Rivers has a long way to go...

Austin Rivers is on pace to rate 8.1 wins below replacement. -6.5 (Jason Collins, 2006-07) is the lowest mark on record.

From kpelton's twitter. Not sure who he is, but saw this while doing some fantasy bball research. I love Rivers' potential but he isn't ready for a significant role. Hopefully he turns it around once Davis and Gordon get back on the court and take some of the pressure off.

It's been said on here and by Monty and Dell, 2 or 3 years. I've seen significant improvement from his first game. The kid will be a beast.
I'm thinking a poor man's Westbrook eventually. Good things in time. His work ethic / drive won't allow him to be a bust. I really believe that. I am sure the front office felt the same way when they drafted him.

This season the bar for Rivers is Progress, not Production.

You can't project based on advanced stats or any stat, really. You project based on what your eyes see. And my eyes see that Riversi s improving. To use this to justify not giving him more minutes is ridiculous. He's a rookie. The whole idea is for him to continue to get better and better.

This year is a learning curve, as Monty has said - they are playing him minutes this year on the hope it will pay of in the future.

I think too many people had too high of expectations for Rivers' rookie season. Can he play better? Absolutely. But those of us who watched him in college and saw the skills, knew that this was not an overnight process. By the end of this year Rivers will look like a totally different player, and in 1-2 years he will be a joy to have on the team.

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Originally Posted by BP225

This season the bar for Rivers is Progress, not Production.

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Very well said.

I haven't been able to watch many games this year, because the new channel isn't available here in PCola plus with my work schedule I am not available during game times. Basically just been watching box scores so I was just posting what I read. He must not have much confidence from the FT line right now because he's been terrible there. I think he has all the potential in the world and I hope he's ready come next year because we should be a full go by then if Davis and Gordon can stay healthy. I probably just had to high of expectations for him this year. I just hope Gordon comes back and plays soon so we can all get a read on this teams real potential.

The good news is, he is getting better. From what I saw early in the season to now, there is some growth there.

At this point, you just want to look for week to week improvement. We all know he has had a terrible start but We also need to look at his progression rather than just stats to see where he is.

Atleast he's shooting 52% over his last three lol

I think what I noticed last night is how he gets into rhythm. He's finding out where to place the ball on the backboard when he drives, and he's finding out it's okay to keep shooting. I think he's getting better every day, and I'm pretty excited about it after how poorly he started.

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Originally Posted by AD23forMVP

Atleast he's shooting 52% over his last three lol

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Shots or game :hihi: ?

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Originally Posted by The JNR

I think what I noticed last night is how he gets into rhythm. He's finding out where to place the ball on the backboard when he drives, and he's finding out it's okay to keep shooting. I think he's getting better every day, and I'm pretty excited about it after how poorly he started.

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This is VERY encouraging. Thanks

You can feel that he's working hard to make them shots fall! I like the fact he took a few jumpshots !

His ball-handling was great tonight.

You can tell the kid is imporving... I mean remember his first game in the summer league. I personally think he can be a poor man's James Harden. Maybe get near the James Harden comp. Its his rookie year and its only December. I'm very curious to see what he looks like in March.

Im sticking to my prediction...The kid will be a stud once everything is said and done.

ya boy AR25 at da Rouse's

Get your ice cream last rookie! :hihi:

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Originally Posted by HunnyB

Get your ice cream last rookie! :hihi:

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hahaha yea i thought the same thing.

haha the cashier was looking scrumptious though :)

"Do you guys...slice ham?"

The OP is right. Rivers really does have a long way to go.
This kid is buying Ice Cream FIRST in the grocery store....?:huh:
I am thinking 2 or 3 years or maybe 2 or 3 times of ice cream melting all over the back of that car (which appeared to be a Ferrari SUV?).:hihi:

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Originally Posted by WhoDatHornet

The OP is right. Rivers really does have a long way to go.
This kid is buying Ice Cream FIRST in the grocery store....?:huh:
I am thinking 2 or 3 years or maybe 2 or 3 times of ice cream melting all over that back of that car (which appeared to be a Ferrari SUV?).:hihi:

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Porsche Cayenne :D

I go back and forth on Rivers... I think with time though he will be okay. You can see that basketball IQ, at times. He's gotta trust his instincts more. When he thinks he's toast. He is a smart enough basketball player to trust his initial quick twitch diagnosis.

His form is broken on his shot. This is obvious by his poor percentage from the free throw line and how badly he misses from three when he does miss. His shot will be his best friend and companion to his ball handling skill since he is not going to turn into an imposing athlete anytime soon. Lastly, hes gotta hit the weight room. He has zero upper body strength, comparatively speaking.

All of this will take time though.

It will take time, but I think the encouraging thing is none of those problems are untreatable. He can work on the hitch in his shot, he can put on muscle, and he will learn to trust his instincts the more he plays.

