re: Best rookie from 2013 NBA draft

You keep laughing at Noel's name like he isn't going to be a good or great pro.

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For the past couple of days, Noel has been on display for the media to see. Monday it was in Atlanta following the team's shootaround. Yesterday it was at the team's practice facility at PCOM. The rust from not having played since a torn ACL in his left knee toward the end of his only season at Kentucky felled him is more obvious than anything. But there are just so many signs that he could be everything that people thought he could be in the NBA before the injury that dropped him from the undisputed top pick to the sixth overall.

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"The first thing that I've fallen in love with is that he is beyond competitive. There is a dog in him, there is a toughness in him that I misjudged, because you look at him and he's got those big eyes at 19 years old and there's a naiveté that no doubt exists within him, as it should. So you're talking to him and he doesn't talk a lot, he listens a lot, he's a fantastic listener. As you go through all those months shooting one-handed with him and then all of the sudden you see him come out here, he's a tremendous competitor. For me, it's the No. 1 quality that makes somebody special. Then you get into the athleticism where he's got that bounce and he can jump twice. People that can miss a blocked shot, hit the floor and go back up are special. And he can do it both with his right hand and his left hand. I think the growth of his actual foul shot will carry over to his real shot, [which] has been excellent this year. I'm proud of the time that we've spent with him. I see a far more mature type of player having gone through all the film sessions and the weight room sessions and on a team bus. He's been with the team, he just hasn't played. This year has been invaluable to him."

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I would not be surprised if we look up a year from now and he being considered for ROY.

Mutumbo? He did ok.

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There's a lot more evidence to suggest he isn't(fluff pieces are not to the contrary)

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Not really

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He can block shots all he wants to but that skill will only get him so far.

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He was doing it a higher level than Anthony Davis did and was on pace to break Rondo's freshman steals record.

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An ACL injury in a young center is scary

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It was a freak injury.

Tyson Chandler won DPOY and helped a Dallas team win a championship with a very limited offensive game.

Nerlens is still only 19 years old.

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Mutumbo had an offensive game?

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I was talking about measureables

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Tyson Chandler won DPOY and helped a Dallas team win a championship with a very limited offensive game.

Nerlens is still only 19 years old.

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It's not like he had to score much on a DAL team loaded with weapons(Dirk/Terry/Barea/Marion)

Tyson actually has a decent offensive game(at the very least gets the job done)

ETA: clarified for idiots

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Tyson actually has a pretty decent offensive game

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If you mean set screens and dunk the ball, sure.

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We'll just have to agree to disagree on this subject

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It just seems odd that is usually Pels fans that are convinced he is going to stink hmmmm....

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I wouldn't have liked if we took a chance on a guy that just had a major injury and all of the risk that comes with it(too many variables)

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Makes sense because y'all are in a win now attitude.

Philly can live with having to wait a couple years for him to work on his game.

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Yeah their fans are pretty bitter about the media reaction to the Holiday trade.

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Most of us were upset at the media jumping the gun thinking we traded away a future HOF C and a pick for an "average" PG(i know it's some hyperbole but it was irritating)

We all know jrue isn't average and they forget we got pierre jackson as well who could become a very solid combo guard.

The pick isn't looking too great either(IMO)

It could easily become a good trade for both sides