Rookie impressions thread: PRESEASON/REGULAR SEASON

[islanders11040]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEjVLfJPSqQ[/youtube]
Tim Hardaway Jr with 21

[Catchall]

Trey Burke now #1 in ESPN's Rookie Watch rankings. (Insider)

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story...takes-top-spot

Excerpt:

"Burke is not in Lillard's class as they compare today, yet there are signs that he is headed in that direction quickly. His poise and overall understanding of the game are already above that of most young guards with more playing experience in the NBA. Watch him attack the paint off ball screens or out of isolations. See him play with patience most of the time. Admire his ability to use his body to create space or pivot around defenders who get too aggressive trying to take away that space. He is showing the willingness to be his team's best player and scorer when the situation calls for it, not being content to be just a ball mover who feeds his veteran teammates."
...
1. Trey Burke
2. MCW
3. Tim Hardaway Jr.
4. G. Antetokounpo
5. Mason Plumlee

[Young_Star11]

Mason Plumlee over Steven Adams?

[InFlames]

Oladipo with 16/11/5

[BieberLUV]

giannis with 16 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks on 5-12 shooting

i love the flashes he shows every game. i like that he got drafted at 15. the fact that he just turned 18 and is a european raw prospect makes me think that he wouldn't be able to handle the pressure of being a no. 1 pick. he's in the best position right now. with lower expectations, he's been able to show what he can turn into

[dautjazz]

Trey Burke now #1 in ESPN's Rookie Watch rankings. (Insider)

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story...takes-top-spot

Excerpt:

"Burke is not in Lillard's class as they compare today, yet there are signs that he is headed in that direction quickly. His poise and overall understanding of the game are already above that of most young guards with more playing experience in the NBA. Watch him attack the paint off ball screens or out of isolations. See him play with patience most of the time. Admire his ability to use his body to create space or pivot around defenders who get too aggressive trying to take away that space. He is showing the willingness to be his team's best player and scorer when the situation calls for it, not being content to be just a ball mover who feeds his veteran teammates."
...
1. Trey Burke
2. MCW
3. Tim Hardaway Jr.
4. G. Antetokounpo
5. Mason Plumlee

Love Burke and all, but MCW has to be #1. Burke has only played 2 more games than MCW, since he was injured to start the season, and MCW is just better in most categories.

[SOUL]

giannis with 16 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks on 5-12 shooting

i love the flashes he shows every game. i like that he got drafted at 15. the fact that he just turned 18 and is a european raw prospect makes me think that he wouldn't be able to handle the pressure of being a no. 1 pick. he's in the best position right now. with lower expectations, he's been able to show what he can turn into

is he getting younger? lol

[dautjazz]

giannis with 16 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks on 5-12 shooting

i love the flashes he shows every game. i like that he got drafted at 15. the fact that he just turned 18 and is a european raw prospect makes me think that he wouldn't be able to handle the pressure of being a no. 1 pick. he's in the best position right now. with lower expectations, he's been able to show what he can turn into

is he getting younger? lol

Seriously, he's 19, too much is being made of that. Two other players in the NBA are 19 too, 15 players are 20, which is not much older either. 15 players have entered the league younger than Giannis in history, so it's not as big a deal as it's being made out to be.

[Baddy Chuck]

Seriously, he's 19, too much is being made of that. Two other players in the NBA are 19 too, 15 players are 20, which is not much older either. 15 players have entered the league younger than Giannis in history, so it's not as big a deal as it's being made out to be.

How is too much being made of that? There's a reason why freshman or high school players are more coveted then seniors, because they have more maturing in their game. Being young usually means you have more room for your game to grow. Hell, Giannis isn't even done growing physically yet. Giannis is showing a ton at a very young age, it obviously means more then someone who's had 1-2-3+ years in college. It always has, it always will.

And its hilarious that you bring up that 15 players younger were in the league when that can't even happen anymore and you know it but still use it to support your argument. Hell, most of the players on that list that showed anything this young were superstars.

[Styrian]

Seriously, he's 19, too much is being made of that. Two other players in the NBA are 19 too, 15 players are 20, which is not much older either. 15 players have entered the league younger than Giannis in history, so it's not as big a deal as it's being made out to be.

How is too much being made of that? There's a reason why freshman or high school players are more coveted then seniors, because they have more maturing in their game. Being young usually means you have more room for your game to grow. Hell, Giannis isn't even done growing physically yet. Giannis is showing a ton at a very young age, it obviously means more then someone who's had 1-2-3+ years in college. It always has, it always will.

And its hilarious that you bring up that 15 players younger were in the league when that can't even happen anymore and you know it but still use it to support your argument. Hell, most of the players on that list that showed anything this young were superstars.

Lebron, Durant and Carmelo were all the same age as Giannis their rookie season and while they weren't great they all averaged over 20 ppg. His rookie season statistically right now is the most comparable to Darius Miles(just looking at players who were drafted at 18 and were 19 in their first season), others who showed something at 19 when rookies also includes Eddy Curry, Ricky Davis, Eddie Griffin.

[Baddy Chuck]

Lebron, Durant and Carmelo were all the same age as Giannis their rookie season and while they weren't great they all averaged over 20 ppg. His rookie season statistically right now is the most comparable to Darius Miles(just looking at players who were drafted at 18 and were 19 in their first season), others who showed something at 19 when rookies also includes Eddy Curry, Ricky Davis, Eddie Griffin.

