NBA Rookie Report: Week 2

Week two of the 2005 NBA season has come to a conclusion and the further we go the more we’ll see out of an already exciting crop of young guns. It’s early in the season schedule, but already there are some newcomers cracking the veteran rotations of their respective clubs. Here at DraftExpress we will provide coverage of all the season’s developments as they pertain to these first year dynamos as they scratch and claw their way through the depth charts and become household names. Five by five they come alive each and every week, complete with play summary and capped off with a feature match-up analyzing one of the spotlight rookies.


Five Fighters out of the Gates:

Chris Paul- Season: 15.4pts 4.8rbs 4.8ast 2stls. Best game: 26pts 5rbs 3ast, 10-14fg

930

The Good: Paul has been as good as advertised thus far and then some, leading the Hornets to a surprising 2-3 record early in the season, and putting himself in prime position next to Andrew Bogut as the early favorites for Rookie of the Year. Paul has been the primary ball handler for his team and has a very respectable 2 to 1 assist to turnover ratio so far. His outside shot has been very strong with his feet set and that perimeter threat has allowed Paul to penetrate opposing defenses on strong drives to hoop where he has taken full advantage of the collapsing defenses.

The Bad: Shot selection and turnovers are the two main concerns for Paul at this stage in the season. Paul drives aggressively to the hoop, but his recognition of defensive rotations is not developed enough at this point—which is really not surprising five games into the season learning the toughest position the NBA has to offer. Although Paul is explosive and fairly strong for his size he is getting swallowed inside on the defensive rotations and that is leading to a majority of his turnovers.

Outlook: It’s difficult to over analyze any trends in play this early in the season, so there shouldn’t be too much cause for concern as far as Paul’s decision making goes, especially considering the team he plays for. Paul has broken out the full arsenal of floaters, reverse-lay ups, and every other crafty attack move in his bag of tricks, showing without a doubt that it won’t be his size that holds him back from making a big impact in the NBA. Paul’s body control and vision are superb when he takes to the air allowing Chris to bail himself out of tough situations in mid-air. Like most players making the transition to pro ball, Paul needs to work on his 3 point range as it seems just out of his natural range thus far. Still, Paul gets good arc on his shot and his form remains solid. I’d expect Paul’s play to continually improve all season as recognition and repetition are all he needs at this point.