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Alec Burks...Overated?

JRK1212

Troll
Im breaking this off from another place because I think this discussion warrants its own thread...

While Burks is underrated nationally, I think he is overrated by the people who "know" him as a college player but mainly as an NBA prospect. He is just not a good shooter and there is not much room in the NBA for guards who cant play the point and are poor outside shooters. He is shooting 30% from 3 and NBA 3's are even longer. Last game he could barley hit the rim. He scores most of his points slashing to the basket and at the free throw line and is effective doing that because he has more talent and athleticism then most people on the court. That won’t be the case in the NBA. I’m also troubled by his "intangibles". He does not play with much passion or leadership and seems to lack that "it" factor. Only once this year (Mizzou) has he put the team on his back and carried us to victory. Meanwhile other elite players such as Jimmer Fredette and Kemba Walker seem to do this every game. Burks just never seems like he has a huge impact on games. It always seems like he is playing poorly but then you look at the box score and somehow he scored 20. One explanation for this is that he shoots more then anyone on the team. To that end he really needs to work on taking better shots. Id rather give it to Dufalt in the post then have Burks take one of those off-balanced fade aways with a guy in his face that we seem to get several times a game. I also can’t remember Burks ever hitting a clutch end of game shot. Alec's defense and ball handling also leave something to be desired. While im clearly pilling on him, I do think Burks is a very good player, but we must hold him to a very high standard because he is considered an elite player. He is the best we have and I would be thrilled if he came back next year. I just don’t understand all the "top 10" draft pick hype around him and at least at this point don’t see him turning into a successful NBA player. Speaking as a Nuggets fan, if we have a lottery pick I would not want us taking Burks. He has loads of raw talent, but needs to become a more polished player and has lots of improving to do.
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For all that Alec has that is great, there are some significant question marks.

On the break, he'll be amazing in the NBA. He gets his points very efficiently. He rebounds exceptionally well for a "2" or a "3". He's clutch from the free throw line. He has the ability to make some absolute circus shots around the basket. He's got quick hands and comes up with some big steals (like when he picked Pullen's pocket to win that game).

The other side of the coin is that he's either a shooting guard who needs to develop an NBA jump shot or a small forward who needs to develop an NBA post game. He also needs to gain strength and improve his handle. Those are all things that will come with age, hard work and coaching, but he's probably not an immediate impact player coming out of the draft.
 
I'd imagine he needs another 15-20lbs on that frame to truly be effective, then again Durant couldn't rack 225 coming out of college.
 
absinthe said:
I'd imagine he needs another 15-20lbs on that frame to truly be effective, then again Durant couldn't rack 225 coming out of college.
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Durant in college was absolutly amazing to watch. He was basically a 1 man show. Burks is probably not a good comparison to Durant
 
as i said a few weeks ago...as good as AB is as a college player....he's closer to Cole Aldrich than Russell Westbrook for immediate impact as a 1st rounder.

though, i think before i used Willie Warren and Durant as examples before.

edit: maybe Russell Westbrook
 
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GoBuffs!! said:
Durant in college was absolutly amazing to watch. He was basically a 1 man show. Burks is probably not a good comparison to Durant
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Just comparing his relative lack of strength, I appreciate Durant was other worldly in college.
 
You have to remember that the NBA is all about isolation and taking it to the rim on a one on one situation and he really excels there. I can't disagree about the outside shot, but he is absolutely excellent at getting contact and then finishing his shot, although he seemed better at it last year. I guess the word is out and he just gets absolutely hammered now since they know he can twist his body and still finish after the first contact.
 
this thread had me thinking one post article i read last year projected Burks as an Eddie House level of pro, I thought it was a bit rough but that said House made a bunch of cash and has been in the league for ever. Who would any of you most compare his game to the in the NBA and how do you think he'll turn out as a pro?
 
http://www.nbadraft.net/alec-burks-interview

Jamal Crawford is the guy Alec says he kind of patterns his game around.

