Gatens playing for Phoenix in summer league

[HawkPhreek]

Haluska was a way better finisher could get his own shot, and was way quicker than Gatens. I have always been a huge fan and defender of Gatens, but he is not pro material in the US and Haluska was a much more significant professional prospect.

 

[storminspank]

I do. Neither would make the NBA for their defense. They could defend in college but the NBA they won't be anything but average at best at defense.

Gatens was one of the best defenders in the B1G last year, regardless of the idiots who voted someone like Gasser over him for the all-defensive team.

 

[krkhawks]

Athletically it really is not close. Haluska was/is a superior athlete. I loved watching Matt this year. However, you have to be able to play defense in the association and I don't think Gatens can at that level. I'm not even sure offensively he can. Look at a guy like Kyle Korver. One of the best college players of his time/year. Makes a nice career for himself in the NBA and I would say athletically he is overmatched. Hence why he only plays 22 minutes a game. I realize he plays the SF position but athletically he can't hang. He is a sharp shooter and thats why he has a job. Do you think Gatens is even remotely close to the shooter Korver is? Do you really think Gatens could hang with a more athletic SG? I just don't see it. Like I said it was a joy to watch Matt this past year and wish him nothing but the best but I see his future in basketball overseas. Hopefully I have to eat crow because it would be great to see him in the NBA because he epitomizes effort.

 

[Tmoney12]

Athletically it really is not close. Haluska was/is a superior athlete. I loved watching Matt this year. However, you have to be able to play defense in the association and I don't think Gatens can at that level. I'm not even sure offensively he can. Look at a guy like Kyle Korver. One of the best college players of his time/year. Makes a nice career for himself in the NBA and I would say athletically he is overmatched. Hence why he only plays 22 minutes a game. I realize he plays the SF position but athletically he can't hang. He is a sharp shooter and thats why he has a job. Do you think Gatens is even remotely close to the shooter Korver is? Do you really think Gatens could hang with a more athletic SG? I just don't see it. Like I said it was a joy to watch Matt this past year and wish him nothing but the best but I see his future in basketball overseas. Hopefully I have to eat crow because it would be great to see him in the NBA because he epitomizes effort.

I think Gator is a better athlete then Korver but the rest is spot on... Gatens has a helluva work ethic so I bet he will pay his dues in the D league but no doubt he could make some good coin overseas.

 

[storminspank]

When guys like Kevin Jones, Jordan Taylor and Drew Gordon aren't drafted, that's says something about this year's draft.

 

[Wassabbe]

Your reading comprehension needs some work. I DO remember where those players spent their college days, but that's about it. The top of the draft was very good. The rest was pretty blah. In other words, top-heavy, which is the opposite of deep.

Pretty blah. You don't watch the NBA do you?

Al Horford is a solid player and one of the best bigs in the league
Mike Conley is the starting PG for one of the best teams in the West with a bright future. He was a better PG prospect than anyone in this years draft.
Noah is a top 10 (higher) center in the league
Spencer Hawes is a nice NBA center who is just getting better
Rodney Stuckey has had a very nice NBA career. People ask if Harrison Barnes can average 15 a game in the NBA and Stuckey has done that
Thadeus Young has been great. Any time you can have a guy average 16 and 7 from the 12th pick is good
Marc Gasol is one of the best big men in the league
Baby Davis is solid
Ramon Sessions is solid
Aaron Affalo

Do you see any Kevin Durant's in this draft? Maybe Davis? Otherwise there is no difference between that draft and this one. Pretty comparable. And long term I bet you'd take 2007 b/c the bigs in that class were goood.

 

[Wassabbe]

When guys like Kevin Jones, Jordan Taylor and Drew Gordon aren't drafted, that's says something about this year's draft.

Did anyone ever think Taylor was going to get drafted? He's not a great athlete, not quick, not an outstanding passer. He's not a great PG for NBA teams and he is small. Under 6'1 is not ideal

 

[Wassabbe]

Gatens was one of the best defenders in the B1G last year, regardless of the idiots who voted someone like Gasser over him for the all-defensive team.

