Ja Morant, Zion Williamson Headline All-Rookie Team

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Ja Morant, Zion Williamson Headline All-Rookie Team 

Post#1 » by RealGM Wiretap » Tue Sep 15, 2020 10:04 pm

The NBA has announced its 2019-20 All-Rookie teams, headlined by Ja Morant and Zion Williamson.


Joining Morant and Williamson on the First Team are Kendrick Nunn, Brandon Clarke and Eric Paschall.


On the Second Team are Coby White, Tyler Herro, Terrence Davis II, PJ Washington and Rui Hachimura.

Via RealGM Staff Report

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Re: Ja Morant, Zion Williamson Headline All-Rookie Team 

Post#2 » by ny-n-md » Tue Sep 15, 2020 10:20 pm

RJ Barrett got snubbed! How can you be top 5 in all major categories for rookies and not be one of the 5 best?
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Re: Ja Morant, Zion Williamson Headline All-Rookie Team 

Post#3 » by shrink » Tue Sep 15, 2020 10:42 pm

ny-n-md wrote:RJ Barrett got snubbed! How can you be top 5 in all major categories for rookies and not be one of the 5 best?

You must be talking volume stats right?

I see he had a -4.3 BPM (fifth worst among all players in the NBA) and a -1.0 VORP. (5th worst again) and the “hard to accomplish” negative WS/48 (3rd worst)

https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2020_advanced.html

Now, this isn’t particularly surprising. High volume rookies generally don’t perform well, and Barrett shares these bottom five honors with guys like Garland and DeAndre Hunter. And it doesn’t mean Barrett, Garland or Hunter is a bust. However, the guys that got named to the All Rookie teams performed better at helping their team.
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Re: Ja Morant, Zion Williamson Headline All-Rookie Team 

Post#4 » by ny-n-md » Tue Sep 15, 2020 11:34 pm

shrink wrote:
ny-n-md wrote:RJ Barrett got snubbed! How can you be top 5 in all major categories for rookies and not be one of the 5 best?

You must be talking volume stats right?

I see he had a -4.3 BPM (fifth worst among all players in the NBA) and a -1.0 VORP. (5th worst again) and the “hard to accomplish” negative WS/48 (3rd worst)

https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2020_advanced.html

Now, this isn’t particularly surprising. High volume rookies generally don’t perform well, and Barrett shares these bottom five honors with guys like Garland and DeAndre Hunter. And it doesn’t mean Barrett, Garland or Hunter is a bust. However, the guys that got named to the All Rookie teams performed better at helping their team.

But they were on better teams with better coaching. The Knicks had the worst coach in franchise history and 2 mercenaries being featured every game in Randle and Morris, with a sprinkling of Portis and Payton. I think context provides a more complete view on his stats in comparison to other rookies. It is what it is, but I think he should’ve made it.
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Re: Ja Morant, Zion Williamson Headline All-Rookie Team 

Post#5 » by dc » Wed Sep 16, 2020 11:55 am

RJ easily had a worse eFG% and TS% than any of the 10 guys who made the 1st/2nd team. And that includes smaller guards like Coby White and Nunn.

He was just very inefficient at scoring the ball. Gotta work on that.
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Re: Ja Morant, Zion Williamson Headline All-Rookie Team 

Post#6 » by mafoutz » Wed Sep 16, 2020 12:37 pm

How is Cam Johnson not on this list?
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Re: Ja Morant, Zion Williamson Headline All-Rookie Team 

Post#7 » by pdpkong » Wed Sep 16, 2020 2:04 pm

dc wrote:RJ easily had a worse eFG% and TS% than any of the 10 guys who made the 1st/2nd team. And that includes smaller guards like Coby White and Nunn.

He was just very inefficient at scoring the ball. Gotta work on that.


RJ also had to deal with the worst spacing in the NBA. [https://www.postingandtoasting.com/platform/amp/2020/8/17/21370751/research-confirms-rj-barrett-dealt-with-the-worst-offensive-spacing-in-the-nba] Not saying he doesn't need to work on his shooting as that along with bad shot selection were his biggest knocks coming into the NBA, but surely the terrible spacing didn't help. Small sample size but his shooting did seem to improve overall as the season went on and so did his horrid FT percentage.
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Re: Ja Morant, Zion Williamson Headline All-Rookie Team 

Post#8 » by dc » Wed Sep 16, 2020 2:15 pm

He was also a SG who shot 61% FT. There shouldn't be any spacing issues for him when shooting FTs.

The guy right now is just not a good shooter.
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Re: Ja Morant, Zion Williamson Headline All-Rookie Team 

Post#9 » by HarthorneWingo » Wed Sep 16, 2020 10:30 pm

dc wrote:RJ easily had a worse eFG% and TS% than any of the 10 guys who made the 1st/2nd team. And that includes smaller guards like Coby White and Nunn.

He was just very inefficient at scoring the ball. Gotta work on that.


Absolutely. On a positive note, RJ did improve his efficiency after he got back from his last injury before COVID ended our season. We know he's a hard worker and a good kid so hopefully he'll continue to improve.

Having said all of that, while some of my brothers and sisters on the Knicks forum may disagree, I don't feel as though RJ will be a superstar. He could be a borderline All Star. He does some nice things on the court but if doesn't develop a solid jump shot (fix that form), I think he'll be just a solid role player who does a little bit of everything. Still not bad.

Also, he's a 3 not a 2.
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