Our rookies report cards

[dav7z]

On a scale of one to 10
1. Kemba . Shows some point skills and is competive . He shoots to much and really needs to work on his shot . His defence is decent . I would give him a 7 , Long term im saying hes a fringe starter sixth man.

2. Bismack . Very raw shows tons of upside . His defence is much better than his offence. His cyling is s hard to tell.Im going to give him a 6 for his play this season . My long term prediction is he will be a long term starter . But will never reach all star status.

3. Higgins . Shows some skills . Can shot and pass the ball some . Has enough size to play the point position . Im going to say hes about a 4 of 10 . If he can last through next season . He has a chance to be a back up point . But getting through next season will be hard .

4. Mullens . Sence this is his first real year playing im going to consider him a rookie . Im going to give him a five . He needs to add strenth and continue to work on the boards . Keep his confidence and continue to knock down mid range jumpers . Have a little better shot selection . I can see him as a long term rotation player backing up the four and mabe the five . I look for him to sign a long term contract extension in the off season on the cheap .

YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS ROOKIE SEASON

[Chef]

1. kemba: 5.5
2. biz: 6
3. higgins: 2
4. mullens: 7.5

[dav7z]

1. kemba: 5.5
2. biz: 6
3. higgins: 2
4. mullens: 7.5

Chef whats your long term predictions for each guy.

[Chef]

Chef whats your long term predictions for each guy.

long term:
kemba: solid 2nd unit guy, spot starter
biz: potential dpoy, could stay right where he is, but it is totally worth developing him
higgins: out of the league in 1 year
mullens: solid 2nd unit guy, spot starter

[Plowright]

I don't see Biz beating Davis as Defensive player of the year ever.....

[CLTHornCats]

long term:
kemba: solid 2nd unit guy, spot starter
biz: potential dpoy, could stay right where he is, but it is totally worth developing him
higgins: out of the league in 1 year
mullens: solid 2nd unit guy, spot starter

IMO, Bismack is a guy with a really high ceiling, but even if he doesn't develop any further, he's a cheaper and better version of Diop.

I really want to like Kemba and think he'll improve, but I think his ceiling is similar to that of DJ Augustin's or maybe even a little lower. He appears to be a more dogged defender than DJ, but his shot is nowhere near as consistent as DJ's.

I'd give Kemba a 5 and Bismack a 6.5 for this year. I think Hendo, Mullens, Kemba, Bismack & DJ would all be excellent reserve players elsewhere. Problem is, we need 5 guys to start.

[Mustachio]

Good topic Dav.

Kemba: 7 - did what he could with a dysfunctional season, showed tremendous potential. Long Term: Starter at point guard
Biz : 7 - got better faster than i imagined, still developing but already impressing. Long Term: Starter at Center / potential beast DPOY
Higgins: 4 - not worth bringing back, but no problem seeing what he had this season. Long Term: there is no long term
Mullens: 7.5 - Still has a way to go defensively, but earned Tyrus's contract more than Tyrus did at PF. Long Term: big man offensive spark plug off the bench to stretch the opp D. important piece.

[ohara831]

Good topic Dav.

Kemba: 7 - did what he could with a dysfunctional season, showed tremendous potential. Long Term: Starter at point guard
Biz : 7 - got better faster than i imagined, still developing but already impressing. Long Term: Starter at Center / potential beast DPOY
Higgins: 4 - not worth bringing back, but no problem seeing what he had this season. Long Term: there is no long term
Mullens: 7.5 - Still has a way to go defensively, but earned Tyrus's contract more than Tyrus did at PF. Long Term: big man offensive spark plug off the bench to stretch the opp D. important piece.

Totally agree with you.

[dnbman]

Good topic Dav.

Kemba: 7 - did what he could with a dysfunctional season, showed tremendous potential. Long Term: Starter at point guard
Biz : 7 - got better faster than i imagined, still developing but already impressing. Long Term: Starter at Center / potential beast DPOY
Higgins: 4 - not worth bringing back, but no problem seeing what he had this season. Long Term: there is no long term
Mullens: 7.5 - Still has a way to go defensively, but earned Tyrus's contract more than Tyrus did at PF. Long Term: big man offensive spark plug off the bench to stretch the opp D. important piece.

About this.

