The OFFICIAL Rookie impressions thread

Jazzfan12 · Post #501 » by **Jazzfan12** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 2:45 am

Whoever is telling Thomas Robinson to focus on his perimeter game should not coach in the NBA again.

AdamTheGreek · Post #502 » by **AdamTheGreek** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 2:46 am

Time to get excited about Andrew Nicholson. 18 points, game-high scorer off the bench (played meaningful minutes) in the Magic's 104-100 win over the Spurs.

dballislife · Post #503 » by **dballislife** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 2:49 am

kings will ruin trob like everyone else, that front office and coaching staff needs a complete overhaul

MrBigShot · Post #504 » by **MrBigShot** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:08 am

I think this preseason has put an end to the whole "Drummond has no skill whatsoever" expectation. Ryan Hollins is an athletic bigman with no skill. AD can't shoot to save his life but he's somewhat skilled when it comes to defensive rotations and knowing where to be. He has a nose for the ball and is terrific at getting position for offensive rebounds, that's a legitimate skill...obviously the shotblocking was well known, and finally...the ability to finish around the rim. If you've seen highlights you have probably already seen him throw down some ridiculous alley oops and baptize Ersan Ilaysova, but I've also noticed that he's good at manuevering around traffic in the air. He had two scoop layups, one against the bobcats and another and 1 scoop shot against the bucks where I could have sworn I saw the ghost of Derrick Rose. I don't know any bigman that can pull off in particular that move against the bucks.

boogie-reke · Post #505 » by **boogie-reke** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 4:44 am

I actually think T-Rob has looked pretty good when he got set into that hustle PF role.

His shooting %s due to his lack of size, inability to finish, and still not locked in jumper aside - he has been quite solid in his minutes imo, affecting the game with his hustle and rebounding - and at times to my surprise defense.

Compared to expectations on him I can see the dissapointment, but personally I think surely until he has that jumper wet, that he's a work in progress and that with his work-ethic can really become that 3rd best player guy I hoped he'll develop to.

I expected kind of a rookie Jason Thompson out of him in terms of numbers which I think he'll manage to do more or less.

Shem · Post #506 » by **Shem** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 4:52 am

My impression of Meyers Leonard after tonight. He's a really tall and solid guy. I'm saying that after I met him tonight at Blazers Fan Fest.

rockmanslim · Post #507 » by **rockmanslim** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 5:01 am

MrBigShot wrote:I think this preseason has put an end to the whole "Drummond has no skill whatsoever" expectation. Ryan Hollins is an athletic bigman with no skill. AD can't shoot to save his life

I think it's too early to say that. He's shown some flashes of a shooting stroke.

Kabookalu · Post #508 » by **Kabookalu** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 5:07 am

Andrew Nicholson is going to destroy Orlando's tanking strategy for this year like Doc Rivers did

ComboGuardCity · Post #509 » by **ComboGuardCity** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 5:21 am

T-Rob looks a lot like Landry...I'm pulling for the kid though. We need more guys like him in today's "take 20 minutes off" NBA.

Noonskadoodle · Post #510 » by **Noonskadoodle** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 7:17 am

Dequan Jones from the U has made a very nice impression on the Magic so far.

Blkbrd671 · Post #511 » by **Blkbrd671** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 7:32 am

Noonskadoodle wrote:Dequan Jones from the U has made a very nice impression on the Magic so far.

so far he's just been a high flyer , (game against detroit) but also not that hard to look good on that team

Noonskadoodle · Post #512 » by **Noonskadoodle** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 7:50 am

Blkbrd671 wrote:
Noonskadoodle wrote:Dequan Jones from the U has made a very nice impression on the Magic so far.

so far he's just been a high flyer , (game against detroit) but also not that hard to look good on that team

It's not just his athleticism that has been impressive, but his defensive potential is also intriguing.

Against Spurs he was 3-6 from the field with 9 points 3 boards & 2 steals
Against Pacers he was 5-6 from the field with 10 points, 4 blocks, & a steal.
Against Pistons he was 9-13 from the field with 22 points & a block (did have 5 TOs)
Against Cavs he was 3-8 from the field with 7 points 9 boards & a block
Against 76ers he was 2-3 from the field with 4 points 3 boards & 2 steals
Against Hornets he was 4-8 from the field with 8 points & 2 steals

rockmanslim · Post #513 » by **rockmanslim** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 9:08 am

I specifically watched that DET ORL game to watch Dequan's 22 pt explosion.

What I found fascinating about him is that he moves fast on offense, explosive burst, not just talking about his leaping, but the way he moves on the floor....yet on defense, it's like it takes him two seconds to react when his man drives, like his feet are planted in cement. He needs a faster CPU.

MrBigShot · Post #514 » by **MrBigShot** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 4:24 pm

rockmanslim wrote:
MrBigShot wrote:I think this preseason has put an end to the whole "Drummond has no skill whatsoever" expectation. Ryan Hollins is an athletic bigman with no skill. AD can't shoot to save his life

I think it's too early to say that. He's shown some flashes of a shooting stroke.

Dude shot 30% from the line last year and not much better high school, and he's not much better when it comes to shooting in game situations. I'm a huge homer but I can't sit here and tell you that he can shoot, but I have faith that he'll get better and improve. If he can get to 70% FT by his prime and be able to knock down 12-15 foot jumpers I will be a happy fan.

