Blake is the next John Stockton!!

[BCS:BraveCaringSoul]

http://www.nbadraft.net/profiles/steveblake.htm

This may have been written by Blakes agent or mother, but as a former Terp, it sure has me excited.


Strengths: Blake is built like one of the characters out of a Charles Dickens novel. He belongs in Fagan's band of thieves. He is tall, lean and has the long arms to be an effective thief whether on the streets of London or in the ACC. Lets just say he will rob even the top point guards in the nation blind when he's playing the type of D he is capable of. Is quite frankly not ever beat on defense. Very quick player on offense and defense. Will beat almost anyone off the dribble. Fast as lightning in transition. Will throw nifty full-court passes with accuracy and generally excels in an uptempo setting. Can get his shot off on anyone due to his quickness and ball-handling ability. Is an expert in schoolyard techniques, such as blowing by his man with gusto and throwing a sick alley-oop to one of his big men. Plays with confidence and is simply fearless in key situations. A four-year starter at one of the top Division 1 programs in the nations. Simply put a tremendous competitor.

Weaknesses: Still needs to prove he can score consistently. Has scored well in key games but at times struggles with his shot. Needs to use his quickness more on drives and learn to finish better. At times can try to be flashy and force a pass in key parts of the games. Seems to be a quiet kid on the court and drives his coach crazy at times with his calm demeanor. In terms of his frame, he needs to gain strength and bulk. However, his scrappiness and relentless defense makes up for a lot of his lack of bulk. Notes: Blake led his three high schools to numerous championships. As a starting point guard on Miami Senior High School, he led the Stingarees to a phenomenal season. Miami was generally regarded as the top high school squad in the nation.

-David Gottlieb, Boston Prep Basketball

Has the same leadership skills as one of the top PG's of all time, John Stockton. Not blessed with the same physical gifts as some of the other top points but makes up for it with intelligence and gusto. Has good quickness and amazing court vision. Needs to put some meat on them bones, has a very bright future. Needs to look for his own shot more often.

[jbooma]

BallCoach hold your horses there :)

I love your penguin pic, where did you get it?

[AJWatson3]

he definitely needs to be locked in the weight room for a few months before the season...

[Golgo-13]

We wouldn't be looking at the world through turtle-shell colored glasses now would we?

[AJWatson3]

it is a bit of an absurd statement isn't it?

[Skins26]

Sounds good to me. I think he will be able to get the ball to Kwame and give Kwame a better chance to score easy buckets. Unlike Tyron Lue who enjoys staring down Kwame before passing it to him almost to say its coming Kwame. Therefore Kwame has to beat his guy to score every time. With Blake i think he'll be able to hit him while he's cutting or oop it up to him give him quick little easy points.

[AJWatson3]

blake is definitely an upgrade over Lue... and easy baskets will help Kwame's confidence grow.. something he really struggled with last year-- no thanks to Jordan!

[The Sir]

Blake is not an upgrade over Lue, trust me on that.

I dont know why Blake was rated higher than florida's Justin Hamilton. Blake can pass a little better. I like hamilton's shot more. I think hamilton has better defense. They have pretty similar games but I think Hamilton is just the better player. Whoever brings him in is getting a steal. Im sure he'll make a roster just because of his defensive ability.

[luckydevil]

"Blake can pass a little better"

a lot better

[mhd24]

I really don't understand all of the love for Blake. I am a die-hard Terps fan, but realistically I don't think Blake will ever turn into a true NBA player. Do you guys really think he could guard the likes of Stephon Marbury and Steve Francis? Blake is a winner, but with the selection of Dixon last year, and Blake this year, it seems the Wizards are more interested in Marketing then winning.

I think I sounded akward there, I meant to say that although Blake has won at college and been a very good college player, I doubt he ever becomes a great NBA player.

[Newera]

Blake is a lot better player then people realize. And, it's the shrewd person that truly realizes his worth. Doc Rivers called him the sleeper of the draft.

No, he's not your prototypical player. But he is a winner. In fact, his four years as the starting point guard is the most successful four years in Maryland Basketball history in terms of wins. That's say's a lot considering all the great players that have been through that university.

