Nobody can. Nobody comes into the NBA and looks like a Brandon Roy. Remember Roy’s rookie year? Analysts were having fits trying to find someone to compare Roy to. Can’t be done!

These weren’t all All-stars that these players need to emulate, when he says Hibbert should emulate Gasol, it doesn’t mean Hibbert is going to try to be Gasol, it means he should try to get a little craftier with the ball. These aren’t comparisons either. When they say Courtney Lee should emulate CP3, he says: “Paul is a topflight competitor who uses his emotions to dominate. And Lee, who has considerable athleticism and skills, could benefit from running his engine a little hotter at times.” I wouldn’t get too upset over this.

I wouldn’t want someone to emulate Kobe because his shot selection is so terrible (what makes Kobe great is that he makes those terrible shots, kinda like Outlaw).

what a weird combo

he gets frustrated pretty easily when he gets those reach in calls on the perimeter. Kobe was very similar at the beginning of his career. Since then he has turned that around, and almost never gets flustered, he plays his own game and works his butt off. There is a reason almost all the wing players in the NBA love to watch Kobe play, even if things aren’t going his way he refocuses and adjust possession by possession to how the refs are calling the game and what the other team is doing. That’s a big part of why he gets open looks at the end of games he’s conditioned the opposing player to expect one thing, and then he’ll break out with something totally different, instead of just beating his head against the wall, which Jerryd seems to do.

Jerryd being more reactive not just to the player he is guarding but the refs, his team, and the entire rest of the opposing team, his game would improve tremendously. Kobe learned that lesson by watching MJ, Jerryd can learn that lesson watching Kobe.

Some of them are a bit of a stretch but he does seem to take one specific quality for those people to emulate. I don’t think that he did a terrible job of matching them up.

I wonder how close Fernandez can come to playing like Ginobli. If he ends up even close to that then we will really be in luck.

Like somebody said earlier, these aren’t COMPARISONS. Just looking at the list doesn’t do the article any justice because he goes in depth for each guy, looking at something about the vet’s game that the rookie needs to emulate.

He didn’t ask Beasley to start nursing injuries, complaining to the press, and publicly state that he’ll opt out of his contract. He suggested Beasley get stronger, start banging in the paint, and not fall in love with his jumper.

And the OP got the opposite impression from Bayless’ recommendation that I did. Thorpe says Bayless looks too cool out there and he needs more passion in his game. I’m not saying I agree with Thorpe, but he wasn’t asking for more “humility” out of Bayless.

Again, the matchups alone only tell a fraction of the story.

Michael Beasley: Carlos Boozer (Ummm, huh?)