Best Rookie of the Season So Far

I watched Sergio Rodriguez against the Nuggets recently. He impressed the hell out of me. Superb ball-handling and passing skills, and a very good penetrator. I think he'll end up being very good.

 

^No, many of his shots are not going through the basket. He's a one-dimensional shooter with poor ballhandling abilities and terrible athleticism to get off really good shots. So at the end of the day, I still think Morrison will be an average player at best in this league. Maybe like a KVH like I said minus the rebounding.

 

<div class="quote_poster">AirJordan Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Haven't you guys been watching Bargnani? He was blocking Dirk's shot and dunking on him (but also got dunked by Dirk)

He's been the most impressive rookie and his potential is scary. He can take it to the hole, shoot it anywhere, block, his defence is getting better as the season progresses, hes making less mistakes, he has amazing passing skills for a 7 footer, put him with bosh and that frees up space for both of them. No doubt Bargnani and Roy will be the best players out of this draft.</div>

Bargnani has been the best and should and WILL win ROY. Roy is good to, hes really good, but Bargnani will help lead the raps to the playoffs and take them far. So he deserves it, he played way less minutes the Roy, and put up good numbers. So I agree with AirJordan u guys need to watch Bargnani and see hwo good he is.

 

I think Bargnani might be the frontrunner as it is, but the big reason is because Roy missed so much time with that injury. As for the Raps making it far in the playoffs, doubtful. They might make them because of how pathetic the East is, and any team with a close to .500 record can make it, but they won't go far. They don't play any defense and will be ousted by teams like Chicago or Detroit. And if they do make it far, Bargnani won't be nearly as big of a part to that success as the likes of TJ Ford or Bosh will be.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Moo2K4 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I think Bargnani might be the frontrunner as it is, but the big reason is because Roy missed so much time with that injury. As for the Raps making it far in the playoffs, doubtful. They might make them because of how pathetic the East is, and any team with a close to .500 record can make it, but they won't go far. They don't play any defense and will be ousted by teams like Chicago or Detroit. And if they do make it far, Bargnani won't be nearly as big of a part to that success as the likes of TJ Ford or Bosh will be.</div>

Actually, the Raptors have improved on defense. For the month of January, the Raps have allowed 92.8 PPG, and in their last 7 games have only allowed 88.1 PPG. Are they a defensive juggernaut? No, but they have improved a lot from last season.

 

You bring that up, which is a good point, but did you look at the teams they've played? Let me list a few off: Milwaukee, Atlanta, Boston, Sacramento, Philly, Charlotte. None of those teams are what I would call explosive, especially since two of them (Boston and Milwaukee) are without their top scorers, Philly is rebuilding, and Charlotte is still a work in progress. And if you look at what happened when they played potent offenses, well, it didn't turn out well. They lost to the Jazz, Suns, Mavs, and Nets, and gave up 111 to Washington along the way in a victory. They're also only 1-4 against teams with winning records this month, giving up 100+ in 4 of those 5 games. So, while the defense may look better, you must look beyond the stats. The teams they were playing out exactly great, with the only good team they beat being Toronto, and the offenses they're holding to low point outages aren't exactly powerhouses, and when they face potent offenses, two things happen, they lose and they give a bunch of points. So while it looks improved, I don't know if I'd completely buy it yet.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Moo2K4 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">You bring that up, which is a good point, but did you look at the teams they've played? Let me list a few off: Milwaukee, Atlanta, Boston, Sacramento, Philly, Charlotte. None of those teams are what I would call explosive, especially since two of them (Boston and Milwaukee) are without their top scorers, Philly is rebuilding, and Charlotte is still a work in progress. And if you look at what happened when they played potent offenses, well, it didn't turn out well. They lost to the Jazz, Suns, Mavs, and Nets, and gave up 111 to Washington along the way in a victory. They're also only 1-4 against teams with winning records this month, giving up 100+ in 4 of those 5 games. So, while the defense may look better, you must look beyond the stats. The teams they were playing out exactly great, with the only good team they beat being Toronto, and the offenses they're holding to low point outages aren't exactly powerhouses, and when they face potent offenses, two things happen, they lose and they give a bunch of points. So while it looks improved, I don't know if I'd completely buy it yet.</div>