He also is a part of the only National Championship team in Maryland history. Blake also won the state championship his senior year in high school. The dude wins.

Two sweet sixteens, two final fours and one National Championship. And, actually a jumper away from going to the final eight this year.

Though Hinrich went higher, Blake had a better career then Hinrich. Plus, he torched him during their work out. The dude is the only player in ACC history to score 1,000 points, 800 assists, 400 rebounds and 200 steals in arguably the best conference in basketball. That's sick.

Here's the most important point: Jordan was the coach for the Sac Kings four years ago before being fired. He was fired the year before they traded for Webber. However, Jordan did have one year to work with Pete Carrill the former coach of Princeton.

The Kings run the Princeton offense made famous by Carrill. Jordan had a year to learn the offense. Then Jordan became an assistant with the Nets. His first year there they tried running the Princeton offense with Marbury to no avail. The problem is that Marbury is a shoot first pass second point. He doesn't necessarily make the players around him better. Blake does.

So what did the Nets do?

They make one trade for Jason Kidd and the rest is history. Kidd is the best passing point guard in basketball today.

Jordan realizes the value of having a great passing point guard to run his Princeton style offense. Is Blake Jason Kidd? Of course not. However, he is the best passing point guard in the draft. Oh by the way, two players who will flourish in this offense are Dixon, Stack and Laitner. Laitner simply because he's the Wizards best passing big man. And their best shooting big man.

Blake will be an effective point guard with talented scorers around him. For instance, there was talk that Cleveland might take him at 31. They didn't. Black would flourish with guys like Lebron, Miles, Wagner, etc. He would just be dishing and shooting three's.

Blake will be nice. He pushes tempo, can pass, he's gritty, plays well under pressure, can knock down three's, and simply better then he looks. He will improve as a pro. This Wizards team is going to be an uptempo team. They will run and run.

Great pick for this team and this offense.

He does have a chance to be the next Stockton. He does has a lot of the same characteristics.

NewEra

[AJWatson3]

didn't i just read that in another thread?

i think blake is a good player, don't know if he can excel in the nba... but for what the bullets needed he was a smart pick in the second round.

just because doc rivers said he was the sleeper of the draft doesn't mean that he was as steal or anything. i don't really understand why a coach would make a statement before the draft... it just doesn't make sense-- unless they had no intention of drafting him. so i don't get it.

and while he won in college it doesn't mean **** in the pros... remember he had a lot of talent around him.

[BCS:BraveCaringSoul]

Originally posted by jbooma
BallCoach hold your horses there :)

I love your penguin pic, where did you get it?

http://www.onbereikbaar.nl/pinguin.gif

[Gamebreaker]

I agree that Blake can run Jordan's offense effectively, but he was not the best guard at passing in the draft. The honor goes to T.J. Ford.

[AJWatson3]

gonna have to agree with that... ford is a special PG.

[BCS:BraveCaringSoul]

Interesting article on Blake from the archives.






http://www.sunspot.net/sports/bal-sp.blake24jun24,0,1104845.story?coll=bal-sports-headlines
In NBA draft, ex-Terp Blake looks like long-shot selection
Scouts say point guard could go in second round





By A Sun Staff Writer

June 24, 2003

Steve Blake spent four seasons running the Maryland offense as a starting point guard, became the school's all-time assists leader, led the Atlantic Coast Conference in three-point shooting as a senior and helped the Terrapins win their first NCAA championship a year earlier.

How will that translate at the professional level, where Blake intends to make his next mark in the NBA, starting with Thursday's draft?

In NBA circles, where he has been busily working out for individual teams throughout this month, Blake is considered an on-the-bubble prospect who could be taken in the second round or go undrafted and later sign as a rookie free agent.

League personnel types like Blake's ability to handle the ball, shoot from the outside, defend, make shots in the clutch and keep his teammates involved. They still wonder about his ability to penetrate, create shots off the dribble and break down quicker NBA defenses. They say he is tough enough, but remain uncertain if he is athletic and strong enough to survive and thrive with the big boys.

