The OFFICIAL Rookie impressions thread

[Johnlac1]

What I meant to stress is that these forums are for among other things making rash predictions. Is JVal as good as the Gasols right now? No. Will he ever be as good or better? Maybe. Maybe he'll be a big bust. I don't think so, but if some other poster wants to make that claim (and they have), that's what these forums are for. What's the fun of sports if you can't make an "absurd" prediction every now and then?

[Optms]

They are free to make those claims just as we are free to shoot them down. Val will never be as good as Pau Gasol. That statement is ridiculous and reeks of deluded optimism. Those two play nothing a like. People forget how skilled Pau was coming into the draft. They're both Euro and 7 footers but that's where the comparisons should end.

Val has a ceiling closer to Joakim Noah, Marc Gasol or Tyson Chandler, which is great for the Raptors but he can also bust. I don't see him being a star team player though. I just don't. I've seen enough lottery Euro bigs drafted to know that not every one is the second coming of Gasol, Dirk, etc.

Maybe not freedom,but your wayyy off if you think jv and dre dont have the raw talent to match.If drummond was able to start from day 1,I could easily see him having as much chance at roy as davis.

They don't. Drummond is a freak but Davis has all the qualities to make any team better right now. Drummond is no where near there yet. If you could offer New Orleans management Drummond or Val straight up for Davis right now, they wouldn't do that because they're not stupid.

[Kabookalu]

:P They are free to make those claims just as we are free to shoot them down. Val will never be as good as Pau Gasol. That statement is ridiculous and reeks of deluded optimism. Those two play nothing a like. People forget how skilled Pau was coming into the draft. They're both Euro and 7 footers but that's where the comparisons should end.

Val has a ceiling closer to Joakim Noah, Marc Gasol or Tyson Chandler, which is great for the Raptors but he can also bust. I don't see him being a star team player though. I just don't. I've seen enough lottery Euro bigs drafted to know that not every one is the second coming of Gasol, Dirk, etc.

I used to also think that Tyson Chandler and Joakim Noah were his ceiling. I never saw anything on offense to suggest he could be greater than that. However he's had me stunned at his understanding for the post game in the short preseason. His fundamentals are off the charts for such a young big man. And Gasol did have a better offensive repertoire coming into the draft, but he was also two years older than Jonas when they both entered the draft, while Marc four.

And where other 7 footers take their height for granted Jonas is a guy that legitimately loves the game of basketball. I know we always hear about players who have great work ethics but it's rare to hear it coming from a young 7fter. I don't know if he'll ever become a star but it's not impossible for him considering his work ethic, fundamentals, athleticism, and the room to get stronger because of his wide shoulders.

[Blkbrd671]

What I meant to stress is that these forums are for among other things making rash predictions. Is JVal as good as the Gasols right now? No. Will he ever be as good or better? Maybe. Maybe he'll be a big bust. I don't think so, but if some other poster wants to make that claim (and they have), that's what these forums are for. What's the fun of sports if you can't make an "absurd" prediction every now and then?

:P They are free to make those claims just as we are free to shoot them down.

this

[Roger Murdock]

Beal looking good with 2 three pointers.

Waiters looking good attacking the hoop and getting steals.

[Blkbrd671]

Maybe not freedom,but your wayyy off if you think jv and dre dont have the raw talent to match.If drummond was able to start from day 1,I could easily see him having as much chance at roy as davis.

They don't. Drummond is a freak but Davis has all the qualities to make any team better right now. Drummond is no where near there yet. If you could offer New Orleans management Drummond or Val straight up for Davis right now, they wouldn't do that because they're not stupid.

Drummond as just as much of a chance to win ROY as davis. The only advantage Davis has is that he'll be starting day 1 and he's alot more skilled offensively. However if Dre or Val put up decent numbers, and clearly help there respective teams make the playoffs, i can see them winning as well. Davis is going to have to put down monster stats if he's going to be the clear favorite.

[Roger Murdock]

Dion Waiters hands are extremely quick. Hes had a few steals that have lead to fast breaks and made Beal look foolish.

