Chris Paul of the New Orleans/Oklahoma City was named the NBA Rookie of the Year, garnering 124 of 125 votes. The other first place vote went to Deron Williams. Deron Williams? How did he get a first-place vote? He finished 6th in the voting, which sounds about right. But who in the would vote him #1, and why does this guy still have voting rights? Let's look at the numbers.
Paul - 16.1 PPG, 7.8 APG
Williams - 10.8 PPG, 4.5 APG
I'd give more stats, but who really needs them? It can't really be a team things, because the Jazz only got 3 more wins than the Hornets. I gave my award to Chris Paul, and I didn't even think it was really close.
The stats are gaudy enough: his 16.3 PPG leads all rookies. His 7.9 APG leads all rookies. His 5.2 RPG are 4th among all rookies. He's 3rd in the NBA in steals per game (2.24). He's 6th in the NBA in Assist/Turnover ratio (3.38). But beyond that, he's completely rejuvenated the franchise. This team is coming off the loss of Baron Davis as well as the loss of their hometown. With Paul, they were a serious contender in the playoff race all year.
But hey, I can't complain too much. It's only one guy after all. At least they gave it to the right person.
3 comments:
I read in today's local Salt Lake City paper that it was Ron Boone (ex-ABA star and current Jazz tv announcer) that voted for Williams over Paul. His reasoning was that Williams outplayed Paul down the stretch and so did the Jazz. While Williams did come on in the last 2 months of the season there is a reason this award is not called the "Rookie of the the last month of the season". The year's work should stand alone and Paul was clearly the rookie star this year. For hell's sake he almost made the all-star team! Boone was obviously letting his Jazz bias cloud his judgment as there is no way anyone in their right mind would not vote for Chris Paul. I'm a big Jazz fan but even I know which point guard I'd rather have.
Yeah, exactly. Williams is a very solid PG, and will be very good in the future. For this year, it's not even close. Even down the stretch, Paul was a little better, looking at the numbers. Here are their numbers in April:
Paul - 15.8 PPG, 8.0 APG, 5.2 RPG
Williams - 13.8 PPG, 6.6 APG, 2.4 RPG
So while Williams certainly improved as the year went along, Paul was still better every month. It's not even close (as you said)
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