The Expectations Thread.

[Eoghan]

Season is finally wrapping up, just wondering how the players met everyone's expectations. Not a grade against other players per se, but what you were expecting out of them at the start of the season.

Kemba Walker = Exceeded. I didn't know what to expect, but more PG skills than I thought and a triple double threat is more positive than negative.
Bismack Biyombo = Exceeded. I was expecting a hot mess on offense. I was wrong. He's possibly the best draft pick in our history (not saying much, but still).
DJ Augustine = Met. Up and down with injuries and lackluster attitude with all the losing. Not surprised.
Gerald Henderson = Failed I was expecting more consistency with shooting and feel like his D slipped a bit. Chalk up a bit to Silas and the Tank but still.
Byron Mullens = Exceeded. The "third" rookie is well worth a 2nd round pick. Now if we could only get him some decent coaches.
Tyrus Thomas = Failed. Underweight? Still baffles me.
Reggie Williams = Failed. Injury or not, was expecting better shooting.
Matt Carroll = Failed Couldn't even shoot well this year.
DJ White = Failed Can hit jumpshots from his sweet spot. That's it.
Eddie F'n Najera = Exceeded Dude is a fan favorite in every city he plays for for a reason. Best hair in the biz.
Cory Higgins = Fail Wow, not only does he suck, but he's injured and an even bigger waste of a roster spot. Thanks Rod!
Derrick Brown = Met. I've always liked Derrick Brown for what he is. Solid bench guy.
Gana Diop = Met. If you expected Diop to look like anything but super fly in a suit on the bench, you're probably an idiot or Mark Cuban.
Cory Maggette = Failed Sigh, I actually expected a 20 pt scorer on this roster.

[countryboi]

how could hendo fail when he is our best player on a awful awful team? and UPS should be exceeded because came in as a d leaguer and is at the very least a decent rotation guy now

[captaincrunk]

Kemba Walker = Failed Disappointing. If you don't agree, you must have thought he was pretty terrible at the start of the season. I expected him to play well, not like crap.

Bismack Biyombo = Dat Skill.

DJ Augustine = Whatever. Some annoying injuries, it's meh.

Gerald Henderson = Improved. Didn't really have huge expectations.

Byron Mullens = Met. His first ten games didn't hype me at all, so I'm not too disappointed with his relatively lackluster play now.

Tyrus Thomas = Failed. Underweight? Still baffles me. < same

Reggie Williams = Whatevs

Matt Carroll = Failed Couldn't even shoot well this year. < same

DJ White = Failed Can hit jumpshots from his sweet spot. That's it. <same

Eddie F'n Najera = Exceeded Dude is a fan favorite in every city he plays for for a reason. Best hair in the biz. < same

Cory Higgins = Met. I knew he would be fairly boring.

Derrick Brown = Exceeded. F'yeah

Gana Diop = Failed. He looked pretty good (for diop) before the ACL tear, I had hoped for better.

Cory Maggette = Sucks.

[BigSlam]

Kemba Walker = Met
Was a poor shooting combo guard in college and has proven to be the same thing in the pro's.

Bismack Biyombo = Exceeded
I didn't even expect him to play this season with his contract dispute.

DJ Augustine = Failed
Had an opportunity to cement himself as our future at the point but proved to be the same old DJ.

Gerald Henderson = Failed
Hip injury over the summer might have held him back, but his game (handles, getting to the line, 3pt shot) didn't progress at all.

Byron Mullens = Exceeded
I said he was Brezec version 2.0 but he's way better than that.

Tyrus Thomas = Failed
Thief.

Reggie Williams = Failed.
Wasn't sure why so many were nut hugging him before he had played a single game for us.

Matt Carroll = Failed
What a horrible, horrible season. Hope he wears #13 next season and it brings his groove back with it.

DJ White = Met
He is what he is. An offensive spark off the bench.

Eddie F'n Najera = Exceeded
He's at least fun to watch.

Cory Higgins = Met
He is what he is - an undrafted after thought.


Derrick Brown = Exceeded
Showing a nice dribble and pull up J. Making the most of his opportunities.

Gana Diop = Met
He was bad before, coming off a season ending injury he's still bad now.

Cory Maggette = Met
He is what he is. Gets to the line a lot, makes dumb plays, gets injured a lot.