Johnlac1 · Post #515 » by **Johnlac1** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 5:04 pm

Blkbrd671 wrote:
Johnlac1 wrote:
Zedders wrote:Detroit fans must be licking their lips. Drummond and Monroe, oh me oh my.

Drummond will certainly help, but what Detroit also needs is a huge injection of intelligence. They don't play smart as a team, and I don't think their present point guards (Stuckey, Knight) are smart or good enough to cure that problem. However, having said that, if they do poorly again this year (as I think they will), maybe they can pick up a good point guard in the draft.

don't quite get where you get your assessment, but its pretty horrible. Stuckey and Tay have pretty large IQ's as well GM. Problem with detroit is they are still young and lack experience. has nothing to do with Bball IQ. We do need to limit our TO's which have been a issue, but for those who watch the games, you can see majority of time its due to the players trying to play with in franks system that they aren't comfortable with. When they get in the open court and get "free reign" , they take better care of the ball.

We'll be drafting a SF or SG, not PG as the FO is higher than snoop on Knight

I get my assessment from watching Detroit play last year. The overall team IQ is poor... a lot of that related to the guards. If they had a Rondo or a Paul they'd win about ten more games. Not impressed with either Stuckey or Knight as point guards.

Mister Ze · Post #516 » by **Mister Ze** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 6:32 pm

I knew Drummond was a keeper, you just can't pass up on an athletic 270lb C with a 34 inch vertical. He's as raw as they come but he can rebound and block shots already. I think his worst case is a Deandre Jordan and the skies the limit for him if he develops an offensive game.

Jonas V plays with a lot of energy for a C, really runs the floor. Great at catching the ball in the post and finishing. The Raptors don't have any real C's besides Aaron Gray so i'm guessing Jonas plays 25+ minutes which is a lot more than what Kanter got in his rookie season.

I think a lot of people also slept on Perry Jones, he's got jaw dropping athleticism (39 inch vertical and a 3.2 second 3/4 court sprint). So far he's shot 65% from the field (2-4 3-pt) averaging 11 points in 24 minutes.

FlipTSO · Post #517 » by **FlipTSO** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 9:56 pm

Johnlac1 wrote:I get my assessment from watching Detroit play last year. The overall team IQ is poor... a lot of that related to the guards. If they had a Rondo or a Paul they'd win about ten more games. Not impressed with either Stuckey or Knight as point guards.

Stuckey didn't play PG last year, and Knight was a 20 yr old rookie. If you were expecting Rondo/Paul IQ from a rookie PG you set yourself up to be disappointed.

FlipTSO · Post #518 » by **FlipTSO** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 9:58 pm

Master Ze wrote:I knew Drummond was a keeper, you just can't pass up on an athletic 270lb C with a 34 inch vertical. He's as raw as they come but he can rebound and block shots already. I think his worst case is a Deandre Jordan and the skies the limit for him if he develops an offensive game.

He's the Pistons leading rebounder and shot-blocker in pre-season, and doing it in only 17 mpg.

Blkbrd671 · Post #519 » by **Blkbrd671** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 10:24 pm

Johnlac1 wrote:
Blkbrd671 wrote:
don't quite get where you get your assessment, but its pretty horrible. Stuckey and Tay have pretty large IQ's as well GM. Problem with detroit is they are still young and lack experience. has nothing to do with Bball IQ. We do need to limit our TO's which have been a issue, but for those who watch the games, you can see majority of time its due to the players trying to play with in franks system that they aren't comfortable with. When they get in the open court and get "free reign" , they take better care of the ball.

We'll be drafting a SF or SG, not PG as the FO is higher than snoop on Knight

I get my assessment from watching Detroit play last year. The overall team IQ is poor... a lot of that related to the guards. If they had a Rondo or a Paul they'd win about ten more games. Not impressed with either Stuckey or Knight as point guards.

Last year!? you mean the year where we had a rookie pg, new coach, no offseason, lockout schedule(less practices)? I'm not saying boneheaded plays didn't contribute, but if you really did watch detroits games last year, you could clearly see that they struggled learning a new system.

Stuckey isn't a pg, he plays backup at times, but not long and Knight is learning the PG position and has already showed improvement. IDK why you'd be expecting any of those players to be one of the top 5 pg's in the league.

Johnlac1 · Post #520 » by **Johnlac1** » Tue Oct 23, 2012 12:18 am

FlipTSO wrote:
Johnlac1 wrote:I get my assessment from watching Detroit play last year. The overall team IQ is poor... a lot of that related to the guards. If they had a Rondo or a Paul they'd win about ten more games. Not impressed with either Stuckey or Knight as point guards.

Stuckey didn't play PG last year, and Knight was a 20 yr old rookie. If you were expecting Rondo/Paul IQ from a rookie PG you set yourself up to be disappointed.

Sorry, I'm a Bucks fan....not a Pistons fan. So not much disappointment in either player. I'm also a fan of good basketball. Stuckey and Knight might turn out to be decent players, but I doubt either one will be more than adequate at point guard. But it's not just them. I'd ditch Prince as fast as I possibly could. He's a ballstopper on offense and his usefulness to the Pistons is over. Better to lose with a good young prospect than with an older player whose best days are long gone. However, if you can get a good point guard and a good sf to team with Monroe and Drummond, you could make waves in the near future.