Blake Griffin is easily the rookie of the year at this point of the season, and will continue to be unless some kind of injury happens. Anyways, I actually watch a lot of Clippers action, since I can’t bring myself to watch the Lakers night in and night out. Griffin is on his way to 400 dunks this season, (leading the NBA), and this one above occurred Sunday night, and I had to go back and re-watch it on youtube today because of it’s awesomeness. This has happened on many occasions, so I figured it was time to throw one up on the blog. This babble has made me feeling Blake Griffin for the dunk contest more than voting Monta Ellis into the All-Star game. I mean, the guy already said he wants to be in it, soooo what’s the holdup!?! If you need some more convincing, here’s his best dunks for the month of November, if that doesn’t convince you, I guess you just don’t like basketball.
Tag Archives: rookie of the year
NBA Fast Break!
Just some quick thoughts on the young NBA season …
Despite getting absolutely destroyed by Chicago tonight, my Golden State Warriors currently hold a 6-3 record going into Saturday’s game in Milwaukee. Things to note: Keith Smart appears to be an excellent coach, who seems to understand today’s players. Steph Curry has not fallen into the Sophomore slump. David Lee is the right acquisition for this team. Dorrell Wright is the perfect acquisition for this team. And finally, the team chemistry is at an all time high. I love this squad. All praise the “Smart” era!
If the Heat crowd consisted of this 24/7, I might change my tune.
Coming into the season, all the talk was about the Miami Heat, and rightfully so. They assembled a baby “Dream Team”. Well, they’re currently 5-4 (not as good as the Warriors) and show no signs of being capable of beating Boston. But, the most shocking thing to me about Miami is, well, they’re boring to watch. LeBron and Wade are a highlight reel waiting to happen but without a soundtrack. What I mean by that is their crowd is weak. LeBron’s posterizing dunks will never quite be the same without the Cleveland crowd behind him. I’m sorry Miami, I’m sure there are some real Heat fans out there, but they’re currently not in the stands.
PS – Chris Bosh plays defense like he’s still at the beach, just enjoying the view …
Free Kevin Love!
David Kahn is probably the worse President in basketball. I take that back, that’s an understatement. David Kahn is absolutely the worse president in basketball. So it’s fitting he’s hired, and kept the worse coach in basketball in Kurt Rambis, employed. Here’s an “NBA Coaching For Dummies” tip for you Rambis, play your best player. I don’t know what Kevin Love’s done to Rambis behind closed doors, perhaps a Delonte/LeBron situation but involving his daughter, but whatever the case, Rambis can’t be limiting Love’s minutes due to “lack of defense”. If that were the case, Michael Beasley should be riding the pine right next to him. Of course, I wouldn’t be concerned about what’s going on in Minnesota, had I not drafted Kevin Love as a keeper in my fantasy league.
M.V.Pau!
Could the Lakers be attempting to chase down history? Some people, including myself thought the Heat would be challenging the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls for ultimate team supremacy and bragging rights, by eclipsing Chicago’s 72 wins season. Well we got the wrong team. It’s the Lakers laying down the foundation towards team immortality. Why didn’t I see the signs? Phil’s last run. Kobe’s competitive nature. I’m sure the moment LeBron announced his plans to hit the W on South Beach, Kobe hit the gym. Plus, Pau Gasol has emerged as the best player on this team, and in the league. Yes I said it. That title has belonged to him ever since the NBA Finals two seasons ago. He was robbed of a Finals’ MVP trophy last season. The Lakers are so good, and so deep, they can cut Andrew Bynum and be O.K. Name another team that could do the same.
John Wall and Blake Griffin are fresh, new and exciting! Like seeing Tony Hawk execute the 900 during the first X Games exciting! At this point, I don’t see either the Wizards or the Clippers making a playoff push, but the race for Rookie of the Year will only continue to heat up! When it’s all said and done, I believe John Wall will edge out Griffin due to the fact that he can do the feminine version of the “Dougie”.
