What does Warriors drafting of Klay Thompson at #11 mean for Cal's Allen Crabbe?
by concordtom on Jun 24, 2011 6:49 AM PDT
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PrintWhile reading the news of the Warriors draft pick just now, the thought of this being a bad omen for Cal Basketball crossed my mind. I mean, lots of people have tabbed Allen Crabbe as a young version of Klay Thompson. They have similar height, physical builds, and pure shooting motions that often hit nothing but net from deep.
Thompson expanded his offensive tool belt this past season at Washington State by showing off an ability to drive the lane to score, rather than just hit outside jumpers as he did his first season, as Crabbe did for Cal in his freshman season.
But, there are things that Thompson lacks, it's been said, to be a top NBA draft pick: primarily, overall strength and defense. Banish the thought! Thompson was picked ELEVENTH!
Could Thompson's lottery draft status impact Crabbe's decision to stick around? How will Thompson's local presence and success, or lack thereof, affect Crabbe's thinking in April of 2012, or even 2013? I mean, selfishly, we don't want Crabbe to be thinking about the NBA until 2014, right?!?!!! She we quietly be rooting against any Thompson-Warriors success the next 2 seasons?
And what exactly must Coach Montgomery be thinking about this all as it relates to his recruiting picture. Lose Crabbe and you gotta have someone to fill. Should we secretly be glad that Alex Rossi had to (injury) redshirt his freshman season? Should we be thinking about Crabbe replacing recruits already, even though he still has 3 years of eligibility left?
Alas, for basketball junkies like me, November can't arrive soon enough!
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After watching him continually improve, and become the centerpoint of the offense many times last year, I started expecting him to be a two-and-gone about halfway through the season.
Enjoy next year, but don’t expect more.
"Thanks. Go Bears!" - Ernest Owusu: the next great Cal DE
If he is a two and done
and the Bulls don’t pull of a major trade for a two guard, I can’t imagine him slipping past Chicago (via Charlotte’s pick). Particularly, if he improves his dribble and creating for othes off the drive. Good shooting, good rebounder, long, he should blend well with Thib’s defensive system. Of course, there is a whole lot of speculation wrapped up in the previos sentences.
I hope he's that good this year...
….and I hope he stays for three years.
I’m not a basketball junkie so I don’t know how good you HAVE to be to enter the draft early. My gut tells me he’d have to show a fair amount of improvement this year to go high enough to make that decision “worth it” (by which I mean go high enough to make enough money that it makes sense to forgo one more year where you could raise your draft stock). I’d LOVE to see him be that good, but I’m not counting on it yet.
I'd like to smell the Roses before I die.
While I agree with the sentiment you have, recent events prove that sometimes kids make choices that aren’t entirely based in reality. A perfect example are Uclol’s Tyler Honeycutt & Malcolm Lee. Both guys figured they’d do well in the draft only to not live up to their (or their “advisors’”) expectations.
Perhaps Allen will see their experience as a cautionary tale and stay for at least three years to hone his game and give himself a better chance at a high-draft spot. That would certainly be nice.
"Thanks. Go Bears!" - Ernest Owusu: the next great Cal DE
Good point
Honeycutt and Lee went in the 2nd round: 35th and 43rd picks overall, respectively.
Since Crabbe no doubt knows those guys, perhaps better than he knows Thompson b/c of the L.A. connection, he will surely be considering their experience, too.
Well, judging by both Justin Cobb’s twitter, both are wanting to be in next years draft…
no bear, no care
In Cobbe's case,
that’s a pure dream at this point. He played enough at the U of Minn to score 2.1 pts per game and then transfer. Besides, look at his size, 6’3". Smaller guards don’t make it unless their ROCK.
I also dreamed of the NBA.
6’3" is small for a PG? Also isn’t Kyrie Irving 6’2"?
California Golden Bears: 2nd place is nothing to sneeze at!
by atomsareenough on Jun 25, 2011 7:12 AM PDT up reply actions
Precisely.
And Kyrie Irving (apparently) ROCKS.
I say “apparently” because I hardly got to see him. Nobody did. He was injured most of the year – but still showed well enough to be drafted #1. If Cobbe was anywhere near this level, he would have been a big time name out of high school, and been a star at the U of Minn.
This is not a slam on Cobbe. He is awesome to be where he is. It’s just that the NBA level is SO much higher, especially for guys of fairly common height.
Cobbe will have his chance to shine, no doubt. I wish him nothing but the best and hope his dream comes true.
6’3 is big for an NBA point guard. However, height is not the only thing that makes a player “big”. Length and weight/strength also matter. For instance, Rondo is only 6’1 and skinny, but nobody calls him small because he has freakish length that basically makes him a big PG. 6’1 is about average for a PG, but again, you also have to take length and strength/weight into account…
by Missing Barry on Jun 27, 2011 10:44 AM PDT up reply actions
Do we know much about Cobbs’ length/strength/hops to properly assess his 6’3" bigness?
