No one should expect much from Rivers in the first couple of seasons. He's raw, especially at the point. Year 3 will forecast what kind of player he will be long-term. I'm not gonna label him a bust from what he does in the first two seasons.
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No one should expect much from Rivers in the first couple of seasons. He's raw, especially at the point. Year 3 will forecast what kind of player he will be long-term. I'm not gonna label him a bust from what he does in the first two seasons.
I don't think this is a good comparison at all. John Wall was considered the best player in an incredibly weak draft. Anthony Davis was considered one of the top 3 or 4 prospects over about 15 years of drafts.
John Wall's draft class was horrific and if it was re-done today, he would probably still go number 1. Besides, it's not like he's been terrible. He's a 16 pt 8 ast player on a terrible team. But it's not like he was considered a slam dunk.
^ Eh, I believe Demarcus was viewed as having better potential, but there were too many character/drive issues surrounding him during the draft. They definitely believed he had as much talent as Wall.
Wow! I didn't know you can tell what a player can be in 5 or 4 pre-season games. It's kinda hard for inexperience SG transfering into a PG was great that season. Nobody is saying this rough diamond would be a beauty. It will take time, this guy have talent that plenty don't. More than Lillard IMO, he is just a solid PG. Most importantly he is a hard worker.
If I had to guess he's probably under 24 which might explain why he thinks you can figure out how a rookies career will go based on a few preseason games. There are plenty of people under 24 that know how long it takes for most rookies to develop, but he's not one of them.
Looking back on my post I shouldn't have said "...the guy hasn't even gotten midway through his professional career...". Forget about career. He hasn't even gotten midway through his first professional SEASON.
I wasn't looking for a 1 to 1 comparison just the fact that highly touted prospects don't always turn into stars.
Contrary to what some people here are assuming I never said Davis would be a bad player and most certainly not a bust. He's just not a franchise once in a generation player.
Sometimes it takes a long time for a player to develop, but I have been around long enough to know usually you can see the flashes of what that player is going to be like in preseason. I just watched the Washington game and Beal looks like he is going to become a flat out star. He is making practically every shot, and even the ones he is missing look like they are going to go in. The guy has perfect form. Plus the guy is making all sorts of great little plays. He reminds me a bit of Wade actually. I would rather see him miss than most of his teammates make it. If you can't tell he is leagues beyond most of his teammates, I'm not sure you know how to watch basketball. And yeah I can tell AD is going to be a star too. You don't have to watch 100 games to realize this. You can just use your eyes and your mind and connect the dots. It is pretty obvious to any knowledgable NBA fan, haters excluded.
But with Rivers I'm not seeing many if any flashes even. If his last name wasn't Rivers, would there be all this hoopla about him? Honestly?
I've seen four rookies I think are going to be stars in this league: AD, Drummond, Lillard and Beal. Not sure about the rest. I have to put Rivers in the "Aminu" category at this point. He's clearly going to be a long term project. His ceiling might be Kevin Martin at this point. Maybe better I hope. He's just not impressing me. What can I say? Do you think scouts are not allowed to evaluate players after just one game? Hell yeah they are. That's not to say the player might improve or that the scout's evaluation would change over time. But it is fair to make an assessment on a player based on his current play. You should be able to see that player's standout qualities even if he isn't polished right away - at least some glimmer of it. If you don't see at least one standout quality, what you have on your hands is probably a mediocre player. With Drummond you can see he is going to be a beast who is going to wreck havoc against smaller, weaker players. With Beal, it is obvious he is going to shoot lights out. With AD, it's obvious he's going to be a defensive monster and even his offensive game looks very promising. Westbrook couldn't shoot the first couple years, but everyone could see his amazing quickness and athleticism. What is that "it" factor you are seeing in Rivers to give you hope? Please enlighten me because I haven't seen it yet. He has that one quick step, but that makes him like a poor man's Jamal Crawford if that's all he's got.
Anyway, you can insult me all you want as some of you have been doing in this thread. That's fine. I have thick skin. But do me a favor and if the guy doesn't improve over whatever time frame YOU deem necessary to make your determination of him, then be sure to dig up this thread and give me the credit I am due.
I'm actually sorry I can't tell you what you want to hear. I wish he would blow me away. I wish I could see that spark in him. But I don't.
Beal will be the best guard in this draft. I think Lamb will be the second best. He's a better SG than Rivers easily, offensively and defensively. But Rivers was drafted to play the point and to provide scoring off the dribble. None of the guys drafted after Rivers would be starting on the Hornets long-term over Davis, Anderson, and Gordon.
I'd rather have Smith playing center.
Yeah, I agree. I just feel like we lost out on Sacre. He was our guy. We were going to snag him as an undrafted and then the lakers go and pick with the like the last pick, and now because of the Hill injury and his great play it looks like he is going to stick. It just gets under my skin that the lakers got him.