I think Alec's a much better rebounder and finisher, but Jamal's a better shooter (though not great).

Interestingly, Jamal was picked #8 in the 1st round by the Bulls when he came out of Michigan. I think Alec's a better prospect.
 
Inability to knock down distance jump shots isn't something that really has scared NBA scouts. Rose, Lawson, etc. Wall and Jamal Crawford shot 32 percent from 3. I think teams can deal and build 3 point options.
NBA is all about the ability to get to the rim and Alec has a very good game there. He is also good at getting to the foul line(and shooting over 80%). Something that the NBA games are valuing more and more.
Not saying he doesn't have things to work on but its the basis around what NBA teams feel they can build. He has it.
Although I would love to see him stay with CU another year, i seriously doubt he will.
 
Alec has some weak spots in his game but overall I think he translates very well into the NBA game. He is lacking in consistency from outside but can hit outside shots, the pros will teach him consistency there. As stated by others he is very good offensively around the rim which is were the NBA game is won and lost. He also is very good at the mid-range pull up against pressure, another skill that is very effective in the man-to-man predominant league. He draws fouls and hits the foul shots.

He also rebounds reasonably well for his size and can and will play very good D against 2s and smaller 3s. He will have to gain strength but again a couple years in an NBA system and he will put on 15lbs easy.

I think he would be well served to spend another year in college to mature his game but if he comes out it wouldn't surprise me at all to see him go as a late lottery pick.
 
I tend to hate on Alec Burks more than most other people due to the high standard we hold him to. I usually agree that Alec Burks doesn't have the "take over a game and win it" feel most of the time.

However, I thought he actually did just that against KState. I'm even more excited about how he did it. I think he won that game with Defense. Pullen had the ball, switched off Cory higgins on the switch and was 1-1 with Alec Burks with the game on the line. Alec wins. On the inbound play, Burks was all over his man, while still not fouling. It may have caused their guy to hold it a fraction of a fraction of a second longer to get a shot he wanted.

Burks was having a terrible game offensively, but when it came down to who was gonna win the game, he took over. I would NEVER have thought we'd win a game based on his defensive efforts. That was awesome. I hope this is a building block for him. Whenever he does get drafted, that play on Pullen will be in his highlight reel.

I agree with Tante above that the NBA is a little more 4 guys stand around and watch 1 guy go 1-1, beat your man off the dribble and draw contact. This is the one thing Burks is pretty good at (not great). I also agree with whoever said if the Nuggets had a top 10 pick, I hope they don't pick him. He still has a ways to go imo.

Comparing him to Durant right now is crazy.
 
One thing going for him is at least he's tall. If he's 6'4", he doesn't make the NBA, but 6'6" is pretty ideal for a 2. I think what all the scouts see in his game is how often he is the highest jumper on the court and how he can outjump other forwards for rebounds. He has a great first step, can get to the rim, and can create off the dribble. He's going to have to work on his perimeter game though. I agree that he's similar to Durant, except in a bad way. He's not a good enough shooter to get away with being so skinny. Durant is probably the most complex scorer in the NBA which works for him because he's about 3-4" taller than Burks and is just really effing good. Because Burks doesn't have those luxuries, I can see him struggling against bigger and stronger NBA defenses. Defensively, he's obviously weak, but there are very few guards who actually play good defense. In fact, a major part of perimeter defense strategy is knowing where the help defense is going to come from because it's ridiculously hard to guard on the perimeter without fouling. So while I think Burks' man defense is very eh-worthy, I think he gets punished/exposed more than anyone else would because our team defense is the worst in the Big 12. I'd like to see if he was a perceptively better defender with a real post presence behind him. His height and quickness should be enough to make him at least a decent man defender if he gets in the NBA and is willing to put in the effort.
 
MtnBuff said:
He will have to gain strength but again a couple years in an NBA system and he will put on 15lbs easy.
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Lets also not forget who our new S/C coach is. We now have a professional caliber coach making the workout for these guys this summer. I remember reading somewhere that both Bz and Boyle were not to thrilled about Pittman, and often didnt have their players following his guidence. With a professional caliber guy in there now, I really think it will translate well for the basketball program as well.