California Golden Bears: 2nd place is nothing to sneeze at!
by atomsareenough on Jun 27, 2011 12:50 PM PDT up reply actions
Well, I dunno what you guys know, but I know absolutely nothing about Cobbs at all.
by Missing Barry on Jun 27, 2011 2:58 PM PDT up reply actions
Klay is an interesting comparison for Crabbe. Crabbe’s freshman year was better than Thompson’s, but Klay was playing Bennett ball, so I don’t know how valuable the comparison is. Looks like Allen is a better rebounder, but Thompson was a better passer. Dunno how best to compare the defense, but Allen certainly has the time to improve.
The #1 greatest threat to America: BEARS
Unless they both plan on being 2nd round picks
They will return for their junior seasons. Next year’s draft is loaded with talented point guards and wings, and we’re not even talking about the foreign influx.
Crabbe would have to make drastic leaps, and Cobbs would need to leap out of the park. I think reality will set in for them halfway through the season, so let’s not think too much about it.
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by Avinash Kunnath on Jun 24, 2011 1:28 PM PDT reply actions
*Unless they both plan on being 2nd round picks (AT BEST; they could go undrafted)
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by Avinash Kunnath on Jun 24, 2011 1:30 PM PDT up reply actions
Corrected
Like that guy fromStanfordstanfurd!
Why do constantly misspell stanfurd?
"Thanks. Go Bears!" - Ernest Owusu: the next great Cal DE
I don't see Crabbe going undrafted unless he regresses
Cobbs has no chance until his senior year.
Adopted Giant: Ryan Verdugo. The next Javier Lopez.
goldenbearlair.com
Hard to say
He might go 2nd round. So many good players held back from committing to this year’s draft because they were concerned about the lockout. He was a step behind them last year, he’ll be a step behind them this year.
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by Avinash Kunnath on Jun 25, 2011 1:33 AM PDT up reply actions
Would Crabbe have to make drastic leaps, though? He was one of the best players in the freshman class. If he builds on that next season, people are going to start to notice. Entering the draft as one of the best sophomores in the nation is a pretty good thing, even for a prospect that doesn’t have a sky-high ceiling…..
by Missing Barry on Jun 27, 2011 10:39 AM PDT up reply actions
It really does depends on how Klay Thompson do in the NBA
to see whether Allen Crabbe would be considered a NBA prospect. Jerry West fell in love with Klay and that why the Warriors reached for him that early (plus this year is a weak draft). Of course, if the lockout kills the season (very unlikely that the entire season will be killed, probably just shortened…not that that’s what us NBA fans want) and Klay Thompson is not really exposed as a bust before Crabbe has the decision to make about going pro…
by LEastCoastBears on Jun 24, 2011 7:43 PM PDT reply actions
Okay, I’ll go with this:
Crabbe will not enter the draft after his soph year for at least 2 reasons:
1) he won’t be polished enough – grown into his body enough just yet. Needs to get stronger in many facets of his game, and that is going to take longer than 1 more year, just looking at him, having watched him play.
2) the draft is going to be deeper.
That means that he would do it after his junior year at the earliest. And if he doesn’t, then we get him for all 4.
Eh, it’s ok to not be polished enough, as long as you’re young. The NBA draft is largely based on potential, rather than what a player is in the present. I also don’t think you should necessarily expect the draft to be deeper. It appears to be better, but that’s mostly because there’s a lot more top talent, but a number of people thought this past years draft actually had some good value in the later half of the first round because there was some depth, even if the top talent was lacking.
by Missing Barry on Jun 27, 2011 10:34 AM PDT up reply actions
It's not a good comp quite yet
Thompson was the absolute MAN last year. I don’t know if you watched the U-Dub game in the P-10 tournament, but Thompson set a record for tournament scoring and was absolutely dominant. Crabbe is not that player quite yet, but he certainly has the potential. The handle and stroke are not at Thompson’s level but could easily get there.
Adopted Giant: Ryan Verdugo. The next Javier Lopez.
goldenbearlair.com
I think there are a couple of points that need to be considered. First, players tend to make fairly big leaps from freshman to sophomore year, so we shouldn’t just assume what we’ve seen from Crabbe so far is close to what he’ll be showing by the end of next season (when he’s making this decision). Second, age matters in the NBA draft, and it matters a lot. Teams don’t just take the player who is better on an absolute level. They will often take a younger player who is not currently as good, because he projects to be a better NBA player in the future.
by Missing Barry on Jun 27, 2011 10:32 AM PDT up reply actions
I suspect he will not be around for four years
However, I do think he’s good for three. He’s quite a similar prospect to Thompson, maybe with a bit more pure athleticism but less height. Shooting guards don’t generally get picked in their sophomore seasons unless they have extraordinary marks in one or both of those categories. It’s by far the most dime-a-dozen position in the NBA and the competition for SG draft slots is intense. Teams can and will wait for guys to prove that they’re the best of the college crop before they feel a need to bring them into the NBA.
Crabbe’s quite smart by all accounts, so I don’t think he’s going anywhere until and unless he gets good information that he’s a first-round lock. Right now he’s not really on the radar screen of the NBA, though he may draw more attention if Cal is at or near the top of the conference again next year.
Final side note: LOL Warriors. Seriously, don’t ever change. Clearly what that team needs is another offense-first shooting guard.
"We don't want our people to be preoccupied with seminude, crazy men jumping up and down who are chasing an inflated object," said Sheik Mohamed Osman Arus, head of operations for the Hizbul Islam insurgent group.
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