Rookie Report

By Sam Littman

Assists are harder to accumulate than rebounds, there’s something to be said for shining on both ends of the floor, and point guards generally have a rougher time adapting to pro basketball, but there’s something to be said for total and complete dominance.
   
Blake Griffin was not just the best rookie, but the best big man in the entire Blake Griffinleague in late November, averaging 29.6 points and 14.2 rebounds in the last five games of the month. The Oklahoma product even improved his previously mediocre assist numbers in that span, averaging 4.8 dimes over the five game period. In shredding the Knicks, we may have witnessed the future of the power forward: a stronger Amare Stoudemire who actually rebounds.
     
There is not much other positive news on the big man front, however. Greg Monroe continues to struggle with confidence issues, DeMarcus Cousins still insists on settling for long jumpers, and while Derrick Favors has still been impressive in whatever minutes he’s given, Oklahoma City center Cole Aldrich is not getting playing time and the sixth overall pick, Ekpe Udoh, is still injured (but has started playing 5 on 5 in practice). The sole bright spot has been Ed Davis, who returned from knee injury in top form, scoring 11 points and recording two blocks in his debut.
   
Wall continues to dominate the guard discussion, and had entered the top point guard debate before going down with an injury. His numbers have taken a slight dip since, but he does not appear to be effected by the injury in any way. A decrease in playing time has hurt Wall’s former Kentucky teammate, Eric Bledsoe, and Evan Turner continues to freefall, but Landry Fields continues to impress. The 37th pick in the draft is leading all shooting guards with 7.3 rebounds per game and is shooting 65% from inside the arc.
   
The first few weeks of action have been highlighted by some terrific rookie performances, though unlike most crops of NBA freshman, it appears that this group might not have as much of a change to shine as the season progresses. Nearly every elite rookie has gotten a great deal more run due to injuries: Griffin has played without Kaman in the frontcourt, Bledsoe got his starting job when Baron Davis went down, Favors did not have to compete with Troy Murphy for playing time earlier in the year, and Tiago Splitter’s minutes have decreased noticeably since Matt Bonner’s return. Soon many of the most heralded rookies will have to learn to adapt to less prominent roles, which could make for a major shake up in the rankings.

Rookie Rankings (12/6):

1. Blake Griffin
If he could only improve his stroke from the stripe. Griffin has developed the Dwight Howard-like tendency of freezing at the height of his release, whereas his jumpers from 15 feet out are perfectly smooth. Can’t someone just tell him to follow through?

2. John Wall
Injuries have prevented Wall from keeping an even pace with Griffin.  Did the Wizards overwork him in the first two weeks?

3. Landry Fields
More than a month into the season, the second round pick from Stanford has more double-doubles than Derrick Favors and DeMarcus Cousins combined.

4. Al Farouq Aminu
No monster games, no problem. Aminu reached double-figures in eight of the ten games in which he played at least 20 minutes (Wesley Johnson is averaging 27.9 minutes and has only scored in double-figures 8 times), and he has proven to be the hottest-shooting rookie, nailing 52.6% of his shots from range.

5. Derrick Favors
The numbers are not particularly impressive, but they also are not indicative of Favors’ performance. The 6-10 power forward has done a great job making plays with his athleticism and length and continues to demonstrate very solid, judicious shot selection, unlike some other rookie big men. The dip in playing time is a bit of a concern, though.

6. Eric Bledsoe
He split time evenly with Baron Davis in the overpaid veteran’s return, though his minutes will likely decrease, and will certainly not approach the 34 minutes of run he averaged in November.  He is still a shockingly mature floor leader and should continue to be a top-tier rookie.

7. Gary Neal
Continuing to play a deceptively large role in the Spurs’ success, Neal embraced an even larger role when fellow rook James Anderson went down, hitting eight threes in his last six games, a huge contribution for a team that doesn’t have many marksmen.

8. Tiago Splitter
Like Favors, Splitter has demonstrated that even if he won’t blow up the box score in his time on the floor, he knows how to contribute with his size. The Spurs’ big man has been solid efficient on both ends of the floor, and was especially valuable when their frontcourt was at its shallowest.

9. Xavier Henry Henry makes the top 10 rankings for 1st time
Teams generally don’t draft teenage swingmen for their defense, and while the Grizzlies were high on Henry as a potentially lethal scorer, he has stunned with his tenacity on the opposite end. Henry is struggling in every area on offense (39.1% from the field, 0.83% from range, 60.5% from the stripe), but he delivered one of the best defensive performances of the year in using his strength and quickness to shut down Kobe in a huge Grizzlies win. That’s why he’s starting over a potential superstar who has already proven himself.

10. Wesley Johnson
A big night against Cleveland should be just what he needed to rejuvenate his confidence. Johnson has thanked coach Kurt Rambis for the consistent playing time by reaching double-figures just once of his prior nine games. His struggles on the glass continue to alarm; the lanky swingman averaged 8.5 rebounds for a big and long Syracuse team, but has not grabbed more than five rebounds in a game since November 10.

Honorable Mentions:

- Gary Forbes
Ended a brief skid with a 15 point showing in a huge win over Phoenix late in November. He is only averaging 8.6 minutes in his last five, however, which is alarming considering how efficient he is. w

-  Evan Turner
Two weeks ago, when Turner, and not Fields, was leading all NBA shooting guards in rebounding, it was easier to overlook his shortcomings. Lately, he’s turned into a somewhat pitiable figure. He is still rebounding his size and is not making many mistakes, but 7.7 points on 40% shooting is unacceptable when the team is really counting on him.

- Larry Sanders
The most overlooked rookie stat: the 1.4 blocks that Larry Sanders is averaging in just 13.4 minutes. He has also proven to be an efficient rebounder, but is also very foul prone and is not yet a capable scorer.

- DeMarcus Cousins
As pointed out last week, Cousins is only hurting the Kings when he’s on the floor. The 6-11/270 true center still insists on drifting out beyond 14 feet to take jumpers, hence the atrocious 40.3% field goal percentage, he is averaging 4.25 fouls in just 23.3 minutes (nearly impossible), and he blocks a shot about every other game. The Kings need him to be more focused if they’re to rescue their season.

- Armon Johnson
Still a major sparkplug off the bench, Johnson proves that he’s a true NBA point guard night in and night out.