Rookie Play, Highlights & Discussion

[dawhizz]

Patrick Williams appears to have hit the rookie wall, fallen into the rookie ravine, and had his carcass picked apart by rookie wolves. His lack of aggressiveness has been concerning all season, but in his last three games as a starting SF averaging 27 minutes per game he put up 4/0/2, 0/0/1, and 2/1/3. That would be hard to do on purpose.

[Kurtz]

So I know Edwards is a favourite right now, but is 18 ppg that impressive when you're shooting 39% from the field? TS% right at 50%. Haliburton only averaging 13 ppg, but TS% at 60%

[Roger Murdock]

Patrick Williams appears to have hit the rookie wall, fallen into the rookie ravine, and had his carcass picked apart by rookie wolves. His lack of aggressiveness has been concerning all season, but in his last three games as a starting SF averaging 27 minutes per game he put up 4/0/2, 0/0/1, and 2/1/3. That would be hard to do on purpose.

Woof thats really bad. Okoro for a while had some really bad counting stat games but has been playing aggressive and coming into his own.

[bradybunch]

So I know Edwards is a favourite right now, but is 18 ppg that impressive when you're shooting 39% from the field? TS% right at 50%. Haliburton only averaging 13 ppg, but TS% at 60%

Awesome dunks are worth 4 points

Uber athleticism adds 5 percentage points to your shooting averages.

Woo!

[GrindCityHustle]

Funny thing is that Haliburton is the best rookie even though he won't get alot better in his career.

[CraftylikeaFox]

Funny thing is that Haliburton is the best rookie even though he won't get alot better in his career.

What makes you say that? He has lots of areas he can improve. His bball iq exceeded all expectations and his shot translated over when many thought it wouldn’t, but his game is still very much that of a rookie.

[shi-woo]

So I know Edwards is a favourite right now, but is 18 ppg that impressive when you're shooting 39% from the field? TS% right at 50%. Haliburton only averaging 13 ppg, but TS% at 60%

Yes, it's still impressive. Watching the games, Anthony is clearly the face of the Wolves now. More so than KAT and DLo. Moreso than Hali with Sac. Edwards has shown dominant stretches of offensive basketball, and a refined offensive toolbox. His handle is nice, his first step is elite, he can finish through traffic, his 3 looks smooth, and he clearly has the passion and fire his haters told you didn't exist 5 months ago. He really has been good, averaging 23/5/3/2/1 on 45/32/81 over his last 10. Even if you aren't impressed by those rookie numbers, he just looks the part right now.

The Wolves are a defensive mess, so he doesn't impress as a defender yet, and that will most likely be what he needs to work on t reach elite status. I think he gets there, Edwards seems like a good kid, and he works hard. Even if he doesn't win RotY I think there are many in the Wolves front office who can rest easy now knowing they didn't botch the pick in a draft everyone said was a toss up.

[nikster]

So I know Edwards is a favourite right now, but is 18 ppg that impressive when you're shooting 39% from the field? TS% right at 50%. Haliburton only averaging 13 ppg, but TS% at 60%

Yes, it's still impressive. Watching the games, Anthony is clearly the face of the Wolves now. More so than KAT and DLo. Moreso than Hali with Sac. Edwards has shown dominant stretches of offensive basketball, and a refined offensive toolbox. His handle is nice, his first step is elite, he can finish through traffic, his 3 looks smooth, and he clearly has the passion and fire his haters told you didn't exist 5 months ago. He really has been good, averaging 23/5/3/2/1 on 45/32/81 over his last 10. Even if you aren't impressed by those rookie numbers, he just looks the part right now.

The Wolves are a defensive mess, so he doesn't impress as a defender yet, and that will most likely be what he needs to work on t reach elite status. I think he gets there, Edwards seems like a good kid, and he works hard. Even if he doesn't win RotY I think there are many in the Wolves front office who can rest easy now knowing they didn't botch the pick in a draft everyone said was a toss up.

In that Luka unassisted scorer thread the graph shows Edwards is among the leader in unassisted shots taken this year. That's what's impressive to me. Hes taken as many unassisted shots as players like Kawhi and Harden.

Expecting a rookie, let alone a teenager, to create that much for himself and to do it efficiently is insane

[FinnTheHuman]

So I know Edwards is a favourite right now, but is 18 ppg that impressive when you're shooting 39% from the field? TS% right at 50%. Haliburton only averaging 13 ppg, but TS% at 60%

Yes, it's still impressive. Watching the games, Anthony is clearly the face of the Wolves now. More so than KAT and DLo. Moreso than Hali with Sac. Edwards has shown dominant stretches of offensive basketball, and a refined offensive toolbox. His handle is nice, his first step is elite, he can finish through traffic, his 3 looks smooth, and he clearly has the passion and fire his haters told you didn't exist 5 months ago. He really has been good, averaging 23/5/3/2/1 on 45/32/81 over his last 10. Even if you aren't impressed by those rookie numbers, he just looks the part right now.