Waiters has also been awesome driving. Hes 5/10 shooting. Of his 5 misses, 4 of them have resulted in offensive rebounds and second chance points because everyones collapsed on him and let Thomspon, Gee, or Varejao grab the board.

[kurtis48239]

:P They are free to make those claims just as we are free to shoot them down. Val will never be as good as Pau Gasol. That statement is ridiculous and reeks of deluded optimism. Those two play nothing a like. People forget how skilled Pau was coming into the draft. They're both Euro and 7 footers but that's where the comparisons should end.

Val has a ceiling closer to Joakim Noah, Marc Gasol or Tyson Chandler, which is great for the Raptors but he can also bust. I don't see him being a star team player though. I just don't. I've seen enough lottery Euro bigs drafted to know that not every one is the second coming of Gasol, Dirk, etc.

Maybe not freedom,but your wayyy off if you think jv and dre dont have the raw talent to match.If drummond was able to start from day 1,I could easily see him having as much chance at roy as davis.

They don't. Drummond is a freak but Davis has all the qualities to make any team better right now. Drummond is no where near there yet. If you could offer New Orleans management Drummond or Val straight up for Davis right now, they wouldn't do that because they're not stupid.

Drummond has the qualities to make teams better now,just like when he plays for us were a better team and when hes benched you can see the affects.Of course they wouldnt trade stright up but it goes both ways,det wouldnt trade drummond for davies now either.Drummond ceiling is also higher than daviis,will he hit that who knows but from what weve seen hes on the right track.How about we wait until they have played enough nba games to determine whos going to be better yet .

[JustinSane]

It's always fun to imagine a competition is competitive, and even more fun to think a player from your favorite team (Drummond in this instance) has a shot, but Davis is simply a much better player than the other rookies this year. He's NBA ready, right now, and he has as much potential as anyone in the draft. It's interesting to look at advanced statistics from college last year, which I did before the draft, when the Pistons looked likely to choose between 4-5 roughly equal, second tier big men. No matter which metric I looked at, Davis was absurdly ahead of all other front court players. He's played very, very well this pre-season. If he doesn't get hurt, arrested or abducted by aliens it'd be a shock for any other player to win ROY.

[JustinSane]

Drummond has the qualities to make teams better now,just like when he plays for us were a better team and when hes benched you can see the affects.Of course they wouldnt trade stright up but it goes both ways,det wouldnt trade drummond for davies now either.Drummond ceiling is also higher than daviis,will he hit that who knows but from what weve seen hes on the right track.How about we wait until they have played enough nba games to determine whos going to be better yet .

Drummond's strengths (size, athleticism, finishing ability, post defense, shot blocking) match up perfectly with the Pistons weaknesses. It's not surprising they are better with him on the court - they don't have anyone else with a remotely similar skill set. However, and speaking as a fan of both the Pistons and Drummond, it's just homerism to think they wouldn't trade him for Davis. Davis has equal upside, is a better player right now, and shoots over 30% from the free throw line.

They wouldn't trade Drummond for anyone else from this draft though .

[JungleCat022]

Waiters 17 points, 3 steals, 2 rebounds

Beal 8 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds

[rockmanslim]

Impressive debut from Waiters.

He just brushed aside all the chatter, brushed aside the lackluster summer league and preseason, and had himself a solid game. He was getting into the paint at will.

Maybe he's just a gamer.

[TheBigThree]

Waiters' length was really impressive. Displayed a good ability to get to the basket, with a lot of those misses besides the threes being at the rim. Very solid game from him.

After his first few shots Beal quietly faded out of the game. Disappointing as a Wizards fan, but he's young and will learn.

[B Mac]

Waiters' length was really impressive. Displayed a good ability to get to the basket, with a lot of those misses besides the threes being at the rim. Very solid game from him.

After his first few shots Beal quietly faded out of the game. Disappointing as a Wizards fan, but he's young and will learn.

Yea, it was strange. At least 2-3 of Waiters' misses were layups that you have to think he will finish when the game slows down more for him.

