The OFFICIAL Rookie impressions thread

[SmoothKobra]

Ends the game with 28. Is that the rookie season high?

[JungleCat022]

Dion Waiters 28 points, 7-11 3-pt shooting, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 TO

[mg]

Waiters is a stud.

[TheOUTLAW]

Zeller with 15 7 with 2 assists

[Left Side Drive]

The only draft pick Cleveland got wrong was drafting Thompson.

[Kaner]

The only draft pick Cleveland got wrong was drafting Thompson.

we get it Mr Jonas

[Left Side Drive]

The only draft pick Cleveland got wrong was drafting Thompson.

we get it Mr Jonas

But seriously very jealous of you guys getting Waiters. Colangelo just couldn't get the deal done or just settled on Ross...

[Cro_Ruption]

bad game from lillard tonight. Couldn't get anything to fall

wow @ dion waiters, really hope he turns out good fro cavs

[Bskey]

bad game from lillard tonight. Couldn't get anything to fall

wow @ dion waiters, really hope he turns out good fro cavs

It's Hard to label it something other than bad, but at least he got to the line and hit is FTs. His shooting from the field was just way off tonight, Dallas was smart and pressured him big time, especially when Aldridge was out. I knew Lillard would have games of actually looking like a rookie point guard, showed some encouraging things though.

Props to Waiters, I was (am) one of his doubters. If he proves me wrong all the more to him. Hope he does.

[LordBaldric]

SHVED!

[bledredwine]

Just like when you flip a coin and it has 50% chance of heads or tails......... and sometimes it'll be tails 9 times out of 11,

Players will have bad games...


Damien has been fantastic so far.... one bad game means nothing. It only means something when it's consistent, and he's been consistently good for what, 10 games including preseason?

[4PointPlay]

Prigioni with a nice line of 11 points, 6 assists and 2 steals in 24 minutes tonight, including a highlight play to set up JR for his monster dunk.

I really want Prigs to be in the rookie challenge, for comedy reasons mainly because he is so damn old.

[rockmanslim]

Saw that Waiters had 28, had to watch that whole game...

He missed most of the 1st Q in foul trouble, and started out cold even when he was in, tossing up an airball.

Then he got hot from downtown, hitting 3's both open and contested.

Then the Clippers made a furious run to tie the game late, all the momentum on their side, Staples center going nuts, but Waiters sinks two cold blooded threes in a row, wow.

After that, he had a bad possession where he pounded the ball at the top and airballed an iso 3, but then he came back and made a nice assist to Flopajao for a 15 foot jumper.

This rook is pretty damn fearless. Huge huge win vs a top WC team on their home floor.

[orangeparka]

LOL at all the people saying Waiters was a reach.

This is why you gotta let them play games. People also need to stop acting like they know more than GMs/scouts.

[rockmanslim]

Zeller looked good, too. Playing good post D, snatching tough rebounds in traffic, running the floor in transition, solid all around, looked like he belonged.

[Bskey]

LOL at all the people saying Waiters was a reach.

This is why you gotta let them play games. People also need to stop acting like they know more than GMs/scouts.

Waiters was a reach, that doesn't mean he can't show it was a good pick after all.

And come on, are we going to pretend scouts/GMs don't get a ton of picks wrong every single year? You don't have to get paid to make evaluations, as always it is ultimately up to the player to prove their worth. If scouts and GMs were as good as you think at their job we wouldn't have constant top 10 busts and late 1st to 2nd round surprises.

[mg]

I still don't see how Waiters is a reach when Phoenix picking at 13, Toronto at 8, and Golden State at 7 all had strong interest in him. Yep Jerry West loved him some Dion Waiters. This board would have only been happy if the Cavs picked Barnes or Robinson because they were the higher rated players according to the mocks.

Of course the jury is still out but Dion has some major swag. Those types with that kind of self confidence typically don't bust.

[Roger Murdock]

Sac wanted him at 5 too ^

[omerome]

Prigioni with a nice line of 11 points, 6 assists and 2 steals in 24 minutes tonight, including a highlight play to set up JR for his monster dunk.

I really want Prigs to be in the rookie challenge, for comedy reasons mainly because he is so damn old.

That would be the highlight of the weekend right there.

[Baseline Runner]

Waiters was a reach, that doesn't mean he can't show it was a good pick after all.

Sorry but this is just terrible logic. If you have a chance to draft the best player available, you grab him. If Kobe Bryant is available at the fourth pick (not comparing him to Waiters, just using an example) and you know he'll be a great player, you don't take a risk and try to trade down to pick him at 10 even though he is projected at around there. If you have a chance to grab the best player you take him and don't screw around, especially since you have no idea what the other GMs are planning behind you.

Disrespect is something that seems to happen with every Cavs rookie for some reason. Even Lebron James was written off the first couple of seasons on this forum (there were 100+ post threads that Andrei Kirilenko would have a better career than James on realgm). No one was criticizing the Robinson, Beal, MKG or Barnes picks, but none of those guys have showed much and there is a good chance a couple of them will be busts. Meanwhile the one guy that is killing it immediately in the league was rejected as a bust and reach. It just shows how much the casual fans know.