The Official "Austin Rivers Is Getting It" Thread

[BallSoHard]

It's been discussed on this forum before, but the summary of the argument is that an assist is an ambiguous stat. It doesn't account for the fact that an assist can either be a great pass to set up a teammate for a score OR a horrible pass where the teammate just makes a great play. Lillard has LMA on his team, so I'm sure more than half of his assist come from just feeding it to him in the post.

His assist %, which is much more accurate, is below 30%, which is absolutely horrendous for a PG. His 16.3% TO rate is pretty bad too, and he has a defensive rating of 112 (not good).

Right, but you said it's "worthless" not giving way for the counter argument of it being a great pass. That's my point.

You do realize Rivers' Assist % is 18%, right? And the other two stats, he's not much better than Lillard on. I'm not hashing this argument to beat lillards chest, i'm just saying let's not act like Rivers is blowing Lillard away and dismiss his stats because we're making an argument against him. I'm beyond excited for rivers and hope at the end of things he DOES blow Lillard away.

[HornetGuru]

Rivers: 8.5ppg 3.5APG 2.5RPG 1.5 TO 41%3pt
not bad at all, very similar to hardens rookie #'s and he's 20, leanring a new position, he will be very good.

[nolaslim213]

1 good game does not mean he's had a better season than Lillard, yeah he played good and is showing some promise, but honestly he has had an overall terrible season so far (if we are judging him as a player right now, which slim was doing saying he has played better than Lillard)

Rivers has only played PG for his last 2 games, and he played great in both. He has been playing SG this whole time, and Monty finally made the switch because he wasn't playing well. The guy just isn't a SG. He's a PG, and I fully expect him to be a great one for us.

Right, but you said it's "worthless" not giving way for the counter argument of it being a great pass. That's my point.

You do realize Rivers' Assist % is 18%, right? And the other two stats, he's not much better than Lillard on. I'm not hashing this argument to beat lillards chest, i'm just saying let's not act like Rivers is blowing Lillard away and dismiss his stats because we're making an argument against him. I'm beyond excited for rivers and hope at the end of things he DOES blow Lillard away.

Nodding to my argument up there ^, Rivers hasn't had the opportunity to facilitate except for the last 2 games, and he has thrived in that role. I don't think River is heads and shoulders above Lillard right now, but I think he will be in 3 years.

And yeah, "worthless" was a bit strong, but I was overemphasizing my point that assists don't measure a good PG. Let Rivers run the point, and I guarantee you he runs an offense better than Lillard does. Anyway, I think we should try to get away from the Lillard comparisons. I don't want it to turn into a CP/D-Will thing.

[nolaslim213]

Didn't want to make a new thread for this new Rivers article:

"I think the guy that took a big step was Austin,’’ said Williams, who is hoping to see his team get their second consecutive victory Wednesday night when they face the Utah Jazz at the Arena. "His ability to score off the dribble and pass off the dribble and he knocked down a few shots.’’

"I guess you just learn from the experience,’’ Rivers said. "You look at the film and see the things you did wrong and try to correct it.’’

"You're going to see flashes at times where he looks like a college player, but he works hard,'' Williams said. "He diligent about film work and he's going to get better because he works at it.''

http://www.nola.com/hornets/index.ss...ie_aus_10.html

[DefensiveMind]

The framework of a long term starter is definitely there. He needs to get stronger up top, this will allow him to take advantage of his first dribble and finish in the lane.

Everything else will come. He's a smart player and he will only get smarter as he sees and experiences different situations. The trick for him will be whether or not he "thinks" too much or trust is natural instincts. If he does the latter watch out.

[Vinny6420]

I've had faith in him, people give up too easily, he is a rookie, rookies struggle.... its ok

[smcgull]

Being a rookie, he is just learning.

[Trell]

Righ about now Lillard is above Rivers, Rivers may catch up as he is showing flashes but Lillard has him as a all-around player. But I must say I'm very impressed with Rivers court vision, coming out of college many thought his vision and passing ability wasn't so good. But as of now it seems as it his best attributes. Anyways looking to see him punish the Jazz tonight.

[AD23forMVP]

Just ran through some numbers, through tonight 13 of 28 (Royce White and Fab Melo have not appeared in any games) first round rookies are shooting 40% or worse. That's 46%.