Rookie impressions thread: PRESEASON/REGULAR SEASON

[DeBlazerRiddem]

You're right. Good ol' Dawk Ins. Here's Steven Adams' game!

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cU-ixBap9d8[/youtube]

Some great clips in this video, his passing looks surprisingly good, same goes for his basketball IQ. Hope he can have the opportunity to make an impact on OKC, rather than Brooks just giving Perkins all the minutes at Centre. I'm from Oceania myself so am particularly keen to see this NZ guy succeed!

Noticing your name, wouldn't it have been nice to see this guy developing behind Lopez? I know a lot of Blazer fans were high on this guy, myself included, and with CJ's injury it makes one wonder if going for the high upside big man might have actually been the safer choice!

You already have Meyers as your project big, there was really no need to draft Adams.

Leonard is quite athletic and has a very good jumper for a 7 footer. He looks like he could be a stretch 5 - maybe (eventually) he will be a useful player next to an elite defensive PF and an elite playmaking PG who can get him easy buckets at the rim. However, he has little defensive and rebounding acumen, and is thus not the type of player we would want to develop next to Aldridge. I know he is only a second year player, but he hasn't really added anything to his game (I mean, in training camp he had talked about extending his range to the 3 point line, not a better focus on the defensive and rebounding end of the court.. heck for an athletic 7 footer I would rather he works on post moves than on jump shooting!!).

[UGA Hayes]

To me, from a big picture POV, Adams is one of the more interesting rookies to keep an eye on, since I think he could actually have an impact on a Thunder team that needs an upgrade at Center, and moreover one that has his skill set, i.e. defense, rebounding, and shot blocking while being a a serviceable/opportunistic offensive finisher. As painful as the thunder are to watch, a healthy team has been pretty good to great offensively so they needed up grade defensively, and Adams numbers at Pitt were very favorable in that reguard esp. for a freshman making the adjustments he had to make. Its also another potential win for statheads who loved him while scouts seemed to be universally dismissing him.

[Joel Embust]

Adams looking like he's learning a couple things from Collison.

[NaturalThunder]

I'm not getting to watch tonight. How has Adams looked? 2/6 and just 6 points isn't great but the 10 rebounds is what I'm more concerned about from our center spot. 25 rebounds in 58 minutes combined the last two games.

[treefi]

I wanted Steven Adams on the Pistons.

[HartfordWhalers]

I wanted Steven Adams on the Pistons.

How many centers can one team collect?

[bibby1023]

Mclemore has 23 points in 24 min with 5 minutes left vs the blazers. Just hit a three to put Sac up by 2...Playing really well and efficient.

[GreenRiddler]

Noticing your name, wouldn't it have been nice to see this guy developing behind Lopez? I know a lot of Blazer fans were high on this guy, myself included, and with CJ's injury it makes one wonder if going for the high upside big man might have actually been the safer choice!

You already have Meyers as your project big, there was really no need to draft Adams.

Leonard is quite athletic and has a very good jumper for a 7 footer. He looks like he could be a stretch 5 - maybe (eventually) he will be a useful player next to an elite defensive PF and an elite playmaking PG who can get him easy buckets at the rim. However, he has little defensive and rebounding acumen, and is thus not the type of player we would want to develop next to Aldridge. I know he is only a second year player, but he hasn't really added anything to his game (I mean, in training camp he had talked about extending his range to the 3 point line, not a better focus on the defensive and rebounding end of the court.. heck for an athletic 7 footer I would rather he works on post moves than on jump shooting!!).

He will never be a post payer, only some have that ability. we already have one anyway. Where did you read those comments from anyway? I read on BE and the first things he said were staying vertical on block attempt and rebounding he then goes on to say, that if he is open he will take that shot cause he feels like he can make it.

http://www.blazersedge.com/2013/10/1/47 ... perlatives

What did you work on this summer: "...Tried to extend my range. You should anticipate that I'll probably shoot some threes this year. That won't be an off-the-wall thing."

Target three-point shooting percentage: "40 and above."

That's really high: "Well, yeah."

How will your three-pointers come about during the season: "Trailing in transition. When teams push the ball to the baseline, which we call blue-ing, it's easy to pop back and space the other two guys into the corner. Also some special play-type situations."

Do you realize that stepping out to the three-point line will draw criticism: "I think it's important and coach Stotts would probably agree that being versatile and being able to stretch the floor especially as a five can hurt opposing defenses. Obviously I have to stay in the paint as well, and know that that's my job first and foremost. When I need to make a play, or it's drawn up, I know I have the confidence to do so.

[ManualRam]

if meyers did post, even as a high post hub, the blazer guards wouldn't look for him. if you're not LA, the blazer guards will not look for you. meyers is a skill player. he can shoot, pass (reads cutters very well, will move the ball and makes nice kickout passes to shooters), has very soft touch around the rim and is an over the top target, but the guards don't seem interested in involving him. he's basically just used as a screener both on and off the ball.

his defense really sucks though. his reflexes are not good, he has trouble changing directions and laterally he gallops. as long as LA is there i don't think leonard is a good fit. they should probably look to move him.

i agree, adams would've been the better fit because he's so rugged with a really strong base (opposite of leonard, who is top heavy), who's willing to do the dirty work. unlike leonard, he moves his feet pretty well, but needs to understand angles better and improve his timing on his hedge/recover. i think opposing players will hate playing against him because he's a physical bully who walks around with a smile on his face. the few times i saw him matched up with favors, favors couldn't match his level of physicality. just watch his screens, his boxes, his clear outs, his rim run and deep seals. he does stuff with force, but it looks effortless for him. he'll be a huge asset for the thunder if they realize what they have on their hands. he's the equivalent of a top notch offensive lineman prospect because he just moves bodies and holds his position on the interior, being perfectly content doing the things that go unnoticed. even for his level of experience, he appears to have a good understanding of what his limitations are and what his coaches want from him.

