Rookie Play, Highlights & Discussion

[Klomp]

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[HotelVitale]

^ I really want Ant to succeed just to quiet down hundreds of awful draft takers on realgm. I know he's not an ideal personality and there's legit worries that could limit him, but it's really annoying that people don't see the obvious talent and kept LOL'ing at him being a top prospect. Dude's got just about all the athleticism and slashing tools you could want.

[scrabbarista]

I ran the formula again for the top 25 rookies in total minutes. Here are the results.

The main takeaway here (sadly) is that the formula is designed for stars playing over 2,000 minutes, not scrubs - and most rookies are scrubs - who have played around 450 minutes. Because of the noise in such a small sample size, the +/- portion of the formula is largely driving the results here, even with the other inputs multiplied to over 60 games. So, take this with a huge grain of salt. It's just an additional perspective. It's not supposed to be anything near definitive - at least, not with such a small sample size.

The second takeaway is that rookies stink, but older rookies stink a lot less. Unsurprisingly, guys like Tate (25), Campazzo (29), Pritchard (23), and Bane (22) are high up on the list, because their +/- is reflective of the fact that they, um... know how to play baketball.

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As of the morning of February 10th.

TOP TEN

8.99 - Vassell, SAS
8.78 - Ball, CHO (n/a, was lower than 10th)
8.67 - Haliburton, SAS (+5)
7.99 - Tate, HOU
7.36 - Pritchard, BOS (-2)

6.9 - Quickley, NYK (+4)
6.08 - Campazzo, DEN (-1)
5.27 - Bane, MEM (-3)
4.97 - Tillman, MEM (-7)
4.75 - Stewart, DET (-3)

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BOTTOM FIVE

-2.23 - Bey, DET (n/a, was higher than 21st)
-2.53 - Okoro, CLE (n/a)
-2.86 - Maledon, OKC (+2)
-4.33 - Edwards, MIN
-6.39 - Pokusevski, OKC (-4)

Then it's garbage. +/- is a terrible stat to rate individual performance.

Thanks for your opinion.

[BAMAFREAK]

Bane with 18 tonight.
Double digit points 5 out of the last 6 games.
Shooting almost 50% from 3. He’s just what the dr ordered for Ja.

[The_Hater]

Bane with 18 tonight.
Double digit points 5 out of the last 6 games.
Shooting almost 50% from 3. He’s just what the dr ordered for Ja.

This guy is good. He makes very smart decisions too.

He doesn’t have the all around skill to be a star but he’s going to fit in perfectly on good teams for years.

[BoogieTime]

Crazy how much talent there turned out to be in this class. It sounds like everyone except the Knicks are happy with their top picks, and even they have IQ to fall back on.

WHat's with the insecurity Kings fan?

If you combine the rookie additions of Immanuel Quickley/Obi Toppin vs. Haliburton/Jahmi'us Ramsey, I'd say we had a better draft overall. Wouldn't you?
CBSSports actually has Quickley ahead of Haliburton, which doesn't mean much at this point really.

What intrigues me is that IQ will be the starting point guard for the Knicks by the mid-way point, whereas Haliburton unfortunately has Hiedi and Fox blocking his way. Sacramento has a tough call on that decision, don't you think?

I think you mean Haliburton/Woodard(who looks great so far for G League)/Ramsey.

Many consider Woodard a solid prospect

Not sure about the ultimate decision, Fox/Haliburton fit pretty seemlessly. Hield will be moved to 6th man/SF/or traded at some point. The Kings closing lineup of Fox/Hali/Hield/Barnes/Holmes is a death lineup that has the second highest rating of any 5 with above 100 minutes. Why couldn’t they start?

[robbie84]

What a steal this kid has been...

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[Zenzibar]

Crazy how much talent there turned out to be in this class. It sounds like everyone except the Knicks are happy with their top picks, and even they have IQ to fall back on.

WHat's with the insecurity Kings fan?

If you combine the rookie additions of Immanuel Quickley/Obi Toppin vs. Haliburton/Jahmi'us Ramsey, I'd say we had a better draft overall. Wouldn't you?
CBSSports actually has Quickley ahead of Haliburton, which doesn't mean much at this point really.

