With 2008 upon us, it's time to break out my New Year's resolution suggestions for our top four Rookie of the Year contenders. Kevin Durant: Avoid injury and improve on his field goal percentage. If Durant can get into the lane more often, his field goal percentage should rise as he relies less on his outside shot. As for the injury, hopefully this left finger problem doesn't linger. Yi Jianlian: Hit the boards harder. For a 7-footer, Yi's rebounding numbers are surprisingly low. Granted, he's third among rookies, but I have to think he could do better than six per game. Al Horford: Become more assertive on offense. Hard to pick on Horford for this, since he's assimilated himself so well on the Hawks, but I'd love to see him average a double-double (he entered the week at 9.2 ppg and 9.5 rbg). Sean Williams: Work on some offensive moves. Even more so than Horford, Williams defers to his teammates on offense and waits for his points to come to him. With guys like Jason Kidd and Vince Carter around him, Williams gets his buckets off alley-oops or put-backs, but how about some kind of offensive moves? Work on that drop-step, big guy. Maybe a hook shot or two. (Send comments, complaints or hype for your favorite rookie to Drew Packham at drew.packham@turner.com.) | NBA Rookie Rankings |
| 1 | 2 |  |
The only thing that can slow down Durant's Rookie of the Year campaign is an injury. Uh-oh. Durant sprained the index finger on his left hand Saturday, an injury the 19-year-old says has been bothering him for weeks. X-rays were negative, but there's a good chance he could miss some time to let the finger heal. Before the injury, Durant was having a good week, averaging 24.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists. Enough to overtake Yi, who had an average week, numbers-wise.
|
| 2 | 1 |  | In his first game after being told he earned the top spot in these rankings (OK, he probably has no idea about this column), Yi promptly went 2-for-11 from the field while scoring eight points in a loss at Denver. The good news? Yi is currently fifth in All-Star voting for forwards -- despite not even being on the ballot. Yi is trailing Kevin Garnett, LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Paul Pierce with 192,828 write-in votes.
|
| 3 | 3 |  |
The Hawks played just twice last week, but Horford continued his typical production. The Florida product averaged 11.5 points and 8.5 rebounds and blocked four shots in the pair of games. It's been nine years since the Hawks entered a new year with a winning record (15-13), and Horford is a huge reason for the turnaround.
|
| 4 | 5 |  |
Not even a rolled ankle can slow down Williams these days. The lanky big man tweaked his ankle last Friday against the Wizards, but returned to throw down two big dunks and notch his first double-double. The Nets finished the year winning four of five, and it's no coincidence that the rejuvenation comes with Williams in the starting lineup. In three games last week, Williams averaged 10.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks.
|
| 5 | 9 |  |
OK, I'll admit it. I've been wrong about Scola. I've been critical of the Rockets' big man (maybe not openly in this column, but while watching him play) and wasn't sure about his offensive skills. Last week, though, with Tracy McGrady on the sideline, Scola used head fakes, up-and-under moves and nice touch around the hoop to average 15.3 points and 7.6 rebounds and shoot 61 percent from the field in three games. The Rockets are preaching team basketball, and Scola's been the biggest benefactor of the new attitude.
|
| 6 | 6 |  |
The Grizzlies have lost five straight, and the streak has coincided with Navarro's shooting woes. In last week's three losses, Navarro was 8-for-23 from the field (34.6 percent) and averaged 7.3 points (well below his 10.2 season average). He did have a career-high seven assists in Sunday's loss, so that's some consolation.
|
| 7 | 7 |  |
It looks like Green's stock could be on the rise. Coach P.J. Carlesimo gave Green his second career start on Saturday, in place of struggling small forward Damien Wilkins, and expects to keep the rookie in the starting lineup. Green had 18 points (8-for-14 shooting) and five rebounds while playing 36 minutes of the Sonics' 109-90 win over the Timberwolves.
|
| 8 | 4 |  | Moon's playing time continued to drop, as the 27-year-old rookie played a combined 39 minutes in the Raptors' two games. More disconcerting, though, was the fact he was 7-for-17 from the field in those two games. Moon gets a lot of credit for his defense, but he's got to contribute more efficiently on offense if he hopes to climb -- or maintain his spot -- in the rankings.
|
| 9 | -- |  |
After two recent scoreless games that dropped him out of the previous week's rankings, Cook bounced back and showed why Pat Riley has such confidence in him. Cook averaged 10.6 points and 4.3 rebounds for the week and showed he's not afraid to take the big shot down the stretch. In last Friday's overtime loss to the Magic (in which Dwyane Wade scored a career-high 48), the rookie nailed a game-tying three-pointer at the end of regulation and hit another game-tying three with just over a minute left in overtime. (Orlando prevailed 121-114.)
|
| 10 | -- |  |
The Pistons' first-round pick (15th overall) out of Eastern Washington has shown promise since making his long-awaited debut. After being sidelined with a broken left hand, Stuckey has been getting a look from Flip Saunders. In three games last week, Stuckey averaged 8.6 points, 2.6 assists and 2.0 steals. If he can learn his role defensively and hit his open shots, Stuckey could find himself climbing these rankings.
|
Honorable mention: Nick Young, Wizards (15 points in season-high 27 minutes against Nets); Aaron Brooks, Rockets (3 games, 8.6 ppg, 3.0 apg for the week); Mike Conley, Grizzlies (scored six points Sunday in first action since Nov. 17)
|
|
|
|
