NBA.com rookie rankings

[Natebishop3]

Couple of interesting tidbits

Lillard's rookie season can be put into perspective by a few comparisons. First, with the past: Lillard is the fastest player to 1,200 points and 400 assists (64 games) since Allen Iverson in 1996-97. And second, with the present: Lillard is currently one of six players this season with at least 1,300 points and 400 assists. The others? Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry, Monta Ellis, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook. That's some good company, past and present.
-- March 27

http://www.nba.com/rookie-ladder/

 

[Boise Blazer]

Couple of interesting tidbits



http://www.nba.com/rookie-ladder/

Add to that his 3 pointers and the list drops to 2. Him and Curry. It also shows how good Curry has been this season.

http://bkref.com/tiny/sTbhR

or for a rookie season:

http://bkref.com/tiny/1zX6w

Its funny, the more I love Lillard the more I also appreciate Curry

 

[Natebishop3]

Add to that his 3 pointers and the list drops to 2. Him and Curry. It also shows how good Curry has been this season.

http://bkref.com/tiny/sTbhR

or for a rookie season:

http://bkref.com/tiny/1zX6w

Its funny, the more I love Lillard the more I also appreciate Curry

Indeed. It's really a shame Curry didn't make the AS team. He earned it.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Lillard's going to destroy Curry's rookie 3-pointer record.

 

[Natebishop3]

Lillard's going to destroy Curry's rookie 3-pointer record.

What's the record?

 

[BlazerCaravan]

What's the record?

166. Lillard has 164 now.

 

[Boise Blazer]

What's the record?

166

 

[Natebishop3]

166. Lillard has 164 now.

He might not break it though

 

[BlazerCaravan]

He might not break it though

Possibly... Not bloody likely, but possibly.

 

[Natebishop3]

It's funny because I think it's easy to forget how special Lillard's rookie season is. I don't start to realize it until statistics like the one I quoted get thrown around. Just amazing. Fastest to 1,200 points and 400 assists since Iverson? That's fucking amazing. Faster than Rose. Faster than Chris Paul. Faster than LeBron James. That's staggering.

 

[Boise Blazer]

It's funny because I think it's easy to forget how special Lillard's rookie season is. I don't start to realize it until statistics like the one I quoted get thrown around. Just amazing. Fastest to 1,200 points and 400 assists since Iverson? That's fucking amazing. Faster than Rose. Faster than Chris Paul. Faster than LeBron James. That's staggering.

Can you imagine if Lillard played for the Knicks? Thank God he doesnt but the media would be going crazy.

 

[Boise Blazer]

Somewhere along the way i forgot just how good Iverson was as a rookie too. Lillard appears to be a better shooter but damn Iverson balled all the way around his rookie year:

http://bkref.com/tiny/iwOqU

 

[Natebishop3]

Can you imagine if Lillard played for the Knicks? Thank God he doesnt but the media would be going crazy.

I was at the Adidas employee store yesterday and they were saying Adidas grossly underestimated Lillard's popularity when they initially ordered his swingman jerseys at the beginning of the season. One of the salespeople said they've missed out on a lot of money because of that error.

 

[HailBlazers]

It's funny because I think it's easy to forget how special Lillard's rookie season is. I don't start to realize it until statistics like the one I quoted get thrown around. Just amazing. Fastest to 1,200 points and 400 assists since Iverson? That's fucking amazing. Faster than Rose. Faster than Chris Paul. Faster than LeBron James. That's staggering.

It is astonishing isn't it. All I can think about is how much better off the league would be if there were more players like Lillard who grew their game fully in college before making the jump.

 

[Natebishop3]

It is astonishing isn't it. All I can think about is how much better off the league would be if there were more players like Lillard who grew their game fully in college before making the jump.

Well, lottery picks used to be relied upon to contribute right away. We didn't start drafting for potential until the mid-90s, and the high schooler fad mixed with the euro fad really hurt the league. Lots of busts and guys who had no business being taken in the first round were taken in the top ten.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Kwame Brown destroyed the draft.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Also, for once, I don't feel like I'm sniffing my own farts when I gush over a player's stats like Lillard's; he is legitimately legit, not just fanboy legit.

 

[Natebishop3]

Kwame Brown destroyed the draft.

Yeah, but who would you have taken #1 overall in that draft?

Pau Gasol?

Jason Richardson?

Joe Johnson?

Maybe Tony Parker?

It wasn't a bad draft overall, but the talent was spread out over the whole first round.
2001 draft
Tyson Chandler #2
Pau Gasol #3
Jason Richardson #5
Joe Johnson #10
Richard Jefferson #13
Zach Randolph #19
Gerald Wallace #25
Tony Parker #28
Gilbert Arenas #31

There are also some decent role players in that draft.
Shane Battier #6
Troy Murphy #14
Brendan Haywood #20
Samuel Dalembert #26

 

[BlazerCaravan]

http://bkref.com/tiny/8udOW

Since 1954, only 67 players have had the season Lillard is having this year. Only 4 have had this good of a year as a rookie. Lillard is the first in 18 years to have this kind of rookie year.

Hopefully, he can beat out Anthony Davis for Rookie of the Year.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Yeah, but who would you have taken #1 overall in that draft?

