NBA legend Kevin Durant sees himself in Rutgers star Ace Bailey: ‘Pure talent’
NBA legend Kevin Durant has seen the comparisons between himself and Rutgers star Ace Bailey. He believes they are warranted.
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NBA legend Kevin Durant sees himself in Rutgers star Ace Bailey: ‘Pure talent’
- Thread starter Tango Two
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Kevin Durant Hypes 'Pure, Pure Talent' Ace Bailey; Praises Dylan Harper, Rutgers CBB
Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant is maintaining a keen eye on the young players who are knocking on the door of the NBA. Asked about Rutgers freshman Ace…
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I really don't get some Rutgers fans...I understand the hesitancy and criticism of people looking to take him with a top 5 pick. But he's averaging 18 on 45%, pretty much all jump shots. Hasn't gotten comfortable enough to consistently drive to the basket but he's also 33% from 3. Pretty efficient college scorer...also leads the team in rebounding with 8 a game and blocks at just about 1 per game. My main concern is decision making, ball handling and consistently getting to the basket which I believe will improve as the year goes on. But to say he's been a bad player at Rutgers is crazy talk..
The issue is he is NOT efficient. Extremely low assist rate, pretty low free throw rate to go with his slightly low effective FG%.
Now the anti Pike crowd has an argument to say maybe not all of it is on him.
People are just upset that the team looks like a loser right now.
His percentages tell a different story. More efficient scorer than many highly regarded wing players. Its the ball handling/turnovers/ decision making he has to improve. Plus the Princeton game and the Kennesaw game bring his percentages down. He's an been extremely efficient scorer outside of those games.
He's not taking efficient-friendly shots, and he's not really hitting them as good as we need either. The most plausible argument to us going on a run is he ups his game materially. If he doesn't we are going nowhere. And that assumes Dylan is able to keep up how HE is playing for 30+ games - no definite.
He is not getting to the the line and his assist rate is extremely low so he needs to have higher effective FG% than others and he just doesn't
Below are high major players with usage over 25% and minutes over 60%
He is 36 out of 47 eff fg%
His FT rate is 42 out of 47
His assist rate is 46 of 47
I am just quoting facts, sorry.
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He's got a .503 eFG%, which could be higher. He definitely takes some high difficulty shots and has made more than a few "heels on the line" twos that would have been worth 50% more if he was back like 10 more inches.
But Bailey has an incredibly high ceiling from a talent perspective - and he'll improve a lot as he gains more maturity/experience and continues S&C. The NBA draft is based on potential, especially for one-and-done players - no one is expecting a complete product at 19 years old.
Do you think I disagree with this at all?
It doesn't change what he has done 1/3 thru his college career. Will he get better? I think so.
He is not getting to the the line and his assist rate is extremely low so he needs to have higher effective FG% than others and he just doesn't
Below are high major players with usage over 25% and minutes over 60%
He is 36 out of 47 eff fg%
His FT rate is 42 out of 47
His assist rate is 46 of 47
I am just quoting facts, sorry.
T-Rank Player Stats - Customizable College Basketball Tempo Free Stats - T-Rank
T-Rank College Basketball Ratings and Rankings. And fun.www.barttorvik.com
He's also one of just 5 freshmen on that list, and one of the others is Dylan Harper. He's getting more experience/reps every game - and while that doesn't necessarily help us right now, I don't see his NBA draft stock taking a huge hit from the way he's performing.
One can give valid the reasons and why maybe it isn't fair......
Possessions where Ace isn't being used have been more successful than possessions he has been used.
Possessions where Ace isn't being used have been more successful than possessions he has been used.
We are in complete agreement....I am not a NBA guy AT ALL (because i am not a loser), but if I had a guess Ace gets picked over Dylan.
NONE of this changes the fact that his footprint, SO FAR, hasn't helped 2024-2025
Given that this thread is about Ace's NBA potential, his "to date" NCAA performance isn't an especially great yardstick for that. Purely as a response to the comment of him being "a pretty efficient college player" - I agree with you.
One thing that Ace has shown is incredible ability to hit really difficult shots at a amazing %....I think that lends itself for him eventually being able to make a lot of volume 3s at levels that make him a successful NBA offensive player.
