Rookie Discussion Thread

[Westbreezy]

Congrats to Julius Randle! First career triple double, and first rookie triple double this season.

13 points (6-10), 18 rebounds, 10 assists (2TO), 1 block

Undersized T-Rex Beast.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0FPycPPEAY[/youtube]

I say this as a huge Laker fan so I don't have any bad intentions... This was such an empty triple double. So many of those points and assists were him stat padding at the end of the game once it was already decided. And many of the assists (save for a few that were legitimate playmaking) were just a function of him handling the ball much more than usual and just handing it off to other players who shot the ball immediately.

Randle still has some of the worst tunnel vision I've ever seen from a player with his play style. Maybe its because we were lucky to have Odom who Randle somewhat reminds me of, but Odom was one of the most unselfish players I've seen. Randle just gives me the feel of a guy who either can't or doesnt want to see the next pass unless he gets rewarded for it. It's a shame because his ball handling and speed can present us with such a great mismatch that an unselfish player could use to set up his open teammates, but Randle prefers to take it to the hole against 3 or 4 defenders. I don't know if he has bad intentions and just wants to be "the man" or whether he just needs more experience to develop his court vision.

What do you guys think?

[Slava]

Congrats to Julius Randle! First career triple double, and first rookie triple double this season.

13 points (6-10), 18 rebounds, 10 assists (2TO), 1 block

Undersized T-Rex Beast.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0FPycPPEAY[/youtube]

I say this as a huge Laker fan so I don't have any bad intentions... This was such an empty triple double. So many of those points and assists were him stat padding at the end of the game once it was already decided. And many of the assists (save for a few that were legitimate playmaking) were just a function of him handling the ball much more than usual and just handing it off to other players who shot the ball immediately.

Randle still has some of the worst tunnel vision I've ever seen from a player with his play style. Maybe its because we were lucky to have Odom who Randle somewhat reminds me of, but Odom was one of the most unselfish players I've seen. Randle just gives me the feel of a guy who either can't or doesnt want to see the next pass unless he gets rewarded for it. It's a shame because his ball handling and speed can present us with such a great mismatch that an unselfish player could use to set up his open teammates, but Randle prefers to take it to the hole against 3 or 4 defenders. I don't know if he has bad intentions and just wants to be "the man" or whether he just needs more experience to develop his court vision.

What do you guys think?

I think Randle is the worst case scenario of the AAU basketball "Gotta get mine" style of play. He works hard for himself and no one else on the court.

[DOLPHIN2020]

Congrats to Julius Randle! First career triple double, and first rookie triple double this season.

13 points (6-10), 18 rebounds, 10 assists (2TO), 1 block

Undersized T-Rex Beast.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0FPycPPEAY[/youtube]

I say this as a huge Laker fan so I don't have any bad intentions... This was such an empty triple double. So many of those points and assists were him stat padding at the end of the game once it was already decided. And many of the assists (save for a few that were legitimate playmaking) were just a function of him handling the ball much more than usual and just handing it off to other players who shot the ball immediately.

Randle still has some of the worst tunnel vision I've ever seen from a player with his play style. Maybe its because we were lucky to have Odom who Randle somewhat reminds me of, but Odom was one of the most unselfish players I've seen. Randle just gives me the feel of a guy who either can't or doesnt want to see the next pass unless he gets rewarded for it. It's a shame because his ball handling and speed can present us with such a great mismatch that an unselfish player could use to set up his open teammates, but Randle prefers to take it to the hole against 3 or 4 defenders. I don't know if he has bad intentions and just wants to be "the man" or whether he just needs more experience to develop his court vision.

What do you guys think?

Plus Randle is not a Rookie!

[JMac1]

Booker 21pts 4 asst 4 rebs......Dude just finds a way to get 20. Horrible first half, 0-4 2 pts, 19 in the second half 8-16, foul trouble.

[JellosJigglin]

Randle had 5 assists in the first quarter. I didn't think he was gunning for the triple double until he had 8 assists with a few minutes left in garbage time. The tunnel vision comes and goes. Either he'll improve on it and become a hub on offense or he'll be a double-double black hole. He's still at least 5 years away from his prime so time will tell. He's very raw offensively. He's doing this all on natural talent alone.

[HawaiianJazzFan]

Kentucky on Kentucky crime...

Trey Lyles continues to look awesome, offensively. He needs to get stronger because right now he looks better defending SF's on the perimeter than big men in the paint, but I think he can get there he's still pretty young.

He had 15 pts, 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal in only 19 minutes he continues to show he can be a stretch four as he went 3/5 from three point land.

[reemy]

Booker 21pts 4 asst 4 rebs......Dude just finds a way to get 20. Horrible first half, 0-4 2 pts, 19 in the second half 8-16, foul trouble.

Caught the second half of the game. I wanted to see how he would respond to getting shutdown first half(late slate pick on dk), dude has lots of potential. My second favorite rook to watch this year, especially when tries to takeover like that Denver game and tonight.

[Domejandro]

Congrats to Julius Randle! First career triple double, and first rookie triple double this season.

13 points (6-10), 18 rebounds, 10 assists (2TO), 1 block

Undersized T-Rex Beast.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0FPycPPEAY[/youtube]

I really have no problem with you posting Julius Randle highlights in this thread, as he is a terrific young player and he deserves to be recognized. That said, your insistence on calling him a rookie is bordering on obnoxious at this point.

[Qwigglez]

Devin Booker highlight reel.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4IHSda5Tqc[/youtube]

[ALL HAIL]

Congrats to Julius Randle! First career triple double, and first rookie triple double this season.

