The Kids Are Alright

[Da_Kidd]

The Who reference so I might be aging myself here.

Anyway, from watching the Summer League, I'm pretty impressed with our draft picks with how they're playing even though they've been together for a short period of time. It seems like all of them came from a winning program and have been used to it which shows in how they play in every minute of the game.

Brook Lopez seems to be a steal since, offensively, he's been a beast. We all know his presence on the interior end of the offense but he has shown some nice touch form shooting the basketball as well. He has to improve on the defensive end though as there is no excuse from being a presence on the defensive side when he's that tall. He has to improve rebounding the ball as well, even though he has all the tools to do so.

Ryan Anderson has been a decent pick-up as well, shooting the ball and playing positional basketball to a T. He knows he has to improve defensively and is working hard to really get "it" on the pro level. Nice shooting touch and has moves on the inside as well.

CDR has just been playing out of his mind lately, exhibiting the skills that made him All-American in the NCAA. Great slashing ability, as well as moving without the basketball which will be his bread and butter in the pros. He needs to extend his range so that he'll be more dangerous on the pro level.

With that said, I really hope Frank doesn't stunt the growth of these 3 rookies that we have since it seems that they have all the tools and the mentality to really produce next season. I can see these 3 really becoming a part of the rotation if given the chance.

*** On a side note, we should definitely sign Jaycee Caroll. Seems like he's the excellent back-up PG with his quickness on the court, as well as his floor leadership. Should be a nice change of pace once he relieves Devin Harris and Marcus Williams.

[Serpo]

I don't know about signing Carroll but a camp invite looks reasonable . He looks like he deserves that might make the final cut might not.

[NetsForce]

What I like about Anderson so far is that he's a very smart player, he's always in the right place at the right time and moves well without the ball.

He's very good at executing plays...

[Preludepunk27]

Unfortunately, I don't see us using a roster space on carroll.

[Serpo]

Unfortunately, I don't see us using a roster space on carroll.

If we sign Dooling ( who we're having talks with ) Carroll will have not shot but other then that . A Combo-Guard off the bench would be nice. There's place for that on our roster.

Of course we need to ship Swift or / and Hassel somewhere but still these guys aren't useful anyway , especially Swift.

[RJ 24]

^^^^^^^^^Hassell could be very useful with his defense. It looks like we won't have a true SF on our roster capable of playing effectively. If we were to put a Yi or Anderson at SF, then Hassell can take care of the defensive when they are struggling at that. I see Hassell as being a Jason Collins type guy vs the big time SFs in the L this year.

[Serpo]

Well Hassel is more useful then Swift but should be really get regular minutes ? I don't know.

[RJ 24]

Hassell shouldn't get regular minutes versus lower tier scorers at SF but knowing Frank and how he used Collins, Hassell will get a good amount of minutes.

[Teen Girl Squad]

I think Lopez will be fine defensively. SL is a disorganized mess so its harder to play post defense. he does need to bulk up a bit and body up better but he is still a rookie.

[Stone]

I'm taking a "we won't get fooled again" approach with the new rookies. I look back to Antione Wright ( IMO bust), Mile Ilic (who I remember people saying he was the next Gasol) Marcus (I doubt he will be in the league in a few years). I hope I'm wrong but the only one I see having a decent NBA carear is Lopez.

[Rich Rane]

I'm as cautious as you Stone. I will say that Brook Lopez has really impressed me with his offensive arsenal though: range, turn around jumpers, short to inside the line range, sky hook, post moves...I'm reserving my celebrations though when he tries it on a pro defense though.

[NetsForce]

^ I hope the Nets sign Antoine Wright ^

That would just make my 2008-2009 NBA Season.

[Da_Kidd]

While I agree that our hopes for previous rookies were met with disappointment (Wright being the next Allan Houston, Ilic being the next Krstic), I think part of the reason why these rooks didn't produce is that management (and coaching) were under heavy pressure to produce significant results for the team while Kidd, Carter and RJ were still here.

The fact that we were trying to get back to the Finals, made the coaching staff forget about the development of the rookies. Often times, they would get spot minutes as the starters (Kidd, Carter and RJ) wound up with majority of the playing time. I think this hampered the developments of the players that we drafted.

Such is not the case next season, as we fully expect to develop this young talent since we're not in any kind of pressure to go far in the playoffs. This is why I think next season would be different from the previous years. I actually think the rooks would get plenty of time to gel with each other since this team would be playing together for the first time.

[MrDollarBills]

Whoever compared Ilic to Gasol needs to lay off of the opium.

Christ, i wouldnt even compare Jon Konack to Mile....that was a waste of time.