Before you read anything that I say you have to first listen to David Thorpe’s short discussion about this years rookie class:

David Thorpe’s NBA Rookie Report

When I went to ESPN today I saw that David Thorpe had a report on this years rookie class. I expected, since it has been almost half a month since the NBA Draft was over, that he would be discussing how the players were living up to their draft status in the Summer Leagues. Or maybe some news on rookie contracts and signings. Or really anything new or interesting to do with the rookies since their big day on June 25th. I guess I was wrong.

David Thorpe spends three minutes wasting our time with general discussions that any casual basketball fan would have known for a long time now. Let’s just take a look at a couple of the things that David has informed us of:

“He [Blake Griffin] is just a man amongst boys, in this summer league, and even in the NBA he’s going to be as big and powerful as almost any guy he sees in the league. He’s got that great combination of a real powerful build, he’s got a low waist so he’s very balanced, still very athletic, tremendous speed, and he uses his athleticism as best he can which is a great attribute to have.”

So let me get this straight. Since the NBA Draft, when everyone already knew the scouting reports on Blake Griffin, you have learned that Blake Griffin is strong, athletic, and fast. Wow. Talk about great reporting! Only David Thorpe could make 3 week old news relevant in an interview, actually on second thought no he can’t. This may be one of the most unnecessary  30 seconds of my life, thank you for regurgitating Blake Griffin’s scouting report David, it really sheds some new light on his progression.

Answering the question: “Does Brandon Jennings look NBA ready to you?”

“I would say, on the whole, no. But almost no one in his position in history would be ready. He’s small and he didn’t get a lot of playing time in Europe, but there’s certainly parts of his game that are NBA ready. He’s got NBA quickness at the highest level, he’s got tremendous confidence, and definitely some knowledge on how to organize a team offensively as a point guard compared to maybe had he gone to college. But he’s going to be a quick study. I actually spoke to Bucks people today and they are so high on him and his attitude so I think he’ll end up being fine pretty fast.”

I really don’t know where to start with this, not only is he totally incorrect but he does a complete 180. First off David makes the assumption that Brandon Jennings is not NBA ready, probably based off his prior convictions of Jennings and his bizarre new route to the NBA. David said that Jennings was not ready for the NBA and sighted the fact that, “He’s small and didn’t get a lot of playing time in Europe”. Okay we knew that already but he was selected 10th overall despite his size and lack of playing time. On top of that if you look at his summer league stats you would see that Jennings might be one of the most NBA ready players from this years draft. Jennings isn’t leading the league in points like Jerryd Bayless did last year, but he is filling up the stat sheet nicely. Jennings is averaging 15.3 ppg, 2 rpg, 8.3 apg, and 4.7 spg while only giving up 3 turnovers a game. Jennings had a game high of 23 points in his second game which would put him at #5 behind Griffin, Hill, Lopez, and Evans; the first three only playing in one game so far. Jennings has actually looked like one of the best point guards in the draft so far and his 8.3 apg and ridiculous 4.7 spg are 3rd and 1st respectively in the league (Marcus Williams and Johnny Flynn are ahead of Jennings in assists). What information David’s used for his evaluation of Jennings is beyond me, because it seems like he is looking pretty good so far in his NBA career.

“He [Blair] had a double double in his like first 15 minutes of action in game one… so the Spurs know what they’re getting, he’ll be an energizer right away and he can finish plays in the paint.”

Everyone, including Thorpe, are praising the Spurs for their amazing drafting ability because they got Blair in the 2nd round. First of all it’s not a skill to be lucky that someone drops to you. Second, this wasn’t like Ginobli or Parker, who no one else knew about and no one even had on their radar. Blair was a first team All-American last year at Pitt, everyone was projecting him either a lottery pick or somewhere soon after, so it’s not like he was an unknown. The reason Blair fell was because of a history of knee injuries. So praise Blair all you want for his double doubles in the first 15 minutes, because if the Spurs actually did know what they were getting David, they would find a backup ASAP. It’s easy to praise them now, but when Blair’s career is over or on the rapid decline because of knee problems before Tim Duncan even retires don’t try to swing this like you knew it was going ot happen.

Finally David makes a bold choice for most impressive player so far in the summer league:

“It’s not even close, Griffin by far. The other guys have all shown flashes, in Curry and Evans case they put up some pretty prolific scoring numbers but Griffin is by far the best player we’ve seen here of that rookie class and maybe in the whole thing. He had a tremendous game against the Lakers, he knocked in a 3pt shot, he finished plays around the rim, he played hard, he talked the most, he’s been very very impressive.”

So, you know, exactly what you would expect from the first overall selection. I understand that the question was, “Who has been the most impressive” and he answered that correctly so no harsh words for David there. Maybe the blame should be put on John Coachman, the ex-WWE actor, who asked the unimaginative question. Regardless it was the last straw, another answer that gave no real insight on the rookies progression since the draft. This entire interview was regurgitated information and obvious assertions that even the most casual of all NBA fans would know. The first pick in the draft is the best player? Really? Fucking brilliant shit David! What’s next: LeBron James should be good next season? Dwight Howard is probably the best rebounder in the league?

Maybe next time tell us about how 2nd rounders Cunningham and Thornton are looking surprisingly good in the summer league and both are averaging over 20 ppg. Or that 2nd overall pick Hasheem Thabeet only scored 9 points and grabbed 2 rebounds in his first summer league game. Just don’t waste our time with another uninteresting and uninformed report again… please.

- KC Roberts