When it comes down to it, I think it will be more of a decision for Alec based on his personal situation, not his game. If it was purely his game, I think its not much of a consideration and he stays one more year, builds strength, improves his weaknesses, and has a year w/o sharing the spotlight with Higgins and hopefully going as a top 5 pick. But if he has to get to a payday sooner than later, it doesnt matter what would be best for his game, going to the NBA will be best for his life as a whole.
 
wow didn't know that the b-ball team doesn't have their own strength coach, but I guess it makes sense.
 
Do you guys think the fact that he is best friends with shannon could help him to stay one more year? Maybe Shannon could be doing a little recruiting for us.
 
UtterBuffLuv said:
Do you guys think the fact that he is best friends with shannon could help him to stay one more year? Maybe Shannon could be doing a little recruiting for us.
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no it is ultimately going to come down if he is a top 10 pick or not.
 
Burks is not a top 10 player in this draft. Hiw wise choice is to stay another year. NBA teams will draft on potential instead of what is now come 6th and on in this draft. Longer Burks stays the more polished he will become and thus more serious $$$$.
 
Burks is not overrated. He plays on a team that has no point guard and no inside presence. The coaches do not have an offense to cut to the basket. Giving the ball to Dufault in the Post? Dufault is usually farther outside then Burks is. Burks leads the team in scoring, assists and is 2nd in rebounding. Shooting percentage is to a large extent shot selection, Burks has little luxury in passing up a shot to feed the ball to someone going to the basket - the opposing team can play him and higgins tight because they do not have to worry about backside defense. So he is leading the team in scoring when the opposing team is focused on shutting him down. Anyone notice that last year both Higgins and Burks shot over 50% from the field when there was more motion on the offense.

Burks should go pro is he is a number one pick (and he will be) his game is not going to get better in college. I saw the same argument with Roby.
 
Buffnik said:
He also needs to gain strength and improve his handle. Those are all things that will come with age, hard work and coaching, but he's probably not an immediate impact player coming out of the draft.
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This kinda reminds me of MJ coming out of college as far as the strength part of his game. Not trying to compare the two or anything. Michael came out of college and He along with others were saying he was always getting beat up and pushed arouond. And I believe we know what he did and how he ended up because of the work he put in in the weight room.

Personally, I don't think Burks will have a problem improving either part of the game.
 
Watching the KU game made me think. He really is a big fish in a small pond. IMO, he would undoubtedly start for KU, but wouldn't be the talk of the town or stand out that much. He's a very good college player with NBA potential, but not one of the very best.
 
One more point, I thought Roby was better. Roby could play nearly every position. The fact he hasn't made the NBA is telling to me.
 
walk said:
One more point, I thought Roby was better. Roby could play nearly every position. The fact he hasn't made the NBA is telling to me.
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Why do you think roby is better? Bucks is better in isolation, better at drawing contact, and a better rebounder. Plus roby played with real big men , except his final year or two. I think if roby had better coaching he could have made it but he didn't improve much after his freshman year
 
Roby in some ways was a better college player. To be good in the pros a guy has to be good at a lot of things, outstanding at something. Roby was good at a lot of things but outstanding at none. Burks is outstanding at slashing to the hole or pulling up on his way there. He is not as strong as Roby was but much quicker and has much better body control.

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out because a lot of guys who were considered can't miss pros, missed. Right now it looks a lot like there is a place in the NBA for Burks.
 
Just a thought, if the nba holds out next season the draft the following year will have two classes of talent which would make it really hard for burks to crack the top ten. So any chance he would stay for his senior season
 
First I thik Burks is a good player and I love having on the team but I just dont see what you see in Burks. I dont believe he is a lotto pick type player...yet. Yes he is a great slasher but not a great ball handler and needs to work on his range. I hope he stays another year he needs it.
 
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