Here …
PS – He dances like a girl.
Storylines for the Upcoming NBA Season
Wow, the NBA season already starts next week! I’m always overly optimistic about my Warriors, and think they will be better than people think, but I always think that so I’ll spare you the preview. I don’t really expect it to be a playoff year for them, but am hoping that we at least find out what our strengths and weaknesses are with this newly formed squadron. I guess my hope is that we don’t have to sign five or six D-League players because the rest of our squad is on the injury report. If you didn’t know I love Curry starting at the point, but he’s been making a lot of turnovers this preseason. Maybe he’s trying to get too fancy with those passes or just isn’t used to his new teammates yet, but it did make this question pop up in my head. Do we even need him to be that great of a passer? David Lee and Ellis are fairly good at passing, so maybe we shouldn’t have the ball in his hands as much as we have been. I guess if Curry’s not worried about it, I shouldn’t be either. Anyways, the real reason for this post wasn’t to figure out how Curry, Lee, and Ellis fit together, it’s about the story lines for this season that I’m excited about that are non-Warriors related.
Too Many Technical Fouls
I wrote awhile back when the new rules for technical fouls came out that it would would ruin and take the emotion out of a game that really needs it. So far this preseason it’s already stirring some controversy. Some players feel that they will adjust to the new rules, while others feel that it’s going too far. I’ll lean towards the going to far side. Stern says that through the NBA’s research, fans want to see less complaining to the officials. This might be somewhat true, but was there a follow up question on that survey that asked if they wanted all emotion taken out of the game? They probably forgot to include that one. Just looking at some of the ejections, you know that this rule is already getting out of hand. I understand if they want to keep guys like Rasheed and Stephen Jackson in check since they constantly bicker with the refs, but when stand up character guys like Grant Hill are getting ejected for a slap on the butt or KG for doing nothing, it’s just bad for the league. I never minded ejections or giving a player a technical if they gave overly emotional reactions, but now are they going to kick guys out for reacting period? Won’t this make the players more passive, and eventually soften the competitive fire? I think so, and I hope some of the true stars in the league push this to the limit. Imagine Kobe, Durant, and Lebron stepping up their arguing this year in a “boycott” of sorts, daring the NBA to throw them out of every game. Does the league want to keep kicking its best athletes out of games? You wouldn’t think so, because that’s bad for everyone from the fans to the players. This feels like worst imaginable way to show that the refs are doing a good job. Now were supposed to believe that if guys aren’t complaining, then the refs aren’t making bad calls? Yeah right, with super slo mo from ten angles we aren’t going to see less crappy calls. As much as they try to convince us that we will like this league better with these rules, they should’ve instead spent that marketing money on training the refs to get the calls right so there’s less complaining. Maybe next year they’ll make a new rule that you aren’t allowed to play defense with your arms!
Melo Continue reading
RFP of the Day: Matt Nokes
One of these things is unlike the others.
Tigers fans are probably cringing right now. Matt Nokes has got to be one of those names that just makes any Detroit fan shake his head. I may have been just a little whippersnapper in 1987, but I remember a pretty good AL Rookie of the Year race. Of course it would eventually go to my hometown hero, Mark McGwire, on the strength of 49 homers and 118 RBI. And first runner up may have gone to Kevin Seitzer of the Royals, but the guy I remember challenging McGwire for the trophy was Tigers’ catcher, Matt Nokes. Nokes was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 20th round of the 1981 draft. He spent a few years in the minors, made his big league debut in 85, went 11 for 53 and was dealt the following offseason to Detroit in a 
multiplayer deal that was essentially the swapping of poo poo platters between the Giants and Tigers. Nokes made just 24 plate appearance for Detroit in 1986, but then he broke out in 87. While batting .289, the Tigers new star player jacked 32 home runs and drove in 87 RBI, which earned him an All-Star berth, a Silver Slugger award, and third place in the AL ROY voting. He even got some clown to give him an MVP vote. The future looked bright for Nokes….. but it wasn’t. He never topped any of those numbers, and despite a slight resurgence in New York with the Yankees in 91-92, he never really made any noise. Those were terrible Yankee teams, so the numbers didn’t mean much. To be honest, I probably haven’t even thought of Matt Nokes in years. I was contemplating a feature on Glenallen Hill or Milt Thompson, and somehow I stumbled upon Nokes. Here’s to you Tiger fans!