What intrigues me is that IQ will be the starting point guard for the Knicks by the mid-way point, whereas Haliburton unfortunately has Hiedi and Fox blocking his way. Sacramento has a tough call on that decision, don't you think?

I think you mean Haliburton/Woodard(who looks great so far for G League)/Ramsey.

Many consider Woodard a solid prospect

Not sure about the ultimate decision, Fox/Haliburton fit pretty seemlessly. Hield will be moved to 6th man/SF/or traded at some point. The Kings closing lineup of Fox/Hali/Hield/Barnes/Holmes is a death lineup that has the second highest rating of any 5 with above 100 minutes. Why couldn’t they start?

The Kings have always been a favorite of mine since the 2001 days Vlade, Webber and Peja. They fkn disappointed me, when Horry hit that shot, you know which one.
Would like to see them succeed, so no hard feelings about Hali. It would have been nice to have both Hali and Quickley but we're in a good place.
Complaining like hell about EVErYtHING on the Knicks board, but that's just normal.

[nikster]

What a steal this kid has been...

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Like his game, hate that both of his biggest games he was killing the Raps tho. 18 Games in and almost 30% of his points are in the 2 games against us lol

[robbie84]

What a steal this kid has been...

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Like his game, hate that both of his biggest games he was killing the Raps tho. 18 Games in and almost 30% of his points are in the 2 games against us lol

Lol, it's probably actually because you guys defended Tatum and Brown better than most teams, so role players get more opportunities.

But re Pritchard, his game is just so solid, doesn't make a lot of mistakes. Reminds me of Fred Van Fleet.

[ElectricMayhem]

Still first half but Saddiq Bey with 17 pts (4/4 3pt) 7 rebounds in 13 minutes.

[theGreatRC]

Ant vs Ball and they both played well. Ball's team took the W

Ant - 21/6/3
Ball - 20/11/4/3

[bstein14]

Bey still hot in the 3rd. What's the high for a rookie this year? Could be in play for Bey tonight if he gets enough minutes in the 4th. Currently has 27 points on 9 out of 11 shooting including 6 out of 6 from downtown.

[Han Solo]

How did Saddiq Bey fall to 19?

[theGreatRC]

How did Saddiq Bey fall to 19?

So many quality players scattered in this draft. The pandemic played a big part in guys like Saddiq falling because of the short college season, the unique draft process, etc.. even when he should've went lotto (I think he was mocked to go in the lottery)

[HotelVitale]

How did Saddiq Bey fall to 19?

So many quality players scattered in this draft. The pandemic played a big part in guys like Saddiq falling because of the short college season, the unique draft process, etc.. even when he should've went lotto (I think he was mocked to go in the lottery)

He's also almost 22 so 3 years older than many lotto guys, and was expected to be more ready now with his shooting, size, and D, but have limited upside. Sometimes that stuff ends up being true and sometimes guys can still grow into new things that make them more effective than expected, e.g. Brogdon.

[bstein14]

How did Saddiq Bey fall to 19?

So many quality players scattered in this draft. The pandemic played a big part in guys like Saddiq falling because of the short college season, the unique draft process, etc.. even when he should've went lotto (I think he was mocked to go in the lottery)

He's also almost 22 so 3 years older than many lotto guys, and was expected to be more ready now with his shooting, size, and D, but have limited upside. Sometimes that stuff ends up being true and sometimes guys can still grow into new things that make them more effective than expected, e.g. Brogdon.

Yup for sure his age kept him out of the lottery.

[DCasey91]

Anyone have Balls stats when he plays in the starting lineup or even 30+ mins? I bet they look superb for a rookie.

He is in my mind the runaway ROY now that he’s playing starter minutes. Definite all star talent, I wonder 3 years from now who will join him (Williams/Halliburton or even a darkhorse maybe?.

One things for sure he look the part. He has one the sickest floaters I’ve ever seen. One thing that surprised me with him and Luka was their scoring potential more so than young.

Knew they would be excellent passers/ballhandlers/rebounders/playmakers from day one. They are essentially huge PG’s. So the ceiling is extremely high.

But Ball looks like a 20/7/8 guy with above av defense (he’s got his brother’s defensive innate instincts just lengthier and taller). A taller/longer Jason Kidd is a scary player. Ball could very well be that.

[detroitKG]

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[Klomp]

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