[Eoghan]

how could hendo fail when he is our best player on a awful awful team? and UPS should be exceeded because came in as a d leaguer and is at the very least a decent rotation guy now

Is he indubitably our best player? I don't think so. He should have been.

Derrick Brown was drafted by us in the 2nd round a while back. I liked the pick then and I like it now. The Knicks were dumb for letting him go.

[HornetJail]

DJ Augustin - failed - Injury troubles, coupled with bad play. Was expecting him to contend for MIP, instead I'm not even sure I want him anymore.

Kemba Walker - failed - I was kind of hoping he'd come right out of the gates and be a 17ppg scorer. Thought he was going to be better than Jamal Crawford at least.

Gerald Henderson - met - He did what I expected him to do on offense. I was hoping for better D and 3 point shooting, but he hasn't improved as much as I hope. But I've got to give him props for being our best player.

Matt Carroll - miserably failed - What happened to this guy? What happened to the 2007 Matt Carroll? The 40/40/90 guy scoring 12 points a game? Gerald Henderson is shooting a better 3P% than the supposed three-point specialist.

Reggie Williams - failed - can't really blame him for the injury troubles, but he's not the same player we saw in GS two years ago. I was at least expecting 12 points, 4 rebounds, and definitely a lot more than 29% from three. Another "three-point specialist" not hitting his threes.

Cory Higgins - failed - I had no expectations for this guy, because I didn't even know who he was. He took up a roster spot, and proved he couldn't score, couldn't defend, couldn't rebound, couldn't shoot, and couldn't pass. Couldn't even live up to expections that didn't exist.

Corey Maggette - failed - Expecting 20 points, 6 rebounds a night. Then again, I was also expecting him to play more than half the season. Pleased with his ability to get to the line though.

Eduardo Najera - exceeded! - to be honest, I had no expectations for him. He's been better than I expected.

Tyrus Thomas - miserably failed - just when I thought he couldn't get worse. If he doesn't get amnestied this offseason, then I have no faith in our front office whatsoever.

Boris Diaw - miserably failed - longtime starter to getting waived by a seven win team. I miss Phoenix Diaw.

Derrick Brown - met - at the beginning of the year, I expected Derrick to just do what he's always done. He's done just that- nothing more, nothing less- while getting more playing time. Glad to see his FT numbers above 60%, but I was hoping to see a little improvement on his D.

DJ White - met - I had absolutely no idea what "The Other DJ" was going to be this season. I still have no idea.

Bismack Biyombo - met - He got the minutes I expected him to get (right around 20 minutes a night) but I was expecting less offensively and more on the boards. I thought he was going to be a trainwreck offensively (so bad I expected to see him in the D-League once or twice this year), but then I also thought he was going to be a tremendous rebounder. His shotblocking is what I expected (he's 4th in the league in Block Percentage and 10th in bpg). I'm glad to see his offense is better than my super-low expectations there, though.

Byron Mullens - exceeded! - I think he's been my favorite Bobcat at many points in the season. If you had told me last year that Byron Mullens was going to start for us, I either would have said, "Who?" or "That's terrible news for us". I had never seen him play an NBA game so I went by his 2k11 rating (in the 40s!) and wrote him off as a crap player. He is one of the few bright spots on our roster, even though he's inconsistent, he compliments Biyombo's game very well.

Desagana Diop - failed - I'm glad we didn't blow our amnesty clause on him (we need it for TT), but everytime I watch him play, I have to wonder how Dallas decided he was worth $7M/year. Once his contract is up next year, I can't imagine he'll remain in the NBA. Maybe if a team wants a laugh near the end of a blowout, they can sub him in and let him take free throws.

Exceeded: 2 (both of which I had super-low expectations for)
Met: 4 (two starters, two bench players)
Failed: 6
Miserably Failed: 3 (two of them should have been key guys)

No wonder we only have seven wins.

[advanced]

Silas: Absolute utter fail. I thought he'd at least show that other teams made a mistake letting him sit on his couch the last 5 years after getting fired but no he went and proved them right.

can't judge players with the horrible system we run and sub patterns/starting lineups. worst ive ever seen

[captaincrunk]

Silas: Absolute utter fail. I thought he'd at least show that other teams made a mistake letting him sit on his couch the last 5 years after getting fired but no he went and proved them right.

can't judge players with the horrible system we run and sub patterns/starting lineups. worst ive ever seen

Really? This is a horrible post.

