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Will TP succeed as a Pro


Huskerpapa

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Interesting blog by a highly respected ESPN (seems a bit oxymoronic) analyst, David Aldridge.  Here is his take on TP

 

Petteway's scoring touch tried and true

Nebraska's Terran Petteway has a very discernable pro skill: he's a scorer. He was fourth in the Big 10 in scoring (18.1 points per game) and averaged 5.8 free throw attempts per game, earning third team all-Big 10 honors. He had several high-profile performances against high-profile competition: 27 points against Wisconsin and 32 against Michigan State in January, then 23 in Nebraska's second game against the Badgers in February. And Petteway scored 29 in his final college game, against Penn State in the Big 10 Tournament.

But the Cornhuskers had a disappointing season as a team, playing well below .500 (13-18) after making the NCAA Tournament in 2014. That wasn't Petteway's fault, of course, but it took some of the luster off of his accomplishments as a junior, after he'd led the conference in scoring as a sophomore.

150421102847-terran-petteway-shoots-nebr
Few prospects can score like Terran Petteway can.

Petteway is not an efficient shooter; he only shot 39 percent from the floor and 31 percent on 3-pointers last season. "He's more volume than he is knock down," one scout said. But Petteway cited concerns about his mother's health during the season that may have affected his play and demeanor. And he did well at Durant's camp.

"Put him around good players and he seemed to know how to play with those guys, move the ball around," one scout said. "But he wasn't very good this season. Which guy is he? He's probably somewhere in between."

Said another scout: I liked him last year, but I don't know that he's taken that next step. He definitely has the ability to get off his own shot. Maybe he's a guy that will look better in the pro atmosphere than college."

 

He has Terran as the #6 small forward in the class and projects him as a second round pick...

 

http://www.nba.com/news/features/david_aldridge/david-aldridge-big-board-small-forwards-2015-nba-draft/

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I think those are some pretty fair comments about his game. I do remember he was playing well in some of those camps last summer. And there is more freedom of movement in the NBA so maybe he can move more toward the knock down guy if he isn't constantly getting mugged by one or more guys. I think if you get him in some camps or workouts or even the summer league he'll look a lot better than he did last year.

 

I'm not sure about how or where he'd get drafted but I wouldn't be surprised if he worked his way into the league someday.

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I think he can be a JR Smith type in the NBA, put him on bad teams, lots of his bad habits come out, and are focused upon, put him on a good team like JR Smith is now on the Cavs, and he is a great glue player, that performs is sets of skills well, and can hide his weakness, all depends, i think he'd do well on a team like the Cavs, Grizzlies, Spurs, Heat, a few others that im drawing a blank on that need wing scoring off the bench. 

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I think he would flurish with the Spurs. But then I don't watch much NBA so maybe he would be better suited for another team. All I know is when I do watch, some of these teams have a bunch of guys who don't seem to be very good.

 

I see him as a potential spark off the bench, which could be useful for a number of teams.  On defense, he'd do better guarding 2s than 3s.  He'd have to improve his outside shooting quite a bit and be a better/more willing passer to do well in Pop's system. Indy and Detroit might have some interest in him.  IMHO, if he goes undrafted and definitely wants a shot at the NBA, his best bet is to land on a summer league roster, play well and get noticed, then try to get a camp invite.

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He might be the JR Smith type, but I highly doubt he will ever be anywhere close to as good as JR can be given the circumstance. He's nowhere near as good from long range, and JR undoubtedly has better handles. There are just a lot of question marks surrounding TP's game. He has a problem of holding onto the ball, and his assist to turnover ratio in college was bad. Now, TP definitely won't be asked to create offense for himself near as much on an NBA team. His ball handling is probably not gonna cut it if he wants to do off the dribble stuff, IMO. Can he improve that or his shooting from deep enough so that he could make it as a shooter? I think he's a d league player right now when its all said and done. But I wouldn't be surprised to see him get a contract either

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Interesting blog by a highly respected ESPN (seems a bit oxymoronic) analyst, David Aldridge.  Here is his take on TP

 

Petteway's scoring touch tried and true

Nebraska's Terran Petteway has a very discernable pro skill: he's a scorer. He was fourth in the Big 10 in scoring (18.1 points per game) and averaged 5.8 free throw attempts per game, earning third team all-Big 10 honors. He had several high-profile performances against high-profile competition: 27 points against Wisconsin and 32 against Michigan State in January, then 23 in Nebraska's second game against the Badgers in February. And Petteway scored 29 in his final college game, against Penn State in the Big 10 Tournament.

