6. The rookie race
I realize the general consensus is that the Rookie of the Year race is over, and to the extent that it isn't over is because Al Horford is pushing Kevin Durant for the top honor.
But allow me to bring two other names to your attention. At the very least, these guys deserve to be named first-team All-Rookie, instead of the usual pattern of voting for players who played a lot of minutes but didn't necessarily play them well. (Somewhere, Adam Morrison is quietly taking a bow).
The first is Philadelphia's Thaddeus Young. He's the same age as Durant and has a better PER at 16.33. In fact, his ascension into the starting lineup has been one of the catalysts behind the Sixers' playoff push. Philly is 20-16 when he plays at least 12 minutes, and 11-6 when he plays at least 24.
The 6-foot-8 teenager ranks second among all NBA small forwards in both shooting percentage (52.6 percent, second only to Atlanta's Josh Childress) and rebound rate (surpassed only by fellow rook Jared Dudley of Charlotte).
Better yet, his closet is skeleton-free. In talking to some Sixers people before a recent game, they seem as impressed by his character as they were by his game. He still has to improve his jumper and see the floor better, but he has superstar potential and nobody's talking about him.
Yet one player has been even more impressive than Young, at least in his rookie season. His name is Carl Landry ... or as I've taken to calling him, Carl Landry!
As in, guess who's averaging 19.3 points and 12.9 boards per 40 minutes? Carl Landry!
Can you believe who's shooting 62.7 percent from the floor? Carl Landry!
Do you know who's fifth among all power forwards in rebound rate, ahead of David Lee and Kevin Garnett? My goodness, it's Carl Landry!
Care to guess who's leading all rookies in PER? Yep ... Carl Landry!
Better yet, have you heard who has the best PER on a 37-20 Houston team with two perennial All-Stars? Would you believe ... Carl Landry!
The second-round pick from Purdue was an afterthought in Houston's preseason plans -- 6-7 power forwards with limited shooting range haven't had the greatest track record in the NBA. As a result, he only played in three games prior to New Year's Day.
But on Jan. 11, he went 7-for-7 against Minnesota and hasn't been out of the rotation since. The fact that Landry's increased playing time has been met with a 13-game Houston win streak is not a coincidence. The Rockets are 17-1 when Landry plays more than 10 minutes, and 20-19 when he doesn't.
I'll grant that his numbers have only been generated in 377 minutes and it seems unlikely that he can keep up quite such a prolific pace. Nonetheless, any discussion of the league's top rookies has to include Landry. He's been brilliant at both ends when he's played, and it's not his fault he was nailed to the bench for half the season.
前面大意是说最佳新秀的杜兰特与霍福德之争，但有另外两个球员值得关注，至少够资格进入新秀第一阵容，不象莫里森上场时间很多效率却很低
第一个是76人的Thaddeus Young，他与杜兰特同龄效率更高（PER16.33),他进入先发阵容是76人争夺季后赛资格的推进剂，这个身高6英尺8的少年在所有NBA的小前锋中投蓝命中率排名第二（仅次于Josh Childress），蓝板效率在小前锋中仅落后于新秀Jared Dudley 。没有人谈到他有全明星潜质。
然而有一个球员比YYoung更让人印象深刻，起码在新秀赛季，他的名字就是卡尔-兰德里！
猜猜是谁每40分钟就能得到19.3分，12.9个蓝板？卡尔--兰德里
你能相信有球员在场上能有62.7的命中率，卡尔--兰德里
你知不知道谁在所有大前锋中蓝板效率排前五位，超过大卫-李与加内特，我的天啊，还是卡尔--兰德里
猜猜谁的PER效率领先所有新秀，耶，还是卡尔--兰德里
更不可思议的是，有两名全明星常客，37-20负的火箭队，PER效率值领先的是？你相信吗，...还是卡尔--兰德里
从普渡大学第二轮选中的，六尺七寸的大前锋兰德里，并不在火箭赛季前的计划中，结果，他在新年以前只出场三次
今年1月11日，兰德里对森林狼7投7中，从此后他没有被排除在轮换阵容之外，事实上兰德里的上场时间增加与火箭队的十三连胜并不是一种巧合，当兰德里上场时间超过10分钟以上，火箭队17胜1负，而20胜19负时，兰德里得不到10分钟的出场时间
我给兰德里如此高度评价只是依据377分钟的上场时间，似乎在更多的上场时间难以保持这种效率。不过，任何联盟顶级新秀的讨论都以包括了兰德里。当他上场比赛在攻防两方面都能闪光，这不是他的错误，被冷落在板凳上半个赛季。 |
發表於 2008-2-29 05:21 PM
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