The Definitive Raymond Felton Thread

[SWedd523]

Slam, like you said, Nelson has many of the same talents as Ray, but his main problem is/was that he couldn't find a way to put it all together. I think you were the one that touched on this earlier. It took Nelson some time, and some quality guys around him before he truly blossomed into a special talent. Now one could look at that as him finally maturing and becoming what he should, or that could be a product of having 3 other great players with him.

I have full confidence that Ray will/can turn into a PG with numbers much like Nelson's this year. If he can do that I wouldn't complain one bit. The problem is I don't think he has enough time to get good players around him where he can flourish without controlling the ball so much. I would like nothing more than to see him "figure it out" and show us all consistently what he's shown in flashes. It, sadly, seems to be a little too late as he's having to deal with DJ also "figuring it out" at a seemingly much higher rate.

[dnbman]

He always had Hedo and Howard (they all arrived at the Magic the same year) and he's had Lewis for 1 1/2.

Right. But, Felton's never had a front court like that, especially one with all three. Although, I think you're right that it seems to be coming together.

I'm wondering if Felts might experience the same thing in the next year or two. The problem is, do we have the time to wait and to take that chance that it does?

I'm very doubtful he will ever do it with Charlotte unless we add another significant piece that will allow him to clearly take a step back. As of now, all of our guys have to play pretty great for us to be successful. That rarely happens. So, Felton takes it upon himself to win games.

I think he'll blossom, but I think it will be with another team after the pressure is taken off of him. Now, you may ask if that's the kind of guy we want anyway? Maybe not. I'm just ready to move on. I like the starting five of DJ, Bell, Wallace, Diaw, and Okafor. Let's get some solid rotation guys to back them up and move forward.

[Slam]

So do you guys think that Felton is a better PG in a worse situation making Nelson a worse PG in a better situation or that Nelson is just the better PG?

Eg: Would we be a better team with Nelson as our #1 PG and DJ as our #2 than we currently are with Felts as our #1 and DJ as our #2?

[dnbman]

I don't even know if that game is worth playing. I see guys around the league like Rondo who have blossomed; I think Felton would have definitely outperformed what Rondo has done surrounded by all-stars. But, it's all speculation.

To answer your question though, I don't think Nelson would be nearly as good as our pg and I think we'd be a worse team overall if we had the same talent we've had over the last few years.

[SWedd523]

I'd say Ray is still a better PG than Nelson. If they were in identical situations, I would guess that Felton would be better than him. Rondo is a harder guess, he looked like a scrub up until he got KG, Paul, and Allen on his side who would clearly make ANYONE better. But he has blossomed into a pretty damn good PG save for his shot. I can't really tell about him anymore if it's situation over talent

[Slam]

Rondo is a harder guess, he looked like a scrub up until he got KG, Paul, and Allen on his side who would clearly make ANYONE better. But he has blossomed into a pretty damn good PG save for his shot. I can't really tell about him anymore if it's situation over talent

That in itself is telling.

Rondo KNOWS that he is not a good shooter, so he plays within his limitations and to his strengths - which is to play D, create for others and only shoot on drives when he is wide open - and that makes him a sturdy, productive, reliable PG.

[SWedd523]

That in itself is telling.

Rondo KNOWS that he is not a good shooter, so he plays within his limitations and to his strengths - which is to play D, create for others and only shoot on drives when he is wide open - and that makes him a sturdy, productive, reliable PG.

exactly, that site you linked earlier about PG's stats showed, I believe, him attacking the hole 60% of the time; which is far and above the highest percentage of all PG's he tested. That's being SMART, something I wish Mr. Felton would do.

[dnbman]

That in itself is telling.

Rondo KNOWS that he is not a good shooter, so he plays within his limitations and to his strengths - which is to play D, create for others and only shoot on drives when he is wide open - and that makes him a sturdy, productive, reliable PG.

Not to keep beating a point to death, but Rondo has the luxury of just concentrating on being a reliable defensive player and just being a scorer when things open up for him. In fact, Rondo can virtually disappear from a box score and the Celtics still win. Felton doesn't have that luxury.

The reason Rondo looked like a career backup before they got Allen and Garnett was that he wasn't a good pg. He looked like a defensive specialist. He wasn't asked to do much more than that. Meanwhile, Felton has had to be one of our primary scoring options since he came into the league.

That's not to take anything from Rondo. Right this minute, he might be a better pg than Felton. However, his situation, along with Nelson's, have been vastly better for a pg to thrive than Felton's, where we've had virtually no reliability in any of his teammates and three coaches, with only Brown being much of a teacher.

[bellringer21]

I'd say Ray is still a better PG than Nelson. If they were in identical situations, I would guess that Felton would be better than him. Rondo is a harder guess, he looked like a scrub up until he got KG, Paul, and Allen on his side who would clearly make ANYONE better. But he has blossomed into a pretty damn good PG save for his shot. I can't really tell about him anymore if it's situation over talent

I completely disagree. You say Ray is better....then the next sentence you say "I would guess Felton is better". Apparently you aren't sure.

Nelson is better than Felton-I would jump for joy if we could do that deal straight up. Nelson has flourished this year and is for real. I think some of us are attached to Felton cause anyone not associated with the Bobcats would not take Felton over Nelson. Its a no-brainer.

[SWedd523]

I completely disagree. You say Ray is better....then the next sentence you say "I would guess Felton is better". Apparently you aren't sure.

Nelson is better than Felton-I would jump for joy if we could do that deal straight up. Nelson has flourished this year and is for real. I think some of us are attached to Felton cause anyone not associated with the Bobcats would not take Felton over Nelson. Its a no-brainer.

I think you misread my post. Nelson is without a doubt in a better situation than Ray is, and his superior numbers are showing that even though their skill sets are just about as similar as you can get. To me, Ray is better, and if they were in identical situations you would have to guess (or think, for a better word choice) that he would perform just as good, if not better.