But the Cornhuskers had a disappointing season as a team, playing well below .500 (13-18) after making the NCAA Tournament in 2014. That wasn't Petteway's fault, of course, but it took some of the luster off of his accomplishments as a junior, after he'd led the conference in scoring as a sophomore.

150421102847-terran-petteway-shoots-nebr
Few prospects can score like Terran Petteway can.

Petteway is not an efficient shooter; he only shot 39 percent from the floor and 31 percent on 3-pointers last season. "He's more volume than he is knock down," one scout said. But Petteway cited concerns about his mother's health during the season that may have affected his play and demeanor. And he did well at Durant's camp.

"Put him around good players and he seemed to know how to play with those guys, move the ball around," one scout said. "But he wasn't very good this season. Which guy is he? He's probably somewhere in between."

Said another scout: I liked him last year, but I don't know that he's taken that next step. He definitely has the ability to get off his own shot. Maybe he's a guy that will look better in the pro atmosphere than college."

 

He has Terran as the #6 small forward in the class and projects him as a second round pick...

 

http://www.nba.com/news/features/david_aldridge/david-aldridge-big-board-small-forwards-2015-nba-draft/

 

Aldridge is a former ESPN employee - now works for the Turner family of networks.

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I just don't think he'll get drafted but he could catch on in the summer league with a team and get signed. I will definitely be paying attention since I watch way too much NBA summer league. I think his turnover problem was a result of him being the point most of the time in NU's offense and also being the guy who wound up with the ball as the shot clock ran down. In an NBA offense where he's playing a true wing I think his shooting percentage should go up and NBA defense rules should allow him to slash a lot more. I'm sure he's working on his off-hand as that was the biggest problem I saw with him all last season.

 

If he doesn't make it in the NBA right away, he can definitely make more money in Europe than he can hanging around the D-League. He's got the talent to play for a good Spanish or Greek team, I think. But, guys in the D-League make it in the NBA every year. I guess it's where he feels most comfortable. Best wishes to him wherever he goes. He was the most electrifying player we've had since, I dunno, Lue. Good company.

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Fair assessment. Not a rarity to see a guy struggle in college, but have a style of play and frame to succeed in the pros. Happens in the NFL all the time too.

Although I'd argue (or ask the question), what type of NBA career would mean he "performed better" in the pros than the stellar career he had here at Nebraska? Make no bones about it - he was the '13-'14 Team. And if you flip the record this year, he basically did a lot of the same things.

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I gave up predicting NBA success based upon college performance a long time ago. The games have evolved so differently and there is such an influx of foreign players to consider in the pro ranks over the past decade. Tony Kucoc was at one time considered an aberration when he joined the Bulls because he had no US collegiate experience.  I  also remember one of my first posts on HHC being a prediction that Paul Millsap was vastly overrated and would never have an NBA career after seeing him perform at BDSC when he was at La Tech. So I'll be interested to see what becomes of TP and will skip the speculation.

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I gave up predicting NBA success based upon college performance a long time ago. The games have evolved so differently and there is such an influx of foreign players to consider in the pro ranks over the past decade. Tony Kucoc was at one time considered an aberration when he joined the Bulls because he had no US collegiate experience.  I  also remember one of my first posts on HHC being a prediction that Paul Millsap was vastly overrated and would never have an NBA career after seeing him perform at BDSC when he was at La Tech. So I'll be interested to see what becomes of TP and will skip the speculation.

 

Absolutely, jimmy, these are my thoughts exactly...well not the parts about Kucoc or Milsap...but at least most of the rest of it.

 

So, these are approximately my thoughts on the matter.  Well, a reasonably close approximation.  Good job.  :)

 

+1

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You know even IF he doesn't get drafted but some how catches on with an NBA team and IS the 11th guy off the bench for a few years, what a ride.  I would have given my left, well anyhow, I would have loved to been good enough to have even been able to play a few years of minor league baseball and enjoyed what that brought.

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I can't determine whether or not Petteway will succeed as a pro and I'm not going to claim I'm an expert at spotting transitional professional athletes. But what I can say is that those 'boo birds' who are saying that Petteway is going to outright fail are going to be the same people bragging about him if he actually does succeed as a pro basketball player.

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I have my doubts on him getting drafted although he definitely has an outside shot in the 2nd round.  He can certainly have a successful pro career.  It may not be the NBA but could be the big European leagues.  I'm guessing summer league will be his best shot at catching on with a NBA team.

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