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Steve Lavin on NBA Combine and Damion James

Posted by Trips Right on June 4th, 2009 under Basketball

A couple of interesting points made by the former UCLA head man.

First and foremost, and I agree with his assessment here, but he laments the new NBA combine format that focuses on individual drills and workouts instead of scrimmaging which places an emphasis on team skills and basketball IQ. I agree, and I feel that this format has allowed Damion to stay in the discussion as a draft eligible player. If James is forced to go up and down as a 3 in game situations against other 3’s in the draft pool, he’ll be exposed for what he is. A 3-4 tweener that can’t hunt his own shot. A player that needs to be surrounded by creators so he’s allowed to slash at defenders running at him and board over weak boarding 3’s. If your team needs a traditional scoring small forward, Damion’s not your guy.

I think Lavin sees that and his comments reflect that towards the end of the interview when he says that he thinks Damion needs to come back to Texas and show he’s not just a catch and shoot guy. Lavin also acknowledges that James fell in love with the perimeter and needs to go back to slashing to the goal showcasing his explosive athleticism. Where have we heard that before? And with all the creators on next year’s Texas squad, DJ will be able to do just that as a hybrid 4 surrounded by perimeter scoring threats like Bradley, Hamilton, Lucas, Balbay, and Ward. Add in one of the premier pivot men in the nation in Dexter Pittman, and Damion will enjoy a floor as open as the one he enjoyed as a freshman when he was flanked by Durant and Augustin. Kid needs to come back.

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17 Responses

  1. I’m shocked at how much I enjoy Slick Lavin as an analyst. Being a former Harrick assistant led me to assume he was a scumbag, but he’s certainly proven to be an objective and knowledgeable basketball commentator. Plus I just like calling him Slick, and because he made a joke about buying hair product during a broadcast.

    I wish DJ would understand how much success he could have next year with a dominant Dex and better perimeter players.

    At the same time, Trips, if he goes pro you won’t have to expend any more emotional energy wondering if he’ll finally get it. That would be a relief, wouldn’t it?

  2. You can be a good basketball commentator and a scumbag at the same time.

    I think DJ knows how great the team can be next year, and that is why he is considering coming back. I don’t think he can count on Mamula’ing somebody next year.

  3. You can be a good basketball commentator and a scumbag at the same time.

    That’s very unfair to Trips. He’s a great basketball commentator.

  4. EyesofSexas said:

    June 4th, 2009 at 10:03 am

    They don’t call him the Teflon Molestor for nothing. (Trips and Lavin)

  5. Agree with most of the comments here as well as the assessment of Lavin’s DJ analysis. But one thing piqued my interest…including Balbay in the conversation as a perimeter threat. Uh, no. Did he make even one jumpshot this past season? I love watching him drive and dish, but I hope Barnes has him in the gym shooting about 200 15 footers every day. If that guy develops a mid-range jumpshot, he’ll be deadly in the college game.

  6. Well played, HenryJames!

  7. I think Balbay is heading back to Turkey where he learned to play basketball without a goal.

  8. Facebook User said:

    June 4th, 2009 at 12:42 pm

    Balbay should take Ross Apo’s vacated schollie and become the Turkish Charles Woodson.

    @BryanBennett – Welcome to the Carnival. I suspect Trips means Balbay’s a “threat” (not a shooter) from the outside in that he can go right buy who ever is in front of him. We all realize he can’t throw it in the lake.

    Next year’s team should create more spread floors and true one-on-one match ups for our guys to exploit.

  9. Doge was 46 for 101 from the floor, or 46%. Only Dex and Damion shot better last year.

  10. Nordberg said:

    June 4th, 2009 at 2:54 pm

    Now there’s a bar bet I would have lost.

    46 field goals? Why can I only remember about seven.

  11. That’s only about 1.5 per game.

  12. GoHornsGo90 said:

    June 4th, 2009 at 3:41 pm

    Yay, 45 made layups and one luckbox 3 to 55 missed layups. Great shooting percentage…

  13. How many wide open jump shots did Doge pass up? Waiting for breakaway layups doesn’t make you a good shooter.

  14. Hey, I’m just sayin…
    Fwiw, Abrams was just shy of 40% from both 3pt land and overall. And the consensus is that AJ was “money.” That’s how awful we were shooting the rock last year.

  15. GoHornsGo90 said:

    June 6th, 2009 at 3:43 pm

    Yeah, and that percentage was a direct indicator of how we needed him to jack up horrible shots at the end of games just to stay in the game or get back in it.

  16. The wait on Damion is almost over. Monday is the 15th, the last day that he can declare for the draft.

    Last night I looked at several NBA draft projections on the web and only saw one NBA draft projection that had him going in the first round. All the others had him going in the second round or worse. My understanding is that Damion is not going to turn pro this year unless his contract is guaranteed. Working out a guaranteed contract is a lot tougher when you are a second round draft choice (for one thing, you don’t have a very good idea about who is going to draft you).

    It looks pretty promising for Damion to return to UT.

  17. Bob in Houston said:

    June 12th, 2009 at 9:19 am

    CJ Miles made a deal. Daniel Gibson made a deal. It’s possible.

    I’m just guessing, but it would be hard for me to make that jump without a place to land. But a ton of guys do it every year.

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