The OFFICIAL rookie impressions thread pt.III

[ComboGuardCity]

Meyers Leonard was the third big man on my board and I think he's shown he wants to play the game. He has all the tools to become a starter in this league. Happy for him considering his story.

Whats his ceiling though, like i can't think of 1 player which he'd compare too. maybe cuz he's white. i think Leonard and Henson have potential to be really good 2 way players,

The interesting thing about Leonard is that his skill surpasses what you'd expect out a 7'1, 245 lb 21 year old (freshly 21 I should add). His jumpshot is good for a Center. His free throw % is amazing, period. If he develops some physicality on the boards and the block, he could develop into a great Center one day.

A better Byron Mullens?

[Johnlac1]

Meyers Leonard was the third big man on my board and I think he's shown he wants to play the game. He has all the tools to become a starter in this league. Happy for him considering his story.

Whats his ceiling though, like i can't think of 1 player which he'd compare too. maybe cuz he's white. i think Leonard and Henson have potential to be really good 2 way players,

I watch many of the Bucks games. Henson is the more polished off. player. In fact, if he averaged 30 minutes, he'd be averaging a double-double easily. He had 18, 18 one game against the Heat in December. He has a left-hand hook shot that is just about unblockable. Skinny and needs muscle, but athletic. Pf will probably be his best position especially with Sanders at center. Knows the game better than Leonard at this point.

Leonard is an excellent athlete who while not great in any one area, has basic skills in shooting and passing. I laugh at Blazers fans who are upset because Leonard isn't Kareem Abdul-Jabbar already. The rookie stats of many centers in the league considered good (like Chandler, Asik, Gortat, and a few others) are barely different from Leonard's stats.

[monopoman]

Meyers Leonard was the third big man on my board and I think he's shown he wants to play the game. He has all the tools to become a starter in this league. Happy for him considering his story.

Whats his ceiling though, like i can't think of 1 player which he'd compare too. maybe cuz he's white. i think Leonard and Henson have potential to be really good 2 way players,

I watch many of the Bucks games. Henson is the more polished off. player. In fact, if he averaged 30 minutes, he'd be averaging a double-double easily. He had 18, 18 one game against the Heat in December. He has a left-hand hook shot that is just about unblockable. Skinny and needs muscle, but athletic. Pf will probably be his best position especially with Sanders at center. Knows the game better than Leonard at this point.

Leonard is an excellent athlete who while not great in any one area, has basic skills in shooting and passing. I laugh at Blazers fans who are upset because Leonard isn't Kareem Abdul-Jabbar already. The rookie stats of many centers in the league considered good (like Chandler, Asik, Gortat, and a few others) are barely different from Leonard's stats.

Indeed, especially when during the draft everyone projected him to need a few years to get things together. That he was not ready to come in and be a potential dominant center in his first 2 seasons. If he keeps up this level of play for the rest of the season given this amount of minutes I will be very very pleased. That likely means he is likely to improve quicker than possibly projected.

[fishnc]

Meyers Leonard was the third big man on my board and I think he's shown he wants to play the game. He has all the tools to become a starter in this league. Happy for him considering his story.

Whats his ceiling though, like i can't think of 1 player which he'd compare too. maybe cuz he's white. i think Leonard and Henson have potential to be really good 2 way players,

I watch many of the Bucks games. Henson is the more polished off. player. In fact, if he averaged 30 minutes, he'd be averaging a double-double easily. He had 18, 18 one game against the Heat in December. He has a left-hand hook shot that is just about unblockable. Skinny and needs muscle, but athletic. Pf will probably be his best position especially with Sanders at center. Knows the game better than Leonard at this point.

Leonard is an excellent athlete who while not great in any one area, has basic skills in shooting and passing. I laugh at Blazers fans who are upset because Leonard isn't Kareem Abdul-Jabbar already. The rookie stats of many centers in the league considered good (like Chandler, Asik, Gortat, and a few others) are barely different from Leonard's stats.

Which Blazer fan said that?

[Johnlac1]

Are you kidding? I read many of the team threads. It seems a lot of you were upset with Leonard after the first few games. And even after Leonard's recent good games a number were still complaining. Several were wondering what center they could get in the 2013 draft almost saying Leonard was such a bust, it was time to look for another prospect. For Chirst sakes, he just turned 21 and only played one full year of college ball. I think some were comparing him to Drummond who's looked more impressive so far.

I watched Leonard last year in the Big Ten, and I could see he was behind Zeller and Sullinger in development and would probably take a little longer to pan out. While the same age and not as long or athletic as Leonard, it was easy to see Sullinger was a smarter, more mature, and more developed player. (but Boston fans were whining about Sullinger too). Leonard's upside is greater than Sullinger's not only because he's a longer, superior athlete, but also because he came from a small town and didn't face the quality of competition Sullinger and Zeller did. Heck, Zeller could practice against one NBA brother and another on his way. Sullinger came from a big city school. I'd give Leonard several years before calling him a bust.

[zzaj]

^^I guess we have different definitions of "a lot of you". Without taking the time to pour over past posts, it seems to me the vast majority of posters (even those that weren't Blazer fans) have posted the same basic post: It's way too early to tell how good a player he is. Let's see where he's at in a couple years.

