The OFFICIAL rookie impressions thread pt.III

[DeBlazerRiddem]

My grounds for skepticism is purely based on my own opinions; that New Orleans has mediocre PG's putting up league leading assist numbers. Perhaps I have very poor judgement, it has been suggested before.

[jinishima]

Yeah with Byron Scott, that offense was centered around CP3. He was the system. Hella P&R play. I honestly like this offense more as its less predictable. And really, Roberts just had a career night, as this is apparently everyones first time on this board hearing bout him, theres a reason for that. Also, Vasquez really is a good player, I only talk about him in terms of being the starting PG for the future, and I just think we need better to become contenders.

[thug-lyfe]

Hey Hornets fans, what's Brian Roberts' ceiling? Just curious since getting 18 assists is no easy task.

[j_angel]

This statistic is interesting though. Both rookie years and both show per 36.

Lillard: 17.8 - 6.1 - 3.0 with 0.9 steal.
Player B: 17.1 - 6.3 - 3.8 with 1.4 steal.
Turnovers also close with 2.8 to Lillard and 2.7 to the other player.

Lillard had a much higher shooting percentage though, .55 TS compared to .475. Although player B was a better 3 point shooter.

Lillard was 22 in the July before his rookie year started.
Player B was 20 in the September of his rookie year.

btw Player B was Brandon Jennings.

Lillards stats are closer to Jennings than any of these great players. That seems to be ignored here.

Why do you use the useless per 36 stats? We are talking about raw stats here.

Lillard - 19.1 ppg, 3.2 rpg 6.5 assists 43%fg

Lebron - 20.9 ppg 5.5 rpg 5.9 assists 41%fg

Jennings - 15.5 ppg 3.4 rpg 5.8 asist 37% fg

Sorry but LIllard's rookie numbers look more closer to LeBron than Jennings, stop embarrassing yourself and deal with it please

Im using per 36 because Lillard plays around 8 more minutes per game in his rookie year than Jennings did, that factor cannot be ignored.

Secondly I did mention the shooting percentage in my original post.

[jinishima]

Hey Hornets fans, what's Brian Roberts' ceiling? Just curious since getting 18 assists is no easy task.

Jannero Pargo-ish, which is ironic. Unlike last night, usually looks for his on shot, especially coming off screens. His size limits him on D, so not much help there. But a pretty solid backup is what i see him possibly being.

[NO-KG-AI]

My grounds for skepticism is purely based on my own opinions; that New Orleans has mediocre PG's putting up league leading assist numbers. Perhaps I have very poor judgement, it has been suggested before.

Vazquez is putting up high assist numbers, and may be "mediocre" but he is NOT mediocre as a passer. Is it a surprise that a guy that is a very good passer, with a passing mentality gets a lot of assists?

Don't really think it's that complicated.

[orangeparka]

Hey Hornets fans, what's Brian Roberts' ceiling? Just curious since getting 18 assists is no easy task.

Jannero Pargo-ish, which is ironic. Unlike last night, usually looks for his on shot, especially coming off screens. His size limits him on D, so not much help there. But a pretty solid backup is what i see him possibly being.

Damn ya'll are real conservative with your expectations. That's good.

[Jon1798]

I honestly don't know what to make of Roberts. He has driven me insane this season. All year he has brought this offense to a screaching hault. He sits there with the ball in his hands, waits unil there is about 7 seconds on the shot clock, then drives and takes his own jumper. All while Anthony Davis is rolling to the goal every time. Or Ryan Anderson is asking for the ball.

This has been his MO all season. Then all of a sudden about a couple of weeks ago, it's like he figured out you were allowed to pass for the first time. That same dribble drive is still working, but now he is dishing to the open guy. He had been benched entirely until injuries wiped out our bench. Austin was really starting to emerge, and Roger Mason has had a pretty productive season for a late minimum pickup.

I don't have very high hopes for Roberts long term either, but something definitely seems to have clicked in his brain.

[Jon1798]

As for the high assist numbers, lets' be fair. We did have the best point guard in the game for most of a decade. Otherwise it's been part our offense, and part our players.

I'm not sure any team uses the pick and roll as consistently as we do. EVERYTHING we do offensively is a pick and roll.

We use to have Tyson Chandler waiting to catch and throw down, David West, who I could hand it to and get an assist, and Peja who was easily one of the best three point shooters the league has ever seen. But we had nobody on the wing that could create their own shot.

Collison came in and also played with Marcus Thorton off the bench who does one thing well. He puts the ball in the basket.

Vasquez simply dominates the basketball. And with the way Roberts has struggled this season, Vasquez has played a ton of minutes. Then again, you have Davis crashing the goal, Lopez standing next to the goal, Anderson standing at the 3 point line, a great scorer in Gordon, Aminu crashing the goal. There's a lot of guys that can score, but not on their own. Gordon is the only shot creator outside of Vasquez, and he's been hurt for much of this year.

