Pistons No. 1 draft pick Andre Drummond There is a developing groundswell of support for Andre Drummond as an alternative to Damian Lillard for Rookie of the Year. This is a borderline insane notion, of course. Drummond is a big man who doesn’t even start for the awful Detroit Pistons, who harbor only faint playoff hopes despite playing in the Eastern Conference. Lillard is a point guard, the toughest position in the NBA, and is playing it so
As good as Damian Lillard has been this season, he is not good enough to be an All-Star as a rookie. Lillard plays for the wrong team in the wrong time zone in the wrong conference. The Portland Trail Blazers are not a glamour bunch. Their home games end when half the country is asleep. And most important, their half of the league is loaded with awesome backcourt players. [Read more…]
Over the last four weeks in our Rookie Rankings, Toronto Raptors guard Terrence Ross ascended from ninth to sixth to fourth before plummeting entirely out of the table. That staged climb and quick descent somewhat resembles Ross in the open court, where he has unleashed some of the more memorable dunks this season. But dunks aren’t enough to get a spot in these rankings. Anyone who regularly reads this piece knows that I cut these kids very little slack. You don’t just
Over the last two weeks, readers of this weekly feature have let it be known that I am undervaluing Detroit Pistons big man Andre Drummond. [Read more…]
In the 2012 draft, Thomas Robinson and Damian Lillard could not have been closer together. Robinson went fifth to the Sacramento Kings and Lillard went sixth to the Portland Trail Blazers. In their rookie seasons. however, Robinson and Lillard could not be farther apart. To be fair, Lillard has had a better opportunity to show his wares. Portland basically gave him the point guard position with carte blanche to learn on the job, dumping everyone from last season except Nolan Smith. Robinson wasn’t
Given his precocious play and the piles of praise he is receiving, Damian Lillard appears to have a stronghold on this season’s Rookie of the Year. And the calendar hasn’t even changed. Some of that recognition came recently from San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who along with a national TV audience watched the point guard light up his squad for 29 points last week. “I think he’s a wonderful player,” said Popovich, who normally isn’t prone to effusive praise. “His skills
Here at Sheridan Hoops, we’d like to think that we’re a little ahead of the NBA curve. Case in point: This morning, most of the basketball world is talking about how the Golden State Warriors went into Miami and stunned the defending champions by making more plays down the stretch of a hard-fought game. Three days ago, however, we already had made the case that the Warriors have been the biggest surprise of this season and have been flying under the mainstream
During Wednesday’s game, the NBA announced that Charlotte Bobcats forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had won Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month honors for November. Kidd-Gilchrist later celebrated by throwing a terrible cross-court pass in the closing seconds that became a turnover and led to a buzzer-beater by New York’s J.R. Smith that sent the Bobcats to their fifth straight loss. This is how it often goes for rookies. One minute, they are surprising us all by playing above our expectations and showcasing an