[TRC1991Participant]

I’ve been waiting all year for him to get going and provide the Hornets with offense off the bench but he’s shooting a horrific 29% from the field and just cant get anything to fall…he looks like hes forcing things and playing out of rhythm…hopefully things change because everyones a loser in this current situation

the next worst FG% for a player with 100+ attempts is Dorell Wright (33.3%)

[Lebron’s HairlineParticipant]

Yes he sucks this year but you have to realize Austin is making the transition from shooting guard to point guard, which is not easy(harder for him). I think he needs some time in the D league to work on his game as the D league is now being seen as a minor league of the NBA. Will he be a star? Probably not, but he will have a nice career. Some rookies just need time to work on their games before they take that next jump in their career

[A Lil EnglishParticipant]

I’m pretty sure Rivers has been playing at the 2. He certainly did last night, off the bench. Still went 0 for 5 and got swatted all over the place by Sanders.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

Yea, Austin hasn’t played point guard very much so far this season. I’m getting tired of people saying it and using that as an excuse towards why he’s struggling.

He’s a young rookie, so he’ll get better, but this kid is just really really bad right now. Once Eric Gordon returns healthy, I really think they should send him to the D-League.

[For_Never_EverParticipant]

I have no doubt he’ll be a solid good player, give him a little more time. He has the handles, ball iq and good shooting ability for a SG. It’s easy to see his weaknesses though slighty short with average arm length at best, thin weak frame and not high leaper. I don’t believe he will ever be a great player, but being picked 10th overall is very reasonable and justified for the kinda impact and caliber player he will become.

[SiggyParticipant]

High bball IQ? His IQ is very poor which is one of the main reasons why he’s struggling. Instead of playing his aggressive, shot-jacking style that he’s developed over the years, he’s trying to be smarter and pick his spots better, while trying to blend into the team concept, but he doesn’t know how to because he has a poor bball IQ. This team basketball concept is so foreign to him that he’s thinking way too much on the floor and isn’t able to play free and easy.

His shot is ugly too. He shoots a two handed shot which makes it tough to get consistent touch on the ball. He’s got a bunch of moving parts too and even adds a little leg pump, so everything has to be in sync in order for him to get a good stroke on the ball. He has very little margin for error with his shot.

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

For Ever,

Why do you you and others say that Rivers has “good shooting ability for a SG”? What do you mean by that? He has a funky looking jump shot. He doesn’t make jump shots consistently. He didn’t make jump shots consistently in college. He can’t hit anything here in the pros. Where is this ability? Seriously, if he has good shooting ability, what does bad shooting ability at SG look like to you?

I see him as having a nice handle, plenty of speed, plenty of hops for the position. (You don’t have to jump like DWade or a young Kobe or Stackhouse to play SG.) The physical stuff looks fine to me. He just can’t seem to use those physical skills on the court in any sort of effective way.

But he is young. He will get stronger and he will get better. The problem is he has to get a lot better before he can be anything but a huge liability on the court. He should thank god he was drafted in the lottery, has his name and his three year contract. Even playing like this he will be able to hang in this league for awhile. If he washes out in NOH (and it is way too early to say he will), he will get picked up by another coach attempting to unleashes his “talent”.

[For_Never_EverParticipant]

I don’t see any problems with his forms. I kinda meant he has an all around shooting game, able to knock down catch and shoot, off the dribble shots. I didn’t say he is a great shooter, but don’t think his shot should prompts a post about how he’s a poor shooter when he really isn’t.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

Majority of NBA players can catch and shoot or shoot off of the dribble… However, that doesn’t mean they’re good at it. And if they’re not good at it, you can’t say they have an all around shooting game.

Whether Austin is catching and shooting, dribbling and shooting or standing still and shooting… He’s been a below average to poor shooter. I know the great Reggie Miller always said it’s about consistency/repetition, but Austin’s mechanics are very poor. His elbow is out, left hand stays on the ball too long and he doesn’t always shoot at the top of his jump.