Pau Gasol?

Jason Richardson?

Joe Johnson?

Maybe Tony Parker?

It wasn't a bad draft overall, but the talent was spread out over the whole first round.
2001 draft
Tyson Chandler #2
Pau Gasol #3
Jason Richardson #5
Joe Johnson #10
Richard Jefferson #13
Zach Randolph #19
Gerald Wallace #25
Tony Parker #28
Gilbert Arenas #31

There are also some decent role players in that draft.
Shane Battier #6
Troy Murphy #14
Brendan Haywood #20
Samuel Dalembert #26

Out of that list, I'd pick Pau. Size and versatility. Tony Parker is probably the best player overall, though, imho. But here's the problem: that draft had all Robins, no Batman.

 

[Natebishop3]

Out of that list, I'd pick Pau. Size and versatility. Tony Parker is probably the best player overall, though, imho. But here's the problem: that draft had all Robins, no Batman.

That, and the fact that most of them took a few years to get going. There wasn't a single clear-cut #1 like a LeBron or a Rose or an Iverson. That's why the talent was so evenly spread out over the whole draft. There were a bunch of drafts like this in the early 2000s.

 

[illmatic99]

01 draft was decent. 00 draft, otoh...

 

[BlazerCaravan]

That, and the fact that most of them took a few years to get going. There wasn't a single clear-cut #1 like a LeBron or a Rose or an Iverson. That's why the talent was so evenly spread out over the whole draft. There were a bunch of drafts like this in the early 2000s.

So what do you think about the 2012 class so far? To me it feels a little more like the 2001 draft than a stacked draft with a clear-cut, sure-fire hit.

 

[Hobbesarable]

Couple of interesting tidbits



http://www.nba.com/rookie-ladder/

Check out the following link:
http://stats.nba.com/leaguePlayerClutch.html#sortField=PTS&sortOrder=DES&PointDiff=5&ClutchTime=Last 5 Minutes&AheadBehind=Ahead or Behind

Damian also ranks high in clutch scoring for all players: last 5 minutes, ahead or behind 5 points.

 

[Natebishop3]

So what do you think about the 2012 class so far? To me it feels a little more like the 2001 draft than a stacked draft with a clear-cut, sure-fire hit.

I think there are some interesting parallels.

Anthony Davis / Pau Gasol

Lillard / Arenas or Parker

Leonard / Chandler

Jason Richardson / Waiters

MKG / Gerald Wallace

Bradley Beal / Joe Johnson

I'm not sure if I would compare Thomas Robinson with Randolph, but you get the point.

 

[maxiep]

Can you imagine if Lillard played for the Knicks? Thank God he doesnt but the media would be going crazy.

Chocolate Lin!

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Check out the following link:
http://stats.nba.com/leaguePlayerClutch.html#sortField=PTS&sortOrder=DES&PointDiff=5&ClutchTime=Last 5 Minutes&AheadBehind=Ahead or Behind

Damian also ranks high in clutch scoring for all players: last 5 minutes, ahead or behind 5 points.

Also looks like we have three players in the top 25 for Clutch Points (sort on Points). Doesn't look like any other team has that... fuck, we need a bench!

 

[crandc]

Hopefully Dame won't copy some of Arenas' less pleasant traits.

Funny, I was just thinking this morning (I do my best thinking while dozing on BART) about the lottery and "winning" the lottery. And really you don't know who won when they seed the picks. You know who won a year later. Remember when Portland had the worst record, the worst Blazers could do in the draft was get #4 and that's what happened? They "lost" the lottery and got Roy and Aldridge. The next year they "won" the lottery and I need not remind how THAT turned out. Last year we all brought our good luck charms for a draft that was supposed to be one sure can't miss, Davis, and a lot of maybe's and so-so's. Portland "lost" the lottery, supposedly, and got the best player. Even a Miles Leonard only draft would have been decent.

So I guess all our good luck charms worked last year, we just didn't know it!

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

It's funny because I think it's easy to forget how special Lillard's rookie season is. I don't start to realize it until statistics like the one I quoted get thrown around. Just amazing. Fastest to 1,200 points and 400 assists since Iverson? That's fucking amazing. Faster than Rose. Faster than Chris Paul. Faster than LeBron James. That's staggering.

Why is it easy to forget? I'm reminded of how amazing he is every time we play.

 

[BLAZINGGIANTS]

Hopefully Dame won't copy some of Arenas' less pleasant traits.

Funny, I was just thinking this morning (I do my best thinking while dozing on BART) about the lottery and "winning" the lottery. And really you don't know who won when they seed the picks. You know who won a year later. Remember when Portland had the worst record, the worst Blazers could do in the draft was get #4 and that's what happened? They "lost" the lottery and got Roy and Aldridge. The next year they "won" the lottery and I need not remind how THAT turned out. Last year we all brought our good luck charms for a draft that was supposed to be one sure can't miss, Davis, and a lot of maybe's and so-so's. Portland "lost" the lottery, supposedly, and got the best player. Even a Miles Leonard only draft would have been decent.

So I guess all our good luck charms worked last year, we just didn't know it!

I love me some "Miles" Leonard!