Austin with the career high last night!

I missed my son my boy Rivers score 24. I knew i shouldnt have fell asleep last night. Was he going off

He had 27

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Originally Posted by Soundwave

He had 27

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My bad and just seen his full highlights on realgm

He scored 19 in the first half and then just... didn't do anything in the second. His last 5 points all came in garbage time. The crowd was happy, though, since it got them free fries.

It looked like in the second half he couldn't really get into his comfort zone to make the same shots so the offense kind of deferred from him.

he has to try to break his man down from the start more. it seems like if a guy is in his face when he receives the ball he's quick to get rid of it

Rivers had one possession where he was just making his man look silly trying to stay in front, and Rivers just pulled up and drained the mid range look. If he has that, the skys the limit. His shooting stroke looked a little quicker last night. That weird hitch where it looks like he shoots on his way down was gone.

It was promising, but I'm really on expecting 10/4/2 lines from for most game, and I'll be happy with that.

Indeed. Its pulling up from mid-range that will be golden for him. If he doesn't take the 3 teams knew he was coming to the rim. If he starts pulling up and knocking down the mid?

...let's see how he does tomorrow. Another big matchup.

Really happy to see this game from him. We know that wins and losses are second priority here; top priority is watching our young guys develop and seeing if they can build confidence. I think he's getting there. I don't expect 27 points a night, but I can definitely see him hovering in the low 10s consistently for a bit, which is better than the goose eggs he was laying.

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Originally Posted by Razorpens

I missed my son my boy Rivers score 24. I knew i shouldnt have fell asleep last night. Was he going off

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is he really ur son and ur boy? Thats impressive doc rivers

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Originally Posted by Inner_GI

Rivers had one possession where he was just making his man look silly trying to stay in front, and Rivers just pulled up and drained the mid range look. If he has that, the skys the limit. His shooting stroke looked a little quicker last night. That weird hitch where it looks like he shoots on his way down was gone.

It was promising, but I'm really on expecting 10/4/2 lines from for most game, and I'll be happy with that.

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Monty said that 2 of the assistant coaches (can't remember which ones) have been working night and day with Rivers on refining his hitch in his shot. He said they have also been working on balance when he gets into his shooting stance. To see this much improvement from Rivers this quickly is beyond encouraging.

EDIT: Here it is:

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“He’s starting to get some confidence,” head coach Monty Williams assessed. “This is what we thought he could do. He scored the ball from many areas – driving the ball, knocking down threes. It’s unfortunate we couldn’t complement that win a win. He works at it. He’s been through a tough time. Most people thought he would come out of the gate and be Austin Rivers from Winter Park (his high school in Florida). But he’s starting to find his areas. Coach (Dave) Hanners and Coach Fred (Vinson) have helped him with his shot, staying balanced. He’s been working at it. I look for him to do more of this.”

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http://www.nba.com/hornets/blog/horn...ets-102-121412

Also, during the halftime interview, can't remember which assistant coach it was, but he basically insinuated that Rivers has a crazy work ethic, so it's no surprise to him to see Rivers drop 19 in the 1st half and see how far his shot has come.

cant wait to see austin in his prime

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Originally Posted by HornetGuru

is he really ur son and ur boy? Thats impressive doc rivers

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Why you keeping acting like that everytime i say he my boy

Rivers used to extend his leg out on his long range attempts, doesn't do that anymore.

I really like Austin and it makes me feel validated that I saw the same "flashes" early on that Monty and some of ya'll talk about. You can't teach some of the things he does. He does things that a Vasquez or a Darren Collison (for example) couldn't do in a million years. The rest should come with great coaching, his strong work ethic, and some seasoning.

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Originally Posted by Razorpens

Why you keeping acting like that everytime i say he my boy

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I guess the same reason why u keep calling him ur son or ur boy, just fun honestly. Ur grammar is just too hard to resist

his hesitations and pull up jumpers are money $$$

22 games into his rookie season and already Rivers is showing improvement and consist scoring the past couple weeks. I said this at the beginning of the year, when this season is over, compare his stats to Harden's rookie year. I'm not saying he will definitely be as good as Harden, but IMO I think he has the skills to be. Future is looking bright with our 2 rookies.

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Originally Posted by HornetGuru

I guess the same reason why u keep calling him ur son or ur boy, just fun honestly. Ur grammar is just too hard to resist

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He just my son. I believe in this dude others don't. I want to see him prove them wrong.

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Originally Posted by nolaslim213

Also, during the halftime interview, can't remember which assistant coach it was, but he basically insinuated that Rivers has a crazy work ethic, so it's no surprise to him to see Rivers drop 19 in the 1st half and see how far his shot has come.

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twas Brian Gates