A rookie worth taking note of...

[Axel]

With the season nearly up, Brandon roy is the consensus ROY pick.

Flying way under the radar is another rookie, undrafted - Tarence Kinsey.

In the last 11 games since recieving regular time in the lineup, he's averaging 19.3 ppg and 3.4 rpg. He's been consistent too, with no less than 12 pts in any of those games.

Not rookie of the year worthy in such a short stint, but don't be surprised if he's putting up big numbers next season.

[---]

Actually he scored 10 points in one of those games. I would be very suprised if he put up big numbers next season. I think he could be a Marquis Daniels type in terms of success, coming from an undrafted and unheard of player to being a quite valuable bench role player.

Just remember over that 11 game stretch of 19.3 PPG he has averaged 40 MPG and 14.5 FG attempts. During the stretch he has shot around 48%, pretty impressive. The thing is he doesn't do much else other than score. He will grab a couple rebounds and get a couple steals but not much more. Points aren't hard to com by when your playing in Memphis and your only other guys playing that are really putting up shots are Hakim Warrick and Pau Gasol. He doesn't have a 3 ball, he is extremely light. He has blocked 1 shot this season and has shot just under 43% on the year. I really think he's just one of those guys that is in a great situation to show what he can do - the thing is most NBA players would be putting up similar numbers with the oppurtunities he's getting. Just think, during this stretch he has averaged more minutes than Kevin Garnett and more FG attempts than Tim Duncan.

As I said, I don't see him putting up big numbers next year, probably significantly less than this years actually. Especially with Rudy Gay back, Will Conroy signed, Mike Miller back, Dahntay to compete with and the possible addition of Durant.

[Martti.]

Look at Walter Herrmann.. He's averaging 19.6 points and 5.6 boards in April..

But I like Kinsey better. Already 21.1 over the last 10 games..

[The X]

I completely agree with Shannon (Flite)....

an undrafted rookie comes in and impressives each season due to injuries and other opportunities....apart from Marquis Daniels, who can forget a guy like Erick Strickland, who was undrafted out of college but was picked up by the Mavs & averaged over 10ppg as a rookie, & converted that into a pretty good contract....like what Flite said about Kinsey, Strickland was primarily someone who could put points on the board, but it happened due to the team around him needing him to do it....please correct me if I'm wrong, but that's how I remembered Erick Strickland....

[shadowgrin]

I remember Erick Strickland for wearing his jersey backwards.

[hova-]

I also do not see Kinsey as a high-potential player or something like this.

But how should such a rookie show his skills if not when others are out. That is his chance and he is not doing too bad. So I think he could be a pretty solid player, nothing special though.

[Indy]

Shawne Williams has played fantastic since he started getting consistent minutes for us. He's going to be a very good player next to Danny Granger and Ike Diogu.

[Axel]

I don't get the logic here.

Because he comes in to replace an injured player, he's not really that good? He won't be a good player because he's just a replacement? I guess that somehow negates his performance...

Just don't tell Tiki Barber that.

[---]

The thing is most NBA players could put up what he has (especially points in the run and gun Memhis system) when playing with the players he has. So many players are out, so his "ranking" on the option level in terms of shooting soars. If you look at the numbers, they are nice, but not all that impressive when you go deeper and compare them to what other players around the league are putting up.

Marquis Daniels level at best come next season IMO.

[BigKaboom2]

He's just part of the tanking machine as far as I can tell.

[1CenT]

in that case, reminds me of ronald murray, remember flip was on a stretch with over 20ppg when Allen was out in Seattle, but ya Flip was avging like 4 assists and 4 boards as well, primarily a scorer, not a great defender, doesn't do much, i bet he was in a great system at that time, makes players better than they look.

or he could be an Eddie House kinda guy

[Metsis]

Well guys like Murray and Kinsey and all those guys who are not picked with the top 10 picks and especially those picked in the second round or undrafted doesn't mean that they are not good players. Sure scouting and all that can weed out the really good players from the average players easily, but after the top crop each year, drafting becomes more of a guessing game. You never know what you are going to get with second round picks and signing undrafted guys... Basically the second round picks can be called the lucky ones... These lucky ones did enough to spark some intrest in some managers, just enough to remember their names, it doesn't mean that they are better than the undrafted guys. Maybe you didn't work out for the team that could have really used your skills...

But there are numerous examples of late 2nd round picks becoming real steals and undrafted players wading into the league even though they didn't get "lucky" on draft day. Ben Wallace is a huuuge example of this. The guy goes undrafted and first NBA coaches say that "you ain't gonna make it in this league"... And, bam, you get yourself a world class defensive specialist at the end of the day.

This is all about people... And people handle different things differently... Some people get discouraged when they are not drafted and wonder off to do something else with their lives or go play in Europe etc. So people like Arenas and Wallace and Redd took personal insult to these "draft" choices and coach comments and decided to prove them all wrong. It doesn't always work that way, but sometimes it does, and it's always sweet as sugar when it does. Everyone loves rooting for the underdog... I certainly do.

And the system does make a difference too. Some systems just fit better to some players and don't fit at all for other players... It is why a change of team can seemingly turn an average player into a star over night when a trade is finished or when a guy signs with a different team.

After every draft, there are guys that are left on the outside looking in, that eventually end up being great ball players. Or the 13th guy on the roster really has to hope for a run of injuries etc. to really show your game on the big stage... It just is a fact and a primal nature of the beast. In order for a guy to go from obscrutiny to center stage, usually something has to terribly wrong for someone else. Pau Gasol's rookie season is a prime example of this. I remember in the preseason games, he was lighting it up with 20 pts, some boards and a pair of blocks almost on average. But when season began, Stro Swift was still starting and Pau hardly got any playing time to really assert himself on the court. I had Pau on my fantasy team and I was cursing my ill fate at the time. Then after like 10 games into the season Stro gets hurt and Pau is all of a sudden in the starting lineup... Putting up 25 pts, 7 boards and 2 blocks. But had Stro not been hurt, he probably wouldn't be the player he is today...

As a rookie, you need to get your shot... And use it when it comes. Like in any other sport, you have to assert your self, if you are going to make it and that time and chance is usually from someone elses pocket. Its not like they make the games longer every year to accomodate the new rookies. And its not like everyone gets handed a sports franchise to save... Darko is a good example, but I won't get into that...

[Axel]

The thing is most NBA players could put up what he has (especially points in the run and gun Memhis system) when playing with the players he has. So many players are out, so his "ranking" on the option level in terms of shooting soars. If you look at the numbers, they are nice, but not all that impressive when you go deeper and compare them to what other players around the league are putting up.

Marquis Daniels level at best come next season IMO.

You're forgetting his athleticism. He's a great leaper, and a good defender as well. Long arms and quick. Just because he plays for Memphis means nothing. A lot of teams have switched to the run and gun style, and he could fit in for many teams.

Just looking at the numbers isn't good enough.

[Its_asdf]

I was made a Kinsey fan after he posterized AK-47.

[Andrew]

It's not just a matter of skill, it's a matter of opportunity. Unless he can permanently displace Mike Miller and Rudy Gay in the lineup, starting ahead of them and playing 42 minutes per game as he has done through April, it seems unlikely he'll have the opportunity to match his production through the latter stages of this season.