Thursday, April 21, 2005

Rookie Battle Comes Down to a Pair of Huskies

From Josh Smith's dunks to Ben Gordon's late-game heroics, rookies have had some pretty impressive showings this season in the NBA. Here's my countdown of the top 5 diaper-dandies-
5. Andre Iguodala, G/F- Philly: Not a bad season for the #9 pick (8.9 pts, 5.7 rebs, 2.9 dimes), and he edges Atlanta's Josh Smith for the fifth spot. Both can throw down with the best of 'em, but Andre starts for a playoff team and has caused elite players like Kobe Bryant to comment on his lock-down D.
4. Josh Childress, G/F- Atlanta: Averaging 10.0, 5.9, & 1.9 per game as the #6 overall pick in the draft, Childress really came on strong down the stretch as a consistent source of scoring and rebounding.
3. Dwight Howard, F/C- Orlando: A double-double (11.8 pts, 10.1 rebs) as a ROOKIE? Are you kidding me? Unfortunately for Howard, another rookie surpassed even this stat, and still another fueled a surprising team into the playoffs.
2. Ben Gordon, G- Chicago: The Baby Bulls are a bonafide NCAA All-America squad (sort of), and Gordon has been their brightest star, averaging 15.1 pts, 2.6 boards, 2.0 assists for the #4-seed Bulls...not to mention he absolutely went crazy every fourth quarter, notching a few game-winners along the way.
1. Rookie of the Year- Emeka Okafor, F/C- Charlotte: Although nearly impossible to out-do Howard and Gordon, Okafor did just that. As the only consistent threat on the Bobcats, defenses focused on him every game, yet he averaged 15.1, 10.9, & 1.7 blocks per contest.

1 Comments:

At 2:03 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I really wish that the ROTY was determined by a teams success as well as the individual player's stats. I dont think Okafor should win this award with the pathetic record of the bobcats. I dont think he would be putting these numbers up on a team that is semi-descent. I say Gordon wins it.. although he won't.

Larry "Salvatore" Kinklish

 

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