I think the odd thing here is no one is disputing sfernald's claim that Rivers hasn't shown any flashes of potential. He's shown his speed, his dribble moves, and his ability to get in front of his man and create turnovers. I think anyone who hasn't seen potential in Rivers' play yet simply doesn't want to see it.
Rivers was drafted as a project, we didn't draft him to compete for a starting role or to even impress the coaches this year. You can't judge him now, or within the next year or two. Lillard on the other hand is already 22 years old, heck he is a couple months older than Chief, and is only a year and a half younger than Eric Gordon who's already going into his 5th year in the league. Lillard is going to be a better player than Rivers, probably for a few years.
I could tell you that his "scouting report" is totally wrong after just a few preseason games.Quote:
7. Anthony Davis- The best shot blocker I've ever seen in college. His motor, IQ, and team 1st attitude will be a breathe of fresh air for any coaching staff. Has a fairly consistent mid range jumper. Will be one of those player you have to keep in eye out for when driving to the basket. Limited on offensive. He struggle if he his to put the ball on the floor more than once, has no real post moves, and is often pushed around by college level bodies. I see a ceiling of Tyson Chandler. Needs to add muscle, and develop so form of post game.
Current NBA comparison- Tyrus Thomas
It's not about insulting you, but go back and read your post that started this thread. It was a classic knee jerk reaction to a few preseason games. How do you expect people to respond? Rivers was drafted as a project at PG yet you already have given up on him before he has even played a single regular season game. Whether you like Rivers or hate him, do you realize how irrational that sounds?
Here's what the guy said about him on "At the Hive":
"Speaking of different situations, it's becoming very apparent that Austin Rivers will struggle when playing in non-isolation situations. His only trait is his ability to get to the rim in 1-on-1 situations and finish/draw contact (something I've repeatedly seen). But he's struggled in catch-and-shoot situations, both at Duke, in Summer League and in Preseason. He also struggles to "straddle" on pick and rolls (this is my own terminology). Straddling the pick and roll is when you can get the attention of both the roll man defender and your own defender - something which CP3 spoiled us with over the years. I know he's new to this and I know it's not the regular season and I know he's 19. But this doesn't help my nerves at all."
I love how you guys are rewriting history saying he was picked as a project. Show me somewhere where they say that.
^ what about the statements from Monty and Dell saying it is not about where he is now but where he is in his third season?
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From the start of the draft process that was one of the first thing says. Rivers being only 19 when the draft happened, vs Lillard being 22. We've always discussed how Lillard will have a bigger impact from day 1 because of how much older he is then Austin, while Austin will be learning a new position (and largely a new game vs the one he played at Duke). And someone needs to tell that writer that the real term for what he describes is "downing" the screen.
This is either one of the following:
1. Epic troll
2. Overraction
I am undecided as of now.
It will be interesting to see if Davis bites on as many pumpfakes as Ibaka.
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You can make Ibaka jump by thinking about shooting.
Guys, you heard it here first: Drummond is the next Shaq.
http://pixhost.me/avaxhome/3d/d8/000cd83d_medium.jpeg
http://dailypop.files.wordpress.com/...-what_if_9.jpg
http://blog.newsok.com/nerdage/files...01/what-if.jpg
http://laughingsquid.com/wp-content/...james-hulk.jpg
Seriously WHAT IF Rick James had become the Hulk? WHAT IF!?! :hihi:
...I've obviously lost my mind. Cuz that title looks like What if RICK JAMES became the Hulk.
And now I can't stop imagine giant green guy beating up Charlie Murphy.
I was focused on his impact in the league which will be defense. Once again I admit Chandler wasn't the ideal comparison it wasn't until later after making that comparison it hit me that Ibaka is a much better comparsion.
As far as Davis driving and shooting read this clip from a scouting report.
From DraftExpress.com http://www.draftexpress.com#ixzz29VJaTV1SQuote:
With that said, Davis is still a fairly raw prospect in many facets offensively, giving him a considerable amount of room for growth as he continues to develop. If an opposing defense can force him to take a jump-shot, put the ball on the floor, or attempt to score in a post up situation, they have a more than three times better chance of stopping him than if he simply catches the ball in the paint in position to finish.
That doesn't jive very well with the "he grew 8 inches in one year and used to be a point guard!" part of his narrative you often hear on national TV broadcasts, but the truth is he rarely dribbles or takes a shot outside five feet, and isn't overly successful at the moment when he does.
http://www.draftexpress.com
So I don't know where this perception of him being able to just beat people off the dribble came from. In not one of the dozens of times I saw him at Kentucky whether live or videos do I see him exhibit the ablility to cleanly and consistently use his dribble to beat on-ball defenders.
Big comic book fan when I was a kid in the 70s and 80s.
This one is my favorite what if....
http://aznbadger.files.wordpress.com...3864_4_024.jpg
Maybe they did but no one wanted to trade with them. I just hope the three players they got in this draft, become All-Star.
I need a copy of this ^^^ comic. Classic quote from the white guy.