The Wolves are a defensive mess, so he doesn't impress as a defender yet, and that will most likely be what he needs to work on t reach elite status. I think he gets there, Edwards seems like a good kid, and he works hard. Even if he doesn't win RotY I think there are many in the Wolves front office who can rest easy now knowing they didn't botch the pick in a draft everyone said was a toss up.

In that Luka unassisted scorer thread the graph shows Edwards is among the leader in unassisted shots taken this year. That's what's impressive to me. Hes taken as many unassisted shots as players like Kawhi and Harden.

Expecting a rookie, let alone a teenager, to create that much for himself and to do it efficiently is insane

He didn't really do it efficiently tho, and I'm like his biggest stan. He's recently started doing it efficiently, but it remains to be seen whether he'll sustain it until the end of season. Still, I think he's gonna be a world beater next season.

[Kurtz]

So I know Edwards is a favourite right now, but is 18 ppg that impressive when you're shooting 39% from the field? TS% right at 50%. Haliburton only averaging 13 ppg, but TS% at 60%

Yes, it's still impressive. Watching the games, Anthony is clearly the face of the Wolves now. More so than KAT and DLo. Moreso than Hali with Sac. Edwards has shown dominant stretches of offensive basketball, and a refined offensive toolbox. His handle is nice, his first step is elite, he can finish through traffic, his 3 looks smooth, and he clearly has the passion and fire his haters told you didn't exist 5 months ago. He really has been good, averaging 23/5/3/2/1 on 45/32/81 over his last 10. Even if you aren't impressed by those rookie numbers, he just looks the part right now.

The Wolves are a defensive mess, so he doesn't impress as a defender yet, and that will most likely be what he needs to work on t reach elite status. I think he gets there, Edwards seems like a good kid, and he works hard. Even if he doesn't win RotY I think there are many in the Wolves front office who can rest easy now knowing they didn't botch the pick in a draft everyone said was a toss up.

In that Luka unassisted scorer thread the graph shows Edwards is among the leader in unassisted shots taken this year. That's what's impressive to me. Hes taken as many unassisted shots as players like Kawhi and Harden.

Expecting a rookie, let alone a teenager, to create that much for himself and to do it efficiently is insane

Well..that's debatable. Kawhi and Harden get a lot of unassisted shots but are shooting good percentages, which is very impressive.

But if a guy puts up tons of unassisted shots and is shooting only 39%, you can interpret it as poor shot selection.

For comparison, Lamelo put up 16 ppg on 56% TS to Ant's 18 pgg on 50% TS.

[Quentin]

Yes, it's still impressive. Watching the games, Anthony is clearly the face of the Wolves now. More so than KAT and DLo. Moreso than Hali with Sac. Edwards has shown dominant stretches of offensive basketball, and a refined offensive toolbox. His handle is nice, his first step is elite, he can finish through traffic, his 3 looks smooth, and he clearly has the passion and fire his haters told you didn't exist 5 months ago. He really has been good, averaging 23/5/3/2/1 on 45/32/81 over his last 10. Even if you aren't impressed by those rookie numbers, he just looks the part right now.

The Wolves are a defensive mess, so he doesn't impress as a defender yet, and that will most likely be what he needs to work on t reach elite status. I think he gets there, Edwards seems like a good kid, and he works hard. Even if he doesn't win RotY I think there are many in the Wolves front office who can rest easy now knowing they didn't botch the pick in a draft everyone said was a toss up.

In that Luka unassisted scorer thread the graph shows Edwards is among the leader in unassisted shots taken this year. That's what's impressive to me. Hes taken as many unassisted shots as players like Kawhi and Harden.

Expecting a rookie, let alone a teenager, to create that much for himself and to do it efficiently is insane

He didn't really do it efficiently tho, and I'm like his biggest stan. He's recently started doing it efficiently, but it remains to be seen whether he'll sustain it until the end of season. Still, I think he's gonna be a world beater next season.

Gimme a break. Two things, he's doing this at 19 and you KNOW he's being robbed by the officials when he drives. The refs don't give rookies any calls and can't figure out if he is getting fouled so they swallow the whistle. Throw efficiency out the window with him on his 2's. His 3's he could definitely improve on.

[TheZachAttack]

So I know Edwards is a favourite right now, but is 18 ppg that impressive when you're shooting 39% from the field? TS% right at 50%. Haliburton only averaging 13 ppg, but TS% at 60%

Yes, it's still impressive. Watching the games, Anthony is clearly the face of the Wolves now. More so than KAT and DLo. Moreso than Hali with Sac. Edwards has shown dominant stretches of offensive basketball, and a refined offensive toolbox. His handle is nice, his first step is elite, he can finish through traffic, his 3 looks smooth, and he clearly has the passion and fire his haters told you didn't exist 5 months ago. He really has been good, averaging 23/5/3/2/1 on 45/32/81 over his last 10. Even if you aren't impressed by those rookie numbers, he just looks the part right now.

The Wolves are a defensive mess, so he doesn't impress as a defender yet, and that will most likely be what he needs to work on t reach elite status. I think he gets there, Edwards seems like a good kid, and he works hard. Even if he doesn't win RotY I think there are many in the Wolves front office who can rest easy now knowing they didn't botch the pick in a draft everyone said was a toss up.

