The OFFICIAL rookie impressions thread pt.III

mrmsix6 · Post #621 » by **mrmsix6** » Sat Mar 2, 2013 1:56 am

DusterBuster wrote:
The kid sets a NBA record in his rookie season and and he's only a borderline all-star talent.

uhh, that's what he is

In the west Paul, Parker, Westbrook, Curry are all clearly better than him. He's not even really close to any of those guys.

Dupp · Post #622 » by **Dupp** » Sat Mar 2, 2013 1:59 am

Well thats what he is currently but you said "talent" which implies what he will be in the future.

DusterBuster · Post #623 » by **DusterBuster** » Sat Mar 2, 2013 2:04 am

mrmsix6 wrote:
DusterBuster wrote:
The kid sets a NBA record in his rookie season and and he's only a borderline all-star talent.

uhh, that's what he is

In the west Paul, Parker, Westbrook, Curry are all clearly better than him. He's not even really close to any of those guys.

Yeah, right now. No one knows what he could become in a few years from now. The way your post sounded, that's what you expected him to be in the future too.

Francois wrote:Well thats what he is currently but you said "talent" which implies what he will be in the future.

Bingo.

I just get so tired of the people who claim that Lillard is already as good as he's ever going to be. It's the same garbage we Blazer fans heard about Roy after his rookie season..... That didn't turn out to be true and I'll be stunned if Lillard doesn't improve his game in the coming years.

mrmsix6 · Post #624 » by **mrmsix6** » Sat Mar 2, 2013 2:11 am

neither my post or the other guy's post said anything about what he'll be in the future, you inferred that.

for the record, i think borderline all-star is his future, regardless of his rookie records. he's nearly 23 and he's playing a ton of minutes.

Dame Lizard · Post #625 » by **Dame Lizard** » Sat Mar 2, 2013 2:15 am

mrmsix6 wrote:neither my post or the other guy's post said anything about what he'll be in the future, you inferred that.

for the record, i think borderline all-star is his future, regardless of his rookie records. he's nearly 23 and he's playing a ton of minutes.

I've watched more than 50% of Portland games this season and it's so incredibly easy to see he's not a finished prospect, contrary to belief by some.

Sure, he isn't 'raw' like MKG or Meyers Leonard, he was drafted with expectations of being a good player now, but his upside is definitely underestimated by people like you. And no, I'm not just meaning the more obvious defensive improvements, I'm talking about offensive improvements as well.

He's been dealing with double teams for months now and gains as much, if not more attention as LMA (our All-Star), something which you can't really say about any other rookie. Also you don't think him playing the 4th most MPG in the NBA is affecting his production/efficiency?

Dame Lizard · Post #626 » by **Dame Lizard** » Sat Mar 2, 2013 2:19 am

Bradley Beal having a great game.

This kid is very special and will be one of the premier SG's in the league before we know it.

Cro_Ruption · Post #627 » by **Cro_Ruption** » Sat Mar 2, 2013 2:29 am

Dame Lizard wrote:Bradley Beal having a great game.

This kid is very special and will be one of the premier SG's in the league before we know it.

yeah, amazing talent. Can't wait to see him improve even more

DCsOwn · Post #628 » by **DCsOwn** » Sat Mar 2, 2013 2:35 am

29 and 11 from Beal in a losing effort.

Sasaki · Post #629 » by **Sasaki** » Sat Mar 2, 2013 2:36 am

Motiejunas is an amazing and brilliant offensive player....and is also a truly amazing defensive player. I'll leave that to your interpretation

PDXjq · Post #630 » by **PDXjq** » Sat Mar 2, 2013 2:43 am

Okay so I have been reading this thread for sometime now, and there has been a lot of bashing of Lillard. You guys talk about Beal, Waiter, and Davis or even Drummond. They are all solid prospects and I love their games! But for you to bash Lillard saying he is a sub par guard is stupid. The guy has played 57 games in the league and Portland's whole entire game flows through him. A lot of people over look the fact that teams run whole entire game plans to disrupt Lillard's game (double teams, zone etc) and the dude is still dropping 18.5 and 6.5 a game. I just don't see coach Pop walking into the coaches room developing a game plan saying "wow, let's throw countless double teams on Beal or Dummond, if we shut down them, their team is nothing."
Lillard also makes everyone on Portland a better player. And to those people who don't think he will grow as a point guard, look at Westbrook and the evolution he has encountered over the last few years.
Once Waiter, Beal and the rest of the prospects become the main focal point of a teams defensive plan to shut down and start producing at a high level, I'll start to consider them ROY. I am by no means a hater, I just can't believe how ignorant some people can be. Play nice, this rookie class overall is promising.

TheBigThree · Post #631 » by **TheBigThree** » Sat Mar 2, 2013 2:47 am

Christ, no one with any brain and no one I remember posting in this thread has called Lillard a "sub-par guard". A guy that has the ROY locked up isn't a sub-par player and the most criticism I've seen of him is that he's more of a finished product than the likes of Beal, Drummon and Waiters, which is perfectly valid.

