Real Cool Austin Rivers Highlight Reel

[jgman]

I will also add he was never one to take bad shots. Actually passed up way to many good shots! And you can't have a drop in efficiency when you just starting. He started off inefficient and by the time the season was over he was getting better. And he can be compared to all-star level talent if said talent had similar stats in their rookie season it shows that progress can be made.

just looking at his stats the first few months, his FG%, FT%, etc etc all dropped every month pretty much until those last 16 games is what I mean when I said he dropped off, but I think the decreased minutes and couple of games off did him well in the month of january (which happened to just be horrendous btw), helped him settle down and it showed those last couple of games. And yes I agree that he can be compared to allstar talent if the stats are similar but they aren't that similar at all to me. Tony Parker may have scored about the same his rookie year as rivers per game, but he had a PER of 11.7 to Austin's 5.9, a TS% of .497 to Austin's .431, AST% of 23.9 to Austin's 13.9, STL% of 2.1 to Austin's 1.1, and Austin had negative WS's with a pretty similar usage rate. Yea they are similar in that they would both be PG's whose game depended on getting by the first defender, getting to the rim and either finishing or kicking it out, but Rivers is no where near as good a passer as tony was, he is no where near as good at finishing at the rim, and he can't shoot, has no pull up game. The one comparison stat-wise that I thought made sense was Crawford, there was that article on 247 that was pretty well written, I couldn't find it on first glance though.

[Mythrol]

just looking at his stats the first few months, his FG%, FT%, etc etc all dropped every month pretty much until those last 16 games is what I mean when I said he dropped off, but I think the decreased minutes and couple of games off did him well in the month of january (which happened to just be horrendous btw), helped him settle down and it showed those last couple of games. And yes I agree that he can be compared to allstar talent if the stats are similar but they aren't that similar at all to me. Tony Parker may have scored about the same his rookie year as rivers per game, but he had a PER of 11.7 to Austin's 5.9, a TS% of .497 to Austin's .431, AST% of 23.9 to Austin's 13.9, STL% of 2.1 to Austin's 1.1, and Austin had negative WS's with a pretty similar usage rate. Yea they are similar in that they would both be PG's whose game depended on getting by the first defender, getting to the rim and either finishing or kicking it out, but Rivers is no where near as good a passer as tony was, he is no where near as good at finishing at the rim, and he can't shoot, has no pull up game. The one comparison stat-wise that I thought made sense was Crawford, there was that article on 247 that was pretty well written, I couldn't find it on first glance though.

I'm just curious do any of these stats take into account Austin learning a new position for the first time ever? Or the fact that after being drafted as a project and expecting to play a different position AND come off the bench he was asked to revert back to a SG and go against starters?

Blindly looking at stats and believing they tell the entire story is just as bad as completely ignoring stats and going off feeling. As in most things in life I believe the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Austin isn't as bad as people make him out to be or as good as some make him out to be. The only thing I do with Austin is give him a pass for this year because of the crazy situation that he was put into. I'm very anxious to see how he does next year and even more excited to see him in year 3. I think we will all see he is a better player than people are saying he is.

[GESWhoseBack]

just looking at his stats the first few months, his FG%, FT%, etc etc all dropped every month pretty much until those last 16 games is what I mean when I said he dropped off, but I think the decreased minutes and couple of games off did him well in the month of january (which happened to just be horrendous btw), helped him settle down and it showed those last couple of games. And yes I agree that he can be compared to allstar talent if the stats are similar but they aren't that similar at all to me. Tony Parker may have scored about the same his rookie year as rivers per game, but he had a PER of 11.7 to Austin's 5.9, a TS% of .497 to Austin's .431, AST% of 23.9 to Austin's 13.9, STL% of 2.1 to Austin's 1.1, and Austin had negative WS's with a pretty similar usage rate. Yea they are similar in that they would both be PG's whose game depended on getting by the first defender, getting to the rim and either finishing or kicking it out, but Rivers is no where near as good a passer as tony was, he is no where near as good at finishing at the rim, and he can't shoot, has no pull up game. The one comparison stat-wise that I thought made sense was Crawford, there was that article on 247 that was pretty well written, I couldn't find it on first glance though.

False. His ft% went down but his fg% actually rose till dropping when he was no longer starting in January and then spiked back up in February to a season high. He was actually off to a 70% start in March till the injury. But my point is you think those numbers for Parker good? They were better than Austin's but still bad.

[jgman]

False. His ft% went down but his fg% actually rose till dropping when he was no longer starting in January and then spiked back up in February to a season high. He was actually off to a 70% start in March till the injury. But my point is you think those numbers for Parker good? They were better than Austin's but still bad.

So Parker's number's weren't that good, but they weren't horrendous to the point people were claiming his season to be the worst ever, they were much better than that and the fact that his stats weren't that good doesn't make them relatable to River's. Austin's Fg% went up from November to December yea but his 3pt% went down, assists went down, steals went down, rebounding increased a little if you want to give him that, but the point is he did not really show improvement until after January. He may not have been starting in January, but he still played 15mins a game shooting 28% and less than 20% from 3, and less than 40% from the line....

