rookie grades & 2011 OutLook

 Those Derrick Favors numbers you’re predicting are really vague. I’d like to see him get 10 points, 8 boards, and 1.7 blocks next year. It depends how hard he works on his game though.

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Wesley Johnson-B  Johnson played pretty well even though he had to play out of position.  A lot of people thought he would be a bust but he held his own.  I think if given the opportunity he can be a solid small forward for a team but on Minny he will have to play  the 2 guard where  he is decent

Demarcus Cousins B- Cousins was dominate sometime and yet inconsistent and wanted to revert back to not going hard down low and scoring but rather trying to be finesse.

Ekpe Udoh- incomplete.  I wonder how well he would have played if he did not get hurt.  Great length and really good on defense but still small for a Center and need to improve offense.

Greg Monroe- A- played solid and looks to be part of a new foundation for Detroit.  He may never make an All star team but he will always be close and could possibly get one

Al Farouq Aminu- C+ He started off really good then hit a rookie wall and played terrible but he has a lot of promise and sowed that he can play the small forward positoin and play it well

Gordan Hayward C  He showed that he can be a top role player and make some shots.  He could possibly be a designated shooter as a starter or a 6th man if he can improve his D.

Paul George C- Showed flashes of talent but really did not have a game where he put it all together. There should be more minutes open next season so he should train and be ready.

Are you a big Cosby show guy?

Cole Aldrich incomplete- He did not play much and OKC did make a move to get Mohummed and Perkins whom they resigned so unless he goes to another team, he may be nothing but a back up center

Xavier Henry-D  He had the opportunity to play big minutes and he choked.  he is a shooter who could not shoot but he did play pretty decent D until he was sent to the bench.  Allen’s play make cause him to be expendable or a bk up for a while.  Hopefully some of Allen’s play rubs off on him.

Ed Davis B- he was hurt early on but showed why he was rumored to be a top 5 pick before getting hurt in college.

Patrick Patterson A – When given minutes put out solid numbers.  Houston deserves a D for drafting someone that was ready to play and not giving them minutes

I still think that Favors is going to be a disapointment.  I compared him to a slightly better version of Stromile Swift if people will remember.  I stand by that.. Swift was a guy that was close to 12 points and 7 rebounds with 2 blocks in his best season.  I see the same for Favors..

Lets all sleep on cousins because he often acts like a jack ass at times. Seriously guys, lets try to acknowledge that Wall and Griffin are most def up there, but in third place is no doubt Demarcus cousins. Nba.com knows it, Kings fans know it, and so does ESPN. Rasheed Wallace, Kevin Garnett, along with some other long time nba problem children are all stars. Demarcus cousins should not be slept on simply because of attitude problems. Cousins averaged 14.1 points per game, 8.6 rebounds, and 2.5 assists. Along with throwing stats out of the window, he’s demonstrated his amazing foot work we’ve seen in college, proved that he wants to win badly and is no way in shape or form an Eddy curry clone. And has been praised for having great rebounding hands by a few coaches this year.

Is he Griffin or Wall? Hell no. But he’s certainly produced more results than any of the guys you all mentioned besides Wall and Griffin. Hell I’ll even let Greg Monroe slide.

I’d give Greg Monroe an A-. He started off slow and then turned into one of the best rookies by averaging around 12 & 9 for a couple months and being a double-double threat everynight. He turned it up even another notch after the All-Star break by averaging 13.7 points 10 rebounds, 2.2 assist, 1.6 steals, on 58% shooting since the break. His progression over the season was awesome to watch.

I expect him to average between 13-15 points and 9-10 rebounds next year.

Monroe-

2nd in PER for Rookies (Griffin was 1st)

2nd in Win Shares for Rookies (Griffin was 1st)

 Hayward, I think is a C. He had a bad start to the year, and everyone doubted him but finish the year nicely once AK got injured and he started. I think next year he will prove that he was picked at the right place by improving his defense and starting at either the 2 or the 3 where ever the Jazz need him. Once again Kevin O’conner strikes gold with a player that everyone else had no hope for. 

Favors I think actually showed alot of promise and potential even though he was trade bait. His grade is incomplete because of thise but I love how he didn’t care that he was used as trade bait and still defied the odds. Needs to learn how to defend better without fouling but I think with 2 great PF beside him as mentors, Favors has a bright future. I can see him starting at the 5 next year with Jefferson at the 4 and Millsap going back to the bench. I really see a bright future for him. Jazz did well to trade for him. 

"Hayward, I think is a C. He had a bad start to the year, and everyone doubted him"

Actually you and Sheltwon were the only ones doubting him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch

I still think it was a bad pick and he is a role player.  I never changed that.  You guys act like he is the only role player to put up numbers.  It is funny Anthony Randolph can put up crazy numbers and was drafted later than Hayward in a stronger draft yet he is seen as a bust by some but Hayward is not seen that way.

Noone ranked Neal, Splitter, or Fields. Booker has played well, and so has Bledsoe.

 Its a good thing if a 9th pick is a role player, right?  You aren’t expecting an all star there, are you?   I think Hayward is a solid pick.  If I were the Jazz, I would have taken Paul George, but I don’t think there are many if any other players who would have been better for the Jazz to take there, both in hindsight and leading up to the draft.

Jazz always find good playes, they got Matthews out of nowhere, Evans, and picked Hayward which people questioned yet it paid off.

cousins has blatche written all over him and unless you would have drafted blatche that high I see absolutely nothing to be excited over. more of a deterrent than a strength for the kings.

What would you guys give Asik? I know his stats don’t look very good, but his defense has been great.

I would give Asik a B, he did what he was supposed to do, but he wasn’t spectacular. The only guys I would give A’s to are Griffin, Wall, Monroe, and Fields