Anyway, Beal is ferocious. Positionally he's lightyears away from where he was at the start of the season. Getting good open looks and his rebounding is really starting to shine like it did in college.

dangermouse · Post #632 » by **dangermouse** » Sat Mar 2, 2013 2:48 am

Beal got robbed for ROTM honors. Better stats than Waiters across the board, he did sit a couple of games, but the Wiz were winning and he was a big part of that.

Post #633 » by **nate33** » Sat Mar 2, 2013 2:55 am

PDXjq wrote:Okay so I have been reading this thread for sometime now, and there has been a lot of bashing of Lillard. You guys talk about Beal, Waiter, and Davis or even Drummond. They are all solid prospects and I love their games! But for you to bash Lillard saying he is a sub par guard is stupid. The guy has played 57 games in the league and Portland's whole entire game flows through him. A lot of people over look the fact that teams run whole entire game plans to disrupt Lillard's game (double teams, zone etc) and the dude is still dropping 18.5 and 6.5 a game. I just don't see coach Pop walking into the coaches room developing a game plan saying "wow, let's throw countless double teams on Beal or Dummond, if we shut down them, their team is nothing."
Lillard also makes everyone on Portland a better player. And to those people who don't think he will grow as a point guard, look at Westbrook and the evolution he has encountered over the last few years.
Once Waiter, Beal and the rest of the prospects become the main focal point of a teams defensive plan to shut down and start producing at a high level, I'll start to consider them ROY. I am by no means a hater, I just can't believe how ignorant some people can be. Play nice, this rookie class overall is promising.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Portland have the highest scoring big man in the game? Beal and Waiters (Beal particularly) don't have that luxury of having an all-star big man as a primary option scorer.

Lillard hit the ground running as a rookie. His was remarkable from his first month onward. But his scoring rate plateaued after his second month and has actually declined a bit since. Meanwhile, Beal and Waiters are both coming on strong lately (particularly Beal). If you ignore the first 2 months and focus on January and onward, a case can be made that Beal is outplaying Lillard. I'm not taking away anything from Lillard. He's still the clear choice for ROY since he has done it all season. But if you are trying to project who will be better going forward, it's very easy to make an argument for Beal. It just took him longer to adjust to the NBA because of his youth and inexperience.

Post #634 » by **TheOUTLAW** » Sat Mar 2, 2013 2:58 am

Browns16 wrote:
orangeparka wrote:
sir G Wallace wrote:ESPN has a new #1 in their rookie rankings:
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/players/rookies/rankings

Wow, not sure if I agree with that.

Why is waiters not top 5?

Yeah, that is completely ridiculous.

DCsOwn · Post #635 » by **DCsOwn** » Sat Mar 2, 2013 2:58 am

I think Lillards a top 5 pg in two seasons. Love his game. I also think Waiters and Beal are top 5 sg in two seasons. Great draft.

Illmatic21 · Post #636 » by **Illmatic21** » Sat Mar 2, 2013 2:59 am

DusterBuster wrote:Lillard won his 4th straight Western Conference Rookie of the Month award. He's now the only player in the history of the league to score 900+ points and make 100+ 3 pointers in his first 50 NBA games.

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index ... um=twitter

Brapman wrote:a very good (not elite) but still borderline all-star level PG

The kid sets a NBA record in his rookie season and and he's only a borderline all-star talent.

Tyreke Evans set records his rookie season as well (not that Lillard's career will follow the path of Evans, but just saying)

kidleader · Post #637 » by **kidleader** » Sat Mar 2, 2013 3:23 am

lillards most glaring weakness is his awful defence.

lillard > beal

KazuoOda · Post #638 » by **KazuoOda** » Sat Mar 2, 2013 3:29 am

Dion named to rookie of the month. Grats to him.

oikosnomos · Post #639 » by **oikosnomos** » Sat Mar 2, 2013 3:45 am

Beal and Waiters and making the ROY more interesting. Very comparable stats for the year.

Dame Lizard · Post #640 » by **Dame Lizard** » Sat Mar 2, 2013 3:52 am

nate33 wrote: Lillard hit the ground running as a rookie. His was remarkable from his first month onward. But his scoring rate plateaued after his second month and has actually declined a bit since.

Nov - 18.1 PPG
Dec - 18.2 PPG
Jan - 17.7 PPG
Feb - 19.8 PPG

Not being pedantic, but his scoring hasn't declined and his FG% has basically been constant all season, ever since he initially established that 42% range after a dozen games or so. All the mean while defenses have been adjusting. Lillard has been receiving far more defensive attention than all other rookies this season, that cannot be understated.

Where's the Jonas Valanciunas talk on this board?

I thought he was getting over-talked about at season's start, but now is being well and truly under-talked!

He's been putting in some strong rebounding performances as of late. Really like the kid.