NBA ROOKIE WATCH: WEEK 5
- Updated: December 2, 2010
Blake Griffin is making the Rookie Watch a one horse race, whilst John Wall suffers from a recurring knee injury. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t surprises this week.
1. Blake Griffin | PFÂ | Los Angeles Clippers | 1st Pick 2009
20.2 PPG, 11.6 RPG, 0.5 BPG, 35.5 MIN
Griffin is making this job look easy. Too easy. He’s not only the best rookie of the season so far, with Wall coming up a very close second, but he’s already looking like one of the top 10 power forwards in the league. He’s a man among boys, and his high flying hops make watching the Clippers play a joy, rather than a disaster. He’s averaged 30 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists the last five games. If he continues at this pace he could be looking at an All-Star place, as well as Rookie of the Year honours.
2. Landry Fields | SG | New York Knicks | 39th Pick 2010
11.1 PPG, 7.2 APG, 1.6 APG, 29.9 MIN
Every rookie class, there’s always one player who goes from the second round on draft night, to becoming a surprise sensation. Boozer, Arenas, Blair…all were picked in the second round. Well this year’s pleasant surprise is Landry Fields. Fitting in to the Mike D’Antoni’s system perfectly, Fields has been knocking down his shots. He’s also a surprisingly good rebounder for a guard, getting double-digit boards in his last 3 games. He’s really helping the Knicks get some important wins.
3. DeMarcus Cousins | PFÂ | Sacramento Kings | 5th Pick 2010
10.3 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 0.6 BPG 23.3 MIN
Cousins is continuing being a productive bench player for Sacramento. He also got some decent minutes against the Jazz this week, and made the most of it – 18 points and 9 boards. He went a bit cold after that, scoring just 7 and 6 points in his next two, but he’s still proving a worthwhile pick for the Kings.
4. Al-Farouq Aminu | SF | Los Angeles Clippers | 8th Pick 2010
7.8 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 0.6 APG 18.9 MIN
Aminu might have had an off game against Phoenix, scoring just 3 and grabbing 2 rebounds, but the rest of his week has been stellar. 16 important points in the Clippers win against the near unbeaten Hornets, and 12 the next night in a win against the Kings, Al-Farouq was a key piece in both games. In his last five he’s been averaging around 9 points a game.
5. John Wall | PG | Washington Wizards | 1st Pick 2010
18 PPG, 9.1 APG, 2.8 SPG, 38.3 MIN
After having a week out with an injury, Wall has to make his way back up the rookie rankings. He was back for a brief spell of just two games, but he shrugged of his injury in style. In a win against Philly, Wall scored an impressive 25 points and dished out 7 dimes, he even had a block and a steal. He was clearly suffering the next game though, getting just 10 points and 7 assists in 33 minutes. Now, it turns out that he’ll rest his ailing knee the next couple of games.
BEST OF THE REST
Wesley Johnson played pretty well this week, scoring 15 on Wednesday against Sacramento, but the rest of his games he only scored 5 and 7. Derrick Favors has seen his minutes decline, going down from 25 all the way to 12 over the week. Why the Nets are choosing Kris Humphries over Favors is mainly down to the kids inconsistency, but he’s hardly going to grow if he’s riding the pine.
Image: NBAE / Getty
Related Posts
About MVP Staff
You must be logged in to post a comment Login