[JoeWolf1]

He needs to get a lot stronger. At 6’5” 200 lbs you’d think he was fairly well built, but he lacks strength and I think that is coming into play when it comes to his finishing in the lane. He’s a project, he isn’t good, but he’ll get better.

In the month of November, he shot 39% from 3 point range, so it’s not his shot that is jacked. Like many of you guys said, it’s how he’s going about getting his points.

I think his FG% will be up to 36 or 37% by the end of the year. Bad, but not awful for a rookie.

[For_Never_EverParticipant]

Ok, so would you guys say Bradley Beal is horrible shooter as well ? I think he has been getting more minutes and more opportunity to shoot the ball.

[SiggyParticipant]

I think Beal’s a good form shooter who is struggling with creating his own shot and shooting from different situations (like off the bounce and on the move). He needs someone who can create the shots for him. I at least think Beal will be a good catch and shoot guy, which is more than I can say about RIvers.

[For_Never_EverParticipant]

I’m not stats person, so I’m looking pass that. All I know he knows how to play. He awfully streaky shooter, but he isn’t that bad of perimeter shooter or has a broken jumper. He has shown in college range on his jumper to 3 pointline as well. Austin Rivers has a smooth stroke, just needs to be more consistent, I think. Yeah, I agree Beal isn’t good at creating his own and is a different player. So I shouldn’t have brought him up in this.

[SiggyParticipant]

I’m curious, what gives you the impression that Rivers knows how to play? Like, what have you seen from him, at any level of basketball, would lead you to come to that conclusion?

Also, what makes his stroke “smooth”? It looks herky jerky and disjointed, especially from a catch and shoot situation. I hope “smooth” isn’t synonymous with “good” because guards with good strokes don’t shoot as poorly as he does from the FT line.

[For_Never_EverParticipant]

We aren’t going come to terms on this.
So, I’m just going to wait bit longer to see if you guys are right about this.

[omphalosParticipant]

I still couldn’t believe how much hype he was getting coming out of high school, and his stubborn insistence that there’s nothing wrong with his shot is laughable.

People are under the mistaken impression that he’s a good shooter because he hit ONE big shot in college in a highly publicised game, but he’s still terrible defensively, and I think his athleticism is highly overrated.

For a coach’s son, he’s surprisingly lacking in fundamentals, but I guess Doc wasn’t around much to teach him the game growing up with his coaching commitments.

[For_Never_EverParticipant]

I’m not a Austin Rivers fan, just putting out there.
I just think he will be a solid good player, and I don’t believe his jumper is broken.

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

The FT% in college was just terrible for a guy who is supposed to have a jumper. I don’t hold NBA players to unrealistic standards for FT%s, but SG who are expected to make their living shooting jumpers and getting to the line should be able to hit FTs at 80%. That was weird.

[Malik-UniversalParticipant]

I thought he should’ve went back to school………

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

What I meant was it was weird how bad Rivers was at FTs and he is shooting about the same now in the Pros. How can he be that bad as a SG who is supposed to be a skill guy and not an athletic freak guy?

[Mad MaxParticipant]

Too be fair, River’s has no buisness shooting the amount of shots he has been taking, but New Orleans is gutted right now with injuries and they’re relying on Rivers to be a scorer for them when he isn’t ready/good enough to be in that role right now. I can promise you if swapped Rivers for another team’s role player that River’s is on the same level on, say a James Anderson, he would be playing poorly too. Obviously River’s is not what everyone thought or hoped for, but he’s in a bad spot right now, he should have a smaller role and develop from there. Who know’s? Maybe he can learn and get better from this.

[SiggyParticipant]

He’s not even taking that many shots and his role on the team is not that big. Per 36 he’s taking less than 10 shots a game. He’s actually being very selective with his shots. He just sucks at making them.

They’re not relying on him to do anything really. They’re just getting him game experience.

