The OFFICIAL Rookie impressions thread

[Roger Murdock]

Nobody who watched the Cavs last year could possibly say they don't need another player who can create offense. The Cavs problem last year was that everyone watched Irving do his thing and nobody else could do anything with the ball, Barnes would make that problem worse, not better.

If the Cavs screwed up passing on anyone it was Lilliard or Drummond, sure as hell not Harrison Barnes.

[j_angel]

Another solid game for Sullinger, the one bright spot in a poor game for Boston in Detroit.
16 points (7/12), 5 boards in 27 mins.

So far averaging: 5.0 ppg, 4.2 boards in just under 18mins per game. (over 50% FG and only 0.5 TO per game also).
Per 36 stats are very close to averaging a double double.

Be interesting to see if he can improve further this year.

[Little Digger]

Nobody who watched the Cavs last year could possibly say they don't need another player who can create offense. The Cavs problem last year was that everyone watched Irving do his thing and nobody else could do anything with the ball, Barnes would make that problem worse, not better.

If the Cavs screwed up passing on anyone it was Lilliard or Drummond, sure as hell not Harrison Barnes.

Clearly you havnt been following Harrison's progress with GSW. He's been killing people off the dribble of late..Love how he can go right or left with ease.

[JV4MVP]

It's crazy to think that Gilchrist is most probably the best defender in a draft involving Davis...

Drummond is actually looking like the best and most impactful defender

Valanciunas would have had a word with you two....if it wasn't for Bargnani making him look bad defensively.

Idk, JV needs more bulk to prevent guys from easily backing him down in the post. It also doesn't help that he's getting no respect from the refs. He's only 20 so its okay.

Also noticed that you posted about Ross. Well even Casey aside, Ross hasn't shown much of anything. Maybe there's a reason why he averages 11 minutes per game, and he usually only plays 5 in close games, 15+ in blowouts. He really doesn't deserve to be in the good defender discussion whatsoever. If he was good, he would play... why else is "Mr. Defense" Casey starting McGuire out there?

[ManualRam]

Nobody who watched the Cavs last year could possibly say they don't need another player who can create offense. The Cavs problem last year was that everyone watched Irving do his thing and nobody else could do anything with the ball, Barnes would make that problem worse, not better.

If the Cavs screwed up passing on anyone it was Lilliard or Drummond, sure as hell not Harrison Barnes.

Clearly you havnt been following Harrison's progress with GSW. He's been killing people off the dribble of late..Love how he can go right or left with ease.

i'd like to see some footage of this, especially him with a left hand drive. not a drive off of a catch or curl, i want to see some footage of him catching the ball, facing his man up and beating him off the dribble using his left..

[BIG FURB]

Nobody who watched the Cavs last year could possibly say they don't need another player who can create offense. The Cavs problem last year was that everyone watched Irving do his thing and nobody else could do anything with the ball, Barnes would make that problem worse, not better.

If the Cavs screwed up passing on anyone it was Lilliard or Drummond, sure as hell not Harrison Barnes.

Clearly you havnt been following Harrison's progress with GSW. He's been killing people off the dribble of late..Love how he can go right or left with ease.

i'd like to see some footage of this, especially him with a left hand drive. not a drive off of a catch or curl, i want to see some footage of him catching the ball, facing his man up and beating him off the dribble using his left..

You could just watch a few warrior games, there's one on tonight. And people, don't argue with Murdock concerning Barnes. He's been down on the kid for a while now. If he can't take the time out to watch Barnes play in actual nba games and see what type of pro player he actually is, you debating with him isn't likely to change his mind

[boogie-reke]

not to mention terrific defense

I don't see it.

I think he's actually looking lost quite often defensively, and quite a few baskets are directly on him.

Not writing him off at all obviously, he's a rookie big and as such those are common mistakes to make and he showed when he knows where to be etc he's an absolute force - not to mention his weight that's keeping him from staying balanced through contact and making him pushed under the rim more often.

But he is not playing anything close to terrific defense yet, and i've watched 80% of his games so far - especially in PNR situations when he hedges too much and doesn't return in time, or when he roams too much out of his position and giving open jumpers - but also in the post where again he's pushing under the rim far too easily giving a high % shot.

Just saw I didn't even mention who I talked about so that might have been confusing, ment this in regard to Anthony Davis.

[Kabookalu]

Idk, JV needs more bulk to prevent guys from easily backing him down in the post. It also doesn't help that he's getting no respect from the refs. He's only 20 so its okay.

Also noticed that you posted about Ross. Well even Casey aside, Ross hasn't shown much of anything. Maybe there's a reason why he averages 11 minutes per game, and he usually only plays 5 in close games, 15+ in blowouts. He really doesn't deserve to be in the good defender discussion whatsoever. If he was good, he would play... why else is "Mr. Defense" Casey starting McGuire out there?

He's not doing the best of jobs preventing players from backing him down, but in terms of rotating over to the weak side and helping out on the ball or off the ball he's been great.

I've seen Ross play some great man and help defense. He's terrific at this point. The reason why he isn't getting playing time is probably not because of anything he lacks defensively. Casey is a guy that likes seasoned players that have had a lick around the league it seems as it's not just Ross that's suffering from a lack of playing time, but all of our recent draft picks cutting off from DeMar.

