Battle. Our best player since...

[orangepassion]

Carmelo? So darn clutch and reliable

 

[NineOneSeven]

Let's not go crazy here

 

[SoBeCuse]

Best since senior Gbinijie.

 

[JOC44]

Rakeem Christmas

 

[orangepassion]

Let's not go crazy here

Too late

 

[pearl31]

Best since senior Gbinijie.

yep

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Dave Bing. Maybe.

 

[br801]

Carmelo? So darn clutch and reliable

He will be our most impactful NBA player since Carmelo.

 

[pearl31]

He will be our most impactful NBA player since Carmelo.

prolly - but Dion is sayin something about that

 

[moqui]

Best since senior Gbinijie.

correct . . . but his story is still being written

 

[SoBeCuse]

correct . . . but his story is still being written

Indeed. Battle is a scorer...so far. Gbinijie did damn near everything for that team and did it all well that year.

 

[br801]

prolly - but Dion is sayin something about that

He's still developing of course, but I just think Battle will be a better defender and much more efficient scorer than Dion at the next level.

 

[billsin01]

prolly - but Dion is sayin something about that

I agree. I actually think he's our most impactful player -- in terms of being the most difficult to stop -- since Dion. It's hard to argue whether Rak or Battle is a 'better' player because they are so different. Even G is a different player. But Battle, as a scorer and one-on-one force, is the best since Dion, IMO.

 

[Trueblue25]

Will be our best since Melo and i’ll stand by that allll season

 

[Jeremy L.]

He has the ability to take over a game like Silent G or Rak. Has Dion Waiters type potential.

 

[orangepassion]

I agree. I actually think he's our most impactful player -- in terms of being the most difficult to stop -- since Dion. It's hard to argue whether Rak or Battle is a 'better' player because they are so different. Even G is a different player. But Battle, as a scorer and one-on-one force, is the best since Dion, IMO.

Think he has been more consistent than Dion, particularly shooting from outside.

 

[Dave85]

He's been very consistent. I love his attitude about playing well through the pain of his injury. The kid is a total baller. I am not going to say he's equal to Carmelo but he has the potential to be equal. And just saying that is HUGE in my mind. If you remember the early games in 2003 you might be able to argue Battle is doing a little better. But Carmelo was just freshmen at that point. I don't think you can make the comparison just yet.

Battle has some work to do before he achieves legendary Orange status.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Battle’s better than Dion, but thought Gbinije was a better college player than Dion as well.

 

[OttoMets]

Best since senior Gbinijie.

Gbinije's production as a senior was extraordinary, but he was essentially an excellent shooter who'd learned how to handle the ball adequately. Battle is so much more skilled - much better at both getting to the rim and finishing (with both hands), more natural ball-handler and distributor, and in my opinion a higher basketball IQ (that pass to Dolezaj was a thing of beauty...and to digress, it's fun to have two players on the floor with that savvy when we've gone years without having even one).

Waaaaay too early to start handing out awards, but Battle looks as well-rounded as anyone since Dion and our starting guards look as capable as any since the backcourt his last year. Though it still looks like we've got no point guard (which will cost some games and probably end the season), we've got two guards with enough skills to score and find others ways to score. Really like this pair.

 

[CusefanATL]

Carmelo? So darn clutch and reliable

Sophomore Melo wins the NCAA title with this team

 

[rrlbees]

Gbinije's production as a senior was extraordinary, but he was essentially an excellent shooter who'd learned how to handle the ball adequately. Battle is so much more skilled - much better at both getting to the rim and finishing (with both hands), more natural ball-handler and distributor, and in my opinion a higher basketball IQ (that pass to Dolezaj was a thing of beauty...and to digress, it's fun to have two players on the floor with that savvy when we've gone years without having even one).

Waaaaay too early to start handing out awards, but Battle looks as well-rounded as anyone since Dion and our starting guards look as capable as any since the backcourt his last year. Though it still looks like we've got no point guard (which will cost some games and probably end the season), we've got two guards with enough skills to score and find others ways to score. Really like this pair.

Why do you think we have no PG? 10 assts says PG to me. He’s the leader out there, gets the young guys in the right spots when needed, and has done well getting the ball inside. I think people see his improved shooting/scoring and think 2G. But he’s done just fine as a real PG.

 

[CraigForth]

Battle has the ability to score way more than he does, he defers and tries to get his teammates involved. I think Battle is significantly better - or at least has significantly higher upside. I can't knock Gbinije, he was a great college player.

 

[Trueblue25]

Dion played on one of our best teams ever. We’ll never know how good he could’ve been as a college player because we never needed him to be a 20 ppg player.

 

[OttoMets]

Why do you think we have no PG? 10 assts says PG to me. He’s the leader out there, gets the young guys in the right spots when needed, and has done well getting the ball inside. I think people see his improved shooting/scoring and think 2G. But he’s done just fine as a real PG.

I see Frank continuing to pick up his dribble a lot and being told to defer to Battle in bringing the ball up the court. We'll see. I've been one of Frank's lonely defenders on here for a couple years and I'm loving his play, but we'll see if he can run a half-court offense or if we're going to be playing lead guard by four-man committee.

Edit - that's not to say he's not doing what you've noticed. Frank's been better at looking for entry passes to Chukwu in particular than I remember Tyler Ennis ever feeding the post. But a few other things expected of point guards obviously haven't come naturally to him.

 

[rrlbees]

I see Frank continuing to pick up his dribble a lot and being told to defer to Battle in bringing the ball up the court. We'll see. I've been one of Frank's lonely defenders on here for a couple years and I'm loving his play, but we'll see if he can run a half-court offense or if we're going to be playing lead guard by four-man committee.

Edit - that's not to say he's not doing what you've noticed. Frank's been better at looking for entry passes to Chukwu in particular than I remember Tyler Ennis ever feeding the post. But a few other things expected of point guards obviously haven't come naturally to him.

Another player bringing the ball up court a few times isn’t unusual if the pg is getting pressured and someone else can handle. Heck, jb used to use PFs and SFs to bring it up when the guards got pressured. I don’t see a lot of picking up his dribble either, at least not when he doesn’t have too. I think the bar for frank as a pg is getting set very very high where people are nit picking. There’s a lot of teams that right now would love to have frank and his production as their PG. He’s exceeded everyone’s expectations so far.