I watched the games, I know how he was bad and how he improved, I'm not ignoring that, I just want to know why people think a 3-4 year massive project is a good thing. Who wants a 4 year project? I mean the guy has to learn how to play pg(something he's never done) while starting out the season playing sg. He has to learn to be more aggressive(something no one expected) while still learning how to distribute(something that is very hard to teach). Dont forget about his terrible form. He has to do so many things and he has never shown, throughout his career, that he can do these things that people are expecting from him; I mean why should we settle for this project when we have the cap room and draft picks to take a surer thing with more immediate impact and most likely long term impact, that is all I am saying. People who are saying we shouldn't take a pg because we have rivers are really who I am responding to I guess.

Obviously I want the kid to succeed, he's on my team, I think he'll do better next year and yes he has a few years to develop, but people are going way too far with expectation and hope that they are ignoring what he is, what he has done, and giving someone who really shouldn't have any excuses for some things(like his form and his free throw shooting and his aggressiveness) a free pass.

[HornetGuru]

cant wait to see what happens this offseason so i dont have to think about it anymore

[djpaul89]

Bull****!

He can't score at the NBA level like he did in college and high school and that's the reason why people on here keep trying to make excuses for him and label him as a point guard when he's not a point guard.

Why the absolutes, sir? No, he couldn't score at the NBA level like he did in college and high school his rookie year. With 19 yr olds entering the NBA now, that's gonna happen to everyone to an extent. But if you couldn't see the kid's progress & raw tools once he got settled in later in the season, it shows some promise and potential. And come on, you know good and well the team was not planning to throw Austin into the fire that early as a starter. It made for a bad storm of affairs.

To not be a fan of Austin's game, or think he won't be anything special is one thing. But to just join the rest of the ESPN/Joe Basketball shock-jocks (most of whom have probably barely sat and watched him play) in saying "OMG Rivers suckz!!! Bust!!! Worst player everz the end!!!" and completely writing him off right now is displaying a lack of perspective.

[cjjr72984]

Never realized how many doubters he still had. Yes his rookie season had more downs than ups, but I'm convinced he'll be a borderline All-Star by 23 yrs old

[jgman]

Never realized how many doubters he still had. Yes his rookie season had more downs than ups, but I'm convinced he'll be a borderline All-Star by 23 yrs old

based on what? (curious question not an attack), a lot of people say work ethic and desire, but I don't see enough on the court, college included

[wuggie]

Why is there so much arguing over if the kid is or will be a bust or not? People seem to legitimately hate this kid based on personal opinions about him/his character or something. The only person Ive seen people argue more over is LEBRON JAMES. People want to see him fail there's a difference between expecting someone to suck and wanting them to suck. Why do you want him to suck? People want Lebron to suck so he's not good as Jordan/Kobe or because of his ego. Maybe everyone still thinks he arrogant, nothing better than to see somebody like that fail, the thing is he's not. Sooo....why bother so much to fuss about it?

[JJackisangry]

I understand doubting his game, but some people dismiss his vast improvement like it was nothing. Sixteen games is a solid stretch; ntm they were his last of the season. He ended the season playing very well, and all i hear is how he has no chance to make a name for himself. People are either blinded by hate, or they cant stand that people believe he can start at the point. Its Burke or bust on this board Christ...

[GESWhoseBack]

I understand doubting his game, but some people dismiss his vast improvement like it was nothing. Sixteen games is a solid stretch; ntm they were his last of the season. He ended the season playing very well, and all i hear is how he has no chance to make a name for himself. People are either blinded by hate, or they cant stand that people believe he can start at the point. Its Burke or bust on this board Christ...

Sad part is if we get Burke and he doesn't crushed it, we having this same argument next year! Probably be Smart or bust then!

[UNO Gracias]

Sad part is if we get Burke and he doesn't crushed it, we having this same argument next year! Probably be Smart or bust then!

I say the same thing about GV and Rivers.

[GESWhoseBack]

I say the same thing about GV and Rivers.

GV getting accepted is probably an impossibility. Rivers given a real shot and puts up GV numbers is our PG of the future. Sad but I think very true.

[wuggie]

Honestly? I didn't expect him to be as bad as he was during the first half of the season. After the break when he started playing better, that's about what I expected out of him, but his defensive progress was WAY past what I expected. Moreover, I knew his basketball I.Q. was high, but I didn't know it was this high. He does all the little things you need him to do. For example, he boxes out all the time, which is rare for a PG, let alone a rookie. He created so many rebounding opportunities for others just by putting a body on the other team. Even more than that, he picks things up very quickly, and that's encouraging.

I see him a a big piece moving forward, and the way Monty brought him up at the lottery last night when asked about lucking into Anthony Davis with the #1, and he responded by adding Rivers in there at #10. I'm higher on him than most, but that's probably because I'm not looking at his production, rather, I'm judging him based on tools and growth. He showed a lot last season if you approach it like that, which is why Monty is so excited about him moving forward. No doubt he has the work ethic to do what needs to be done to clean up his game and progress.

Kinda late but great post. His intangibles are great. He has the intagibles alone to become a great part of this franchise. 9 out of 10 players with his skill set couldn't have improved as he did step by step, as he did. It takes true dedication, almost insane dedication to keep going at that pace. It was a little grueling to see it but at the same time I was rooting because he kept fighting and you saw changes every game.