The OFFICIAL Rookie impressions thread

[Kabookalu]

Good read, but that article needs to have a warning of that picture of Gilchrist's shooting form. Or better yet censor it.

[Promezclan]

Here are the rookies ranked by PER. Normal caveats that it may not be equivalent for people playing different MPG, and sample size is low.

Still, we can tell some broad things, like Anthony Davis is amazingly good, and Austin Rivers has been amazingly bad. Shved has been a nice surprise, and Drummond has dominated when he's had the chance to play. Lillard's productivity per minute isn't quite as good as he might seem, but obviously playing so many minutes in itself is impressive. Old Man Priogini looks solid out there, but it isn't really translating to the box scores.

1 Anthony Davis 34.0
2 Andre Drummond 24.3
3 Michael Kidd-Gilchrist 20.6
4 Dion Waiters 17.4
5 Alexey Shved 16.9
6 Jonas Valanciunas 16.8
7 Damian Lillard 16.4
8 Tyler Zeller 14.8
9 Andrew Nicholson 14.4
10 Kyle Singler 14.2
11 Bradley Beal 13.5
12 Meyers Leonard 11.2
13 Jared Sullinger 11.0
14 Kim English 10.7
15 Jae Crowder 10.0
16 Pablo Prigioni 9.3
17 Thomas Robinson 9.3
18 Harrison Barnes 9.2
19 Darius Miller 8.7
20 Festus Ezeli 7.8
21 Jeff Taylor 5.6
22 Austin Rivers 2.2

[mitrandil20]

what's up with Royce White and Montejunas?

[kurtis48239]

Here are the rookies ranked by PER. Normal caveats that it may not be equivalent for people playing different MPG, and sample size is low.

Still, we can tell some broad things, like Anthony Davis is amazingly good, and Austin Rivers has been amazingly bad. Shved has been a nice surprise, and Drummond has dominated when he's had the chance to play. Lillard's productivity per minute isn't quite as good as he might seem, but obviously playing so many minutes in itself is impressive. Old Man Priogini looks solid out there, but it isn't really translating to the box scores.

1 Anthony Davis 34.0
2 Andre Drummond 24.3
3 Michael Kidd-Gilchrist 20.6
4 Dion Waiters 17.4
5 Alexey Shved 16.9
6 Jonas Valanciunas 16.8
7 Damian Lillard 16.4
8 Tyler Zeller 14.8
9 Andrew Nicholson 14.4
10 Kyle Singler 14.2
11 Bradley Beal 13.5
12 Meyers Leonard 11.2
13 Jared Sullinger 11.0
14 Kim English 10.7
15 Jae Crowder 10.0
16 Pablo Prigioni 9.3
17 Thomas Robinson 9.3
18 Harrison Barnes 9.2
19 Darius Miller 8.7
20 Festus Ezeli 7.8
21 Jeff Taylor 5.6
22 Austin Rivers 2.2

Now imagine if drummond played the same amount of minutes as davis,scary.

[Jon1798]

Here are the rookies ranked by PER. Normal caveats that it may not be equivalent for people playing different MPG, and sample size is low.

Still, we can tell some broad things, like Anthony Davis is amazingly good, and Austin Rivers has been amazingly bad. Shved has been a nice surprise, and Drummond has dominated when he's had the chance to play. Lillard's productivity per minute isn't quite as good as he might seem, but obviously playing so many minutes in itself is impressive. Old Man Priogini looks solid out there, but it isn't really translating to the box scores.

1 Anthony Davis 34.0
2 Andre Drummond 24.3
3 Michael Kidd-Gilchrist 20.6
4 Dion Waiters 17.4
5 Alexey Shved 16.9
6 Jonas Valanciunas 16.8
7 Damian Lillard 16.4
8 Tyler Zeller 14.8
9 Andrew Nicholson 14.4
10 Kyle Singler 14.2
11 Bradley Beal 13.5
12 Meyers Leonard 11.2
13 Jared Sullinger 11.0
14 Kim English 10.7
15 Jae Crowder 10.0
16 Pablo Prigioni 9.3
17 Thomas Robinson 9.3
18 Harrison Barnes 9.2
19 Darius Miller 8.7
20 Festus Ezeli 7.8
21 Jeff Taylor 5.6
22 Austin Rivers 2.2

Hornets with 3 in the top 22. Good young team.

[GhostsOfGil]

Hornets with 3 in the top 22. Good young team.

Maybe one of the funniest statements I've ever read.

[Johnlac1]

what's up with Royce White and Montejunas?

You can't score (or do anything else) if you can't get off the bench. Four Rocket's rooks looked real good in summer league and preseason games: Jones, White, Motiejunas, and Machado. They've all gotten practically zero floor time in six games. At some point, McHale will have to start playing them.

