Russ Smith cracks the NBA.com Rookie Ladder

[UNO Gracias]

I believe this board leans slightly optimistic about our players, and severely pessimistic about other teams players.

[ItIsRynosTime]

I can see where other fan bases might think we are pessimistic. Because there are tons of fans out there who are just that - fanatical. No objectivity, just pure blind optimism. I mean, there are Lakers fans who think they will be a top 3 seed. Read that last sentence again and know that it is their true belief.

This board, on the other hand, seems much more realistic than most. I would even say it tilts toward optimistic when compared to the national views of the Pelicans. I like that we don't have a bunch of homers here that think every player is the second coming of X superstar.

But I don't buy that this board is pessimistic. I guarantee that when the season comes and we all predict the teams' record, that 90% of posters will project higher than the national consensus. That is not pessimistic.

Yeah, I owed you one for earlier. We're even now. But it is true that your voice is one of the loudest on here. And I don't really care about threads going off topic a little because this forum is small. It's not like there are so many posts that you have to sort through. Just like I don't care about the length of signatures, because there aren't that many long ones, and it's not really an issue. I'm not a moderator anyway. Hopefully it is able to attract many new fans.

This forum is small and it generates a very good number of threads for being 7885 members and an even smaller portion who actually post. I believe I've seen over 95% of the posters who usually post, post. I think the majority of the opinions on this thread run similar and most of the posters live locally. I'm a member of Two Plus Two Poker forum which is like the #20 largest forum in the world. Around Users: 335,308 and Posts: 33,473,350. There are so many different kinds of threads. There is a marketplace, threads that just include pictures. Threads like "what movie did you just watch recently?" Threads about poker (staking, strategy, coaching, News, Views, and Gossip), gambling, politics, travel, business, Las Vegas Lifestyle, and other things, because it's a huge forum.

This forum is small but it's good when it comes to news, strategy, opinion, game threads, and questions. As this thread gets bigger, it will include more things and more kinds of threads and topics will gain popularity. Some other things besides trade rumors, free agent signings, trade proposals, about who will play what position are a welcome edition for the off-season. Some people will only want to stick to those basic things. But the thread has a lot more possibilities, as I've see the number of diverse topics of larger sports threads and other threads. So PR is off to a nice start, and it's a small community, but it will get bigger, especially when the Pelicans start winning.

[NOLa.]

[Big Fan]

Every player and every evaluation is different. Summer league is good for some evaluations and not good for others. For instance, if you are a 7-foot center and you are having trouble grabbing rebounds and being aggressive in the paint in SL, then I have to have doubts about how you will perform against the big boys. Its not likely you are gonna get tough and start throwing NBA bodies around.
On the other hand if you are a point guard and absolutely no one in the summer league can keep you in front of them, I'm intrigued.

[AD23nEG10]

[RaisingTheBar]

Man I love our away jerseys.

[Jabberwalker]

watching him compared to the other players in the rookie press day, the dude is crazy thin. Looking at him standing next to Marcus Smart was ridiculous. It's a good thing he's a guard and few guards are likely to attempt to post him up and maybe his small size s what allows him to be so fast and good on defense but man, is he small. It makes me a little nervous.

[MMEmbreno]

watching him compared to the other players in the rookie press day, the dude is crazy thin. Looking at him standing next to Marcus Smart was ridiculous. It's a good thing he's a guard and few guards are likely to attempt to post him up and maybe his small size s what allows him to be so fast and good on defense but man, is he small. It makes me a little nervous.

Our 3rd string point guard looks a little small and your worried?

[Jabberwalker]

Our 3rd string point guard looks a little small and your worried?

I guess my takeaway is "I'll keep an eye on how he's able to body up on guards". Maybe, "He may struggle with bigger/more muscular players". I sm in no way saying "Push the panic button because of the player who probably won't see the floor for more than a few minutes per game this year may have issues".

And you may disagree with it, but he is more than "a little thin" compared to the other guards. Like I said, maybe that doesn't end up being a detriment, I'm just making an observation.

[MMEmbreno]

I guess my takeaway is "I'll keep an eye on how he's able to body up on guards". Maybe, "He may struggle with bigger/more muscular players". I sm in no way saying "Push the panic button because of the player who probably won't see the floor for more than a few minutes per game this year may have issues".

And you may disagree with it, but he is more than "a little thin" compared to the other guards. Like I said, maybe that doesn't end up being a detriment, I'm just making an observation.

Yeah I feel ya, he is a skinny dude. He'll be alright though, really hope he gets some pt to see what he's made of. He might be small but he's one scrappy dude so I feel like his hustle alone will make up for his lack of strength. Really want to just see him and rivers driving and kicking out for the 3pt shot. I will be interested though in how Russ finishes at the rim bc rivers obviously really struggled in that area partly due to his lack of strength but mainly due to just blown layups and trying to draw the contact, I don't think Russ will have that exact same problem bc he's got some more college experience under his belt before heading to the league.

[ScoutWithoutClout]

compared to the other players, the dude is crazy thin. It makes me a little nervous.

Why is that ^ so small?

[Caffeinedisastr]

watching him compared to the other players in the rookie press day, the dude is crazy thin. Looking at him standing next to Marcus Smart was ridiculous. It's a good thing he's a guard and few guards are likely to attempt to post him up and maybe his small size s what allows him to be so fast and good on defense but man, is he small. It makes me a little nervous.

At least he's bigger than P. Jax.