[NaturalThunder]

This is from Darnell Mayberry's postgame write up:

That perhaps explained why Adams did something I had never seen before in pregame. He pulled up a chair and spent much of his pregame sitting in the middle of the locker room, directly in front of the projection screen studying tape of the Jazz.

http://newsok.com/observations-from-the ... le/3895925


Really like how eager Adams is to learn about his opponents. The fact that he spent time before a preseason game studying opponents on film says a lot about him in my opinion.

[bondom34]

This is from Darnell Mayberry's postgame write up:

That perhaps explained why Adams did something I had never seen before in pregame. He pulled up a chair and spent much of his pregame sitting in the middle of the locker room, directly in front of the projection screen studying tape of the Jazz.

http://newsok.com/observations-from-the ... le/3895925


Really like how eager Adams is to learn about his opponents. The fact that he spent time before a preseason game studying opponents on film says a lot about him in my opinion.

Theres a part of me wondering if the Thunder are almost posturing by saying he won't get much playing time to make him less nervous. He has been really impressive, and I want to see him get real game time ASAP. I'm thinking maybe they say they won't play him so he won't get nervous, then just throw him in in the RS (I hope).

[jjscap]

Steven Adams impressed me with this rebounding and defense.

[Cruel_Ruin]

Some top rookie stats from the preseason so far - (Pooh to all the teams who don't have preseason stats on their websites)

Oladipo:
13.2 pts/6.2 rbs/4.8 asts/3.1 TOs on 41.8 FG%/22.7 3PT%/78.3 FT% in 25.8 minutes per game

McLemore:
12.6 pts/3.2 rbs/0.8 asts/1.6 TOs on 49.0 FG%/40.9 3PT%/66.7 FT% in 23.8 minutes per game

Bennett:
10.6 pts/6.6 rbs/0.4 asts/3.2 TOs on 36.2 FG%/35.3 3PT%/65.0 FT% in 22.0 minutes per game

[KF10]

McLemore has outplayed Marcus Thornton throughout the preseason. I wouldn't be surprised if McLemore will be the starting 2-guard at opening night. Same goes with Patterson against Thompson at 4. Patterson outplayed JT in the preseason. Patterson with an excellent game last night

Jimmer has been a surprising revelation. Dude looked very good every time when he enters the game.

Small forward is completely wide open but no one has taken the opportunity to capitalize: Salmons, Outlaw, Mbah a Moute (to be fair, he's injured and has played only 1 preseason game).

[KF10]

Some top rookie stats from the preseason so far - (Pooh to all the teams who don't have preseason stats on their websites)

Oladipo:
13.2 pts/6.2 rbs/4.8 asts/3.1 TOs on 41.8 FG%/22.7 3PT%/78.3 FT% in 25.8 minutes per game

McLemore:
12.6 pts/3.2 rbs/0.8 asts/1.6 TOs on 49.0 FG%/40.9 3PT%/66.7 FT% in 23.8 minutes per game

Bennett:
10.6 pts/6.6 rbs/0.4 asts/3.2 TOs on 36.2 FG%/35.3 3PT%/65.0 FT% in 22.0 minutes per game

Dem shooting stats for BMac (except FTs).
Dat overall game from Oladipo

Bennett...3PT range is decent.

[KF10]

If McLemore gets the starting SG job, dude is going to be a thorn to Oladipo for ROY imo.

[InFlames]

Glad to see McLemore doing so well. Him and Oladipo have definitely been the most impressive rookies of the bunch so far. He was my second favorite before the draft after Noel. It is ridiculous that he fell to 7th in this draft.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeBGoGq5tWY[/youtube]

[Cruel_Ruin]

Some top rookie stats from the preseason so far - (Pooh to all the teams who don't have preseason stats on their websites)

Oladipo:
13.2 pts/6.2 rbs/4.8 asts/3.1 TOs on 41.8 FG%/22.7 3PT%/78.3 FT% in 25.8 minutes per game

McLemore:
12.6 pts/3.2 rbs/0.8 asts/1.6 TOs on 49.0 FG%/40.9 3PT%/66.7 FT% in 23.8 minutes per game

Bennett:
10.6 pts/6.6 rbs/0.4 asts/3.2 TOs on 36.2 FG%/35.3 3PT%/65.0 FT% in 22.0 minutes per game

Dem shooting stats for BMac (except FTs).
Dat overall game from Oladipo

Bennett...3PT range is decent.

Ben's free throw shooting is probably an aberration. He shot 89% from the FT line in college and takes all of the technical FTs whenever he has a chance. It doesn't help that he doesn't get to the FT line much though.

He'll probably be in the 50/40/90 club one day.

[KF10]

Glad to see McLemore doing so well. Him and Oladipo have definitely been the most impressive rookies of the bunch so far. He was my second favorite before the draft after Noel. It is ridiculous that he fell to 7th in this draft.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeBGoGq5tWY[/youtube]

Smoothest J in the league besides Ray Allen? Hot damn.

[KF10]

Ben's free throw shooting is probably an aberration. He shot 89% from the FT line in college and takes all of the technical FTs whenever he has a chance. It doesn't help that he doesn't get to the FT line much though.

He'll probably be in the 50/40/90 club one day.

Yeah, I agree.