NL Rookie of the Year Race is Crowded
With about three weeks left there are a TON of good looking rookies in the NL. For awhile I thought it was Jaime Garcia, then Buster Posey took a slight lead, then Gaby Sanchez, and now Jason Heyward is remaking his case for the ROY award with a hot streak. What I’ve found most interesting about the NL ROY race is that guys like Mike Stanton have 20 homers, Tyler Colvin has 19 homers, Ike Davis has 18 homers, Neil Walker has a .306 average, John Axeford has 21 saves, Stephen Strasberg was insanely good for a bit, and none of these guys are going to be considered for the award. It’s has been an insane year for the youth in the NL, and will probably be just like the NL West race coming down to who has the best final weeks of the season. I’m going to take a look at the top five candidates, and try to figure out which one is the best choice. I’m already leaning towards Heyward during his resurgence, and being in the big leagues all year helps his case. Gaby Sanchez is so underrated that I feel like I should almost just pick him for shock value, but I just can’t do it. Here’s my thoughts on the top five candidates in no particular order. I heavily weighted one thing in my list, and that was the word YEAR, as in playing a complete season. Continue reading
It’s (Almost) Official: Tyreke Evans to be Named NBA Rookie of the Year
It may not be a secret, but chances are you heard it here first. Not that it’s tremendously unpredictable, but Tyreke Evans will be presented with the NBA Rookie of the Year trophy on Thursday. Today, the Sacramento Kings issued a press release announcing a “Major NBA Award Presentation” tomorrow. Unless Carl Landry is winning the MVP, one can only guess what this press conference entails. Unfortunately, this writer will be unable to attend the press conference due to other work obligations, but this announcement comes as little surprise to anyone on this panel. Evans became just the fourth player in NBA history to average more than 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in his rookie season, joining the likes of Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan, and Lebron James. It is truly an honor well-deserved. Congratulations Tyreke on a great rookie campaign.
NorCal Rookie Ramblings
Can I be the fourth guy in your group?
I’ve more than documented my man crush on Curry, and it has even stretched to seeing how he’s spending his time in the off season, sad I know. Make no mistake, I’m not a stalker that’s going to ask Curry to go to Santa Barbra to buy some antiques with me like this guy, who has more of a fatal attraction to Kobe than a mancrush. Curry made an appearance showcasing that he has some game on Monday. No, the Warriors aren’t magically in the playoffs, and if your thinking, I already knew he was a baller, and could’ve won rookie of the year this year, but I wasn’t talking about hoops. Curry played in the Quail Hollow Championship Pro Am yesterday, and posted three birdies on his score card, which is pretty impressive. He was paired up with PGA pro Stephen Lowry, Nascar’s Michael Waltrip, his dad Dell Curry, and Charlotte police chief Rod Monroe. I’m not sure exactly what the handicaps were for each player, and I’m sure that the handicaps they had helped their group a little, but their group ended up winning the tourney shooting a 54. Pretty impressive work Stephen. I guess Dell taught him a jumper and a golf swing, even though after the tourney Steph said that his dad beat him by three strokes, I’m sure he’ll beat him the next time they play. I’m far from a good golfer, and anytime I have three birdies in a round whether the course is tough or easy, I’m usually pretty happy. I doubt Stephen gets out on the links all that much, but I have a feeling when his playing days are over he will be better than Jerry Rice is on the Nationwide tour!
