A lot of people thought after Blake Griffin that last year’s was a shallow draft class. But the freshman pool has proven deep and 40 games in, it looks like this may go down as one of the top drafts for guards in NBA history.
We have Tyreke Evans in Sacramento threatening to work his way into the 20/5/5 club — the current three members of that club: the Big O, Jordan and LeBron — doesn’t get any more exclusive than that.
Last night I had the chance to see Evans’ fellow Rookie of the Month Brandon Jennings in action against the Nets and a couple of things come to mind: incredible speed and quite a haircut. Back in the eighties I managed to grow a couple inches thanks to my ‘do as well. Jennings went for 55 points earlier in the season usurping LeBron as the youngest player ever to do so. A lot of teams will be kicking themselves for years for letting this guy slip. He has the quickness and vision to break down a defense along with a surprising jump shot.
When the Wolves took Jonny Flynn sixth in last year’s draft it raised a few eyebrows after taking Ricky Rubio the pick before. Well that selection is looking pretty good now with Flynn averaging 14 ppg and 4 assists — and along with Jefferson, Love and Brewer forming a promising core in Minnesota. Now they have to figure out what to do with Rubio and all the cap room next year.
On draft night Stephen Curry thought he was going to join Rubio in Minnesota, but ended up going one pick later to Golden State. He’s shooting 46 percent from the field and 42 percent from the arc this season. In Tuesday’s game against Denver, he hit six consecutive 3-pointers en route to 26 points. I like Curry’s game and his demeanor on the court; he’s going to do his dad proud in this league.
And finally don’t overlook hard working, hard playing Taj Gibson. Back in the Bull’s starting lineup, he’s improving day by day and could be a sleeper in the Rookie of the Year race.
I anticipate a photo finish. Who do you like for Rookie of the Year?
whats so special about casspi? hes gettin 19ppg? is that “wowfull”? please notice that the kings,with evans AND your casspi and others,are on a losing record,so they should get a few wins so you guys really feel like in heaven,not “Lost Heaven”.
tho i see its gonna be evans/jennings battling out all the way.
just my 2cents
what about omri casspi or are u blind becouse he is showing great numbers and stats and also evans the rookie of the year…. so open your eyes!
As long as we’re talking about impressive steals of the draft look at Wes Matthews of the Utah Jazz. He went undrafted and came to a decent utah team and has played very well taking minutes away from players who have been there for several years.
The Timberwolves coach Rambis said that he’s reining in Johnny Flynn because of the Triangle Offense and he anticipates that Johnny’s numbers are going to look SIGNIFICANTLY better in the second half of the year. IT’s a long race. We don’t know who’s gonna win. Tyreke’s 20/5/5 is very impressive if it holds up, But if it doesn’t hold up and Flynn starts dropping big numbers, we could see a surprise.
It’s all about t-mac man.
I followed tyreke closely through his final year at memphis and just loved his game. i had him as my number 1 pick, so its no surprise he’s playing the way is so early in his career. love blair’s game and watch him grow into a monster. youve gotta admire jennings game, his shooting really impresses me and his awareness and quickness will see him have a huge nba career. props to flynn and lawson, future guns. evans for ROY.
caspi caspi caspi yeah what about the hebrew hammer…..?
Tyreke Evans from Sactown is a beast , he should get the ROY no doubt. But Omri Casspi should get more press. that man is playing great B BAll…..i Like Brandon too. , but the press talks way too much about him. he did a great thing scoring 55 points , but come on that was one game. and he played agisnt a crappy yeam with no defence. thats like kobe scoring 61 vs the rapters. yeah it was great , but the team was crappy too.
EVANS SHOULD BE IN THE ALLSTAR GAME NOT TRACYMCGRADY
Caspi is not from the Unites States of America. Therfore he must show more than others to be considered at the same level. The same for Rubio and any other non NA player. Easy.
not mvp… rookie of the year…lol
tyreke gettin mvp…my new fave playa
Not even a word on Omri Casspi of the Kings?
Oh so mushy… Where is my power at?! (Evans)
tyreke evans is my ROY but casspi should be here too…
Blake Griffin, Tyreke Evans , and Brandon Jennings would be the top for the rookie of the year. Each player has his own style different from the others. Tyreke leads the way but I think as long as Jennings continues his explosive scoring(and of course, get wins), i would look to him to pull away and grab the award. But Griffin has not yet started the season, so it’s hard to jump to conclusions. ^^
That’s just it Kenneth, Jennings hasn’t continued his “explosive scoring” One game he’ll give you 20 next game 9. Evans has been consistently dropping 20+ a night grabbing 5 boards & dishing 5 dimes. Casspi has been consistent for the last month dropping 18 – 24 points grabbing 7 or 8 boards playing great D. The only way Griffin gets into the picture is if he starts playing now & averages 30 PPG 15 boards the rest of the season which aint gonna happen.
while those are some very impressive rookies, it almost feels like to me that you’re leaving some of them out. Ty Lawson has recently stepped up in Denver for the injured Chauncey Billups and has done a phenomenal job, and DeJuan Blair is in my opinion not just the steal of the 2009 NBA draft, but he is also one of the best rebounders at his height and given all the issues of the MCLs that he had earlier in his high school career. But in accordance with everyone else, I absolutely agree with the talk about Omri Casspi. He has absolutely exceeded expectations and he wasn’t even expected to be this good, but he is so where’s the love?
You have got to give love to my main man Flynn. Whos with me?
DeMar DeRozan gotta show some love.
evans or jennings will take it but once the clips get b.g. they may go on a run and make the playoffs.
if you think that just because bg may come back the Clips will make the playoffs you obviously havent looked at the western conference standings
what about casspi?! he’s the most impressive rookie so far in my opinion. when he’s on the court i feel like i’m in heaven. throughout all the difficulties he plays like a gever-gever in each and every game.עמרי כל הכבוד!.
Go Kings!
Tyreke is the 2010 ROY barring a season ending injury or teammate Omri Casspi taking it instead with his steady improvement. Both are Studs for years to come, the rest of the field are distant 3rd place finishers.
Where’s the love for Omri Casspi? He has far surpassed any expectations anyone has had, and is playing like he belongs in the league. In my honest opinion, I believe he could have went top 10, if not top 5.