13 points (6-10), 18 rebounds, 10 assists (2TO), 1 block

Undersized T-Rex Beast.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0FPycPPEAY[/youtube]

I really have no problem with you posting Julius Randle highlights in this thread, as he is a terrific young player and he deserves to be recognized. That said, your insistence on calling him a rookie is bordering on obnoxious at this point.

The people who are annoyed by this are even more obnoxious.

The argument about Randle is similar to positional arguments. Is Duncan a PF or C? He's always been listed as a PF, but has almost always finished games at C.

Is it bordering on obnoxious to call Duncan (circa 2008) a center? Or is it just that people have limited vision, too anal, literal, and linear for their own good?

[DaGawd]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tqbsYmv-Uk[/youtube]

[raptor jesus]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30vfjVAJjmM[/youtube]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL2FJjuihec[/youtube]

[riter]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tqbsYmv-Uk[/youtube]

http://dailyknicks.com/2016/03/27/new-york-knicks-rookie-kristaps-porzingis-makes-nba-history/


"According to Basketball-Reference.com, the only other player with at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 100 blocks, and 75 3-point field goals made in 2015-16 is four-time All-Star Al Horford. Before Horford and Porzingis, no player had done it since Kevin Durant in 2012-13.

Beyond Durant, those statistical marks hadn’t been achieved since Shawn Marion reached them in 2006-07—a sign that Porzingis’ dynamic ability is rare for both rookies and veterans alike...

...Porzingis is averaging 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.8 blocks, and 1.1 3-point field goals made in 28.3 minutes in 2015-16. He’s already helped New York develop an elite interior defense, with NBA.com reporting that the Knicks have the best defensive field goal percentage at the rim in the Association "

[Quentin]

Booker 21pts 4 asst 4 rebs......Dude just finds a way to get 20. Horrible first half, 0-4 2 pts, 19 in the second half 8-16, foul trouble.

Finds a way to get 20? He took 20 shots.

[Kabookalu]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30vfjVAJjmM[/youtube]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL2FJjuihec[/youtube]

By far the best second rounder we've had. If this 3 point shooting of his isn't a fluke then I'm more than happy to ship off Ross and make him our defacto second unit scorer. And if he continues improving in all aspects of his game, he might be good enough to replace DeRozan.

[JMac1]

Booker 21pts 4 asst 4 rebs......Dude just finds a way to get 20. Horrible first half, 0-4 2 pts, 19 in the second half 8-16, foul trouble.

Finds a way to get 20? He took 20 shots.

He should have taken more. He started 0-4, I guess you missed that part. Again, 8-16 in second half and missed (had blocked) the game tying shot. He was bringing us back from down 20 damn near by himself.........take more shots! That is what your franchise cornerstone player does, get up shots.

[NBA Fan 1234]

Booker 21pts 4 asst 4 rebs......Dude just finds a way to get 20. Horrible first half, 0-4 2 pts, 19 in the second half 8-16, foul trouble.

Finds a way to get 20? He took 20 shots.

He should have taken more. He started 0-4, I guess you missed that part. Again, 8-16 in second half and missed (had blocked) the game tying shot. He was bringing us back from down 20 damn near by himself.........take more shots! That is what your franchise cornerstone player does, get up shots.

20 points on 20 shots is not good.

[cyclix]

Booker will be the next great SG. He and Richardson are going to save the SG position. It's currently being run by a bunch of scammers.

[JMac1]

Finds a way to get 20? He took 20 shots.

He should have taken more. He started 0-4, I guess you missed that part. Again, 8-16 in second half and missed (had blocked) the game tying shot. He was bringing us back from down 20 damn near by himself.........take more shots! That is what your franchise cornerstone player does, get up shots.

20 points on 20 shots is not good.

19 points on 16 shots is good after you started 0-4, but slice it however you feel like slicing. If he was jacking up shots, you'd have a point, but read this...http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2016/3/27/11312540/aftermath-suns-come-up-short-but-devin-booker-is-the-real-deal-and

No matter what I say, it is just easy to say 20 points on 20 shots is not good, when you haven't looked at the totality of the game. The game the night before he went 11-21 and had 26 pts but I pointed out on this thread, it wasn't within the flow of the game. Last night's performance was better than the night before. But, I could care less if you or the other poster thought it was bad, I liked the performance, just as Brightside of the Sun did. Trying to teach the blind to see is a waste of time, especially when they want to be blind.

Have a good one.

[NBA Fan 1234]

He should have taken more. He started 0-4, I guess you missed that part. Again, 8-16 in second half and missed (had blocked) the game tying shot. He was bringing us back from down 20 damn near by himself.........take more shots! That is what your franchise cornerstone player does, get up shots.

20 points on 20 shots is not good.

19 points on 16 shots is good after you started 0-4, but slice it however you feel like slicing. If he was jacking up shots, you'd have a point, but read this...http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2016/3/27/11312540/aftermath-suns-come-up-short-but-devin-booker-is-the-real-deal-and

No matter what I say, it is just easy to say 20 points on 20 shots is not good, when you haven't looked at the totality of the game. The game the night before he went 11-21 and had 26 pts but I pointed out on this thread, it wasn't within the flow of the game. Last night's performance was better than the night before. But, I could care less if you or the other poster thought it was bad, I liked the performance, just as Brightside of the Sun did. Trying to teach the blind to see is a waste of time, especially when they want to be blind.

Have a good one.

I'm not saying it wasn't a good performance, nor do I dislike Booker. What I am saying is 8-20 is bad and 20 points on 20 shots is not good (and 19 on 16 isn't good either). You're right though - trying to teach the blind to see is a waste of time. The fact that you can't see that (as evidenced by your excuses for his poor % and lack of efficiency) makes the last part of your post somewhat ironic.

I like Booker - what I don't like is (in general) people thinking a criticism of the player is blasphemous and fans coming with swords to battle for their savior.