The OFFICIAL Rookie impressions thread

[Jmonty580]

His situation had nothing to do with it if you watched any of their games.

I watched almost every single game. Napier couldnt get him the ball to save his life. Boatright was better, but still a freshman himself. drummond couldnt create for himself and didnt have a real post up game. So the end result is a weak offensive game. most of the times when he broke out it was rebounding and getting put backs. I've said all along get him with soemone that could get him the ball at the right time and he will look much improved in the NBA.

He ran away from the ball in college and refused to go near the rim in his first 25 or so games for fear that he would be fouled.

Yea he had a bit of an issue with that face mask on, i think that was a bit of a mental block. But he did have some big numbers (against lessor competition be it) while wearing that mask too. Bottom line to me was, he showed time and time again he could get to the hoop and catch an oop over almost anyone for an easy dunk. Napier and boatright just couldnt get him the ball and didnt know how to run pick and rolls. Napier flat out tries hard but dude just isnt a true pg imo. boatright has alot more potential but he's still young. I mean you take a freshman Kemba Walker and to me he was not much better than boatright was last year. We had a bunch of issues last year and Drummond wasnt just a product of not having the right peices around him at all, but if there was one thing he coulda done at an elite level in college it was catching oops and throwing down dunks. he just couldnt create for himself and the guards couldnt create for him either. Thats why we saw Lamb and napier just hoisting up shots from the perimiter all season long. That and Oriaki was playing like a little girl in the post and didnt know how to pass the ball out either.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

This is the best group of rookies I have seen in years and years and years. This draft could eventually end up being like the 1984 draft.

Anthony Davis is a stud. Michael Kidd Gilchrist and Brad Beal are 19 years old but they already know how to play. Andre Drummond is a beast AND he'll play next to the most underrated Greg Monroe. Jonas Valenciunas plays big and he knows how to score. Damion Lillard plays like a seasoned veteran. He has all star potential. Harrison Barnes is starting at 20. Terrance Robinson is a physical talent. Jeremy Lamb looks like a 20 ppg scorer. Donatas Motiejunas is highly skilled. Bigs selected late in the draft already look like they can contribute. Ezeli can catch and finish. Sullinger will help the Celtics depth. Moutrie is going to get playing time on a deep Philadelphia Sixers team. Andrew Nicholson is bound to put up a lot of points as a rookie on a bad team. Perry Jones III is going to likely end up helping a good team! How did he fall to OKC?

Am I too hyped over this draft class or is it that good?

[JWiLL02]

Valanciunas, Drummond and Leonard all look like phenomenal C prospects, and none of them are older than 20! Bigs may take longer to develop, but these guys are talented and athletic enough to make an impact from day one.

Another interesting note on Val - he's not only shooting 100% from the FT line in preseason, he's also yet to hit the rim on any of his attempts.

He has the best big man FT stroke I've seen since Dirk.

[Steve-O]

It's a good class, but it also is "the class after a lock-out season".

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Valanciunas, Drummond and Leonard all look like phenomenal C prospects, and none of them are older than 20! Bigs may take longer to develop, but these guys are talented and athletic enough to make an impact from day one.

Another interesting note on Val - he's not only shooting 100% from the FT line in preseason, he's also yet to hit the rim on any of his attempts.

He has the best big man FT stroke I've seen since Dirk.

JV has HOF type talent from what I see right now. He throws it down with serious authority for a young player. I had no idea he was so quick. Beast. No doubt about it.

Meyers Leonard is physically gifted but he's not in the same class as Valenciunas as far as I can see now. He's merely future all star good.

Drummond reminds me a lot of Darryl Dawkins. The return of the big man is here. He will form a real nice duo with Greg Monroe for years to come.

These young Cs are not the only ones in this class. Tyler Zeller is a good pick and pop big. John Henson is more of a 4/5 but he can become an elite defender. If Donatas Motiejunas counts as a 5 he's the most skilled and has the greatest range of all these players.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I haven't mentioned Jae Crowder. That guy looks like a real good player, already.