I'm just going off the stupid list he decided to bring up, off that list of 15 players he decided to bring up any of them that showed anything were basically superstars. I understand there's outliers either direction (Griffin and Davis were basically a year older and both played a year in college) but a players showing flashes that young is usually a pretty good thing.

If Trey Burke was barely 19 he'd be holding that above everyones head too. Trey Burke barely stepped onto a college court when he was the age Giannis is but since its not his favorite rookie, he's going to talk it down.

[Greek]

An other amazing dunk from Giannis

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG_AlXlZXXY#t=11[/youtube]

[UWM_Brew_Buck]

Seriously, he's 19, too much is being made of that. Two other players in the NBA are 19 too, 15 players are 20, which is not much older either. 15 players have entered the league younger than Giannis in history, so it's not as big a deal as it's being made out to be.

How is too much being made of that? There's a reason why freshman or high school players are more coveted then seniors, because they have more maturing in their game. Being young usually means you have more room for your game to grow. Hell, Giannis isn't even done growing physically yet. Giannis is showing a ton at a very young age, it obviously means more then someone who's had 1-2-3+ years in college. It always has, it always will.

And its hilarious that you bring up that 15 players younger were in the league when that can't even happen anymore and you know it but still use it to support your argument. Hell, most of the players on that list that showed anything this young were superstars.

Lebron, Durant and Carmelo were all the same age as Giannis their rookie season and while they weren't great they all averaged over 20 ppg. His rookie season statistically right now is the most comparable to Darius Miles(just looking at players who were drafted at 18 and were 19 in their first season), others who showed something at 19 when rookies also includes Eddy Curry, Ricky Davis, Eddie Griffin.

You should probably watch the games then, using just stats you can say that Giannis is performing the same as a 19 year old McGrady, J O'Neal and almost KG. You can use many players to easily reject or support your rebuttal. Besides that, it is not the point being made.

He is the youngest player in the league and he is showing that is has a great skill. It seems like he is getting better every game. Him being 19 is the reason why columnists are saying they'd take him #1 in a redraft. In 5 years he'll be as old as Eric Bledsoe, he is younger than Julius Randle, etc. he has a lot of time to keep getting better.

[Styrian]

Lebron, Durant and Carmelo were all the same age as Giannis their rookie season and while they weren't great they all averaged over 20 ppg. His rookie season statistically right now is the most comparable to Darius Miles(just looking at players who were drafted at 18 and were 19 in their first season), others who showed something at 19 when rookies also includes Eddy Curry, Ricky Davis, Eddie Griffin.

I'm just going off the stupid list he decided to bring up, off that list of 15 players he decided to bring up any of them that showed anything were basically superstars. I understand there's outliers either direction (Griffin and Davis were basically a year older and both played a year in college) but a players showing flashes that young is usually a pretty good thing.

If Trey Burke was barely 19 he'd be holding that above everyones head too. Trey Burke barely stepped onto a college court when he was the age Giannis is.

They were 3 months and 6 months older, anyway I don't think anyone is saying that showing flashes is a bad thing, but it doesn't guarantee anything either.

Also I'm not a fan of giving young players guaranteed heavy minutes, because the idea that if you play young players a lot they'll eventually get better is very flawed and leads to lack of accountability. Wizards were probably the worst at that when they played McGee and Blatche a lot and are doing similar with Beal. I would not be suprised if Beal turns into another OJ Mayo just because of that.

[AussieBuck]

Giannis earns every minute he gets and plays winning ball other than the odd rookie turnover.

[Greek]

Giannis full highlights from last night

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

[FrieAaron]

Also I'm not a fan of giving young players guaranteed heavy minutes, because the idea that if you play young players a lot they'll eventually get better is very flawed and leads to lack of accountability. Wizards were probably the worst at that when they played McGee and Blatche a lot and are doing similar with Beal. I would not be suprised if Beal turns into another OJ Mayo just because of that.

Guaranteed minutes? Giannis minutes so far this season:
5, 12, 17, 22, 19, 12, 15, 12, 12, 13, 28, 15, 28, 20, 14, 10, 33, 24, 35, 42 23, 35, 36, 34

Notice the upward trend? they had no intention to play him very much to start the season but he's earned a starting spot because the team is noticeably better when he's on the floor.

[Upper Decker]

Checking in with another update of Otto Porter. He is quietly and quickly becoming a complete and abject disaster. Between Bennett and Porter I'm not sure who's a bigger bust.

Porters stats thus far:

1.4PPG, 0.3APG, 1.6RPG, 0.1SPG .294FG% PER 2.3

He's completely invisible on the court. Has there ever been a time where two of the top three picks were such complete busts?

[breakchains]

Also I'm not a fan of giving young players guaranteed heavy minutes, because the idea that if you play young players a lot they'll eventually get better is very flawed and leads to lack of accountability. Wizards were probably the worst at that when they played McGee and Blatche a lot and are doing similar with Beal. I would not be suprised if Beal turns into another OJ Mayo just because of that.

Guaranteed minutes? Giannis minutes so far this season:
5, 12, 17, 22, 19, 12, 15, 12, 12, 13, 28, 15, 28, 20, 14, 10, 33, 24, 35, 42 23, 35, 36, 34

Notice the upward trend? they had no intention to play him very much to start the season but he's earned a starting spot because the team is noticeably better when he's on the floor.

didn't include the DNPs.

[Johnlac1]

I guess if you compare Giannis to another young player, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (who I like a lot), Giannis is longer and a better shooter. That's probably the one area of his game that apart from simple adjustment to the league, he'll have to improve.