No doubt. But defending in the Big 10 is not the same as defending in the NBa

 

[olivecourt]

I think we all love what Matt Gatens represents-- the return of Iowa from a terrible basketball abyss. He could have (and maybe should have) broken ties with the program at any point from his junior year of high school to his junior year in college. He didn't, which made the last two years much more fun to watch than they would have been otherwise, and set the table for what we all feel like is going to be a nice, multi-year run of success for the program. Some of his performances from last year will go down among my favorite Hawkeye games ever.

Clearly, Adam Haluska does not have that same rosy glow for Hawk fans anymore. It's hard not to think of him without thinking of Alford, Northwestern State, Pierre Pierce-- basically all of the things we'd rather forget. When you compare Haluska's and Gatens' senior years, the records were pretty similar (17-14 vs. 18-17), but the first one went over like a fart in church and the second one felt like an unexpected surprise.

Having said that, have you all (other than Wassabbe) lost your minds!?!?

Here is Adam Haluska's profile on DraftExpress:
DraftExpressProfile: Adam Haluska, Stats, Comparisons, and Outlook

Here is Matt Gatens':
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Matt-Gatens-19308/

There is just no way that this is up for any sort of rational debate. If Matt Gatens was a better pro prospect than Adam Haluska, he would have been treated as such by NBA GMs. He wasn't. Arguing back and forth about which draft class was deeper is irrelevant-- Haluska was being talked about seriously as a draft prospect during his junior year, before anyone knew how deep the following year's class would be. Gatens has never really been on the NBA radar.

Now, none of this means that Matt might not stick with a team shooting corner 3s. But that presupposes a lot of development between now and this coming NBA season. I really hope it happens, but if it did it would be a huge Cinderella story. Let's not pretend it equates at all to a guy who was drafted in the first half of the second round and actually earned money on an NBA contract, even if only briefly.

 

[Wassabbe]

I think we all love what Matt Gatens represents-- the return of Iowa from a terrible basketball abyss. He could have (and maybe should have) broken ties with the program at any point from his junior year of high school to his junior year in college. He didn't, which made the last two years much more fun to watch than they would have been otherwise, and set the table for what we all feel like is going to be a nice, multi-year run of success for the program. Some of his performances from last year will go down among my favorite Hawkeye games ever.

Clearly, Adam Haluska does not have that same rosy glow for Hawk fans anymore. It's hard not to think of him without thinking of Alford, Northwestern State, Pierre Pierce-- basically all of the things we'd rather forget. When you compare Haluska's and Gatens' senior years, the records were pretty similar (17-14 vs. 18-17), but the first one went over like a fart in church and the second one felt like an unexpected surprise.

Having said that, have you all (other than Wassabbe) lost your minds!?!?

Here is Adam Haluska's profile on DraftExpress:
DraftExpressProfile: Adam Haluska, Stats, Comparisons, and Outlook

Here is Matt Gatens':
DraftExpress - NBA Draft, NCAA/International Basketball Website.

There is just no way that this is up for any sort of rational debate. If Matt Gatens was a better pro prospect than Adam Haluska, he would have been treated as such by NBA GMs. He wasn't. Arguing back and forth about which draft class was deeper is irrelevant-- Haluska was being talked about seriously as a draft prospect during his junior year, before anyone knew how deep the following year's class would be. Gatens has never really been on the NBA radar.

Now, none of this means that Matt might not stick with a team shooting corner 3s. But that presupposes a lot of development between now and this coming NBA season. I really hope it happens, but if it did it would be a huge Cinderella story. Let's not pretend it equates at all to a guy who was drafted in the first half of the second round and actually earned money on an NBA contract, even if only briefly.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iky7tr_6Y4k]Boom goes the dynamite! (Not whole clip, just the one line) - YouTube[/ame]

I'm glad there are others on here that don't remember the most recent thing and forget the truth of the matter.

 

[ajk4st8]

Did anyone ever think Taylor was going to get drafted? He's not a great athlete, not quick, not an outstanding passer. He's not a great PG for NBA teams and he is small. Under 6'1 is not ideal

Agreed. A solid, slow it down, Big 10 type PG. Not close to the NBA type.