<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Last week, my friend Scottie Pippen came out and said that Ben Gordon should be the Rookie of the Year. Sorry, but Charlotte's Emeka Okafor is the best choice for this season?s got milk? Rookie of the Year. Take it from me, I?ve won the award before and I know that Emeka?s all-around contributions ? not just scoring ? are what it takes to win the top honor. We just played the Bobcats the other night and Emeka wasn?t even supposed to play because he was injured. But at the last minute he played and finished the game with 15 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks and two steals.</div> NBA.com
Good article, I think it's a moot point though because going by the numbers no one is more clutch than Ben Gordan in the 4th quarter. He has more double digit 4th quarters than any rookie ever. He is the reason the bulls have pulled out close games. If that doesn't win at least a split ROY they need to rethink the process of deciding who gets the award.
No offense to any Bobcats fans in here, as I myself like the team, but I have to think that Ben Gordon deserves ROY. He's been great for the Bulls this season, and he's been even better in the fourth quarter when it matters most. If you don't believe me, look at earlier in the week when he rattled off 16 straight to end the game for Chicago. But, I don't think you can take it from Ben. He's put up great stats in limited minutes (less than 25 mpg I believe) and he's on a playoff bound team. Sure, Emeka has put up great numbers, but the 'Cats aren't winning and the Bulls are. And considering the Bulls were expected to be pretty terrible this year also, I think that says a lot about the importance of Gordan to the Bulls. Cause quite frankly, if it wasn't for all those clutch fourth quarter performances, the Bulls would not have nearly as many wins as they do now.
Both JKiDD05NeTs' and Moo2K4's comments should be deleted. Both of them have the Bulls listed as their favorite team and Moo2K4 has Gordon as his avatar. Can someone say biased? At this point, I really have no opinion on the matter of who should be taking home the Rookie of the Year trophy, but I do think it's absolutely ridiculous that these two are posting their opinions in the Bobcats forum. Seriously, I'd be willing to bet that not a single Bobcats fan in here gives a crap what they think. They can deny it all they want, but if they were Charlotte Bobcats fans, they would be saying that Okafor deserves it. (And before you say anything Moo2K4, I do see that you like the Bobcats. However, that fact is irrelevent because they neither listed as your favorite team or in your avatar. It's pretty obvious that you would be rooting for the Bulls if the two teams played each other.) If you aren't going to bring an objective view to the table, please don't sit down and offer your opinion. You're wasting your time. (Once again, please don't respond telling me that you aren't biased and that you truly believe in your heart of hearts that Gordon deserves the award. Such a claim would be absurd.)
IMO, you shouldn't really rely on team success to compare Ben Gordan and Emeka Okafor. That is something like penalizing an individual for being picked by a poor team. Rookie of the Year should be the best player of the draft, period. Also with the roster the Bobcats have assembled, I think it is pretty remarkable that they won as many games as they have. This team had the potential to be the worst team in NBA history and have really suprised a lot of people. I think a lot of that has to do with Okafor's suprising play. This is a guy that many analysts believed would be a defensive presence but basically a non-factor on offense, and he comes averaging nearly 15 PPG. Not only that, he is averaging almost 11 RPG, a double-double. The dude has had more consecutive double-doubles his rookie year than anybody for a couple decades. He's been consistent throughout the season. He is also the focal point of the offense, and really, the only reliable offensive option on the team. Ben Gordan, on the other hand, is put more in a situation to succeed. He is on a solid team with numerous options on offense, a better supporting cast. Still, his resume is just as impressive. He is a scoring monster, exactly what he was hyped as coming out of the draft, atm, leading all rookies in scoring in very limited minutes. He puts in big fourth quarter numbers, which has resulted in wins, and leads the league in double-digit fourth quarters. His clutch play has earned him a nickname from some "Baby Jordan." The Bulls have experienced a tremendous turnaround which has some people picking him as ROY. But at the same time, you can look at Okafor's contributions and see that he has pushed the team to win more games than anybody thought they could. Then you considered that Okafor's team is made of unwanted journeymen veterans and young, unproven players whereas Gordan has a roster that been assembled over the course of a numerous off-seasons and drafts. The Bobcats might have some former lottery picks in the players they've taken from the expansion draft, but they are former lottery picks that have not exactly paid dividends to say the least. The thing that puts Okafor ahead of Gordan for me is the versitility and consistency. Okafor is a factor on defense and offense and can contribute in more ways than solely scoring. With Gordan, he is a bit inconsistent/streaky at times, and can solely be defined as a scorer. The team experimented with Gordan as a PG at the beginning of the year, and the results were not successful, as can be seen by his early season struggles. lol, my long ramblings =P
Though I've given Gordon a lot of praise myself, here are some very reasonable counters agaisnt him: When he come's on the floor, he's on free jack mode. He's third in the league in FG attempts per 48 behind Iverson and Webber, that's a lot of shots in his time on the floor. As a starter, he wouldn't get the same privileges. He's too one dimensional, only scoring, and not doing much else. He's not really a good defender, not much of a passer, a fairly good rebounder for his height, and that's about all. Emeka is scoring, rebounding, blocking shots, defending, and really doing a lot more than Gordon. He's committing a lot of turnovers in his limited playing time, especially comparing it to his assists, he's turning it over a lot. <u>Gordon per 40 mins </u> 25.0 points | 4.3 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 3.8 turnovers | 4.6 fouls Those are very good numbers, though the fouls and turnovers stand out as places he could definately improve on. 2.8 fouls in 24 minutes is too much, Emeka averages 2.9 in 35 minutes as a big man. He wouldn't average 25 PPG as a 40 MPG starter, but would be in the 18-20 PPG range, though the rest of his game could be a problem. Gordon also can't guard 2's, and isn't a PG, so it will be hard for him to be a starter. <u>Emeka per 40 minutes </u> 17.2 points | 12.1 rebounds | 2.0 blocks | 1.93 turnovers
I agree, Meka should get the ROY. Ben has been doing well this year, but I think Meka has really done better imo.
