[Video] Royce White's First NBA Basket (UPDATED: Full Royce Highlights)

Royce made little to no effort in defense. I truly hope that was just a deer in headlights kind of affect. If he can't step up his defense, he will not make the final cut.

Rule of thumb: any rookies who can't hold his own on defense will not make the team.

 

Really? No effort? He made effort, not to mention he had a nice block on Vince Carter that was called a foul, and a block a few minutes later on another guy.

Anybody who knows the guys game in reality knows he's not a very strong defender outside of rebounding. Everyone acts like they're shocked, but if you actually did your homework, you would have already known this.

****ing armchair GMs. Amazing.

 

I am with you on this one. None of the rookies really gave any effort on defense not fair at all to single out Royce. Which is as to be expected when these young guys come into the NBA more often than not all they care about is offense & scoring.

 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/kwnkg6EA_YY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

I think most of us realize that Royce needs the ball in his hands to be effective.

The question is:

Should he have the ball in his hands?

My answer is...after watching that ragtag effort by the bench brigade last night and after seeing the ineffectiveness of our backup point guard play...I think we would be better served as a team right now with Royce coming off the bench and initiating the second unit offense. That doesn't mean he's playing point guard. That means we are matching up defensively with the right guys and we let Royce run the offense from the top.

We drafted this kid in the first round. The Rox have consistently said he's a top 5 talent but that his mental illness is what caused him to drop. So, once again, just like with Morris last year, you gotta put this guy in a position to succeed. You waste him when you put him out there and ask him to stand in the corner on offense and then you ask him to defend smalls defensively.

I don't see how this team would be worse off by playing him in his appropriate position, that is having him guard a big defensively, and having him run the offense at the top on the other end, over what we did last night. Our backup point guard play is severely lacking. There's no reason not to experiment with Royce running the offense from the top.

 

Unless you're an EXPLOSIVE talent like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, or a few other rookies, you are going to look lost more times than not in your first few NBA games. You are essentially coming onto a new team, with new teammates, trying to learn all new plays, and what everybody on your team is good and not good at. It takes time to learn.

After one game in a brand new environment, to judge someone is ****ing bush league in my opinion and doesn't show a complete understanding of anything. Look around the league. This isn't just a Rockets thing, most (NOT ALL) rookies are lost out there. There are some that are obviously not lost, but more times than not a rookie (a true rookie, someone who has not played D-league or Pro Europe ball) is going to be lost the first game or two. Give it time. It's a typical fan overreaction when they see a guy drafted and he doesn't pan out in one game. It takes more than one point to make a line (trend) last I checked.

 

A few thing strike me as interesting in this thread...

A. Royce scoring the ball a few times is not special.

B. Was he impressive? No.

C. What does "having the ball to be effective" really even mean? That just means 10 percent of the time he's effective... some of the time. He's sure as hell not scoring 30 points... meaning all of that other stuff... like defense and running the floor... and spacing... and being a smart basketball player... is making his overall contribution when he's on the floor a negative. To me that's just saying he's a rookie who doesn't know what the hell to do.

D. He's a rookie who doesn't know what the hell to do.

E. Who cares what position he plays as long as he's developing? The guy is a swingman and should be moved around to fit the needs of the matchup, NOT the wants of clutchfans who pigeonhole players based on highlights.

 

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Not sure if serious

 

I have agreed with everything you said. There is a lot of overreaction going on for all the young guys which is to be expected. I love Royce and I don't know much about his game prior to SL & todays play but I have been taken your word for it so keep posting. I think he has legit potential & could develop into a special player in the NBA & I agree with jpotmac that it may be best for him to lead the offense for the 2nd unit but I don't know if McHale will do that. Try not to take what a lot of people on the board are saying because it will drive you mad. I had to stop checking the Royce White thread when he had his training camp invite because some of the comments were driving me crazy.

 

Not sure if serious[/QUOTE]

completely

 

completely[/QUOTE]

So as long as someone is developing, you could care less what position they play? Most players can play more than one position, but most players really only excel at one of those (two if they're lucky).

 

Seems like you are one of the few who saw a different game than the rest of us. Royce homer? When the player he guarding was in motion to shoot on the baseline, Royce just stood there and watched, not much feet movement to close the gap, not contesting the shot...he barely put up his hand. That was zero effort to me.