[Kabookalu]

Kind of funny that this is the best rookie class we've seen in years, but it's not exactly the top picks that are impressive, yet. And then there's Dion Waiters.

[Dr Positivity]

The difference between the 2011 and 2012 draft is like going from Pokerstars.net to the high rollers table. The lotto teams that end up with bench talents in 2012 are going to end up feeling 100x worse than Was getting Vesely or Sac getting Jimmer

[DCsOwn]

Kind of funny that this is the best rookie class we've seen in years, but it's not exactly the top picks that are impressive, yet. And then there's Dion Waiters.

Wizards fans are over the moon happy with Beal, and I think he leads rookies in ppg thus far in the preseason. He had a bit of a rough game last night, but it was the teams' 3rd road game in 5 days, and by all reports he just looked a little physically worn down. But most fans on our board are more impressed by him now than they expected to be before the start of the preseason.

[Johnlac1]

While I think JVal, Drummond, and Leonard all have potentially excellent futures, I believe JVal has an edge over the other two at the moment because he seems to understand the game better for now. However, Drummond seems to be picking things up very quickly.

[The Bandit]

I've not been impressed with Leonard. He doesn't rebound and he''s a poor defender. He's also shown nothing in the way of individual post offense. He can score from 4 feet and in, but so far all his points have been garbage buckets, dunk setups, or transition FTs by virtue of the opposing big's preseason laziness.

[UGA Hayes]

This is the best group of rookies I have seen in years and years and years. This draft could eventually end up being like the 1984 draft.

Anthony Davis is a stud. Michael Kidd Gilchrist and Brad Beal are 19 years old but they already know how to play. Andre Drummond is a beast AND he'll play next to the most underrated Greg Monroe. Jonas Valenciunas plays big and he knows how to score. Damion Lillard plays like a seasoned veteran. He has all star potential. Harrison Barnes is starting at 20. Terrance Robinson is a physical talent. Jeremy Lamb looks like a 20 ppg scorer. Donatas Motiejunas is highly skilled. Bigs selected late in the draft already look like they can contribute. Ezeli can catch and finish. Sullinger will help the Celtics depth. Moutrie is going to get playing time on a deep Philadelphia Sixers team. Andrew Nicholson is bound to put up a lot of points as a rookie on a bad team. Perry Jones III is going to likely end up helping a good team! How did he fall to OKC?

Am I too hyped over this draft class or is it that good?

I agree with you wholeheartedly. ITs weird too, b/c unlike most drafts, the leadup to this draft has a lot of analyst downplaying the talent level when its usually the other way where so-so prospects get way too much hype. Even the draft board thread followed that trend with only a handful, myself included, really touting the talent level. WE will see what happens, but I still feel the same, that this draft is going to be awesome and that most teams are going to be fairly happy with their picks.

[Blkbrd671]

While I think JVal, Drummond, and Leonard all have potentially excellent futures, I believe JVal has an edge over the other two at the moment because he seems to understand the game better for now. However, Drummond seems to be picking things up very quickly.

Don't quite understand this, if by some chance he did have a edge, its not by much or enough to state he has an edge. From what i've seen in the preseason

[Blkbrd671]

This is the best group of rookies I have seen in years and years and years. This draft could eventually end up being like the 1984 draft.

Anthony Davis is a stud. Michael Kidd Gilchrist and Brad Beal are 19 years old but they already know how to play. Andre Drummond is a beast AND he'll play next to the most underrated Greg Monroe. Jonas Valenciunas plays big and he knows how to score. Damion Lillard plays like a seasoned veteran. He has all star potential. Harrison Barnes is starting at 20. Terrance Robinson is a physical talent. Jeremy Lamb looks like a 20 ppg scorer. Donatas Motiejunas is highly skilled. Bigs selected late in the draft already look like they can contribute. Ezeli can catch and finish. Sullinger will help the Celtics depth. Moutrie is going to get playing time on a deep Philadelphia Sixers team. Andrew Nicholson is bound to put up a lot of points as a rookie on a bad team. Perry Jones III is going to likely end up helping a good team! How did he fall to OKC?

