ROY Race
There seems to be a lot of steam building in favor of Atlanta Hawks forward Al Horford for this year’s rookie of the year award. My only question is why? It’ll be a shame if Kevin Durant doesn’t win the thing. Period.
I suppose national writers are giving Horford consideration because the Hawks likely will be the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, ending the league’s longest current playoff drought at eight years. But here are the stat comparisons of Durant and Horford…
Kevin Durant Stat Al Horford
20.1 PPG 10.1
4.2 RPG 9.7
2.3 APG 1.5
1.0 SPG 0.8
0.9 BPG 0.9
42.5 FG% 50.2
87.9 FT% 72.6
34.3 MPG 31.4
Sure, you can make a case for Horford: The Hawks are 36-41, good for eighth in the East…….He has 23 double-doubles……. He’s missed only one game and he’s started 72 of 76.
But a much better case can be made for Durant: He’s scored 20 or more points in 35 games……. He’s scored 30 or more in six games…….He ranks 28th in scoring and leads the second closest rookie (Al Thornton, not Horford) by 7.5 points……..He’s won the West’s rookie of the month honor four times…….And statistically he’s improved each month, save a minor decline in production in February. Not to mention he’s having his best month of the season so far in April in points, rebounds, assists and minutes. That’s a considerable accomplishment considering NBA personnel love to analyze how players finish their seasons.
The drawback for Durant, however, is the Sonics are just 18-59, the second worst mark in the NBA. But I’m not buying into the wins-should-matter approach. The ROY isn’t the best rookie on the best team. Luis Scola of the Houston Rockets would win if that were the case.
Based on that line of thinking, Andrea Bargnani of the 47-35, No. 3-seeded Toronto Raptors should have won the award in 2007 in instead of Brandon Roy of the 32-50 Portland Trail Blazers. In 2006, Deron Williams should have won after leading his Utah Jazz squad to three more wins than eventual winner Chris Paul guided his Hornets team to. In 2005, Ben Gordon of the 47-35, No. 4-seeded Chicago Bulls should have won over Emeka Okafor, whose Charlotte Bobcats team finished tied for the league’s second worst record. And in 2004, Carmelo Anthony of the No. 8-seeded 43-39 Denver Nuggets should have won over LeBron James and his 35-47, lottery-bound Cavaliers. The list goes on and on.
Yes, Horford is a key piece on a likely playoff-bound Hawks team. But the Hawks are still five games under .500 and they play in the East. Imagine if Durant had Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson. Just those two. Throw in Josh Smith and Marvin Williams and the Sonics likely are a playoff team in the brutal West. That’s 50 wins, not sneaking into the postseason in a weaker conference with more than 40 losses.
-DM-
Linkage
A couple of interesting things around the Web worth noting. First, here is the entire piece TNT’s Inside the NBA did on the Save Our Sonics efforts out of Seattle. Part 1 and Part 2. It’s really a nice piece. That Jim Huber is something else.
Sticking with the Sonics theme, there was apparently a big controversy following the team’s home game last Friday against Houston when the players were supposed to give away their shoes. According to this story, several Sonics players didn’t want to be bothered.
There was also a good story in the Seattle Times last week about Kevin Durant and Jeff Green planning on going to summer school in the off-season to work toward their degrees. Durant obviously left Texas after his freshman year. Green left Georgetown following his junior season.
You can hear this new rock song that has been released about Seattle fan angst in the face of the potential relocation of the Sonics to Oklahoma City. It’s nearly seven minutes long and I can’t understand but about five words. But that’s just me. It’s worth noting that the song is called “Fortyone.” The lyrics can be found on the same page once you click on the above link. That’s the second Sonics song that I know of that has been penned throughout this whole saga.
Check out this South Florida Sun-Sentinel story about Memphis point guard Derrick Rose possibly being a good fit with the Miami Heat. The Heat currently have the NBA’s worst record, which means they’ll have the best chance to get the No. 1 overall pick in June’s draft. With the league’s second worst record, the Sonics have the second best chance. In this Sun-Sentinel piece, there is a line that says Dwyane Wade has already hinted that his preference is for the Heat to take Rose if the team lands the top selection.
Here, you can check out Yahoo Sports’ Johnny Ludden’s thorough breakdown of how the West might be won.
And here’s my story on the timeline for improvements to the Ford Center and the construction of the NBA practice facility.
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Stern archives
I was doing some research for something else I was working on and came across an interesting story in the Memphis Commercial Appeal. The article is from Nov. 2, 2001, the day after the Memphis Grizzlies played their first game in the city after relocating from Vancouver.
NBA Commissioner David Stern was on hand and had this to say:
“We love to be where we’re wanted…It means a lot to the NBA to be in a place that renews us. It helps not only us but the team in the sense of renewal.”
After reading that statement, I couldn’t help but think of the current situation the Sonics are in. You’ll have to draw your own conclusions.
Also of note from the article was this tidbit: The Grizzlies had sold roughly 9,500 season tickets as of that opening-night. Stern said that figure was well within the league’s projections.
“When the operations started we thought the range initially would be between 7,500 and 10,000,” Stern said. “That (season-ticket base) is pretty good in NBA parlance.”
After reading that last bit, I couldn’t help but wonder how the NBA then views OKC after residents gobbled up more than 10,000 season tickets for the Hornets’ first season when they knew the team was temporary, then swallowed up more than 12,000 in Year Two when the team was clearly headed back to new Orleans. Again, draw your own conclusions.
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Jersey contest and Sonics notes
Updating a previous post, in light of Tuesday’s news that OSU made a coaching change in its men’s basketball program, we will not run the best jerseys and logos for OKC’s prospective NBA team in next Monday’s Main Event section. It will run the following Monday the 14th.
In other news, look for a segment on the Sonics on TNT tonight during its NBA double-header. The station sent a camera crew to Seattle to film the grassroots effort by the Save Our Sonics fans to try to keep the team in Seattle. Should be an interesting piece.
Also, a second group of Seattle businessmen, led by former Sonic “Downtown” Freddy Brown, has come forward and this time proposed a $1 billion arena project. The group doesn’t have a financing plan or location options. But the project looks pretty impressive. The Seattle Times has a full report here and here, including a column by Steve Kelley.
Speaking of Fred Brown, is it me or does dude sort of look like Chubby Checker?
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