 

So as long as someone is developing, you could care less what position they play? Most players can play more than one position, but most players really only excel at one of those (two if they're lucky).[/QUOTE]

There are plenty of players who get moved into multiple positions to go with a matchup, and as we are now, we're in a developmental mode where players need to try different things and grow their game. We're not trying to win it all right now; we're trying to find out what works and develop talent. There is nothing more important than development. I don't see why you're balking at the suggestion that Royce should switch positions depending on the matchup. This is a common move in the NBA when figuring out how to matchup against other teams.

 

I didn't get a chance to see the game and only listened to the second half. I am going to assume Crowder was Royce's man. Right?

 

Yes. He was facing up at the 3-point line and Royce was faded down towards the paint, giving him the shot. Crowder kept nailing it down. Finally after Crowder nailed about 5 of them, Royce came out and challenged and Crowder missed, only to get lost in transition a possession or two later and get another wide open look.

 

Thanks. First game jitters hopefully. McHale should straighten it out.

 

Yep, completely. I have seen pretty much every game of his since he came to Iowa State. That is why I'm saying this is BS, but you won't see me defending his defense because it's not good and everyone including the Rockets' staff KNEW it was a big weakness of his.

Essentially when you think about it, the guy quit basketball and didn't play, shoot, or anything for a year after his Minnesota deal. Then he got picked up by Iowa State, but had to sit out a year due to transfer rules. He was able to play pickup games, summer league games, and practice, but nothing else.

First game last year, Exhibition versus Grand Valley State (DIVISION 2), his first game in essentially over two years, he had 14 and 7, but looked kind of lost for a little bit. Everyone was saying "okay, he did okay but he's not as good as I thought." Then the next game against Lehigh (who beat Duke in the NCAA tournament and nearly went to the Sweet 16), he had something like 25 points and 13 rebounds and everyone said "okay...nevermind" and he never looked back from there.


As far as his play goes, nobody would ever tell you, even the biggest Royce White fanboys, that he's a great defender. Can he rebound? Yes, he can. Is he marginal on every other type of defense? Pretty much. He has some nice blocks sometimes, but outside of rebounding, his defense his definitely the weakest part of his game. Rightfully so. Defense is hard to play. It takes a lot more athleticism to play truly good defense. While he's athletic, he's not athletic enough to have the amazing lateral quickness and speed which these types of defenses require especially when you're guarding someone who is much shorter and quicker than you (i.e. Jae Crowder).

As far as his offense goes, he's quicker than you think. Deceptive quickness. He's not going to wow you like a Rose, LeBron, etc but he will make you say "wait a minute.." when he has the ball. His passing speaks for itself. He had a pass that was off last night, but 3 of his passes last night were fairly good and his teammates couldn't handle it (even though the passes had no gas on it). A few more they could not finish. Contrary to popular belief, he does not need the ball in his hands to be effective on offense. He is at his best (without the ball) when he's running screens and the pick and roll. He is also effective when say he has the ball say 15-17 feet away and there's a teammate on the perimeter. Often times he will kick it out to that guy if that guy is a good shooter. White will then block off the surrounding defender (or two) so his teammate will get a wide open shot. He did this numerous times a game at Iowa State, which is why Iowa State shot so well from 3 point range last year. Something like 5 or 6 of the players shot at around 40% from 3 point last year, and a big reason was from what I just mentioned above. Anyone saying he actually needs the ball in his hands to be effective has not watched him play outside of summer league and one preseason game.

Could he be a flop? Absolutely. Given that he's played exactly one game, it's a little naive to jump the gun. Sure, he didn't have a good game, and although he had a few flashes of good things, I'd excuse it knowing it's a completely different animal and will take a little bit to get used to. He knows it too. He's on record saying he played bad/terrible.

And I don't buy into the "I don't care what position he plays if he's developing." You need to develop someone at the position they are strongest at. It's completely pointless to play someone and develop them into something they aren't.

 

Crowder had some good defensive moments, and he attacked DMo for and1. He also dished out some assists and stole an offensive rebound off Royce and scored. Dude is everywhere.

 

Crowder was underrated all year. Should have been drafted higher. He tore apart almost everything in the Big East last year.

 

How do you find out what position he does best at? Think about it.