Am I too hyped over this draft class or is it that good?

I agree with you wholeheartedly. ITs weird too, b/c unlike most drafts, the leadup to this draft has a lot of analyst downplaying the talent level when its usually the other way where so-so prospects get way too much hype. Even the draft board thread followed that trend with only a handful, myself included, really touting the talent level. WE will see what happens, but I still feel the same, that this draft is going to be awesome and that most teams are going to be fairly happy with their picks.

i think the NBA is becoming more like the NFL in that we are seeing players that are ready right out the gate now instead of having to wait 2-3 years for them to develop. or at least for this draft class. while this is premature and based off of preseason games, its still something that has been noticeable. idk if its preparation, the training programs in the offseason , or college coaches getting better, but players in general look more season'd than prior years.

[princeofpalace]

I think a lot of people will be disappointed once the regular season starts

[Bskey]

This draft class really has a lot of potential to help revive the center position.

I've been saying Drummond could end up the best player in the draft for a long time. It's still a big question as to whether or not he can reach his ceiling but I do believe he has the highest.

Leonard is super raw, but insanely athletic and definitely cannot be faulted for lack of effort. He plays hard, he just needs to learn when to slow down and think before leaping for a block. With some good coaching he definitely has all-star potential. His ceiling isn't as high as Drummond, though.

Valanciunas is already skilled at a young age and is more athletic than I was expecting (admittedly had not seen him play a lot). Even if he stays close to his floor, he would have a pretty decent career. I don't see his ceiling as super high like the other 2 but I think he can reach his much easier, and will be an all-star at some point. Where as the other 2 I'm not sure they will get there just yet. This is not to say I don't think Val will be as good as either of them, I think there's definitely a chance he will be better, I just think as far as absolute ceilings go the other 2 have more potential. Doesn't mean they will reach it and they probably wont.

I think all 3 are capable of at least 1 all-star appearance though.

With all due respect to Roy Hibbert, when he makes an all-star team it's easy to get excited about future C prospects with good potential.

[giberish]

I think a lot of people will be disappointed once the regular season starts

Agreed. I think that a most of the rookies looking good in preseason will either disappear from rotations, struggle noticeably, or look good in terms of PPG for bad teams, while playing poor defense.

Rookies rarely have big roles in helping teams win. They best you hope for is that they can play significant minutes without hurting the team, then get better in later years.

[He Filled it Up]

I think a lot of people will be disappointed once the regular season starts

Agreed, big time.

[Johnlac1]

While I think JVal, Drummond, and Leonard all have potentially excellent futures, I believe JVal has an edge over the other two at the moment because he seems to understand the game better for now. However, Drummond seems to be picking things up very quickly.

Don't quite understand this, if by some chance he did have a edge, its not by much or enough to state he has an edge. From what i've seen in the preseason

I mean in that one particular area of game knowledge, JVal has an edge over Drummond and Leonard. Living in the midwest, I saw a lot of Leonard last year. His problems were not only getting more skilled but also learning the game. Drummond I didn't see much of, and the one game I saw he didn't do much. I don't mean to say that JVal is superior to the other two. Both Drummond and Leonard should get smarter as they mature, but JVal seems to have an edge over them at this moment in time. Again, that does not mean I think right now he's better than the other two, but he understands his role and the game very well for a rookie.

[Blkbrd671]

I mean in that one particular area of game knowledge, JVal has an edge over Drummond and Leonard. Living in the midwest, I saw a lot of Leonard last year. His problems were not only getting more skilled but also learning the game. Drummond I didn't see much of, and the one game I saw he didn't do much. I don't mean to say that JVal is superior to the other two. Both Drummond and Leonard should get smarter as they mature, but JVal seems to have an edge over them at this moment in time. Again, that does not mean I think right now he's better than the other two, but he understands his role and the game very well for a rookie.

i haven't watched enough of either JV or ML to say that AD is smarter, but i would think JV is a little more seasoned being of the 3 probably has the most competitive experience. AD has a lot higher bball iq than he's given credit for