Last 20 games since the all star break:

24-5-3 on 51% 2 PT FG - 34% 3 PT FG (8 attempts) - 77% FT (5.5 attempts per game)

Top 20 in scoring and top 25 in FTa. ~60% at the rim since KAT returned (like 30 games). His shooting splits and efficiency, especially with how much he’s getting to the line aren’t any different than the Bookers, Mitchells and other wing scorers of the world when they were rookies or younger players. Only 19, just a few months older than Cade.

Fans who don’t watch him, don’t see the progress.

[DroseReturnChi]

Patrick Williams appears to have hit the rookie wall, fallen into the rookie ravine, and had his carcass picked apart by rookie wolves. His lack of aggressiveness has been concerning all season, but in his last three games as a starting SF averaging 27 minutes per game he put up 4/0/2, 0/0/1, and 2/1/3. That would be hard to do on purpose.

true dont want to hide he sucked but that doesnt change the fact that he is top 4 potential wise. would still pick over hali and even Edwards.

[brutalitops]

So I know Edwards is a favourite right now, but is 18 ppg that impressive when you're shooting 39% from the field? TS% right at 50%. Haliburton only averaging 13 ppg, but TS% at 60%

The state of the wolves rotation and the roles Edwards has played. He played PF and back up PG in stretches pre Saunders firing. A defined role post all star break his splits are much better. Again the eye test has to be involved but Edwards is fantastic offensively. And defensively 1v1 very good (no bring up team defense though) I don't buy this talk of Halliburton hasn't got a ceiling because putting caps on teenagers on what they can become is clueless. But Edwards is still figuring out his game. Haliburton knows his game. Hinting Edwards a chucker behind stats isn't really helpful in picking apart his flaws.he has off nights when he was playing a thousand different roles and Even a bit unsure what to do when KAT and Dlo are playing a two man game in end of game situations. But ask NYK fans about Edwards where he buried the Knicks offensively and defensively. Looking like Lillard spent 6 months in the Gym and gained about 8 inches of wingspan

[Quentin]

Patrick Williams appears to have hit the rookie wall, fallen into the rookie ravine, and had his carcass picked apart by rookie wolves. His lack of aggressiveness has been concerning all season, but in his last three games as a starting SF averaging 27 minutes per game he put up 4/0/2, 0/0/1, and 2/1/3. That would be hard to do on purpose.

true dont want to hide he sucked but that doesnt change the fact that he is top 4 potential wise. would still pick over hali and even Edwards.

[HotelVitale]

So I know Edwards is a favourite right now, but is 18 ppg that impressive when you're shooting 39% from the field? TS% right at 50%. Haliburton only averaging 13 ppg, but TS% at 60%

The state of the wolves rotation and the roles Edwards has played. He played PF and back up PG in stretches pre Saunders firing. A defined role post all star break his splits are much better. Again the eye test has to be involved but Edwards is fantastic offensively... Hinting Edwards a chucker behind stats isn't really helpful in picking apart his flaws.

This is probably going too far—Edwards definitely isn’t always ‘fantastic on offense’—but he’s clearly turned a corner and harnessed some more of his tools. The key stay here is that he’s at 54% TS since the break while averaging well over 20, that’s the reason why he’s been impressive. And he’s doing it with a really nice combo of shots, you can see potential for something special there for sure.

[AbeVigodaLive]

So I know Edwards is a favourite right now, but is 18 ppg that impressive when you're shooting 39% from the field? TS% right at 50%. Haliburton only averaging 13 ppg, but TS% at 60%

Yes, it's still impressive. Watching the games, Anthony is clearly the face of the Wolves now. More so than KAT and DLo. Moreso than Hali with Sac. Edwards has shown dominant stretches of offensive basketball, and a refined offensive toolbox. His handle is nice, his first step is elite, he can finish through traffic, his 3 looks smooth, and he clearly has the passion and fire his haters told you didn't exist 5 months ago. He really has been good, averaging 23/5/3/2/1 on 45/32/81 over his last 10. Even if you aren't impressed by those rookie numbers, he just looks the part right now.

Should he be though?

Towns: 25.0 ppg / 11.0 reb / 4.6 apg / 49.5% fg / 40.2% 3fg / 87.1% ft

And the Wolves crater when Towns is off the court.

[Trey24]

I know this is the Rookie of the Year thread, but I had to give a shout out to my guy Vernon Carey Jr., who played the first meaningful minutes of his NBA career on Friday night against the Nets, STARTED at center and had 21 pts and 6 rebounds, and had the Nets doubling him to get the ball out of his hands in the second half.

Could the Hornets already have their center of the future? Long way to go, but Carey looked impressive in his debut.

Watch on YouTube

[Wagonband]

Funny thing is that Haliburton is the best rookie even though he won't get alot better in his career.

Ah yes... We have found a new rookie who won't improve after his rookie season

[KembaWalker]

LaMelo is still the rookie of the year. Nobody has really stepped up since he went down and shown to be a better player.