It appears the proverbial rookie wall is being torn down. Last week, several rookies had breakout performances, most notably Al Thornton, who busted out for a career-high 39 points to help the Clippers end a 10-game losing streak. In that same game -- a 110-97 win over the Grizzlies -- Thornton also grabbed a career-high five steals while playing a career-high 44 minutes. "Al can play, but it's definitely because of the opportunity he's had to go out and showcase his talents," teammate Corey Maggette, a nine-year veteran, said. "He came in and has played extremely well for this team. He has confidence every night he steps out on the floor. ... There's still room for improvement, but I'm proud of him. He continues to push. I don't think I was that good when I was a rookie." But Thornton wasn't the only other rookie to break out of late. A few of his fellow first-years also set career-high marks last week: • Luis Scola scored 24 points Sunday against the Spurs, the team that traded his rights to the Rockets. • Joakim Noah scored 18 points (while pulling in 15 boards) in the Bulls' 114-111 win over the Bucks. • Rodney Stuckey tied a career high with 16 points in a Pistons loss in Toronto . • Corey Brewer tied a career high with 16 points (while grabbing seven rebounds) in the T'wolves' win over the Jazz on Sunday. • Nick Young, a USC alum, had his best game of the season in his return to Los Angeles. Young scored a career-high 27 points -- 25 in the second half -- in the Wizards' 126-120 overtime loss to the Lakers. (Send comments, complaints or hype for your favorite rookie to Drew Packham at drew.packham@turner.com.) | NBA Rookie Rankings |
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Three weeks ago, Celtics coach Doc Rivers said he was shocked -- shocked! -- Al Hoford wasn't getting more talk for Rookie of the Year. But Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo can't believe there's even a debate. "Anybody who thinks there is, is nuts," he told the Seattle Times. "It's not even remotely close. ... I'm trying to be objective listening to people, but it's silly to even have the conversation. I'm prejudiced, but it's not even close. No one has done what he's done. No one has even come close to doing what he's doing." Durant made his point this week, averaging 24.5 points and 5.8 rebounds while hitting 54 percent of his shots.
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It's fitting that with the NCAA Tournament going on, Horford would be reunited with some former University of Florida teammates. Last week, Horford and the Hawks split a pair of games with the Bulls (and former Gator Joakim Noah). In those two games, Horford amd Noah played to a virtual stalemate. Check this: both finished with exactly 19 points and 16 rebounds in the two games combined. "[College] seems like such a long time ago now," Horford told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "We've both had to do some adjusting to new environments and everything, but it's good to be out there and good to see him out there." The reunion continued Sunday against the Knicks and ex-Gator big man David Lee. Horford's 18 points and 13 boards topped Lee's 17 and 10, and more importantly, pushed the Hawks closer to a playoff berth. "We were battling out there," Lee told the AJC. "He's a very good rebounder and he gets his points when teams are rotating on defense. ... At some points we were having two and three guys trying to box him out, but he's a tough guy to box out ... he had a great game."
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Scola is making a serious run at the Rookie of the Year trophy. In three games, the 27-year-old rookie averaged 19.0 points and 9.3 rebounds as the Rockets won two of three. Scola's week was highlighted by an 18-point, 18-rebound performance and Sunday's career-high 27-point game. For a guy who gets credit for doing the "dirty work," Scola sure does a lot of the "real work" for the Rockets. Scola's going to have a long and successful career, but I'm afraid he'll end up being overlooked in the ROY voting.
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That 39-point outbreak by Thornton wasn't only a personal best, but it tied the record among Clippers rookies. Two other Clippers rookies had reached 39 -- Terry Cummings and Tom Chambers. Pretty good company for the kid out of Florida State. Thornton had a chance to set the record with two free throws left with 1:03 left, but made just one of two and "settled" for 39. "We're just going to round it up," Thornton joked to the Daily Breeze after the game. "That's how you score 40." Coach Mike Dunleavy figured it was just too much for a rookie to handle. "He couldn't stand the pressure of that last free throw," Dunleavy joked.
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Young has been a yes-sir, no-sir guy all season for the Sixers, so a recent anecdote Young shared on PhillyBurbs.com came as a surprise. "There was one fight when I was in eighth grade, and somebody started messing with me. Obviously, I didn't want to fight, but I had to show him, one time. It got kind of out of line, and I was ramming the guy's head into a locker. Not too many people know about that. It started in the lunchroom. He was one of these guys who tried to bully everybody around, and he thought he was going to bully me, and I wasn't having it. After that day, nobody messed with me, really." Is it any wonder the guy is having such a good rookie season?
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Moon got a reminder Sunday of what life is like coming off the bench. Facing the Hornets, coach Sam Mitchell shook up the lineup, giving Jason Kapono the start to match up with Morris Peterson, while Moon matched up against Bonzi Wells. The move didn't work out too well. Kapono was scoreless in 16 minutes, and the Hornets built a 22-point lead on the Raptors. Moon, however, scored 13 points and helped the Raptors cut that deficit to six with 90 seconds left, prompting the Hornets to bring back their starters to halt Toronto 's run.
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Navarro had a rough week, in more ways than one. In four games, Navarro played just 15.2 minutes per game, scored 18 total points, had two games in which he was held scoreless, and was just 7-for-23 from the field (2-for-13 from three-point land, his bread and butter). Not only that, but he caught an elbow in a collision with Kobe Bryant in Saturday's game at the Staples Center. Oh wait, the Grizzlies won that game, so maybe it wasn't such a terrible week.
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Sonics guard Earl Watson is tired of losing. Still, the seventh-year guard out of UCLA is looking at the silver lining in Seattle -- the development of Green and Durant. "I think Jeff [Green] is one of the people in here who has made the most improvement in his game," Watson told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "Kevin [Durant] has learned to be more efficient. He's finding his spots within the offense. A lot could happen this summer. Anytime you have a young team and a lot of draft picks, trades could be made." Last week, Green averaged 14.5 points and 3.5 rebounds
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For a guy still not playing at a 100 percent, Landry is still a huge reason for the Rockets' success. In the five games since he returned from a knee injury, Landry has averaged 9.8 points and 5.8 rebounds. More important, The Rockets are 24-2 when Landry gets at least 11 minutes of playing time. Still, he's learning quickly how grinding an NBA season can become. "With any injury, there are going to be some days you feel like you took two steps forward and some days you feel like you took three steps backwards," Landry told the Houston Chronicle. "You're going to have your ups and downs. Some days I feel like that. Some days I feel good. That's with any injury, though."
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If Conley can add the three-point shot to his repertoire, he could become an even more potent point guard. On the season, Conley is a 27 percent shooter (17-for-62), just 20th among rookies. The Grizzlies have gunners Mike Miller, Juan Carlos Navarro, and Rudy Gay to shoot the treys, but it was Conley who saved the team from a new low in Saturday's loss to the Clippers. The Grizzlies were 0 for 13 from beyond the arc until Conley hit a three-pointer with 31 seconds left, which saved them from setting a franchise mark for most threes attempted (13) without hitting. Said Conley, in the Memphis Commerical Appeal: "Who would have thought that Mike Conley would have the only three."
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Honorable mention: Joakim Noah, Bulls (just missed the cut after big week, averaging 11.7 points and 9.0 rebounds); Rodney Stuckey, Pistons (averaged 9.5 points and 2.5 assists in 26.0 mpg); Yi Jianlian, Bucks (averaged 8.3 ppg, 7.0 rebounds in four games); Corey Brewer, Timberwolves (besides scoring career-high 16 in win over Jazz -- see above -- he averaged 8.6 points and 2.6 rebounds) |
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