because he plays PG…  ANY player with the ball in their hands that often is going to have those stats… (That’s the main reason I said LeBron stats are a little inflated, but he has vision, so I let it slide)… Allen Iverson averaged 7 assists a game, is anyone claiming he was a great passer or teammate? 

I really do dislike Tyreke, he is visual proof if any young talented player is handed the keys to a team he will produce…  Jayred Bayless, OJ Mayo, Bassy, Lance…  If ANY of those players were given the green light like Tyreke I bet you they would garner the same amount of respect if not more than Tyreke… They never had an opportunity… So, for yall to say Lance isn’t on Tyrekes level must not be watching either of them over the past 4-5 years…  Tyreke is a 2 and so is Lance, but with PG potential… Both put up huge numbers in high school, and was considered an one on one player…  Tyreke (almost similar to D. Rose) understood that if he wanted to get into the league at a high pick, he had to play PG so he chose Memphis…  John kept him at point (even though he wasn’t doing a great job at it) because of that (and also no other ball handler)… Lance played PG in the beginning of HS, then moved over to 2… Went to college played 3…  Not realizing he’s an undersized 2 guard at 6’5 without elite athletic ability…  Tyreke got picked Top 5, Lance 2nd Round…

Derrick Rose and O.J. Mayo…  In the beginning of each players high school career OJ was a PG, while Derrick was a 2…  Towards the end of their high school careers, OJ recieved so much attention that he began to have a score first mentality, while D. Rose realized a 6’3 shooting gaurd wasn’t gonna make it that far…  The summer of D. Rose Junior year he moved to PG (also with a lil nudge from his brothers), not really a "True" PG as yall can see, but enough to remain at the position and stay there in Memphis…  OJ was actually a better PG than D. Rose at one point…  Now, since he doesn’t know how to manage a team and he’s not able to hold the ball majority of the time will forever be am undersized 2 man (you wonder why he REALLY tried to play point in Summer League, this is it)… 

OJ and Lance were too damn stupid with their own hype to realize their actual ticket to superstardom… They were thinking they were the next LeBron, but in reality they didn’t realize they didn’t have the size or athletic ability for a 2 gaurd…  Tyreke was bright for that… Brandon Knight did that this year too… 

If Austin Rivers plays PG this year you will see it again…  Just how the NBA is ran homie…

is a better "SHOOTER" than Lance… Sometimes I wonder if you guys watched these players since their prep days… You should have since they only spent a year in college… But whatever… Tyreke Evans is maybe the worst future "Star" in the league… It seems that no one actual believes that he’s NOT a ball hog…  His 5 assists per game is dumb, he has the ball over 90% of the time… And ONLY sometimes go into his PG mode of setting up teammates for those assists, well because he plays PG…  ANY player with the ball in their hands that often is going to have those stats… (That’s the main reason I said LeBron stats are a little inflated, but he has vision, so I let it slide)… Allen Iverson averaged 7 assists a game, is anyone claiming he was a great passer or teammate? 

I really do dislike Tyreke, he is visual proof if any young talented player is handed the keys to a team he will produce…  Jayred Bayless, OJ Mayo, Bassy, Lance…  If ANY of those players were given the green light like Tyreke I bet you they would garner the same amount of respect if not more than Tyreke… They never had an opportunity… So, for yall to say Lance isn’t on Tyrekes level must not be watching either of them over the past 4-5 years…  Tyreke is a 2 and so is Lance, but with PG potential… Both put up huge numbers in high school, and was considered an one on one player…  Tyreke (almost similar to D. Rose) understood that if he wanted to get into the league at a high pick, he had to play PG so he chose Memphis…  John kept him at point (even though he wasn’t doing a great job at it) because of that (and also no other ball handler)… Lance played PG in the beginning of HS, then moved over to 2… Went to college played 3…  Not realizing he’s an undersized 2 guard at 6’5 without elite athletic ability…  Tyreke got picked Top 5, Lance 2nd Round…

Derrick Rose and O.J. Mayo…  In the beginning of each players high school career OJ was a PG, while Derrick was a 2…  Towards the end of their high school careers, OJ recieved so much attention that he began to have a score first mentality, while D. Rose realized a 6’3 shooting gaurd wasn’t gonna make it that far…  The summer of D. Rose Junior year he moved to PG (also with a lil nudge from his brothers), not really a "True" PG as yall can see, but enough to remain at the position and stay there in Memphis…  OJ was actually a better PG than D. Rose at one point…  Now, since he doesn’t know how to manage a team and he’s not able to hold the ball majority of the time will forever be am undersized 2 man (you wonder why he REALLY tried to play point in Summer League, this is it)… 

OJ and Lance were too damn stupid with their own hype to realize their actual ticket to superstardom… They were thinking they were the next LeBron, but in reality they didn’t realize they didn’t have the size or athletic ability for a 2 gaurd…  Tyreke was bright for that… Brandon Knight did that this year too… 

If Austin Rivers plays PG this year you will see it again…  Just how the NBA is ran homie…

Summer league. Lolz summer league is college continued, means nothing. Atleast say preseason…summer league? Any way lance was the 4th pg in the rotation and thats why he didnt play. It’s articles like this that he reads and thinks he was “born ready” and his stats show he isn’t ready, and he needs practice. The NBA can be humbling he needs to save his pay checks, find a niche and strive for longevity in this league.