[advanced]

Silas: Absolute utter fail. I thought he'd at least show that other teams made a mistake letting him sit on his couch the last 5 years after getting fired but no he went and proved them right.

can't judge players with the horrible system we run and sub patterns/starting lineups. worst ive ever seen

Really? This is a horrible post.

lol I really don't think you understand basketball. every post i read of yours is laughably moronic

[captaincrunk]

Silas: Absolute utter fail. I thought he'd at least show that other teams made a mistake letting him sit on his couch the last 5 years after getting fired but no he went and proved them right.

can't judge players with the horrible system we run and sub patterns/starting lineups. worst ive ever seen

Really? This is a horrible post.

lol I really don't think you understand basketball. every post i read of yours is laughably moronic

Silas was fine last year. Then we lose by far our best player, Tyrus (our best bench player at the time) comes in looking like ****, we don't have a center on the team and Mullens is our knight in shining armor.

Yet Silas is the one to blame. Right.

[BigSlam]

Attack the post, not the poster guys or the thread will be locked.

[advanced]

Really? This is a horrible post.

lol I really don't think you understand basketball. every post i read of yours is laughably moronic

Silas was fine last year. Then we lose by far our best player, Tyrus (our best bench player at the time) comes in looking like ****, we don't have a center on the team and Mullens is our knight in shining armor.

Yet Silas is the one to blame. Right.

Silas was only good last year because he hadn't installed his own "system" yet

[Eoghan]

I forgot about Diaw, lol. Fail obviously.

Silas is a good coach for a good team. He can't coach a bad team into being a good one and he can't coach a good team into being a championship contender but if you need a player's coach and a motivator to get the bitter taste of the last coach out of your mouth, he's great. So, he's average I guess.

[captaincrunk]

lol I really don't think you understand basketball. every post i read of yours is laughably moronic

Silas was fine last year. Then we lose by far our best player, Tyrus (our best bench player at the time) comes in looking like ****, we don't have a center on the team and Mullens is our knight in shining armor.

Yet Silas is the one to blame. Right.

Silas was only good last year because he hadn't installed his own "system" yet

No.

[fatlever]

Kemba Walker = slightly below expectations - i was expecting the most NBA ready rookie and someone who would compete for rookie of the year and be a lock for all-nba rookie team.

Bismack Biyombo = slightly exceeded expectations - his offense and defense is about what i expected, but i though his foul/per minute would prevent him from ever playing more than 15 minutes his first year.

DJ Augustine = below expectations - thats saying something since i never had high expectations for him to begin with.

Gerald Henderson = met expectations - continued to build on 2nd half of last year, nothing dramatic, just steady.

Byron Mullens = exceeded expectations - i thought he was trash, he wasnt.

Tyrus Thomas = massive massive failure - he finally had every chance to earn a starting spot and he responded by failing to 11th man. i have never been more disappointed in a player. and again, that says something, since i have never liked tyrus.

Reggie Williams = failure - i really thought this guy would be able to score easily, figured his defense was the only reason he wasnt a starter. he sucks.

Matt Carroll = failed - never thought he could look this bad. its sad.

DJ White = met expectations. wasnt much of a fan to begin with, still am not a fan.

Eddie F'n Najera = exceeded expectations - i love this guy. he gets ever ounce of talent out of his body every night. he could probably play until he is 50 because he doesnt use speed or athleticism to be effective, just his brain, hustle and apparently his mouth.

Cory Higgins = failure - his college stats implied he was maybe an NBA caliber back up guard, not even close.

Derrick Brown = exceeded expectations - ive given Ups a hard time the past 2 years because i didnt think he had a role. he really found a way to make an impact, even though 90% came in garbage time.

Gana Diop = slightly below expectations - its hard for diop to disappoint, but i honestly thought he would give us 10 minutes of decent defense a night. i had no idea he was so out of shape.

Cory Maggette = slightly below expectations - i figured he would give us slightly better scoring, slightly better rebounding and better percentages. i figured he would miss a lot of games with bull injuries. not too far off.

[Liver_Pooty]

Everyone has failed expectations except for Mullens.

[penquin11]

Season is finally wrapping up, just wondering how the players met everyone's expectations. Not a grade against other players per se, but what you were expecting out of them at the start of the season.