[BScoreez]

Nobody who watched the Cavs last year could possibly say they don't need another player who can create offense. The Cavs problem last year was that everyone watched Irving do his thing and nobody else could do anything with the ball, Barnes would make that problem worse, not better.

If the Cavs screwed up passing on anyone it was Lilliard or Drummond, sure as hell not Harrison Barnes.

Clearly you havnt been following Harrison's progress with GSW. He's been killing people off the dribble of late..Love how he can go right or left with ease.

i'd like to see some footage of this, especially him with a left hand drive. not a drive off of a catch or curl, i want to see some footage of him catching the ball, facing his man up and beating him off the dribble using his left..

I didn't get a chance to watch the Thunder game, but in the prior game vs the Wolves Barnes isolated against and beat AK47 multiple times. He has played some point forward at times recently.

[EvanZ]

Nobody who watched the Cavs last year could possibly say they don't need another player who can create offense. The Cavs problem last year was that everyone watched Irving do his thing and nobody else could do anything with the ball, Barnes would make that problem worse, not better.

If the Cavs screwed up passing on anyone it was Lilliard or Drummond, sure as hell not Harrison Barnes.

Clearly you havnt been following Harrison's progress with GSW. He's been killing people off the dribble of late..Love how he can go right or left with ease.

i'd like to see some footage of this, especially him with a left hand drive. not a drive off of a catch or curl, i want to see some footage of him catching the ball, facing his man up and beating him off the dribble using his left..

I never seem to be able to get these to work, but here's a link to that play mentioned above.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/x_5w6B9OI9c?hd=1&t=3m46s[/youtube]

[TwentyOne920]

Idk, JV needs more bulk to prevent guys from easily backing him down in the post. It also doesn't help that he's getting no respect from the refs. He's only 20 so its okay.

Also noticed that you posted about Ross. Well even Casey aside, Ross hasn't shown much of anything. Maybe there's a reason why he averages 11 minutes per game, and he usually only plays 5 in close games, 15+ in blowouts. He really doesn't deserve to be in the good defender discussion whatsoever. If he was good, he would play... why else is "Mr. Defense" Casey starting McGuire out there?

He's not doing the best of jobs preventing players from backing him down, but in terms of rotating over to the weak side and helping out on the ball or off the ball he's been great.

I've seen Ross play some great man and help defense. He's terrific at this point. The reason why he isn't getting playing time is probably not because of anything he lacks defensively. Casey is a guy that likes seasoned players that have had a lick around the league it seems as it's not just Ross that's suffering from a lack of playing time, but all of our recent draft picks cutting off from DeMar.

Like most coaches Casey prefers playing veterans to rookies.

I've also realized that Golden State starts a rookie at the 3 in a similar scenario like SA last season, because the alternative was Richard Jefferson.

[EvanZ]

Like most coaches Casey prefers playing veterans to rookies.

I've also realized that Golden State starts a rookie at the 3 in a similar scenario like SA last season, because the alternative was Richard Jefferson.

Actually, Barnes was the starter before Rush got hurt too.

[TwentyOne920]

Like most coaches Casey prefers playing veterans to rookies.

I've also realized that Golden State starts a rookie at the 3 in a similar scenario like SA last season, because the alternative was Richard Jefferson.

Actually, Barnes was the starter before Rush got hurt too.

Mostly because he was not only good enough to fit in with the starters but also to keep Rush as a sixth man if I recall correctly.

[SaiCLE]

I know it's just 10 games and that I have been one of waiters supporters, But the guy looks like sh*t right now. He is glued to the 3 point line all game, It seems like he does not even care about playing in the offense anymore... All in all it's not looking too good for the Cavalier FO, If Dion does not pan out Grant and Scott will be fired....

End of rant

i actually like Waiters, he looks like he'll be everything Stuckey was suppose to be but isn't. However , i still don't understand how you don't go with Barnes? Problem is both Waiters and Irving need the ball in their hands to be peak effective.

The thing the Cavs needed the most was someone else who can dribble, slash, pass, and score, besides Irving. The last thing they needed was someone to shoot mid range jumpers.

Somewhat this. But I remeber listing to a podcast that said If Mkg and Beal were off the board by the time the Cavaliers picked..that they were going to take waiters. Barnes was going to be picked but something put the Cavs off...I'll post the link of the podcast later.

[doc.end]

Jeffery Taylor with some career highs tonight (and good D as always).

[LeChosen1]

Barnes with that silk smooth jumpshoot, and now he is focusing on grabbing boards, PERFECT

[RipCity71252]

Barnes with that silk smooth jumpshoot, and now he is focusing on grabbing boards, PERFECT

I've actually been more impressed with what he has done below the ft line more than anything. We all knew he would be good in transition, but a lot of people were not sure where the easy buckets were going to come from in the half court. He's been able to get into the lane more than I thought and he's been great in the mid post and finishing off cuts.

[Liver_Pooty]

Gilchrist with another solid all around game tonight. 15/9/4/1/1

[dballislife]

barnes is looking legit

[JWiLL02]

Barnes 20/12, 4/6 from 3.

He also does a fair share of handling to allow Curry to move off ball and run his man off screens, his handle is definitely better than advertised and his quickness looks good at the 3.