As for the guy saying Lance needs an oppourtunity to be the starting pg of the Pacers…the Pacers would have went 1-81

Summer league. Lolz summer league is college continued, means nothing. Atleast say preseason…summer league? Any way lance was the 4th pg in the rotation and thats why he didnt play. It’s articles like this that he reads and thinks he was “born ready” and his stats show he isn’t ready, and he needs practice. The NBA can be humbling he needs to save his pay checks, find a niche and strive for longevity in this league.

As for the guy saying Lance needs an oppourtunity to be the starting pg of the Pacers…the Pacers would have went 1-81

How about Bonzi Wells?

How about Bonzi Wells?

Good to see him making an effort to sort his life out and mature as a player and more importantly a person. The best thing for him might be just to play a solid season and get into rotation from the bench and prove to the team that he can be good reliable player.

Good to see him making an effort to sort his life out and mature as a player and more importantly a person. The best thing for him might be just to play a solid season and get into rotation from the bench and prove to the team that he can be good reliable player.

 If he doesn’t get his sh*t together it’s going to be an 8′ concrete ceiling.

 If he doesn’t get his sh*t together it’s going to be an 8′ concrete ceiling.

 I can easily see where Tuck is coming from. Tyreke Evans is obviously talented and he has some really nice moves, but something about him is very true. Evans has been VERY fortunate to land in the situations that he did with the Kings and Memphis. We all can remember that Evans was a mediocre player for Memphis before Coach Calipari moved him to the PG spot (just happens he was projected to go where Stephenson went in 2010 when he was playing SG). He basically was steamrolling guys to the cup, using his strength, handle and 1st step to overpower PG’s. He was so physically dominant that he went 4th to the Kings, a team with no standout scorer. Everybody knew that Evans was going to be the top scorer on the team, or a top scoring rookie. Ended up being both.

Situation matters. Stephenson played at Cincy, an NIT squad that played Stephenson at SG/SF all year (despite having a chubby SG in a PG’s body, Deonta Vaughn, playing PG. Go figure). He looked just as mediocre as Evans did as on off-ball player. As a result, he went 40th overall I believe. The only time Stephenson played PG past HS/AAU was Summer League, and he steam rolled guards much the same way Evans has been doing. Stephenson hasn’t had the chances Evans has, and I’m not even saying he’s deserved to. We’ve all seen that Stephenson’s attitude and intangibles are terrible (it’s worth note that Tyreke Evans isn’t a guardian angel either though). He also has been playing too heavy, which is an indictment to his work ethic. And he struggled defending his position in training camp and preseason ball. Stephenson, to me, is not noticeably less talented than Tyreke Evans, but he also hasn’t had the same chances. Deservedly so or not. I hope he really is serious this time about growing up and work on his game, because I really think Stephenson can be a good player in the NBA. The potential is there and the talent definitely is too.

 I can easily see where Tuck is coming from. Tyreke Evans is obviously talented and he has some really nice moves, but something about him is very true. Evans has been VERY fortunate to land in the situations that he did with the Kings and Memphis. We all can remember that Evans was a mediocre player for Memphis before Coach Calipari moved him to the PG spot (just happens he was projected to go where Stephenson went in 2010 when he was playing SG). He basically was steamrolling guys to the cup, using his strength, handle and 1st step to overpower PG’s. He was so physically dominant that he went 4th to the Kings, a team with no standout scorer. Everybody knew that Evans was going to be the top scorer on the team, or a top scoring rookie. Ended up being both.

Situation matters. Stephenson played at Cincy, an NIT squad that played Stephenson at SG/SF all year (despite having a chubby SG in a PG’s body, Deonta Vaughn, playing PG. Go figure). He looked just as mediocre as Evans did as on off-ball player. As a result, he went 40th overall I believe. The only time Stephenson played PG past HS/AAU was Summer League, and he steam rolled guards much the same way Evans has been doing. Stephenson hasn’t had the chances Evans has, and I’m not even saying he’s deserved to. We’ve all seen that Stephenson’s attitude and intangibles are terrible (it’s worth note that Tyreke Evans isn’t a guardian angel either though). He also has been playing too heavy, which is an indictment to his work ethic. And he struggled defending his position in training camp and preseason ball. Stephenson, to me, is not noticeably less talented than Tyreke Evans, but he also hasn’t had the same chances. Deservedly so or not. I hope he really is serious this time about growing up and work on his game, because I really think Stephenson can be a good player in the NBA. The potential is there and the talent definitely is too.

 Thank you. That is exactly what I was trying to convey previously. On a team with no hope of winning and in need of pure scorer who could get you numbers, Stephenson coud have very well been the guy with the insane rookie year. Situations matter as Stephenson is proof of that. Personally I’d ike lance to earn that backup point guard spot and show people that he can manage to be a "PG" the same way evans can bulldogn’people to the basket.

 Thank you. That is exactly what I was trying to convey previously. On a team with no hope of winning and in need of pure scorer who could get you numbers, Stephenson coud have very well been the guy with the insane rookie year. Situations matter as Stephenson is proof of that. Personally I’d ike lance to earn that backup point guard spot and show people that he can manage to be a "PG" the same way evans can bulldogn’people to the basket.

"I can honestly see a poor mans Tyreke Evans."

I got bashed for this sh*t SMH so it’s now safe to say Reke? SHEESH

"I can honestly see a poor mans Tyreke Evans."

I got bashed for this sh*t SMH so it’s now safe to say Reke? SHEESH