I'd say BB has as good a chance if not better than Davis to be DPOY because he could be better about putting a body on guys down low. Obviously, Davis is quick and can block shots. But I think BB may be the guy to do more of the down and dirty work under the basket that could give him the edge.

Suffice to say, I'd love to see the intra-squad competition.

[Katmandu]

I don't think you can grade these guys. No team suffered more from the lock-out than The Bobcats. I don't think anybody, with the possible exception of Henderson, rated over a five. I hope there's a quick decision on the coaching situation after the season is over so these guys can get the work they need in the off-season. I'm not saying that trying to throw them under the bus. I just don't think it's fair to grade them based on the hell they went through this season.

[spectre]

Good topic Dav.

Kemba: 7 - did what he could with a dysfunctional season, showed tremendous potential. Long Term: Starter at point guard
Biz : 7 - got better faster than i imagined, still developing but already impressing. Long Term: Starter at Center / potential beast DPOY
Higgins: 4 - not worth bringing back, but no problem seeing what he had this season. Long Term: there is no long term
Mullens: 7.5 - Still has a way to go defensively, but earned Tyrus's contract more than Tyrus did at PF. Long Term: big man offensive spark plug off the bench to stretch the opp D. important piece.


Totally agree with you.

Ditto...with mega-stress on dysfunctional.

Smack was a helluva nice surprise; he's proved to be a lot more than "can't guard a chair. Kemba was as well...how many times did I see him put as a "combo" guard or short SG? He doesn't have great PG skills by any stretch but after some of the passes and moves in the paint/dishing it off he's made to close out the year should calm that stuff down.

From what we knew going in (weak draft/let Smack develop) I think they've earned their keep relative to where we got them.

Mully was a freaking steal for a future 2nd. He's getting paid beans for what he's worth and he's showing that he's willing to grow his game.

For an undrafted guy Higgins isn't that bad...he's a fair combo guard. We maybe could have gotten better, but again for the price he'll do.

[Proudiddy]

Kemba: 8
Biz: 7
Higgins: 4
Mullens: 6.5

All these ratings are taking into consideration that everyone of these players would look a lot better this year had they been on an actual NBA-quality team surrounded by other good players, lol. So, I'm looking ahead assuming we'll see some big time growth next year especially with Kemba, BB, and Mully with the talent we're bringing in. This team was just really bad.

[SWedd523]

I can't in good conscience give Kemba anything over a 4.9 for shooting 37.2% on the season. He has the worst FG% of any player who's attempted at least 500 shots. His 37.2% is one of the worst (if not THE worst) FG% of any player... ever... to take at least 500 shots.

Can't see how you guys are giving him 7s or 8s

[Proudiddy]

Wasn't Felton's about the same throughout his tenure here? And occasionally, I still see people say something about missing Felton. I think Kemba is a much better player than Felton as a rookie.

Mine is based more off of combining what we've seen this year plus potential. I mean, he did have a triple double and prove to people he can be a good point guard. As far as his shot, I don't see why it wouldn't get better next year. Taking into consideration the lockout and getting a late start with the team plus I remember him saying he was having to adjust to shooting an NBA three... I think he'll be a lot better than what people are giving him credit for.

He impacts the game as a rookie and his shot isn't even that great yet.

[dav7z]

I can't in good conscience give Kemba anything over a 4.9 for shooting 37.2% on the season. He has the worst FG% of any player who's attempted at least 500 shots. His 37.2% is one of the worst (if not THE worst) FG% of any player... ever... to take at least 500 shots.

Can't see how you guys are giving him 7s or 8s

Thats a verry good point about Kemba . Either he has to bring up his field goal % in the off season by changing his shot . Or cut his shots quite a bit and increase his assist . It could be he forcing his shots like the rest of the team . I don't think any body has a great f/g %. But he will never last in this league shooting 37%.

[TheBeagle]

Good topic Dav.

Kemba: 7 - did what he could with a dysfunctional season, showed tremendous potential. Long Term: Starter at point guard
Biz : 7 - got better faster than i imagined, still developing but already impressing. Long Term: Starter at Center / potential beast DPOY
Agreed. I may lower Kemba's grade some because of the woeful FG%, but I think he countered that with, to me, a surprisingly capable ability to dish the ball and find open teammates. His ballhandling is still a little too carefree and loose but his passing continued to improve all year to the point that I can easily classify him as a point guard. Defense left a lot to be desired also, and not so much because of any height discrepancy but because he can't/won't stay in front of his man.