Well, Sacramento averages 99.7 PPG (10th in the NBA) and Toronto held them to 85 points. Thats 14 points below their season average. The Suns average 112 PPG and the Raps held them to 100 points, 12 below their season average. You say when they play powerhouses they lose and give up a lot of points. Now, they may have lost to Dallas and Phoenix, but they lost both games by a combined 3 points. Look at 05-06, when the Raps were 31st in PPG allowed and apposing teams shot 49%. Now they are 16th in the league in PPG allowed (98 PPG), and opponents average 46% against them. Still don't buy it?

 

<div class="quote_poster">Blur Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I strongly disagree with that, but that's just me.</div>

How so?

His work ethic is really similar to Birds. In the gym, shot after shot after shot. While I hate to compare him to be bird, one because it's Larry Bird ffs, and two because they're both white.

Both players had absolutely no athletic talent. Bird was just a slow white kid, and so is Morrison. But it's the work ethic, the hustle, and everything else that took Bird to the level that he was.

You can see how much Morrison cares about the game. NBA or not, you know he'd be one of the guys who in their 30's or 40's are still working on their game at the local rec center. He's just that kind of guy. It's really disheartening when you see people like Shaq, who don't give a damn about the game and treat as a job become superstars. There has been so much wasted talent in this league, because kids don't care anymore. They aren't willing to put the work in. Morrison found out he had diabetes when he was 13 or 14, and the only thing he was worried about was whether or not he could still play basketball.

It's why I think Morrison is going to be the best player out of this draft.

 

<div class="quote_poster">rafy Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">How so?

His work ethic is really similar to Birds. In the gym, shot after shot after shot. While I hate to compare him to be bird, one because it's Larry Bird ffs, and two because they're both white.

Both players had absolutely no athletic talent. Bird was just a slow white kid, and so is Morrison. But it's the work ethic, the hustle, and everything else that took Bird to the level that he was.

You can see how much Morrison cares about the game. NBA or not, you know he'd be one of the guys who in their 30's or 40's are still working on their game at the local rec center. He's just that kind of guy. It's really disheartening when you see people like Shaq, who don't give a damn about the game and treat as a job become superstars. There has been so much wasted talent in this league, because kids don't care anymore. They aren't willing to put the work in. Morrison found out he had diabetes when he was 13 or 14, and the only thing he was worried about was whether or not he could still play basketball.

It's why I think Morrison is going to be the best player out of this draft.</div>
You do have a point, but work ethic doesn't necessarily translate into success. I won't be surprised if becomes a great player out this draft, but at the end of the day I think we're going to look back at this and compare to some of the league's worst.

 

I gotta admit, Bargnani is slowly starting to make a case why he was picked #1 overall he's been playing well.

Roy has been great when healthy.

 

The Raptors are a much better team when Bargs is on the floor.
Right now, he's #1 and he deserves to be so. Stop ignoring.

This is not including the game against the Hornets of course

 

<div class="quote_poster">Bobcats Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Well, Sacramento averages 99.7 PPG (10th in the NBA) and Toronto held them to 85 points. Thats 14 points below their season average. The Suns average 112 PPG and the Raps held them to 100 points, 12 below their season average. You say when they play powerhouses they lose and give up a lot of points. Now, they may have lost to Dallas and Phoenix, but they lost both games by a combined 3 points. Look at 05-06, when the Raps were 31st in PPG allowed and apposing teams shot 49%. Now they are 16th in the league in PPG allowed (98 PPG), and opponents average 46% against them. Still don't buy it?</div>I do buy that their defense is improving, but what I don't buy is that's it's good. While their OppPPG is down from last year, they're still giving up nearly 100ppg, and were probably doing so prior to this stretch they're on. So, I'll give it to them, their defense is getting better. But seriously, it'd be hard to get any worse.

 

They've got a mediocre defense. Not very good, but certainly not a liability like in the past. One thing that you have to recognize is the chemistry factor. The majority of this season's rosters were newcomers that weren't even used to NBA basketball. They've improved each month though, as evidenced by the fact that OppFG%/ppg has steadily decreased.