I haven't looked it up but I would guess a majority of th rookies who have looked like scrubs turned out to be scrubs.
I think most afford rookies latitude on their play but Ben has played below that bar and has not shown sufficient flashes to have the fanbase excited for his future IMO
I don't like lumping any player into one pile and then passing judgement on that one player because he fits that description. It always comes down to the individual. These players are human beings, and some are more coachable than others. Some have a greater passion to be great than others. Some have greater athletic ability than others. Some have played basketball since they were five years old, and some of them had fathers that were NBA players, or in some cases professional players in another sport, like Noahs father, who was a great tennis player. Then there are the players like McLemore, and now, another player I lust after Joel Embiid, that came to the sport late, and so their behind the curve. McLemore didn't play basketball until late in highschool, and only played one year of college ball. So its no surprise to me that he's struggling from time to time.
Its easy to look at players like Jordan, and Bird etc, and forget that they played four years of college ball and had been playing the game since they were young children. Be careful who you want to get rid of so quickly, and I'm not referring to you personally. At the moment, Paul George is considered a blooming superstar, and mostly what he had going for him coming out of college was his athleticism, and the ability to hit the outside shot. His first year in the NBA wasn't anything to blow your socks off.
George: 20.7 MPG - 7.8 PPG - 45.3% FGP - 29.7% 3PP - 3.7 RPG - 1 SPG
As you can see, he struggled with his 3 point shot. But all in all, it was a typical rookie year. Compare him to McLemore currently.
McLemore: 25.4 MPG - 8.7 PPG - 37.5% FGP - 35.3% 3PP - 3.0 RPG - 1.0 APG
As you can see, McLemore struggles more inside the 3 pt line than outside it. Obviously, his ballhandling needs to improve, but for the most part, he just needs to slow down and let the game come to him a little more. George was a better ballhandler coming out of college, and he had more experience defensively. Where do you people think BBIQ comes from? Experience, and the ability to retain what your learned. If you've played basketball since you were 5 years old, you should have more BBIQ than someone thats only played the game for 4 or so years. This comparison to Thomas Robinson is just nonsense. Robinson couldn't shoot the ball, and relied totally on his athleticism. Plus, he had 3 years of college. Robinson also had the problem of believing his press clippings to his detriment.
McLemore's coach at Kansas said that he was one of the most talented players he ever coached. That he was a humble kid who was very coachable, and that he picked up the game quickly. No doubt McLemore would have benefited from another year in college. As a result, he's a little like a fish out of water. But that doesn't mean you throw him away, especially for a role player. How would you like it if 2 or 3 years from now, he ended up being a star in the league, and we just traded him for role defensive player. One doesn't have to be at the exclusion of the other. You want a role player to start now, then go get one, but keep McLemore.
One final note. Anyone that wants to blame last nights loss on McLemore just didn't pay attention to the game, especially in the final 5 or 6 minutes of the game. By my count McLemore guarded Ginobili twice in that period of time. Gay spent more time guarding him than just about anybody, and Thornton got destroyed by Ginobili by playing off him. The Spurs are one of the best half court teams in the NBA. They throw double screens at you and you end up with one player guarding two players, and having to decide which one to guard. Early in the game, Belinelli cut from the top of the key straight to the basket with McLemore following (Belinelli didn't have the ball) As Belinelli went through the key, McLemore ran into a double screen, which stopped him dead in his tracks. Belinelli then ran right past Gay, leaving Gay with the decision of whether to stay with his own man, or head for the corner to contest Belinelli shooting a three. Not a good choice! He opted to stay with his own man since it was closer to the basket, and Belinelli got the ball for a wide open three. Now he missed that one, but you get my point. To think that our young team isn't going to be fooled by the Spurs, is ridiculous. The Spurs upped the defense at the end of the 4th, and won the game. Nothing new to them.