[dbaumParticipant]

Who will have a more successful career in the NBA?

Ben McLemore or Shabazz Muhammad?

[Meditated StatesParticipant]

I am going Ben. I think NBA teams will get him his shots. I think he will get it in transition too. He is no Ray Allen though. Ray handled it sick back in the day if you remember. I think Bazz will be good if he is in shape. Bazz is a guy I expect to score without plays ran for him. He will spot up and shoot from the corners. I think Ben has better distinct NBA advantages. I stand by Bazz being a better defensive player than offensive in the NBA. He will guard twos and threes one on one and will do it well. I hope he focuses on D.

[The Scare Crow RisesParticipant]

Haters gonna hate though lol

[Meditated StatesParticipant]

Being more explosive. Bazz scoring a lot means your team sucks. His team is best if he averages 10-15 a night.

[The Scare Crow RisesParticipant]

And I can see he, Holiday and Turner becoming a solid Trio alongside a Free Agent Pf or C

Calling it now , the 76ers will draft Shabazz, and they will start Holiday/Muhammad/Turner/Thad Young and free agent Center Al Jefferson or JJ Hickson at the beginning of the 2013/2014 season, Shabazz wins ROY and the 76ers finish near the bottom of the league standings, they get a top 7 pick in the stacked 2014 draft and select Aaron Gordon or Noah Vonleh…

[jwostrumParticipant]

im with you man, I hope the sixers get shabazz. I am a huge fan of his game and a huge sixers fan.

[hotrod_matthews]

Shabaaz will be something special for the team that drafts him. Explosion doesnt determine talent. He profected his offensive game I can see him averaging 15-18 points per game. Ben disappears sometines.

[B-ball fanParticipant]

Ben McLemore, in my opinion. Each have limited shot creating abilities, but McLemore is the better shooter, is more athletic, and plays much better within his team’s offense. He also plays better defense. McLemore just does much less wrong on the court.

[SnowtaParticipant]

Mclemore, as long as Elijah Johnson doesn’t somehow end up on the same team as him…

[omphalosParticipant]

Ben seems restricted in his creativity, his “ability to move off the ball” came from a year spent on the sidelines learning Self’s tightly controlled offence; he won’t have that luxury in the NBA, and he doesn’t have the assertiveness to be a star.

While from a skill standpoint McLemore is a better shooter and more athletic, his understanding of the game isn’t there with Bazz. Muhammad has a great understanding of moving off the ball, he is aggressive offensively and isn’t going to disappear in big games – he might stink it up, but he’ll be highly visible while doing so.

I’m just praying that Bazz goes to Charlotte; that’s a team that needs a guy like Bazz, and someone Jordan might actually be able to relate to, not these soft, uncaring players he’s got on the team at the moment (outside of Kemba and MKG).

Bazz will have the better career, even if his draft stock isn’t as high. To me, this is just like the Drummond vs Davis debate in last year’s draft. Drummond was unfairly criticised for his play in college and thrived in the pro game, Davis was way overhyped and has played well, certainly, but the difference between them isn’t so much a gulf as it is a gap. The same can be said for McLemore vs Bazz; on paper McLemore is superior, but Bazz will pull through if he doesn’t end up in a Beasley situation where he’s immediately the 2nd fiddle.

It all comes down to the combine as far as who gets drafted where. McLemore is recognised as the better athlete right now, and rightfully so, but Bazz is going to be spending a LOT of time shoring up his athletic weaknesses, and if Blake Griffin teaches you anything, it’s that with hard work you can transform your athleticism and take it to the next level. Seriously, look at Griffin in high school, he was nothing special athletically, but he turned it around through hard work – something Bazz is no stranger to.

Still, the Bazz vs McLemore debate is going to be a fun one over the next year.

[Ghost01Participant]

Bazz has an understanding of how to take shots, but that’s about it. Sure McLemore needs to be more assertive, but to say he doesn’t understand the game like Shabazz is just silly. Shabazz is a bonafide ball hog and seems like a pretty selfish player. Not seeing a whole lot of understanding.

[omphalosParticipant]

Nerlens Noel has an understanding of how to block shots, but that’s it. What’s your point? Bazz is a scorer and not much else, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

[Ghost01Participant]

A. Noel is a good one on one defender, and is a pretty good passer. He also is being viewed as an offensively raw player.

B. I don’t think he is as good as most would claim.

But yes, if you are only good at one thing, usually you go to a bad lottery team, do that one thing, and the team never gets better.

[313LOUDParticipant]

I don’t think the problem is so much on the court physically, but mentally. If Ben had a little bit of Shabazz’s effort and killer mentality he would be a lock franchise player. I’m not sure and I kind of don’t trust him. So I say they have similiar careers, borderline/almost perennial allstars.

[ThepessimestParticipant]

I see some people talking about Shabazz like he hasn’t played a college game. What we learned about Shabazz is that he absolutely cannot go right…does not pass the ball very well or often and defensively does not compete consistently. He does attack the offensive glass (because he wants to score) and has demonstrated a surprisingly nice jump shot.

The troubling thing about Bazz is that Shabazz absolutely cannot create a shot for himself. He has no wiggle or any type of dribble move to clear space. It’s all “bully” basketball and numerous forced shots.

