The ROTY/Rookie Discussion Thread, Part III

[CoreyGallagher]

Ben Simmons leads the team in +/- during this winning streak. The 76ers are outscoring the opponent by an average of 17.6 points per game with him in, or +27.6 points per 100 possessions (-4.9 w/o him).

[mediocrityrules]

Importantly he’s dominating still without Embiid and Saric, which was a concern (was he only good because of the great supporting cast around him and Embiid absorbing most of the pressure)


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[Black Mage]

Heard it here first. Fultz with his attitude in these few games is turning out to be one of the best on ball defenders in the NBA.

He has Mr. Fantastic arms. So long and a much better defender than advertised.

His length is insane and he is a very willing and capable defender so far.

That is a testament to Brett. He really does get guys to buy in on defensive effort.

[EmperorLocky]

During Sixers 11 game win streak this is Simmons per 36:

[QPR]

Only 25 minutes tonight. I wonder what his actual numbers would be if he was not sitting so much during blowouts?

[dr0welf]

Kuzma played well tonight. Developing really well.

[Tomjas]

Kuzma played well tonight. Developing really well.

Is his defence improving?

Saw him play a couple of weeks ago and he was a human turnstile

Smooth shot though

[nurseryc]

Ben Simmons joins Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson with rare rookie statistical feat becoming just the second player in NBA history to record at least 1,200 points, 600 assists and 600 rebounds in his rookie season, according to Basketball-Reference.com.

[cl2117]

I'm just boxscore watching this one, but John Collins goes for 19/10 last night with 3 deep balls. That's a great statline for the rook.

I'd love to see him become a more athletic version of Al Horford with that deep ball. It's probably a long shot, but a guy with his size, mobility, rebounding and inside scoring then being able to extend out to 3 point range is exactly what NBA teams are going to be looking for out of their bigs going forward.

DSJ, Lauri and Josh Jackson all deserve shoutouts as well.

I had started to go luke warm on DSJ after tracking his efficiency numbers, but he had 18/8/8 last night on good shooting percentages and has gotten much better since the break.

Lauri had a good game even though he sat out the 4th as part of the tank with 24/7 and being 5/6 from 3. I watched the highlights this morning and was pained to see the Skilpatrick was dueling with Monk down the stretch (interesting that the Bulls snagged Kilpatrick on a 3 year deal while he was negotiating a 10 day with the C's). Good to see Monk actually start hitting some shots as well.

And then Jackson. Oh Jackson. If that kid learns to shoot the 3 ball he's going to be Jimmy Butler-esque. That's 11 straight games now with 15+ points. I was already starting to discount the kid after such a slow start, but he's coming on strong to finish the season.

Can't say it enough, AMAZING rookie class.

[nurseryc]

Two-time NBA MVP Dr J was heaping high praise on Ben Simmons.

According to Dr J, Ben Simmons is ‘maybe once in a lifetime type player’

http://www.espn.com.au/nba/story/_/id/23022494/philadelphia-76ers-legend-julius-erving-high-praise-rookie-ben-simmons

[SmartWentCrazy]

Jayson Tatum’s last 11 games (since Kyrie got hurt):

18.2-5.7-2.5-1.4-0.6 on 49.0/43.6/81.4 splits. 13.7 shots per game, 3.5 3PA, 3.9 FTA.

Nice to see that his production was scalable with the increased role. Should become the first rookie to shoot over 40% from 3 with 1000+ points since Curry.

[Madhouse]

Actually wasn't the best game from Ben. Sloppy with the ball at times. Still good enough for 15/12/6 in 25 minutes on 70% shooting so overall a solid performance.

[Unbreakable99]

Jayson Tatum’s last 11 games (since Kyrie got hurt):

18.2-5.7-2.5-1.4-0.6 on 49.0/43.6/81.4 splits. 13.7 shots per game, 3.5 3PA, 3.9 FTA.

Nice to see that his production was scalable with the increased role. Should become the first rookie to shoot over 40% from 3 with 1000+ points since Curry.

I’m very impressed with Tatum. In time he can be a first option and average 25 per game.

[PLO]

Jayson Tatum’s last 11 games (since Kyrie got hurt):

18.2-5.7-2.5-1.4-0.6 on 49.0/43.6/81.4 splits. 13.7 shots per game, 3.5 3PA, 3.9 FTA.

Nice to see that his production was scalable with the increased role. Should become the first rookie to shoot over 40% from 3 with 1000+ points since Curry.

As you know I'm a bit cynical on Tatum becoming a primary guy in the league but I've watched him at times in this stretch and to be fair he's basically been unreal for a rookie. He's basically been beasting it.

[Theocy]

can anyone remember a more talented rookie class in recent years? How back do you need to go in order to look at rookies and say yeah these guys had comparable potential.

And to suggest next year will be as strong.

Also final question: I kind of like anunoby but come on who on earth votes for him over Ben Simmons, Mitchell, Tatum and Markannen Show yerself little homers

[NPZ]

rookie Magic Johnson: 18.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 53% field shooting, 77 games
rookie Ben Simmons: 15.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 8.2 assists, 54% field shooting, 75 games

Mag was sharing minutes with Norm Nixon (a starting caliber point). Not saying Ben sucks by any stretch, but that's a legit caveat. The apg was hindered.

[Unbreakable99]

Read on Twitter

[SmartWentCrazy]

Jayson Tatum’s last 11 games (since Kyrie got hurt):

18.2-5.7-2.5-1.4-0.6 on 49.0/43.6/81.4 splits. 13.7 shots per game, 3.5 3PA, 3.9 FTA.

Nice to see that his production was scalable with the increased role. Should become the first rookie to shoot over 40% from 3 with 1000+ points since Curry.

As you know I'm a bit cynical on Tatum becoming a primary guy in the league but I've watched him at times in this stretch and to be fair he's basically been unreal for a rookie. He's basically been beasting it.

Him being scalable with the increased usage was very nice to see. His TS% post break is virtually identical to his pre-break %’s despite the usage uptick to 23.0% from 18.6%.

If that trend continues, his future looks incredibly bright, IMO.

[SmartWentCrazy]

rookie Magic Johnson: 18.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 53% field shooting, 77 games
rookie Ben Simmons: 15.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 8.2 assists, 54% field shooting, 75 games

Mag was sharing minutes with Norm Nixon (a starting caliber point). Not saying Ben sucks by any stretch, but that's a legit caveat. The apg was hindered.

There will always be caveats to every comparison. The fact that its not ridiculous to bring them up as a comparison speaks louder to me than the actual minutae of the comparison itself— were talking about a top 5 player ever.

[FlatearthZorro]

Jayson Tatum’s last 11 games (since Kyrie got hurt):

18.2-5.7-2.5-1.4-0.6 on 49.0/43.6/81.4 splits. 13.7 shots per game, 3.5 3PA, 3.9 FTA.

Nice to see that his production was scalable with the increased role. Should become the first rookie to shoot over 40% from 3 with 1000+ points since Curry.

As you know I'm a bit cynical on Tatum becoming a primary guy in the league but I've watched him at times in this stretch and to be fair he's basically been unreal for a rookie. He's basically been beasting it.

I had no idea that you were skeptical on Tatum being a primary guy. I actually thought he was at his ceiling last year when he was 19.