Runnin - n - Gunnin

R-n-G Award Picks: Rookie of the Year - Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers

Runner-Ups: Ricky Rubio, Iman Shumpert, Kenneth Faried, Klay Thompson, Isaiah Thomas

The ROY choice would have been a lot more interesting if Kobe didn’t run into Rubio back in March, so the award undisputedly goes to the #1 overall pick, Kyrie Irving.  Among all rookies, Irving leads in points per game (18.8), is 2nd in assists per game (5.5), is 5th in steals per game (1.08), and is 4th in 3 point shooting (39.8%).  Stats aside now, if you’ve watched a Cleveland Cavaliers game (which you should have because Irving is so much fun to watch), then you’ve probably seen Irving completely take over several 4th quarters.  His breakout moment has got to be his game winning layup against the Boston Celtics on January 29th. 

If Irving was healthy the whole season, the Cavaliers would have probably been fighting for a Playoff seed along with the Milwaukee Bucks.  Very impressive for a rookie who only played in 11 games his college career.

As much as I love Kyrie Irving, Ricky Rubio was definitely my favorite rookie all season.  If he didn’t injure his knee, I personally would have liked to see a Co-Rookie of the Year happen (the last time two players shared Rookie of the Year was back in 1994 between Grant Hill and Jason Kidd, both of whom are still in the league).  Rubio was realistically the only other rookie who gave Irving a run for his money.  Though he didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, Rubio led all rookies in assists per game with 8.2 and steals per game with 2.22. Rubio was very important to the Timberwolves team, because once he went down with injury, their playoff hopes left along with him.

All of the other rookies have shown that this past draft wasn’t nearly as weak as everybody thought it would turn out to be.  Iman Shumpert has quickly become one of the best lockdown perimeter defenders in the league.  Klay Thompson has shown since the Monta trade that he can be a top shooting guard in upcoming years.  Kenneth Faried’s ability to rebound and insane athleticism made Nene expendable to the Nuggets.  Isaiah Thomas went from the 60th pick in the draft to starting point guard for the Kings; even getting Rookie of the Month honors.  

I can’t wait for these next few seasons because all of these players will be even better, and so much fun to watch.

2011-2012 Bold Statements: Eastern Conference Standings

In my opinion the Eastern Conference standings will more or less be the same.  The same eight teams will be in the playoffs with shifts in standings that will definitely be effected by the shortened season.  As for the other 7 teams… let’s just say that they are still pretty bad.

Playoff Picture

• Heat (1) vs. 76ers (8)
• Bulls (2) vs. Hawks (7)
• Knicks (3) vs. Pacers (6)
• Magic (4) vs. Celtics (5)

The Miami Heat are undoubtably the clear favorites to win the Division title this season, and more than likely will have the best record in the league.  I find no reason why they won’t plow through the Eastern Conference and eventually end up in the NBA Finals once again.  They had a full year to create chemistry and added Shane Battier, an elite perimeter defender who can create space on the court and knock down the open 3.

The Chicago Bulls organization feel like they found the answer to their problems when they picked up Rip Hamilton this offseason, and they’re right.  He’s the scoring shooting guard that the Bulls needed last year to take offensive pressure off of Derrick Rose.  Furthermore, the Bulls have the same core players from last season and they’re still a relatively young-middle aged team.  With Rose signing an extension this week, expect the Bulls to be contending for a title for years to come.

The New York Knicks with the third seed?  I believe it.  Their addition of Tyson Chandler is their greatest move because he will be able to hide Carmelo’s and Amar’e’s defensive liabilities without needing to do much on offense.  Rookie Iman Shumpert, while having an awesome name, also looks like he can become a solid role player behind Douglas, Fields, and Baron when he comes back from injury (no comment on Mike Bibby). Also: JORTS!

The success of the Orlando Magic depends on one thing and one thing only: when will Dwight Howard be traded?  If Dwight stays with the Magic all season, they have the 3rd-4th seed on lock.  If he gets traded (which I believe he will be), then they will definitely drop in the standings, based upon who Orlando gets back.  Either way, the team needs to find some sort of identity, and guys like Jameer Nelson, Jason Richardson, and Big Baby need to step up and stay consistent all year.

If this was a normal 82 game season, the Boston Celtics would no doubt be the 3rd seed again.  With this compressed 66 game season, though, I expect them to only be good enough to make get a lower seed, and then work their hardest during the playoffs.  Garnett, Allen, Pierce, and maybe even O’neal won’t be playing 66 games each, which leaves Brandon Bass, Marquis Daniels, Keyon Dooling, and Chris Wilcox cleaning up the mess.  Yikes.  Bass will have a good year, though, filling in for Garnett in Doc’s system.

I am actually very high on this Indiana Pacers team.  They have upgraded their roster and have a deep bench, so they might have a chance to take that 5th seed (depending on how many games the Celtics veterans take off).  They replaced guys like Mike Dunleavy, Josh McRoberts, James Posey, and Brandon Rush with George Hill, David West, Louis Amundson, and 2 more inches on Paul George.  You read correctly, Paul George grew 2 inches taller this summer.  Also, a full year under Frank Vogel sure won’t hurt.