Biz, definitely agree. I expected him to be the second coming of Diop offensively but he has shown flashes of being a damn good post scorer with his minihooks and working his pivots and shotfakes. And his ability to stay out of foul trouble has been fantastic as well, especially considering how active he is on defense. The sky is the limit with this kid.

[spectre]

I can't in good conscience give Kemba anything over a 4.9 for shooting 37.2% on the season. He has the worst FG% of any player who's attempted at least 500 shots. His 37.2% is one of the worst (if not THE worst) FG% of any player... ever... to take at least 500 shots.

Can't see how you guys are giving him 7s or 8s

Check out the shooting tabs on BB reference for both DJ & Kemba:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/plus/shooting.cgi?player_id=augusdj01&year_id=2012

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/plus/shooting.cgi?player_id=walkeke02&year_id=2012

Kinda eerie how similar they are isn't it?

Yeah he's missed a bunch of shots. I still place a lot of blame for his, DJs and most of the other guys having such low numbers on the "system" we're running.

Anyway...not arguing. Just giving my POV on how I can be pretty tolerable with scores due to the extra hurdles they faced this year.

[SWedd523]

Wasn't Felton's about the same throughout his tenure here? And occasionally, I still see people say something about missing Felton. I think Kemba is a much better player than Felton as a rookie.
Ray shot 45.9% as a Bobcat. Their rookie years were about the same, tbh, probably with a slight edge to Felts. He had a better team though so I'm not really worried about it.


As far as his shot, I don't see why it wouldn't get better next year. Taking into consideration the lockout and getting a late start with the team plus I remember him saying he was having to adjust to shooting an NBA three... I think he'll be a lot better than what people are giving him credit for.
I've talked about his shot at length in previous posts. I have faith that he'll get it up to more respectable levels. But I don't foresee him being much more than a ~40-42% player for his career. Also keep in mind that every rookie is going through the lockout with a late start and guys like Irving (46.7%), Parsons (45.0%), and even Shumpert (39.7%) are shooting better from the floor. Now, those guys are also on better teams but that still doesn't excuse Kemba having the worst FG% ever

[JGib23]

Kemba= 6, Best suited as a 6th man energy guy off the bench and spot starter

Smack= 7, I like his potential but, I'm worried that he doesn't have the lateral quickness to guard the new bread 4's (as Silas says he's a 4)... I hope he grows another 2 inches and puts on some more weight so that he can handle the banging of the center position for an entire season. He has the most upside of anyone on the team.

Higgins= Yuck

[Toocool]

Kemba's shot selection was really bad first in probably first 1/2 of the season (won't say specifics, I refuse to really think hard about this season). He had a lot of bad shooting games, but then finally Silas got on his ass and his shot attempts declined into better shots. Then he goes for like 5-29 or something later on. Kemba is still somewhat of a chucker, and that hurts his FG range and the team. It's good to have confidence, but he hurts the team sometimes with his chucking ways.

Rating:
Kemba - 6
BB - 7
Mullens - 7.5
Higgins - GETHIMOUTOFHERE

Kemba - Solid rookie year, but also shows his glaring weaknesses. Will get better. Long term: Starter or energy guy off bench ala JT

BB - Considering how little we expected of him, BB, although inconsistent as hell (like all big men) showed a lot this season. Whereas before he was offensively anemic, he's started to show he can score in the post, showing that he's developed a lot already. Long term: Starter, possibly DPOY

Mullens - Didn't know what to expect of Mullens tbh. Came in from a 2nd round draft pick, nice big size at 7 feet and quite the athlete. I think he really grew into his role as an energy guy off the bench. Yes we started him a few times, but his mentality was to come in and do what he needed to be. Shows improved rebounding and toughness thanks to the 'Paul Silas College of Manliness.' Wish we had the Oak still, would work wonders for Mullens. Long term: Energy guy off the bench. I can see him being a starter, but I don't think it's likely.

Higgins - Frankly was in only because of his father. Showed some stuff, but I wasn't really interested that much in him.