Some other news broke out today on the rookie of the year that MCeezy and I debated about, and would be Tyreke Evans. He’s another Norcal baller that will put Sac back on the map . He didn’t get out on the links, instead he is being recognized for his professional accomplishments during his rookie season. Although there is no official announcement made by the NBA, Sactown Royalty seems to have the inside scoop, and has reported that Tyreke will be holding the ROY award on Thursday or Friday. I honestly didn’t get to see that much of Tyreke this year, since I live in Southern California, and it’s rare that the Kings are on anywhere outside of Sac. He joined Lebron averaging 20, 5, and 5 on the year, and had some competition from Steph Curry and Brandon Jennings, but was clearly the most consistent rookie this year. All in all a great year for the rookie, and a deserved winner of the award. Hopefully these two guys can bring Norcal out of the basement of the West.
Next up: Who wins the #1 pick in the lottery?
Kings 15.6% of the ping pong balls
Warriors 11.9% of the ping pong balls
Doin Debates: Tyreke vs. Curry for ROY
Who knows the NBA Rookie of the Year candidates better than Doin Work? Name one blog with more content about the Kings and Warriors. We’ve been gushing about Tyreke Evans and Stephen Curry all season long, so now that it’s down to a two-man race for the award, who better to weigh in on the subject than us? We’re breaking down the analysis into three categories which we feel make up the criteria for the award. The first is Stats – no explanation needed. The second is Team Performance / Influence – how well has the team played and how much is a result of the player’s impact? The third is Future Outlook – meaning whose resume is going to look better 20 years from now. Most voters will probably tell you that has nothing to do with the Rookie of the Year award, but that’s not true. Sportswriters love being right. They want to vote for the guy who’s going to have a couple MVP awards in his career so they can say, “I voted for him.” You think any writers out there are watching any Wizards’ games bragging that they voted for Mike Miller for ROY? Come take a trip with us up and down I-80 to see if the trophy is going to end up in Oakland or Sacramento this year….
STATS
Tyreke Evans (MCeezy)- The numbers don’t always tell the whole story, but I think in this case they do. Evans is averaging more than 20 pts, 5 reb, and 5 ast for the season. This fact 
has been well documented, including here, but in case you missed it, the only other rookies to do that are Lebron James, Michael Jordan, and Oscar Robertson. He’s in the top 20 in the league in Points, Assists, Steals, Minutes, and triple doubles. Sure, he has one, but no one who’s not named Lebron James has more. In fact, Evans’ last outing he came up one rebound shy of his second triple double. Curry’s got a slight edge in 3pt and FT%, as well as steals, but Evans’ overall numbers definitely trump those of Curry.
Stephen Curry (Chappy)- I have to concede that Tyreke’s numbers are superior to Curry’s, but in Curry’s defense, his first two months under Nellie were inconsistent to say the least. There were games when he’d play 35-40 minutes, and the next night he’d play 10-15. I’m not sure if it was Ellis saying that they couldn’t play together, but either way Nellie didn’t seem to trust him that much. Since the Warriors were struck furiously by the injury bug, Curry’s minutes went up and so did his production. Since December, he’s had close to the same numbers as Reke averging 20 pts, 4 rebs, 4 assists, and nearly 2 steals. He’s easily been the most improved rookie over the season. Continue reading
Doin Discounts – Kings Edition Pt. III
The Kings-Raptors game on Wednesday, March 10 will feature specially-priced tickets in honor of ‘Rally For RekeROY Night’ at ARCO Arena, where Sacramento will show its support for Tyreke Evans for NBA Rookie of the Year (ROY)!
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Did the Kings Have Their Best Draft Ever?
