NBA R.O.Y.
Last night I was trolling the internet and came across a story posted on Slam magazine’s website by Lang Whitaker, the subject was who should be this seasons Rookie of the Year in the NBA.
Before the season started, everyone seemed certain that Kevin Durant would be the ROY. After all, the Sonics were in the midst of dismantling their team and screwing over their fans and the city that has supported them, so Durant was going to be their main offensive option. As it turned out, Durant was their best offensive player, and through 75 games he’s averaged 20 points per game.
Meanwhile, in Atlanta, Al Horford quickly worked his way into the starting lineup and has done the dirty work all season long. Through 76 games, Horford has averaged almost exactly half as many points per game as Durant (on almost exactly half as many shots per game), but he’s also averaging 9.7 rebounds per game, including 3 offensive boards per night.
I’ve enjoyed watching several rookies this season, from Luis Scola to Jamario Moon to my man Yi. But in my mind, Durant and Horford are the two best rookies out there. It’s deciding between them that’s so tough.
So, I’m turning to you guys to help me make up my mind. Who do you think deserves the award? Who has been the Rookie of the Year?
Well if you really want to know what I think I will tell you. My selection criteria is based on these factors, Stats, obvious but all stats matter so the fact that a person can out score another is only one stat out of many. Team wins, I think it’s very important when awarding something like ROY or MVP that what the players team does is taken into consideration. Where would the team be (without said player), for instance Glen Davis happens to play for the best team in the East but since the Celtics wouldn’t be any worse off without him that cancels out his contributions. So I am starting out with my top three rookies and then I’ll run them through my system and let you know who I think should win. Kevin Durant and Al Horford, since these are the two players that Lang Whitaker asked about, and Luis Scola after all this site is called LosEstadosLatinos so I have to give Latinos more love.
Based on statistical outputs the three come pretty close. Durant leads in points per game but Horford has a better percentage and Scola plays about 10 minutes less per game and is far more efficient with field goal percentage of .513. I’m not sure I can give an edge to any of these guys but I guess I will give it to Durant who scores the most points.
- Kevin Durant
- Al Horford
- Luis Scola
Team records easily puts Luis Scola in the lead as the Rockets ran off 22 straight wins at one point and in the West. Kevin Durant shouldn’t catch the blame for his teams futility since it was a forgone conclusion that Clay Bennett decided to dump most of the players to free up some cap room for Oklahoma City. But Al Horford pulls even due to the fact that his Hawks might make the playoffs for the first time in years, honestly I don’t know for sure when they made it last but the last time I remember was 1998.
- Luis Scola
- Al Horford
- Kevin Durant
Lastly where would these teams be without these guys. I believe that Seattle would still suck and that Houston may have been able to find a guy to fill Scola’s minutes, but Atlanta without Horford seems to have the biggest drop off. I mean this is a guy who knows how to win, remember back to back NCAA Tourney Titles? With his toughness and basketball IQ inside the Hawks are able to compete with less, albeit in the Eastern conference, but still this team would not be in contention without Horford. I don’t want to completely over look Luis Scola’s contribution to the Rockets, but once Yao went down everyone on that team stepped up to a whole new level so perhaps had the Rockets not made the brilliant trade to get Scola from the Spurs someone else could have stepped up in his place.
- Al Horford
- Luis Scola
- Kevin Durant
Based on my criteria it would seem that Al Horford should be the rookie of the year. I think you can make a case for all three, especially after Durant’s game against Denver that everyone seems to be talking about. So if LosEstadosLatinos.com had a pick it would be Horford for rookie of the year.
Even though no one asked we’d also pick Kobe as MVP.
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