I've become convinced this season that KCP misses shots on purpose when Lonzo passes to him. As for Brook Lopez, I don't think he misses shots on purpose, he just sucks ass. But KCP, I've had my eye on him for quite some time now.


How about the game for Lonzo last night? Another gem. 17pts on 6/13 shooting, 8 boards, 6 assists, 1 turnover, 2 steals and a block, not to mention a thunderous alley oop dunk when he was in the process of scoring 10 straight in the 3rd quarter. OVer his past 6 games his shooting has gone up to the point where he's now elevated his shooting from historically bad to just plain mediocre.

7th in the league in assists. leads his team in rebounding as PG. IN fact, leads every NBA guard in the league in rebounding. he's 23rd in the league in assists to turnvoers. Nearest rookie is Frank Mason who ranks 67th.

If Lonzo keeps developing he'll be right there in the ROY race. I personally feel that the ROY race should borrow from gymnastics and assign start values to every rookie's season. The fact is that Lonzo is the most hyped rookie since Lebron, he plays the hardest position in the NBA during a time when that position is flourishing with stars, the off court stuff with his family, the boos in every arena. There may not have been a rookie in the history of the league that has had a tougher start value to his season. What Lonzo is doing with the pressure on him has been nothing short of amazing. The poise he has shown on the court is something no 20 year old should possess.

Comparing Lonzo to other rookies who have it much easier isn't really fair.

He literally has zero chance of beating Simmons for ROY, barring injury. They are on different planets when it comes to talent.

Donovan Mitchell would also be WAY ahead of Lonzo right now. Kuzma would still be ahead.

He’s been good but like I said before, his best games are roughly equivalent to Simmons worst games. It’s no longer worth trying to compare them.

Trae Young will be a bust. Book It!

This is going to reach a head pretty soon.

What I meant was that he'll be in the mix for top 3. I agree that he's not catching Simmons, but I don't agree that his best games are roughly equivalent to Simmons worse games. Simmons for instance had a much worse game than Lonzo last night. Lonzo's best game statistically this year was the triple double vs Milwaukee when he had 19 pts on 58%, 12 boards, 13 assists, 3 blocks, 3 steals, 4 turnovers. If Simmons did that everyone would be saying he had a great game, no one would call that one of his worse games.

And how is Mitchell WAY ahead of Lonzo at this point? The ONLY thing he does better than Lonzo is shoot. He's averaging 3 boards, 3 assists while lonzo is at 7 and 7 in those categories. Does 9 extra points per game make up for that? Not in my book.

And you call me hyperbolic?

The best rookie of the guys drafted this year has been Tatum. I called it early and it has been proven true thus far. Ball isn't even the best rookie on his own team.

If the all rookie team were selected today he wouldn't be anywhere near 1st team. its not even an even playing field either. He had by far the best setup to succeed and he isn't.

Mitchell is the best player drafted this year, so far.

This is going to reach a head pretty soon.

No he isn't. If it weren't for Simmons Tatum would run away with th Rookie of the year award

Markannen would also be ahead of Ball in ROY at this point. Maybe others besides Mitchell, Simmons, Kuzma, Markannen, etc but I'd have to think on it.

No. That’s just country dumb.

This is going to reach a head pretty soon.

Mitchell didn't win rookie of the month in his own conf. yet he would be Rookie of the year. You don't think that sounds dumb. I do. I'm a Mitchell fan. He hasn't been as impressive as Tatum. Tatum has been good from day one. Check the numbers. The only Rookie that has been close has been Kuzma and even his stuff has tailed off some.

What numbers should we check? Your favorite stat is PPG, we can look at that. The advanced metrics that you hate that say Butler is a great player favor Tatum over Mitchell, but only slightly. Mitchell has the advantage in traditional statistics. You could make an argument Tatum has been better. You cannot make an argument that Tatum would run away with ROY right now if not for Simmons. There's nothing that supports that assertion.

This is going to reach a head pretty soon.

Mitchell has had a good two run on a team that probably won't make the playoffs. Tatum has a much higher field goal percentage and has been much more efficient of a scorer. Mitchell is among the worst in terms of field goal percentage for players that take 15 or more shots per game. He is a volume chucker. I say this as a guy that likes him.

Tatum also rebounds well and plays good defense.

You just explained why their stats are different. Mitchell has much more responsibility offensively and he's often the one at the end of the shot clock needing to force a shot up. He's a volume shooter simply because he has to be based on his talent and the dearth of offensive talent around him. If you think he's shooting 41% for the rest of the season or for his career going forward, well that can be the first thing we "keep a tally" on.

Mitchell will continue outplaying Tatum this year and for their careers. Put that on your tally list.

This is going to reach a head pretty soon.

Laurence Holmes is a fucking weirdo, a nerd in denial, and a wannabe. Not a very good radio host either.

I smell a wager, who finishes 2nd in ROY. I think Tatum runs away with it.

I'm fine with this. What's up LTG?

This is going to reach a head pretty soon.

The Lakers management has been notoriously horrible for several years now but its stunning to me that they aren't starting Kuzma full time by now. He's the best player on the team!

Trae Young will be a bust. Book It!

Trae Young will be a bust. Book It!

Lonzo, first 20 games:
.309 fg%, .245 3pt%, .429 ft%

Lonzo, last 7 games
.409 fg%, .323 3pt%, .667 ft%


Still not great obviously, but no longer historically bad. Now at least he is shooting like a typical rookie.

Trae Young will be a bust. Book It!

Over the past five years, only two players have finished inside the top 10 of an MVP vote averaging fewer than 15 points per game: Joakim Noah in 2013-14 (fourth) and Draymond Green in 2015-16 (seventh). And it is Green who represents an interesting parallel for Ball, insofar as his contributions are less quantifiable. In 2015-16, Green scored 20 points in only 17 of his 81 games. Yet few people, be they statheads or basketball mystics, would challenge his place on the tally. There's a collective appreciation that Green's feel for the game infuses the on-court principles that make the Warriors the Warriors. If Ball can't be the Lakers' Steph, they need him to be their Draymond -- if not in mood, then certainly in substance.

I know LTG is gonna always hate on Lonzo but outside of him I doubt there is anyone still laughing at shakes and I for saying Lonzo is a good defensive player, especially for a rookie. I've gone back and forth with shakes on Lonzo but I don't think you can still make any type of case that he's not good on that end.

You gotta be shittin me FF, " pretty good defensively" absolutely not.

Good passer..yes
Good rebounder..yes

Awful shooter with no defense.

Lonzo 4-4 from 3 in the first half so far