Derrick Rose trails the play wondering if Tyreke is indeed the best guard out of Memphis
We all know about Tyreke, and how he’s been nothing short of spectacular in his short NBA career. He made a few more believers when he lead the Kings from a 35 point deficit to beat the Bulls. MCeezy has more than covered him on our blog, as he looks to be a lock for the ROY award if he continues to put up the numbers he currently has, and continues to impress by putting up the seemingly effortless average of 20, 5, and 5. He is obviously their future, and probably their best draft pick in a long while for Sacramento. Maybe they were lucky to not get the first pick and draft rights to Blake Griffen who hasn’t played a single game this year. The reason for this post is mainly because of their 2nd choice in this year’s draft, Omri Casspi, who has been surprisingly good too. I’ve seen him in the top five of most rookie of the year polls, which shows you how great this draft was for Sacramento. He was the 23rd overall pick, and has made it into the starting lineup, maybe due to injuries and bad/inconsistent play by others, but still a starter nonetheless. Continue reading
Two Man Race for NBA Rookie of the Year
Perhaps many would disagree with the headline. After his 55 point performance against the Warriors, Brandon Jennings had some signing, sealing, and delivering their ballots for Rookie of the Year. Combine his ridiculous 25.3 ppg and 5.5 apg – which apparently is Michael Jordan / Oscar Robertson territory for rookies – with Milwaukee’s 8-3 record, and Jennings does, in fact, look like the easy favorite. However, we can’t reasonably expect Jennings to keep up the pace he’s started off on. At the time of writing, he’s just 6-21 for 12 points against the Spurs, in what, barring a miracle, will be Milwaukee’s fourth loss.
Lost in all this, though, is the other candidate. While Jennings grabs all the headlines, Tyreke Evans is putting his own team on his back. His averages of 18 pts and 5 ast obviously are inferior to Jennings, but keep in mind Evans scored single digits in two of his first four games, which given the smaller amount of games played in the early going, are sure to go up. That was with Kevin Martin in the lineup though. Once Martin opted for surgery that would keep him out of action for two months, Evans realized the Kings’ were HIS team. He’s responded with SEVEN consecutive 20+ point games, including a high of 32 against the Jazz en route to a big road victory in Salt Lake. While Jennings has hit the ground running, Evans took a few games to find his footing, but has clearly established himself as the second candidate for the award. I’m not saying he’ll win it, but he’ll be right in the mix when all’s said and done.
ROY Award Comes Back to Oakland
Some are debating the decision, saying Rick Porcello or Elvis Andrus deserved the award more, but this morning, Athletics reliever Andrew Bailey was named AL Rookie of the Year. Many would argue that Porcello had more of an impact for a contending team. Some would also argue that Andrus deserved it for playing shortstop every day for a team that made a run at the postseason. Amid all these facts, no one can really say anything to take away from what Bailey’s done. Last year at this time, Bailey was buried in the A’s minor league system. He spent the year in AA-Midland, getting roughed up as a starter. This year, he made the change to reliever, and was expected to start the season in AAA-Sacramento. Well, Bailey never arrived. Instead, he overcame longshot odds to win a spot on the big league roster. A month or so later, he was named the A’s closer and his job security never wavered all season long.
In July, he made the all-star team. Obviously that has a lot to do with Oakland not having a clear all-star. I would’ve named Kurt Suzuki, but that’s just me. At any rate, as we look back at Bailey’s final numbers for the season, it only proves he did deserve to be an all-star. After all, he finished with the second best ERA, behind only the immortal Mariano Rivera, and firmly one spot ahead of Jonathan Papelbon. All this while throwing 15+ innings more than either of them, compiling a 91-24 K:BB ratio, and rattling off 21 straight converted saves to finish the season. I could throw more numbers out, but the point is that Bailey deserved the award. Perhaps in any of the previous four seasons, he doesn’t win it, but this year he was the best. The only knock on him I’ve heard is the fact that he plays for a poor team. If he were an offensive player, I might agree with that, but as a closer, you’re not facing your own team, you’re facing the Angels, and the Rangers, among others. All this really says is if he played for a different team, he would’ve had even MORE saves. Congratulations Andrew. I would say it’s too bad we never got to work together in Sacramento, but obviously things worked out better by jumping straight to Oakland. Besides, let’s be honest, Bailey wasn’t even a top prospect before this season anyway.
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