ESPN: Trey Burke getting some lofty praise
I know many have daringly made the comparison to Chris Paul but it's nice to see it's just not our maize and blue goggles that dare. ESPN showing Trey Burke some love...great to see how far the program has come and how far it can still go.
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/69396/why-tre…
Also, this is my first time making a post... Hopefully, I don't get annihilated.
December 6th, 2012 at 4:41 PM ^
Any chance he can get the Naismith if he leads us to the final four?
December 6th, 2012 at 5:48 PM ^
The Naismith is voted on before the NCAA tournament, so what he does in the regular season and Big Ten Tourney are what can get him there.
December 7th, 2012 at 12:52 PM ^
How dare you post something relevant about Michigan basketball and force me to read it while I'm otherwise wasting my time all afternoon on a Michigan sports blog. Newbie!
December 6th, 2012 at 4:42 PM ^
I have yet to seen a picture of Trey Burke in game where his face doesn't look ridiculous. It's almost become a quest of mine to find a normal one.
December 6th, 2012 at 4:44 PM ^
Also, Jason King, in his Wooden Watch, has Burke ranked as the 4th-best player in the country.
4. Trey Burke, Michigan -- The sophomore point guard has emerged as the best in the country at a loaded position. Burke is averaging 17 points and 7.1 assists for the No. 3 Wolverines, who own quality wins against North Carolina State, Pittsburgh and Kansas State. He had 18 points, 11 assists and zero turnovers against NC State.
December 6th, 2012 at 4:52 PM ^
OP No reason at all for you to get wacked - this was a great first post.
1. Topical article that hadn't been posted yet
2. About a Michigan player
3. Provided link and short personal commentary
4. Concise, accurate and well written thread title
Trust me - there are LOTS of people here who've been around a lot longer who could take a lesson from your post.
December 6th, 2012 at 5:03 PM ^
Downvoted for misspelling "annihilated" /s.
December 6th, 2012 at 5:15 PM ^
Haha I enjoyed that.
December 6th, 2012 at 4:52 PM ^
Nic Cage sends his kudos.
December 6th, 2012 at 4:54 PM ^
about comparing young new point guards to Trey Burke. It's going to happen someday.
December 6th, 2012 at 5:02 PM ^
Trey Burke is awesome but I think he still has lots of improving to do to reach the level of arguably the best PG in the NBA.
December 6th, 2012 at 5:14 PM ^
The Chris Paul comparison is racist. Burke plays more like Wes Welker.
December 6th, 2012 at 5:17 PM ^
*Internet high five*
December 6th, 2012 at 5:24 PM ^
How about Mark Price.
On a serious note, Mark Price scared the shit out of me (Piston fan), when he was in his prime on the Cavaliers. Price could shoot the ball as well as anybody.
December 6th, 2012 at 5:18 PM ^
I don't think Burke is quite at the Chris Paul level. I think of Trey as a Chris Paul, Derek Fisher hybrid.
December 6th, 2012 at 6:08 PM ^
Coach Jackson, is that you?
December 6th, 2012 at 6:14 PM ^
If I were Coach J, I would have said, athletic like Derrick Rose but more explosive and sweet shot like Nik Stauskas, but more range. BOOM STAUSKAS'D
December 6th, 2012 at 5:27 PM ^
Fred Jackson said Trey has Chris Paul's vision with Muggsy Bogues's dribbling skills with the heart and determination of Kobe and Jordan
December 6th, 2012 at 5:27 PM ^
Trey is a very good point guard, but not elite. How about Jameer Nelson?
December 6th, 2012 at 5:43 PM ^
Not elite? How many PGs are better than him at the college level?
December 6th, 2012 at 5:55 PM ^
Are you kidding? The guy is averaging 17 pts and 7 dimes per game as the MVP of the #3 team in the country who happens to be undefeated with an average margin of victory somewhere in the 20s. Let's put on our nerd hats for a moment and assume that statistically speaking, the top 5% (or even 1%) of collegiate PGs represent the "Elite." Who is in that group ahead of Trey Burke?
December 6th, 2012 at 6:00 PM ^
I'm pretty sure he is talking "elite" by NBA standards not college, and if so, I agree with him.
December 6th, 2012 at 6:07 PM ^
December 6th, 2012 at 5:31 PM ^
So is he still an end of the first round draft pick? I know analysts love the way he plays, but say his size will keep him from being a lottery pick.
December 6th, 2012 at 7:29 PM ^
Size doesn't hurt PG's in the NBA draft. As you might notice in the article, Burke and Paul are the same height.
December 6th, 2012 at 8:24 PM ^
I would say size can definitly boost your draft stock, but it isn't necessary at the PG position. However, you better have outstanding quickness and agility, ala Rondo, Paul, Parker, conley, Rose, etc...
December 6th, 2012 at 5:58 PM ^
I can understand the comparisons to Paul from the offensive standpoint. True court generals, great assist/turnover ratios, can create their own shot with excellent ball handling and can play through contact with bigger players.
I'm not sold on the defensive comparisons just yet. Including this season, Paul has led the NBA in steals for 4 straight years. He can body up the bigger point guards while easily staying in front of the smaller/quicker ones. He's the complete package. I'm not sayin Burke will never be a great defender, but I right now it still seems to be a growing area for Trey, while Paul is arguably the best defensive PG in the NBA.
December 6th, 2012 at 6:12 PM ^
I don't quite understand why the NBA is so obsessed with size, especially the way the game is evolving. The only major knock on Burke at the NBA level would be size, but with his athleticism and offensive ability (defensive abiltiy still in the works) I don't see why he couldn't be a point guard worthy of a top 15 pick. Size is comparable to Paul (obviously), Mike Conley, Darren Collison, and Jameer Nelson, who are all solid NBA players. This is my biased opinon, but I see no reason why Burke couldn't hold his own, and even flourish, as a starting PG in the NBA.
December 6th, 2012 at 6:12 PM ^
than Stauskas of late, but going game after game with zero or a couple turnovers is astounding. Almost every player on the team, meanwhile, is outperforming expectations (with the possible exception of GRIII, who is nonetheless a terrifc, undersung glue guy already). Has to be a credit to Beilein.
December 6th, 2012 at 6:29 PM ^
comparison about ten games into Trey's freshman season. I am ahead of my time and the guy who wrote the article.
His defense is improving as i have seen him cheat the passing lane and steal the ball for quite a few lay-ups/dunks.
I would love for the Pistons to get him, i don't think Brandon Knight is a true PG. Good thing Trey stayed in school so that people nationally can appreciate what we knew would happen this year.
December 6th, 2012 at 6:43 PM ^
Hipster alert!!
December 6th, 2012 at 7:35 PM ^
I remember.
December 6th, 2012 at 9:50 PM ^
December 6th, 2012 at 10:53 PM ^
"Flare"? From the link, not the OP BTW. Should not an ESPN writer know the difference between "flare" and "flair"?
December 7th, 2012 at 3:11 AM ^
Flair? As in...
-"Joanna, we need to talk about your flair."
-"Now, you know it's up to you whether or not you want to just do the bare minimum. Or uh...well, like Brian, for example, has thirty seven pieces of flair, okay.."
...Flair!??
December 7th, 2012 at 11:16 AM ^
Great job on the post - as mGrowOld said earlier, this was a perfectly executed post. Maybe it is just me, but I do have one suggestion for improvement: Have your link open up in a new window. I prefer to have links open in a new window so I can still scroll through the board comments as I read the article for easier side-by-side reading and commenting here on the forum. To do this, when you click on the link box, select the tab for "Target" and in the drop down select "New Window (_blank)". That will make your link work like this: LINK