He is not getting to the the line and his assist rate is extremely low so he needs to have higher effective FG% than others and he just doesn't
Below are high major players with usage over 25% and minutes over 60%
He is 36 out of 47 eff fg%
His FT rate is 42 out of 47
His assist rate is 46 of 47
I am just quoting facts, sorry.
T-Rank Player Stats - Customizable College Basketball Tempo Free Stats - T-Rank
T-Rank College Basketball Ratings and Rankings. And fun.www.barttorvik.com
Look at this list of players...look at the players he is above...again, he's a freshman. To be clear on your point, he hasn't been a good player for Rutgers so far? They would be better off without him? Were some of the players that transferred out better than him? You feel Rutgers could have brought in someone better? Is it just because I said he's been a pretty efficient college scorer? Going by the list you just shared, he's been more efficient than some of the best scorers in the country. As I said above he's been a pretty efficient college scorer. I would love to see him at 50,40,90 percentages with more drives to the basket for more foul shots hopefully. At that point he becomes an efficient college scorer and we can remove the "pretty" lol...but right now at 18 pts on 45% and 33% he's pretty efficient..
Scouts actually want to see him shoot more 3s...they don't think he's taking enough..
No on said he has been bad. He's just very inconsistent and has a lot of growing into himself to do. Those things won't happen here in the next 2 months. His best basketball is ahead of him.
I agree with this but I feel it was to be expected given the amount of organized team ball Ace has played. But I think you're under estimating his ability to adjust. Time will tell hopefully he figures it out sooner rather than later..
He settles for way too many low percentage mid to long range 2's. He's talented enough to make some of them but in time he will learn to drive the hoop more which will make him way more efficient
Exactly, he needs to trust his ball handling, he got stripped a couple times and he's been hesitant to drive..
Honestly he's been exactly what I expected. Uber talented and should have a great NBA career. But I would be shocked if he gained 30 pounds and learned to pass and drive the hoop in the next couple of months. Dylan on the other hand has exceeded my expectations. He can create his own shot at will. He's super impressive for a true freshman. Both will be great in the NBA. Dylan game and body are just further along
For me it was from the time don Bosco played Camden in a showcase game. Dj Wagner was the top player in the state at that time, a year ahead of Dylan. When I tell you Dylan cooked the entire game, he really cooked that whole game. Best player on the court by far at that point I knew he was different. Lol but what really has surprised me is his ability to finish at the rim through contact, super good tool to have in your arsenal. That along with his ability to get to the rim whenever he wants automatically helps his efficiency, hoping it rubs off on ace..
Being good for a freshman is only useful if you stay after being a freshman. In order to be useful as a one and done you need to be great. Not great for a freshman, just great, period.
yes.
At 45% from field and 33% from the line and 18 PPG with very high usage with no assists and very few FTs is going to keep us where we are at offensively and require most/all the improvement on the defensive end.
His shooting numbers would be fine if he got to the line AND he made others better around him (assist numbers up).
Would we have been better off without Ace the last 10 games OFFENSE only? yes
Will we be better off with Ace the next 10 games OFFNESE only? I am pretty confident we will
I get the sense Dylan has had better coaches (especially HS) than Ace, especially defensively. I saw Ace on an inbounds pass playing help defense with his body (back NOT facing baseline) in the opposite direction....the same way I saw Gavin once last year.
Once he puts on some more weight and gets touches in the post, he will take it to another level. With his skill set, he needs the ball closer to the rim rather than starting with it outside the arc.
I would definitely like to see him get more touches at the rim. needs to be more screening away from him. We have a play that gets Dylan the ball in the low post. Have seen Pike call the play from the whiteboard a few times at home...not sure why it isn't done with Ace.
This is true. The NBA is actually suspicious of guys who stay in school more than one year.
Regarding eFG%, everyone on our team except Acuff, Derkack, Davis, and Grant are currently higher than Bailey. And that's before you factor in the lack of fouls drawn, lack of assists, and high number of turnovers.
Lol I think you're the one that said he's been bad at Rutgers. You got it, Ace is bad, I have no counter other than what I've said in this thread.
It's FIG, he is turning into the village idiot. Claimed we were a final 4 team 2 years ago prior to Mag getting hurt.
Well we played half of a season as a Top 5 team from a bart/kenpom/net prospective.
i usually find when almost everyone here disagrees with me i usually end up being right. Of you want to call that a village idiot that fine