[Chef]

Smack= 7, I like his potential but, I'm worried that he doesn't have the lateral quickness to guard the new bread 4's (as Silas says he's a 4)... I hope he grows another 2 inches and puts on some more weight so that he can handle the banging of the center position for an entire season. He has the most upside of anyone on the team.


i know silas sees him everyday in practice and games, knows him better and has forgotten more about nba basketball than i can ever learn but...

my expert opinion is that biz is a center all day long and twice on sundays. and if he isn't than he won't amount to much long term.

[dav7z]

i know silas sees him everyday in practice and games, knows him better and has forgotten more about nba basketball than i can ever learn but...

my expert opinion is that biz is a center all day long and twice on sundays. and if he isn't than he won't amount to much long term.
Exactly the kid has guarded the best centers in the nba and heald his own against Howard , and large centers . To me he seems to have more truble against centers with lots of shots fakes like Randoff. Nothing experiance wont take care of. As far as size with his body he could handle a extra 30 pounds with out loseing much speed . I look to see his best playing weight at about 260.

[adam187]

i wouldn't sweat the PF/Center distinction at the moment just yet. so many dudes come into the league labeled as PFs or combo bigs who nowadays we see as centers almost exclusively - Dwight, Noah, Al Jefferson, Mek, Varejao, Al Horford. all those dudes mostly play the 5 for various reasons now, but at one point, someone important thought they might only be a 4. i hope biz follows that mold.

[WAM9]

Kemba - 6 - It is hard to come into a team like he has in rebuilding mode with little veteran leadership and excel. I think he did a good job overall. His floor should be a energy guy off the bench. His ceiling could be as high as a top 10 starting point guard in the league.

Bismack - 10 - I know everyone will say this is too high but I think we got exactly what we were expecting with Smack...he is already the best interior defender we have ever had, he is probably the toughest guy as well. Long as they come, strong as a bull and can really get up and meet someone at the rim. His offense needs work and should continue to develop but his defense and toughness is what I love. Floor - quality rotation big guy in the league for the next 15 years. Ceiling - Multiple time winner of the defensive player of the year with 4 blocks per game being common place. Defensive cornerstone of a championship team.

Higgins - 2 - He has done a little better than I expected but there is no long term place for him here (or anywhere in the NBA). He can't even bring the ball up the court without multiple screens and diversions. I like him as far as a competing goes but nothing else. Floor - D-League (maybe) Ceiling - Unfortunately, this year was it.

Mullens - 7 - What a great pick up for a 2nd round pick. He is a legit rotation big man with great range who even improved rebounding and blocks (and maybe even toughness) as the season went on. Floor - Borderline rotation big man for 6-8 seasons. Ceiling - 1st or 2nd big man off the bench providing some instant offense on a playoff team. I could see him playing decent minutes in the NBA for 8-10 years or more.

By the way, Cho deserves a lot of credit for this list.

[Chef]

Bismack - 10 - I know everyone will say this is too high but I think we got exactly what we were expecting with Smack...he is already the best interior defender we have ever had, he is probably the toughest guy as well. Long as they come, strong as a bull and can really get up and meet someone at the rim. His offense needs work and should continue to develop but his defense and toughness is what I love. Floor - quality rotation big guy in the league for the next 15 years. Ceiling - Multiple time winner of the defensive player of the year with 4 blocks per game being common place. Defensive cornerstone of a championship team.



chandler and emeka were far superior defenders than biz is at this point. but biz does have the potential to be really really good and better than both.

[WAM9]

chandler and emeka were far superior defenders than biz is at this point. but biz does have the potential to be really really good and better than both.

Well, although you are probably right, they are certainly different types of defenders.

Chandler was superior at guarding the high pick and showing on the defender while the guard recovers as well as in the open court and Emeka is one of my favorites but I would still argue that for a single possesion, with the game on the line, I would rather have Smack in the middle on defense above either of the other 2 you mention (and I love them both).

With another year under his belt, I expect the conversation to be over by the end of next season on this point.

[Mustachio]

By the way, Cho deserves a lot of credit for this list.

I agree, but Higgins and Jordan deserve some of that credit as well I think.

[WAM9]

I agree, but Higgins and Jordan deserve some of that credit as well I think.


I agree.