Still, Blake is viewed as the ex-Terp most likely to hear his name called on draft night or at least stick on an NBA roster eventually as a free agent. The consensus among pro personnel departments appears to be that Maryland guard Drew Nicholas and forwards Tahj Holden and Ryan Randle probably will end up pursuing careers in Europe, with Nicholas having an outside shot at landing in the NBA because of his exceptional shooting range.

"I think [Blake] has impacted winning at the highest level of college basketball, and that means something at this level," said one NBA scout. "He's a smart player who can lead a team. He's underrated defensively, and he has improved his shot.

"The problem is, when he penetrates, he doesn't get deep penetration and finish as well as some of the other [point guards] in our league. All it takes is one team to like you. My guess is that he's draftable. I think it's 50-50 whether he's on a roster next year."

Blake, 6 feet 3, who ranks fifth in NCAA history with 972 career assists, also is Maryland's all-time leader in games started (136) and minutes played (4,312) and is the only player in ACC history to amass more than 1,000 points, 800 assists, 400 rebounds and 200 steals.

He has worked out for nearly a dozen NBA teams, although he did not play in either pre-draft camps in Portsmouth, Va., or Chicago. Blake passed on the former in April and skipped the recent Chicago camp because of a minor knee sprain he suffered in a pickup game.

In a draft in which at least a dozen point guards could be taken - led by Texas' T.J. Ford and Oregon's Luke Ridnour - it's seen as a detriment that Blake missed both camps. Boston College point guard Troy Bell, for example, supposedly improved his stock significantly with a superb showing at the Chicago camp.

"It's a very deep draft, with a lot of point guards, and a lot of teams would rather take a 6-10 guy in the second round instead of a 6-3 guy," one NBA scout said. "There are good college guards, but I'm not sure too many people think [Blake] is a pro guard. I think he really hurt himself by not playing in the camps."

Joel Bell, Blake's agent, said Blake has turned heads at his individual workouts for teams that have included the Memphis Grizzlies, Cleveland Cavaliers, New Jersey Nets, Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Lakers.

"No one has questioned his shooting, except to say he shoots better than they thought," said Bell, who declined to make Blake available for an interview. "He will hit big shots in the fourth quarter. Put Steve Blake in a competitive situation, and he will win. You can't ignore his track record. The guy wins."

Blake spent most of his first three years at Maryland mainly setting up others - such as Juan Dixon, Lonny Baxter, Chris Wilcox and Terence Morris - to score. With Blake at the controls of the offense, the Terps made back-to-back appearances in the Final Four.

As a senior, Blake led the ACC in assists for the third straight year and earned first-team all-conference honors for the first time after also assuming a considerable portion of scoring responsibility. He finished Maryland's 21-10 season with a career-high average of 11.6 points a game. He also led the Terps with 50 steals.

Nicholas, who rode the bench behind Dixon for three years before taking over as a starting shooting guard last season, made the most of his chance to star as a senior. He led the Terps and finished second in the ACC in scoring average (17.8) and improved his average by 10.7 - most in the league - over his previous season.

At 6-3, Nicholas drove to the basket enough to get to the foul line more than any other Terp last season. He also has played a considerable amount at the point during his career.

The NBA likes Nicholas' range, which he put on display twice in March. He made a game-winning shot just before the buzzer to beat North Carolina State late in the regular season. Three weeks later, he made a desperation shot at the buzzer that allowed the Terps to avoid a first-round NCAA tournament exit against UNC-Wilmington. Both shots were well beyond the NBA three-point line.

But there are doubts about his ability to handle a point-guard role in the pros and how well he would adapt to shooting guard with a slight, 165-pound frame. After scoring 29 points in three games at the Portsmouth camp, Nicholas was not invited to Chicago.

Nicholas, who has worked out for the Denver Nuggets, Miami and Orlando and said he is considering offers from Italy and Spain, does not sound worried about his future.

"At the end of the day, [the NBA] always needs shooters. A lot of times it depends on the team you're with and the offense you're in. If I get enough minutes, I'm going to put points on the board," said Nicholas, who shot 41 percent from three-point range last season.

"I'm a pretty realistic person. Someone will be smart enough to take a shot at me. I'm still going to be playing basketball somewhere, and probably making very good money doing it."


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