Rookie of the Year
picks and analysis by Devin Gray (@devingray33) and Pat Choi (@patty_choi)
DG - Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers
Seeing as how we’re allowing players whose
seasons were marred by injury take home awards (see my Lin pick for MostImproved), I can see how Rubio could win Rookie of the Year, but Kyrie Irving dominated in his own way. Irving averaged 18.5 points and 5.4 assists
to Rubio’s 10.6 and 8.2, playing the scorers role required by his Cavs team.
Irving played 51 games this year, ten more than Rubio, and established himself
as a go-to scorer when the game is on the line. In his rookie year, he was
already the greatest clutch performer in the NBA (Clutch=4th quarter or
overtime, less than 5 minutes left, neither team ahead by more than 5 points)
scoring a runaway league-best 56.4 points per 48 minutes of clutch time (http://www.82games.com/1112/CSORT11.HTM)
. Not bad for a guy who only played 11 games in college, no summer league, and debuted in
a shortened season.
PC - Ricky Rubio, Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves fight for the
playoffs during the last quarter of the season would have looked very different
if the Spanish rookie had been healthy, and if Rubio didn't go down with a torn ACL
he would be the top candidate for this season's Rookie of the Year award. As a
starter he pushed the Timberwolves to an 18-13 record. After he was out with
the injury, Minnesota went to finish the season 5-20. In 41 games Rubio
averaged a rookie-leading 8.2 assists per game (sixth in the league) and led
all rookies in steals with 2.2 per game (tied second in the league).
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