I am MJ's biggest supporter but I wonder, does MJ deserve credit for the moves or does he deserve credit for getting the hell out of the way and letting Cho work? I don't know the answer to this and hope the moves have been mutual decisions. Either way, you are right...MJ and Higgins deserve credit as well.

[dav7z]

My question if we giving up 50ppg in the paint . Is it Smack , Is it our guards Kemba and Hendo . Is it Mullys defence . Giving up 50% on average tells me its major problems . Is it coaching or what. I have no idea . Some of you guys who know the game better weigh in . PLEASE..

[cltblkhscoach]

It's the guards - mainly our point guards. Their on the ball defense is horrible at best, and the big men have to help all the time. When they help, you give up 50 points in the paint. Plus Smack is really our only good interior defender as well.

[spectre]

The guards are playing a role, but our bigs have no idea how to cover for each other. The PGs are trying to overplay on one side and force them to the "help". Sometimes the big sees it and other times they don't. If he does odds are very good that if he does help no one goes to get his guy.

Sadly we have to do this a lot because our PGs are undersized. Say what you want about Felton, but I loved having an above average 1 v 1 defensive PG (He's fallen off, and was falling off his last year with us). Forcing the guy who controls the ball to do other than what he wants is a good weapon to have.

The bigs are also a sieve. Remember when Maxiell pulled Mully's pants down a couple weeks ago? That was short range isos for the most part. Smack is getting schooled a lot lately and a lot of the strategies are probably new to him.

Mully gets mixed up trying to guard the pick/roll. Smack does great initially but tends to lose his guy when the PG keeps going.

It's pretty much everyone's fault...and yes, the coaching too. The good thing is we can rationalize a lot of it to being a product of no offseason, no practices early on, youth and giving them heavy minutes. We should be a lot better next season.

[skratch]

higgins - 0 who??

Mullens - 3 hes improved thats all i can say, good off the bench

Bismack - 2 i dont really see the hype in him on this board, hes just too raw for me to get into, his ceiling to me is kwame brown with less size and more blocks, he still doesnt solve anything for us downlow, his footwork his awful, he's clumsy, and hes undersized, everybody's still hype off the dwight game but dwight doesnt take advantage of opponents like he should, im currently watching nene demolish biz right now, with the right coaching staff he could be a poor mans ibaka just maybe but he's too far away from any of that in my eyes, dnt know if i want him as a long term starter at C

Kemba - 4 - at the begining of the season i was hype about him, he was playing good now i notice he gets alittle too wild with the ball but he does have a couple things over dj like shooting,quickness etc hes undersized but i think he can be similar to ty lawson with the stats if he had more pieces to give it too. also he doesnt play no defense whatsoever

[ALong13]

Definitely would rank Biyombo higher than Kemba based on expectations I had for him

Kemba - 4.5 Man just didn't do it for me. Showed flashes, but overall not too impressed. I understand he is a rookie, but for someone so famous for his shooting ability, 37% is not impressive at all. Shouldn't take 12 shots plus 3 free throws per game to score 12 points. We knew he wasn't a natural PG, but this season really showed how bad he was at assisting...as a PG, he only had more than 6 assist in 15 games and only 2 games with more than 10 assist. His rebounding was better than I thought it would be, but overall honestly wasn't that impressed. I don't see him as a full-time starter in the NBA on any decent team at any point in his career. Spot starter at best, but decent bench player.

Biyombo - 6/10 For someone who I didn't expect to even see this season, Biyombo's defense was impressive. 14 games with 3 blocks or more including quite a few of those with 6 or more blocks. As the season went only he only grew as a rebounder and even his scoring touch was getting better for someone that was so raw. Definitely has a bright future as a defensive player, and while I never expect him as a 15 ppg scorer, I think 10-12-3 is a season line we could see in his future.

Higgins - 1.5/10Not too impressed, 3rd PG/SG at best, and I don't see him being in the league more than 1 or 2 more years...Only reasons he had a roster spot is his daddy.

Mullins - 5/10 Offensively he rocked the majority of the time, defensively while he was getting better he still has a whole hell of a lot to work on. Needs to work a lot with rebounding and overall defense. Go to the jail he practiced at and practice post game work with one arm tied back. It will help with boxing out as well as strength in rebounding. Needs work and doesn't see 1/4 the playing time if not on this team.