[mitrandil20]

Yep I saw they've been sent to the D-League, I was wondering why, because White has been pretty good so I thought thet perhaps he had trouble with the FO managing his issues

[j_angel]

I know Sullinger has not played a lot of minutes but a few observations from last night.
1) he hit a big 3. It was an open shot but was vital. Very intrigued to see how his long range game develops (all knew he had it in college and showed it in flashes in summer camp)
2) Doc made this point earlier in the year, he is an underrated passer. He is going to be an elite bigman passer at this rate. 4 assists last night.
3) Defence is still not great but it will improve.

He only had 1 board last night but limited playing time, he gets brought in for big rebounding moments (free throws etc). He has the talent to be a 10+ a night rebounder.

In fact he has the talent to be a solid double-double guy with a decent amount of assists. His backetball IQ is sky high.

I am glad Boston got him at 21. I think I would rather have him than people picked ahead of him (Rivers, White and a few others). In next years draft he would have been a top 8 pick maybe top 5.

[Jazzfan12]

Valanciunas looked good last night until he picked up some fouls and then Casey mysteriously benched him.

Should have a pretty big second half of the year once he gets a bit more disciplined and gets more respect from the refs and his coach.

[GhostsOfGil]

Looking forward to the Beal vs MKG match up tonight

[menten]

I know Sullinger has not played a lot of minutes but a few observations from last night.
1) he hit a big 3. It was an open shot but was vital. Very intrigued to see how his long range game develops (all knew he had it in college and showed it in flashes in summer camp)
2) Doc made this point earlier in the year, he is an underrated passer. He is going to be an elite bigman passer at this rate. 4 assists last night.
3) Defence is still not great but it will improve.

He only had 1 board last night but limited playing time, he gets brought in for big rebounding moments (free throws etc). He has the talent to be a 10+ a night rebounder.

In fact he has the talent to be a solid double-double guy with a decent amount of assists. His backetball IQ is sky high.

I am glad Boston got him at 21. I think I would rather have him than people picked ahead of him (Rivers, White and a few others). In next years draft he would have been a top 8 pick maybe top 5.

i watched the boston game and thought that he was absolutely invisible the whole time he was out. he only thing that stood out was his 3 pointer, other than that he really didn't have a positive impact

[Jon1798]

Hornets with 3 in the top 22. Good young team.

Maybe one of the funniest statements I've ever read.

Not sure what you find so funny. Out of the 27 rookies that qualify as of today, in a league that has 30 teams, the Hornets technically have 4 of those 27 rookies making significant contributions. This counts Brian Roberts who is a 26 year old rookie from over seas. He is currently 6th amongst all rookies in PER. So the Hornets have the #1, #6, #23 and #27 on the list.

AKA, the Hornets are a good young team.

[whatchaknow]

Well it's funny because having the 27th best per is definently not good especially when it is what it is..

[j_angel]

I agree on Sully did not have much of an impact, he barely played.

But he got 4 assists, hence the point at about his passing being underrated.

The other observations were from the other games I have watched.

[GhostsOfGil]

Not sure what you find so funny. Out of the 27 rookies that qualify as of today, in a league that has 30 teams, the Hornets technically have 4 of those 27 rookies making significant contributions. This counts Brian Roberts who is a 26 year old rookie from over seas. He is currently 6th amongst all rookies in PER. So the Hornets have the #1, #6, #23 and #27 on the list.

AKA, the Hornets are a good young team.

Stop ranking rookies by PER. It doesn't matter what rookie rank they are if they are well below league average.

Also, this is a perfect example why PER is misleading with a small sample size. Obviously Rivers wont average a PER of 2.2 but theres a good chance Davis won't sustain a 34+ PER either.

The Hornets are indeed a good young team with a bright future... but not because 3 of your rookies are ranked in the top 22 of rookie PER. I cant believe I just had to explain that..

[Liver_Pooty]

Will be interesting to see if Gilchrist can build on his breakout game he had Saturday.

[RTM]

Hornets with 3 in the top 22. Good young team.

By this logic, Detroit is a superior young team - 3 in the top 15.

That being said, it's logic that doesn't really hold up. PER is a flawed stat this early in the season, given the small sample sizes.

That said, there's truth in statements like Davis is a star, and Drummond can be beastly when he just plays.

[Goldtop]

Hornets with 3 in the top 22. Good young team.

By this logic, Detroit is a superior young team - 3 in the top 15.

That being said, it's logic that doesn't really hold up. PER is a flawed stat this early in the season, given the small sample sizes.

That said, there's truth in statements like Davis is a star, and Drummond can be beastly when he just plays.

Thats kind of contradicting. You say its too early to use PER as a legit stat, but its not too early to proclaim Davis is a star after playing 2.5 games?

[Kabookalu]

Valanciunas looked good last night until he picked up some fouls and then Casey mysteriously benched him.

Should have a pretty big second half of the year once he gets a bit more disciplined and gets more respect from the refs and his coach.

This is so bad, even non Raptors fans are seeing this. What's even more embarrassing was that when Amir fouled out Casey elected to go with Aaron Gray instead of Valanciunas.