As an unabashed Cavs fan who is used to expecting the worst, I must say I was more than impressed by his debut.

[Scout Taron]

Maybe not freedom,but your wayyy off if you think jv and dre dont have the raw talent to match.If drummond was able to start from day 1,I could easily see him having as much chance at roy as davis.

They don't. Drummond is a freak but Davis has all the qualities to make any team better right now. Drummond is no where near there yet. If you could offer New Orleans management Drummond or Val straight up for Davis right now, they wouldn't do that because they're not stupid.

Drummond as just as much of a chance to win ROY as davis. The only advantage Davis has is that he'll be starting day 1 and he's alot more skilled offensively. However if Dre or Val put up decent numbers, and clearly help there respective teams make the playoffs, i can see them winning as well. Davis is going to have to put down monster stats if he's going to be the clear favorite.

Ehhh. Don't be too homerish on this. Drummond has been good, but Davis has a shot at a 20-10 season. I would never in my right mind predict anything close to that for Drummond.

[kurtis48239]

Drummond has the qualities to make teams better now,just like when he plays for us were a better team and when hes benched you can see the affects.Of course they wouldnt trade stright up but it goes both ways,det wouldnt trade drummond for davies now either.Drummond ceiling is also higher than daviis,will he hit that who knows but from what weve seen hes on the right track.How about we wait until they have played enough nba games to determine whos going to be better yet .

Drummond's strengths (size, athleticism, finishing ability, post defense, shot blocking) match up perfectly with the Pistons weaknesses. It's not surprising they are better with him on the court - they don't have anyone else with a remotely similar skill set. However, and speaking as a fan of both the Pistons and Drummond, it's just homerism to think they wouldn't trade him for Davis. Davis has equal upside, is a better player right now, and shoots over 30% from the free throw line.

They wouldn't trade Drummond for anyone else from this draft though .

Its an obvius agree to disagree,If drummond hits his peak number 1 center in the nba,what is davis going to be if he hits his peak a pf-c depending on his weight,and andre is killing it coming off the bench,imagine if he was getting starter minutes YIKES.I wont pretend to know what the pistons front office would do,but I do know that the consensus of pistons fans would not trade drummond for davis,so lets wait and see and we can make a poll later in the nba season and see what the majority of the gb thinks .

[Blkbrd671]

It's always fun to imagine a competition is competitive, and even more fun to think a player from your favorite team (Drummond in this instance) has a shot, but Davis is simply a much better player than the other rookies this year. He's NBA ready, right now, and he has as much potential as anyone in the draft. It's interesting to look at advanced statistics from college last year, which I did before the draft, when the Pistons looked likely to choose between 4-5 roughly equal, second tier big men. No matter which metric I looked at, Davis was absurdly ahead of all other front court players. He's played very, very well this pre-season. If he doesn't get hurt, arrested or abducted by aliens it'd be a shock for any other player to win ROY.

IMO Davis will win the ROY , however i don't think he's going to be the NBA ready player everyone has him out to be. i think guys lik AD1, Val, Lillard have a legitimate shot at it when you include the effect the player has on the team(ie making the playoffs) or A Davis slowing down because of overloaded minutes or injury.

Again i don't expect Davis to be dropping 20 and 10 his ROY

[KevinMcreynolds]

Impressive debut from Waiters.

He just brushed aside all the chatter, brushed aside the lackluster summer league and preseason, and had himself a solid game. He was getting into the paint at will.

Maybe he's just a gamer.

but he didn't even start in college and he had a bad summer league! bust!

/realgm

[Blkbrd671]

Ehhh. Don't be too homerish on this. Drummond has been good, but Davis has a shot at a 20-10 season. I would never in my right mind predict anything close to that for Drummond.

How is that homerish?

like i said , unless Davis drops monster stats like 20 and 10, other rookies have a chance.

i said decent numbers for dre or val and clearly helps their teams into the playoffs. DECENT! i never predicted that for drummond either

[UGA Hayes]

Nice debut from Waiters although he is a little scary with his lack of effort on D.