A Look at the Rooks
With Blake Griffin down and out for the first six weeks of the season, the rookie rat race is pretty much wide open. With two or three (and sometimes four) games in the bank for every team in the league, we've got enough now to see who's off to the best (and worst) starts for first-year players.
The Best So Far:
Brandon Jennings – Easily the best rookie so far, Jennings is averaging 20.5 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds in his first two games. Looks like Milwaukee found themselves a gem at pick #10.
Jonny Flynn – Despite standing at only 5'11", Flynn has scored 18 and 17 points in his first two games in solid minutes for the Timberwolves. His assist numbers are a little low, but he's playing confidently and adjusting to the pro game well.
Stephen Curry – His 13ppg is modest but still impressive for a rookie, but it's the 11 assists he's dished over his first two games that inspires confidence in this young man's future.
The Most Disappointing So Far:
Tyreke Evans – Not that 12.7ppg is horrible, but in his first three games there has been only one significant offensive evening (22 points against the Hornets), while the other two have been dismal shooting nights. You can see the potential, but things have just started slowly for Evans.
Hasheem Thabeet – Bigger things are expected from a top-two pick than a total of 12 minutes, zero points, and 2 rebounds in Memphis's first two games.
James Johnson & Jrue Holiday – These two players went #16 and #17 in June's draft, but so far have seen so little of the floor that it's hard to gauge what they are as professionals. Both guys have loads of potential, but both guys are also very raw, which could explain why their coaches aren't providing them with big minutes yet.
Money Well-Spent?
Last year's championship year with the Los Angeles Lakers was Trevor Ariza's best season. In 24.4 minutes per game he managed 8.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per night. It was the first time in his career that he played all 82 games, and he even started a career-high 20 of those. Adding a ring at the end of it all was surely very sweet, leaving no question that if Ariza hadn't "arrived" as a pro, he was certainly well on his way.
Taking last year's numbers into consideration, an opening night that produced 12 points in 33 minutes was another step in the right direction. How were we to know we was only just getting warmed up?
In the next two games against Golden State and Portland Ariza scored 25 and 33 points, respectively. After three showings he's leading his team in scoring with 23.3ppg, and is second in minutes with 38.3mpg. He and Aaron Brooks have been a pretty exciting duo thus far, running effective breaks and filling up the score sheet a lot better than anybody expected.
If letting Ariza go ends up looking bad for the Lakers (who, by the way, look fine without him), it seems as though it will look like an amazing signing for the Rockets. At $5.9 million this season he comes off as a bargain, and even when his deal tops of at $7.7 in 2013-2014, he'll still be well worth the money considering the future he appears to have in Houston.
Knicks' Loss Incites Mixed Feelings
On the bright side, the New York Knicks got a couple of great games out of Al Harrinton (42 points) and Danilo Gallinari (30 points, including 8-of-16 three-pointers). They kept it close with the Philadelphia 76ers for four quarters, pushing the game into overtime.
Beyond that, however, things were pretty messy at the Garden Saturday night.
New York allowed 141 total points, including impressive double-doubles from three players—Andre Iguodala, Lou Williams, and Marreese Speights—who racked up 79 points and 31 rebounds between them. They were outscored 19 to 5 in the overtime period, meaning they lost. Again. Third time in three tries.
Knicks point guard Chris Duhon pointed out after the game that his teammates aren't taking things seriously.
"We're not that good," Duhon continued. "We can't come in here and joke around and take the game lightly. It is a precious game and we've got to be serious. This is our job and we have to take it seriously, and we're not doing that right now. It shows in our layup line, it shows before the game. That's why we come out and we're not ready to play."
The "layup line" comment was apparently referring to Nate Robinson, who was singing and dancing during warm-ups instead of taking things more seriously.
Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni acknowledged Duhon's comments to some degree but also said he didn't believe the pregame atmosphere was all that bad. Keep in mind that prior to coming to the Knicks, Duhon knew only Scott Skiles's uber-serious pregame rules and regulations. In those days, Chicago's locker room was nearly always silent and somber, but who's to say that isn't the right way to be?
At the end of the day yes, it is these guys' jobs—jobs that pay them a whole boatload of money. But it's also a game, and a lot of guys have to be loose and happy to play well. Harrington and Gallinari had promising games despite the loss, and even though the Knicks are 0-3 right now it doesn't mean there can't be bright spots this year.
And let's face it—New York purposefully made few moves in the offseason to preserve cap space for next summer, where they're hoping to woo LeBron James. Does this sort of environment entice a guy like that switch teams? That could be the multi-million dollar queston.
