Friday, October 29, 2010

Early Frontrunner for ROY?

So, who will win the Rookie of the Year award this NBA season? There are three serious contenders: Demarcus Cousins, out of Kentucky and playing for the Sacramento Kings; John Wall, also of Kentucky and playing for the Washington Wizards; and Blake Griffin, out of Oklahoma and playing for the Los Angeles Clippers. Now, as of this writing, the three rookies have only played one game apiece, but I'm not going to let something like that stop me from making my first impressions. After the draft, I was firmly in the Cousins camp, believing that a big man that could control the paint offensively and defensively was a bigger asset than a super quick point guard or a hyper athletic forward. I still, to this day, believe that Portland made the right decision at the time in drafting Greg Oden over Kevin Durant. However, having watched a single game, I can already feel like my pick is in jeopardy. Simply put, Blake Griffin was a beast. According to the advanced box scores at Hoopdata, he scored 20 points with 14 boards and 4 assists in a relatively slow game (92 posessions). He wasn't without flaws though. as J.E. Skeets The Basketball Jones' great video show, Griffin's defensive rebounding was far from polished, and the advanced stats bear that out. His DRR was a measly 12.8 %. Still, for his first night out, he showed some great stuff, and he is undoubtedly the early frontrunner in the race for ROY, and deservedly so. What about the other two? Well, Cousins was also impressive, albeit in limited minutes due to foul trouble early on. His per-minute numbers were on par with Griffin's, and his AR and DRR were in fact better, albeit in a game with 13 more possessions. John Wall's night must be looked at as a fluke. As numerous basketball scholars pointed out, playing against a team like the Magic, where he couldn't get into the lane for fear of a rejection at the hands of Dwight Howard, was the worst possible introduction for the young rookie. His shooting numbers were deplorable, a clear result of his inability to finish inside. He did show some promise passing the ball, and as he gets longer in the tooth, his ability to deal with a defensive presence in the paint should improve.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

The First Post

Wow, I can't believe I'm actually doing this, although considering it's 2010, I guess I'm behind the times. This is going to be a blog that focuses mainly on the world of sports. Some of the writers I admire the most are masters are using sports as a spectrum to look at the "real" world. I might try my hand at that, although I don't expect it to be anywhere near as good. Basically, this is just a medium for me to get my thoughts out. Sports are important to me, so they'll be important to my blog. Hopefully, you'll enjoy. If not, I'll be fine with that. Happy reading!