McLemore has a smooth game. He let’s the game come to him which can be seen as someone who is passive or for those watching at home as someone who plays with 3 seniors. His handle, while not advanced is a lot better than Bazz’s as he is able to go to his off hand. His jump is really nice and he competes defensively.

I am not a big fan of Shabazz the player and I personally feel his dad has created a sense of entitlement and selfishness by his actions. I worry how he can help a team if every play is not run for him.

[omphalosParticipant]

He had his best game of the tournament the game they lost, but he still didn’t take a single shot in overtime as far as I could tell. He didn’t even get near the ball, and for the #1 prospect to not touch the ball in overtime in COLLEGE… I don’t know, I don’t see how he’ll make it in the NBA.

NBA players aren’t going to just give him the ball, they are all fighting for pay checks and contracts themselves, if he doesn’t assert himself, he’ll be out of the league.

Bazz does compete defensively, he just doesn’t gamble; he doesn’t foul often because he knows that will keep him out of the game. He might not be a disruptive defender, but he’s certainly not a liability, and I’d prefer my star player be capable of defending without fouling and not getting torched than having better steals and blocks numbers.

Also, I haven’t seen anything from McLemore that separates him from Bazz in terms of creating his own shot.

[JoeWolf1]

But Ben defends without or being careless fouling too and creates transition opportunities through steals and blocks. I think your analysis of Bazz’s defense is spot on, but I don’t know why you’d prefer less disruption on the defensive end. That’s fine if you prefer Shabazz’s offensive mentality, but hands down Ben will be a better pro defender.

[Wahoo757Participant]

Shabazz. Sometimes it’s not always necessarily about talent, it’s about who has more of a killer instinct. It’s clear Shabazz has it, while Ben doesn’t.

[HuRRiCaNeS324Participant]

sorry to say this, but i feel sorry for whoever gets shabazz. i know it sounds ruthless, but this guy is HORRENDOUS teammate and plays with such a horrible mentality. he really thinks he is a superstar, but he just an average all around player. yea he can score, but does he do it efficiently? not really… doesn’t pass it to teammates no matter what the situation may be….. he can’t defend….. he somehow already loss some athleticism…. he can’t create a shot…… i mean i can keep going lol. i’m honestly going to feel sorry for that team that selects him.

hope he goes to the kings so he can play with the rest of those selfish players. can’t have more teams being contaminated with that type of play.

[lalailaParticipant]

if there wasn’t no media, i wouldn’t know why to take 6’5 200 SG over 6’6 super-long arms 230 SG with the same abilities

[lockdownD]

Fortunately enough, there is TV and we can watch games, actually look at players.
.
i wanted to stay out of this thread because I’ve already spoken my mind on Shabazz numerous of times, but how do they have the same ability?
Because both struggle to create their own ISO shot and like to spot up? I don’t see Bazz’s catch and shoot game being as effective as Mclemore. Bazz is not as effective off curls as Mclemore, and it has something to do with speed and first step more so than actual shooting touch, Bmac will also be a great threat in fast break threes.
I
.
All the buckets that Mclemore gets in college are straight ‘NBA points’, meaning they translate perfect to the NBA. A lot of bazz scoring DOES NOT TRANSALATE, all those forced left drives will not fly in the NBA (he is not Harden who can abuse going left because he has the best change of direction in the entire NBA, off the dribble; a lot of those close range floaters will get blocked, his post scoring would be a nice asset at the SG position but I personally believe he will end up playing small ball 3 where his post up game would be almost useless, -He could end up playing SG, matter fact if I thought he was capable of defending NBA 2’s I would have him pegged as a SG like Dipo, but not only is his offense more of a fit at the 3, his defensive abilities are also more capable there.

I can keep going but I’ll stop here. #If I need a two I take Bmac, If I need a three I take Porter.

[Meditated StatesParticipant]

If some of you actually scouted Shabazz. Things being said are laughable. Sounds like you overrate him.

[imblue87Participant]

Used to think Bazz would be something special, but after watching his season sputtered (granted he still got his share of points, but he did pretty much nothing else), I don’t have high expectation for him anymore. His game is still rough and based mostly on bully points, so he will need a lot of fine tunings in his game to be an effective scorer in NBA. He also needs to get in shape as he does not look like the athlete he used to be in HS. If all things click though, I see him as a Nick Young type of a player who can score in a bunch when your team needs it, but with more effort on both ends. Maybe 20ppg scorer, but highly doubtful.

Don’t have much expectation for McLemore either. Shabazz at least knows how to create his shot in college level, although it will be tough for him to do that in NBA. McLemore is along the line of Ray Allen or Rip Hamilton in that he feeds off of good passes from another facilitator. That is indeed a good quality to survive in NBA, I just don’t think he’s a franchise player type. Plus he was pretty abysmal in March Madness. Yeah he was a frosh who was supposed to defer to seniors, but if you really are the best player in that team, no matter the age you are supposed to take over the game when it matters. If he can learn how to create his own shot though, he will be pretty potent player.

All in all, I don’t see that much greatness in both players. If all things go as expected, I see a slightly better career in Shabazz, but not by much.

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