When you consider a team makes about 40 shots in a game, and Vasquez touches the ball every single play, I don't think 10 assists is a major feet to accomplish.

[jinishima]

As for the high assist numbers, lets' be fair. We did have the best point guard in the game for most of a decade. Otherwise it's been part our offense, and part our players.

I'm not sure any team uses the pick and roll as consistently as we do. EVERYTHING we do offensively is a pick and roll.

We use to have Tyson Chandler waiting to catch and throw down, David West, who I could hand it to and get an assist, and Peja who was easily one of the best three point shooters the league has ever seen. But we had nobody on the wing that could create their own shot.

Collison came in and also played with Marcus Thorton off the bench who does one thing well. He puts the ball in the basket.

Vasquez simply dominates the basketball. And with the way Roberts has struggled this season, Vasquez has played a ton of minutes. Then again, you have Davis crashing the goal, Lopez standing next to the goal, Anderson standing at the 3 point line, a great scorer in Gordon, Aminu crashing the goal. There's a lot of guys that can score, but not on their own. Gordon is the only shot creator outside of Vasquez, and he's been hurt for much of this year.

When you consider a team makes about 40 shots in a game, and Vasquez touches the ball every single play, I don't think 10 assists is a major feet to accomplish.

Yeah, thats about rite.

[GhostsOfGil]

Not saying it's right..but I think people tend to be skeptical about assist numbers in NO, due to the chris paul assist controversy. I remember there were a handful of analysts that tracked his passes and found he was being credited with some pretty "loose" assists by the score keepers.

[jinishima]

Don't know much about any controversy to speak of when it came to CP's stats, but i know Vasquez' raw numbers while accurate, due to Davis, Ryno, etc., certainly dont tell the entire story to the level of his PG play and ability.

[Smirk]

Roberts isn't good. There's a reason why he's a 27 year old rookie...he's not good. He got 18 assists, but Vasquez gets high assist totals consistently and he is mediocre as well.

Roberts is a shoot first guy (despite that assist number), he's a defensive liabilty, turns the ball over a lot...but he can score.

Poor-man's Pargo is a good comparison. He's a really good player to have sitting all the way at the end of your bench. If he's your starter or even primary backup, you are in serious trouble.

[NO-KG-AI]

Not saying it's right..but I think people tend to be skeptical about assist numbers in NO, due to the chris paul assist controversy. I remember there were a handful of analysts that tracked his passes and found he was being credited with some pretty "loose" assists by the score keepers.

I remember there was talk of that, then I remember the analysis showed nothing for Chris Paul that everyone wasn't getting. Actually, the only odd thing I remember is that Nash was getting less assists at home than on the road, and that was inconsistent with everyone else.

There was never any "controversy" like in Utah back in the day, and if there were, it must still be going on in LAC, because his assists per 36 is right in line with his years in NO.

[jinishima]

Roberts isn't good. There's a reason why he's a 27 year old rookie...he's not good. He got 18 assists, but Vasquez gets high assist totals consistently and he is mediocre as well.

Roberts is a shoot first guy (despite that assist number), he's a defensive liabilty, turns the ball over a lot...but he can score.

Poor-man's Pargo is a good comparison. He's a really good player to have sitting all the way at the end of your bench. If he's your starter or even primary backup, you are in serious trouble.

Again, thats pretty much it
Happy to see Roberts break onto the rookie ladder tho, guys had a tuff journey and he's livin his dream. Just prolly wont be in New Orleans for much longer.

[Blkbrd671]

According to Vince Ellis of Detroit Free, Drummond is healthy and practicing and should be starting Friday. This is purely speculation, however its alot closer than what they were saying last week

[Dame Lizard]

According to Vince Ellis of Detroit Free, Drummond is healthy and practicing and should be starting Friday. This is purely speculation, however its alot closer than what they were saying last week

Good news.

I'm assuming 'starting' means start playing. I'm sure he'll get a start before season's end.

[Blkbrd671]

No i mean start. The only reason Dre didn't start earlier in the year was that maxiell had the PF spot and earned it. he actually was playing well at the beginning of the season. This had to do more with politics and maintaining a locker room than actual play and skill level. As anticipated Maxiell fell off as the season progressed and Dre was actually suppose to start according to our writers and inside sources but then they found the injury to his back. i think even if he does start, depending on how he looks, he's still only going to get 20-25minutes for the next couple games just to get him back into the groove

[lothy]

Jonas Valanciunas with 19 PTS 8-11 FG 8 REB 1 BL in 31 min in a loss vs Hawks
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUHsLP6Bt6c[/youtube]

[Blkbrd671]

Jonas Valanciunas with 19 PTS 8-11 FG 8 REB 1 BL in 31 min in a loss vs Hawks
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUHsLP6Bt6c[/youtube]

he looks really good, i like his toughness. i am not however impressed with his athleticism. i remember during the draft he was supposedly real athletic and tried to dunk everything, it might be that i'm associating it with how high he jumps. just observation