I’m probably as low on the Atlanta Hawks as I am high on the Pacers.  I don’t think the Hawks will realize how much Jamal Crawford meant to the offense of this team until it’s too late, and Tracy McGrady sure as hell isn’t the answer.  Also, the Hawks are now the NBA’s oldest team with an average age of over 30 years old.  They still have enough talent to earn a solid Playoff spot, but I don’t see them going far.

The Philadelphia 76er’s roster hasn’t changed very much from last season, so you can’t say they haven’t gotten any better, but they also haven’t gotten any worse either.  This team will basically earn their 8th seed because no other team in the Eastern Conference is good enough to have better records.  Sorry to the Nets and the Bucks.

The Unfortunate Ones

• Milwaukee Bucks
• New Jersey Nets
• Washington Wizards
• Detroit Pistons
• Cleveland Cavaliers
• Charlotte Bobcats
• Toronto Raptors

The Milwaukee Bucks were the 9th seed last season.  They are a very good defensive team that needs a lot of help on the offensive end.  Their answer?  Stephen Jackson and Mike Dunleavy. 9th seed sounds right.

The New Jersey Nets will have a full year (and hopefully more) with All-Star point guard Deron Williams. In spite of this, their 10th seed is more-so related to the other teams being worse than getting any better, especially with Brook Lopez being out until February with a foot injury.

The Washington Wizards are the youngest team in the league, but with 2nd year John Wall looking more like a leader, they have an okay chance at maturing.  They will still be pretty bad, though.  The bright side? They will be exciting (though sloppy) to watch. Dunks on dunks on dunks!

I actually have a lot of hope for this Detroit Pistons team this season.  Lawrence Frank should be a good coach, coming from Doc Rivers’ system in Boston.  I’m expecting Austin Daye to have a breakout season.  Greg Monroe and Brandon Knight will be great.  Blame their poor record on Joe Dumars for locking Charlie V, Gordon, Stuckey, and Prince long-term. 

The Cleveland Cavaliers have Kyrie Irving who will be great in this league.  Problem? No one else will be able to give him much help.  To the draft it is!

Just look at the Charlotte Bobcats’ roster and don’t tell me that they won’t be one of the bottom 3 teams in the league next year.  Kemba Walker will be great, but I doubt he will get enough touches with Corey Maggette on the court.  Plus, Boris Diaw is 30 pounds heavier and will play point-center.  Take that how you will.

Jonas Valanciunas will not be with the Toronto Raptors this year.  Players like Aaron Gray, Jamaal Magloire, Gary Forbes, and Rasual Butler will not change anything.  Dwane Casey has a lot on his plate for this team.

Day 23 of Lost NBA Games

10 games we could have kept track of while you wait for it to be Thanksgiving. 

Memphis Grizzlies vs. Charlotte Bobcats - I’m gonna be frank here, but the Bobcats would get killed inside.  Non-sequitur, but I first typed Charlotte Hornets, but then caught myself.  I miss those days.

Indiana Pacers vs. Cleveland Cavaliers - I can’t help but SMH when I look at the Cavs’ roster.  They don’t have much outside of Kyrie Irving, Boom Dizzle (barely), Omri Casspi, Antawn Jamison, and Anderson Varejao.  And even then, that’s a bit sketchy (besides Kyrie).  The Pacers, on the other hand, have Darren Collison, George Hill, Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert, Paul George, and Psycho T.  Very promising.

Los Angeles Lakers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder - Why wouldn’t you want to watch a game between these two teams.  Classic Kobe vs. Durant.  I would write more, but it’s pretty self-explanatory.

Toronto Raptors vs. Boston Celtics - You would have had the worst defense (30th in Defensive Efficiency with 110… wow) against a team with one of the best defenses (2nd with a Defensive Efficiency of 97.8).  Um, yeah, that basically explains it all.

Portland Trailblazers vs. Detroit Pistons - Every now and then you see a matchup that doesn’t really matter too much.  They meet only twice a year, and honestly none of the matchups look very promising.  Raymond Felton vs. Rodney Stuckey maybe?  Otherwise, I actually don’t know how to approach this game.  Sorry folks.

New Jersey Nets vs. Milwaukee Bucks - I would love to see Deron Williams light up for 50 over Brandon Jennings.  I’m still sore from the time Jennings scored 55 on the Warriors back in his rookie season.  Brooke Lopez vs. Andrew Bogut also looks like a very intriguing matchup.

Dallas Mavericks vs. Houston Rockets - The best and the worst out of the Southwest Division.  Granted, the Rockets are still a very solid over-.500 team, so that statement doesn’t even mean much.  This should’ve been a really fun game with Kevin Martin and Dirk Nowitzki shooting the lights out.

Golden State Warriors vs. Minnesota Timberwolves - I guess we’ll have to wait until next year to see Dorell Wright drop 9 three-pointers at the Target Center.  Can’t believe that was already almost a whole year ago (Nov. 27, 2010).

Orlando Magic vs. San Antonio Spurs - You can’t not love the idea of this game.  Two great defensive big men duke it out in San Antonio, and it would have been great.  Dwight Howard.  Tim Duncan.  Damn.

Utah Jazz vs. Sacramento Kings - Wow, I actually think the Kings own this matchup.  Granted, the Jazz’s front line is deeper and looks stronger, but the Kings’ backcourt should’ve made up for it.