Kemba Walker = slightly dissapointed. I didn't know what to expect, but more PG skills than I thought and a triple double threat is more positive than negative. The problem is that he is super inconsistent and very innefficient at the same time- I have got to disagree with you on this one.
Bismack Biyombo = Exceeded. I was expecting a hot mess on offense. I was wrong. He's possibly the best draft pick in our history (not saying much, but still).Check
DJ Augustine = Met. Up and down with injuries and lackluster attitude with all the losing. Not surprised.Check
Gerald Henderson = Failed I was expecting more consistency with shooting and feel like his D slipped a bit. Chalk up a bit to Silas and the Tank but still.Check
Byron Mullens = Exceeded. The "third" rookie is well worth a 2nd round pick. Now if we could only get him some decent coaches.Check
Tyrus Thomas = Failed. Underweight? Still baffles me. Check
Reggie Williams = Failed. Injury or not, was expecting better shooting.Check
Matt Carroll = Failed Couldn't even shoot well this year. Check
DJ White = Failed Can hit jumpshots from his sweet spot. That's it.Check
Eddie F'n Najera = Exceeded Dude is a fan favorite in every city he plays for for a reason. Best hair in the biz.Check
Cory Higgins = Fail Wow, not only does he suck, but he's injured and an even bigger waste of a roster spot. Thanks Rod!Check
Derrick Brown = Exceeded. I've always liked Derrick Brown for what he is. Solid bench guy. The guy has shown that he wil be a solid role player, he plays good defense and has been consistent on offense all year.
Gana Diop = Met. If you expected Diop to look like anything but super fly in a suit on the bench, you're probably an idiot or Mark Cuban.
Cory Maggette = On Par Sigh, I actually expected a 20 pt scorer on this roster.You seriously expected him to score 20ppg- its your fault for being delusional, not his!

[Eoghan]

Yes, penquin11, on this roster that is so devoid of any offense I thought that Maggette would get 20 pts from sheer volume shooting and free throws alone. If it wasn't for the free throw line, he looks like he'd average 6 pts a game with the way he's shot for us.

[HornetJail]

I think everyone expected at least 17ppg from him. He is our closest thing to a go-to scorer, or at least that's what we thought coming into the season. At the time, he was only a year removed from averaging 19.8ppg despite playing under 30 minutes per game, injury troubles, and coming off the bench, while shooting 52% from the field, which is pretty unbelievable for him. Personally, I picked him in my fantasy team thinking he was going to average 20 points per game. Of course I was expecting him to play more than half of the season.

[TheKingofSting]

Kemba Walker = Met. I didn't know what to expect either but yes his shooting percentages are horrible yet he is still the 3rd leading rookie scorer (.3 points away from 2nd) and still may make the all-nba rookie team.
Bismack Biyombo = Exceeded. I was expecting much on the offensive end but he proved me wrong, I only hope his rebounding average goes up over time.
DJ Augustine = Miserably Failed. Had a chance to have a Great season but blew it. Not much of a team player, always pouts when Kemba gets more minutes.
Gerald Henderson = Met. His injury may have held him back from developing more this year or maybe he just is who is is.
Byron Mullens = Exceeded. Never expected him to shoot as well as he does. Everybody loves Dirk Mullens, Thank you Cho.
Tyrus Thomas = Miserably Failed. Underweight, clumsy, whatever, amnesty him already.
Reggie Williams = Failed. I expected more, he looked good in Golden State's system.
Matt Carroll = Failed What happens to a shooting specialist who can't shoot??
DJ White = Failed Can hit jumpshots from his sweet spot. That's it. - SAME
Eddie F'n Najera = Exceeded Dude is a fan favorite in every city he plays for for a reason. Best hair in the biz. mexicat is a warrior!
Cory Higgins = Fail He had his fluke game tonight but still is not NBA material, chucks almost as much as Kemba but with less talent.
Derrick Brown = Met. He has some nice moves and can play at least 3 positions, I think he will be valuable going forward.
Gana Diop = Failed. I thought he at least could give us some good minutes protecting the rim.
Cory Maggette = Met, I actually figured he'd miss games due to some "nagging injuries", at this point in his career he is what he is and he's the tank commander for a reason.
Silas = Biggest fail in history. What a disgrace to the game of basketball, pick a rotation and stick with it. You say you are going to start Kemba for a while and then DJA pouts and BOOM he is back as the starter the very next game! Worst coach in NBA history, there is a reason he was out of a job for 5 years (or however long it was).