[BlueRivers25Participant]

UNC fans dont think so…. http://youtu.be/3X1ewxVwhug

[HaleParticipant]

Worst argument ever. And Duke fans wonder why people hate them…

[BlueRivers25Participant]

I know what you hate Austin Rivers… click on the YouTube link above and remind yourself.

[BlueRivers25Participant]

“Austin Rivers, at least people are talking about you.” – Kendall Marshall aka Jason Kidd 2.0

[HaleParticipant]

I’m a Memphis fan…and I think Marshall would love to be J-Kidd 2.0…again this is just another reason to hate Duke and their fans, complete lack of maturity.

[BlueRivers25Participant]

I’m glad you hate Duke fans, I already you know hate Rivers, I hope you hate Duke too. You keep Duke and Duke fans in the forefront of topics and conversations.
Dont care about Memphis, so you wont hear me say anything about your team.

[HaleParticipant]

I don’t hate most Duke fans, but the immaturity of your posts and you constantly bringing up 1 shot as your only evidence for why Rivers won’t suck is quickly making me hate you.

[BlueRivers25Participant]

So which is it? Do you hate Austin Rivers or Duke or Duke fans or just me. Stop changing ur mind.

[DuncanRulesParticipant]

.As a fellow Duke fan. Stop.

[BlueRivers25Participant]

Troll

[SUbeParticipant]

wow

[HaleParticipant]

When have I changed my mind? I hate Duke, I hate some Duke fans, and I’m beginning to hate you because all you do is post nonsense.

[BlueRivers25Participant]

Dont forget, u dont like Rivers also because he hit the dagger against unc.

[HaleParticipant]

I don’t like him because he is a cocky prick who isn’t good and yet still had hype. But I’ve felt that way about him long before he was even at Duke.

[BlueRivers25Participant]

Ok so ur hate for Rivers nothing to do with his affiliation with Duke. You start hating a high school kid because he is cocky and confident with his game. In high school Rivers was one of the best players in his class and position.
I guarentee you Duke fans were not hyping him. Who do u say was hyping him?

[HaleParticipant]

He was ranked #1 in his class for awhile…if that’s not hype I don’t know what is. I’ve never liked him and I’ve never liked Duke. In fact Rivers was the first high school basketball player I’ve ever disliked.That doesn’t mean I just randomly hate all Duke players, I like Kyrie and I like Sulaimon.

[BasketballJunkie224Participant]

i love duke and hate austin rivers… the only impressive thing ive ever seen him do is hit that shot against unc

[Mad MaxParticipant]

I hate duke and like austin rivers……..opposites attract right?

[joecheck88Participant]

I definitely think it is too early to make predictions about his career. We are talking about a guy that would be a sophomore in college. Remember when guards came from HS and other young guards came to the league and didn’t produce right away? Kyrie is the exception to the rule. Most young guards struggle early. Austin is just on a team where he is getting more minutes than most other young guards have got. I still think he turns into a JR Smith/Jamal Crawford type player down the road. At the 10th pick I think that is a very fine pickup. It’s just going to take awhile for him to get there. Just like it took JR.

[lewaoParticipant]

Why do you you and others say that Rivers has “good shooting ability for a SG”? What do you mean by that? He has a funky looking jump shot. He doesn’t make jump shots consistently. He didn’t make jump shots consistently in college. He can’t hit anything here in the pros. Where is this ability? Seriously, if he has good shooting ability, what does bad shooting ability at SG look like to you?

[JoeWolf1]

Last 3 games:

10.3 ppg 3.3 rpg 2 apg 1 TO ppg 52% FG,

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

And before that three game stretch he shot 0 for 5 in two games and last night 4 for 14. I thought he was unprepared for the NBA but he is worse than even I thought he would be.

But the kid is very young. He will put on lots of good muscle in the next few years and shooting is something that historically players improve on. He will get better.

[Author]

Posts