The thing that puzzles me about Meyers is that in college he seemed to be a good shot-blocker with good defensive instincts. I have to assume the change from college/NBA defensive schemes and the sheer quickness, size and skill of competition are having a pretty huge impact. It'll be interesting to see how he adjusts to those variables in the next couple of years.

[Shem]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDHeaIFXLoY[/youtube]

[jinishima]

Meyers just needs to learn the game. Brings a lot of enery tho. Got a mean streak. He like Austin, is just learning the nuances of the game. Could become a solid big over time if he keeps workin

[Bskey]

Like I said with Meyers people will notice how good he can be offensively before they start talking about his good defense. Mostly because he's still clueless about how to defend. But 21 year old athletic and quick bigs are always worth trying to mold. I don't really care about his shot blocking, he's not that bad at it, he just bites too easy. His overall defense needs a lot of work though. After he has more experience we will see.

[Shem]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUp2bxRrdUY[/youtube]

[jinishima]

Rookie of the year. And another talented PG to add in this ample golden age of em.

[Blkbrd671]

Meyers Leonard was the third big man on my board and I think he's shown he wants to play the game. He has all the tools to become a starter in this league. Happy for him considering his story.

Whats his ceiling though, like i can't think of 1 player which he'd compare too. maybe cuz he's white. i think Leonard and Henson have potential to be really good 2 way players,

The interesting thing about Leonard is that his skill surpasses what you'd expect out a 7'1, 245 lb 21 year old (freshly 21 I should add). His jumpshot is good for a Center. His free throw % is amazing, period. If he develops some physicality on the boards and the block, he could develop into a great Center one day.

maybe a more athletic Kaman?

[Blkbrd671]

A couple GMs actually compared Beal directly to Ray Allen before the draft:

Before the Wizards chose Beal, two NBA general managers told me he reminded them of future Hall of Famer Ray Allen — and not the somewhat limited version we see now; the young Allen, who was as apt to dunk on an opponent as launch a three-pointer.

http://m.washingtonpost.com/sports/wiza ... ory_1.html

I really hated those comparisons during the draft. They made no sense. Beal had fairly pedestrian shooting numbers, nothing near Ray Allen's efficiency.

i remember the ray allen comparison's, but i believe it was due to his pure shooting stroke. Also ppl forget what type of player Allen was when he played in Seatle

[Blkbrd671]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUp2bxRrdUY[/youtube]

someone needs to bump the PC thread of lillard vs kemba.

like too see some one try to defend Kemba shooting 25% FG

[Elden Payton]

Trolling again Blkbrd?

Maybe you should bump the Kemba v Knight thread whenver Knight has a good game...Oh wait a minute!

[Blkbrd671]

Trolling again Blkbrd?

Maybe you should bump the Kemba v Knight thread whenver Knight has a good game...Oh wait a minute!

simma down sik, its okay if kemba has a bad game, it happens to all players, he's still your teams allstar. If you have a problem, take it over to the PC board Kemba vs Lillard, and you and your fellow fans can defend the whole Kemba>lillard trash talk. Now back to the rookie

20 and 7 shooting better than 50%, amazing for rookie.

[Elden Payton]

Trolling again Blkbrd?

Maybe you should bump the Kemba v Knight thread whenver Knight has a good game...Oh wait a minute!

simma down sik, its okay if kemba has a bad game, it happens to all players, he's still your teams allstar. If you have a problem, take it over to the PC board Kemba vs Lillard, and you and your fellow fans can defend the whole Kemba>lillard trash talk. Now back to the rookie

20 and 7 shooting better than 50%, amazing for rookie.

I know it's ok when Kemba has a bad game, our team sucks so bad it's bound to happen.

Lillard is deadset absolutely amazing, no debate there, I just find it funny how you are so obsessed with Kemba, also for the record the Kemba-Lillard debate is legitimate, I'd like to see how Kemba would go on the Blazers or Pistons who obviously have more team talent and depth than the Bobcats.

[Blkbrd671]

I know it's ok when Kemba has a bad game, our team sucks so bad it's bound to happen.

Lillard is deadset absolutely amazing, no debate there, I just find it funny how you are so obsessed with Kemba, also for the record the Kemba-Lillard debate is legitimate

haha, not really, lillard and kemba just played each other, brought back memories of the PC thread in which some posters made some pretty arrogant/ignorant statements regarding lillard.

I'd like to see how Kemba would go on the Blazers or Pistons who obviously have more team talent and depth than the Bobcats.

Again , this is a rookie thread, if you want to discuss kemba and how its his teams fault, then go the PC board or your teams board. i'm just warning before a mod does.

[SWedd523]

Again , this is a rookie thread, if you want to discuss kemba and how its his teams fault, then go the PC board or your teams board. i'm just warning before a mod does.

... then why say

someone needs to bump the PC thread of lillard vs kemba.

like too see some one try to defend Kemba shooting 25% FG

in the first place?

[Blkbrd671]

Again , this is a rookie thread, if you want to discuss kemba and how its his teams fault, then go the PC board or your teams board. i'm just warning before a mod does.

... then why say

someone needs to bump the PC thread of lillard vs kemba.

like too see some one try to defend Kemba shooting 25% FG

in the first place?

reaching bud, not discussing this as its the wrong thread.