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clipper*joe
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Post subject: Report: Durant will be named top rookie
 Posted: Apr 30, 2008 - 03:46 PM PST
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Clipper All-Star
Joined: Jul 26, 2007 Age: 41
Posts: 1082
Location: los angeles
  
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Kevin Durant of the Seattle SuperSonics has been chosen as the NBA Rookie of Year, The Associated Press has learned.
The person with knowledge of the vote requested anonymity because the official announcement has not been made.
The honor was first reported by The Seattle Times in Wednesday's editions.
The announcement is expected to become official on Thursday.
Durant was the SuperSonics leading scorer in his rookie season, living up to the lofty expectations placed on him after being the national college player of the year at Texas and the No. 2 overall pick in June's draft.
He had to carry the scoring load for the rebuilding franchise from the start and didn't disappoint. Durant averaged 20.3 points — the highest scoring average for a rookie since LeBron James averaged 20.9 points in 2003-04.
Despite strong rookie seasons from Atlanta's Al Horford and Houston's Luis Scola, Durant's selection is hardly a surprise, especially after No. 1 pick Greg Oden went down over the summer with a knee injury. Durant was the Western Conference rookie of the month five times and is the first Sonics player to win the rookie award.
"It would mean a lot," Durant said after the season about the rookie award. "My main goal was to come in and get better. This summer is big for me to become a better player and help this team out next year and that's what I'm going to try and do. But if I am the rookie of the year, it's a blessing."
Durant experienced the typical rookie struggles early on. He took rushed and challenged shots at times, dropping his shooting percentage.
But as the season progressed, Durant's confidence grew even as the team stumbled through the worst season in franchise history. Durant averaged 21.8 points and shot nearly 53 percent in March. He capped his rookie season by averaging 24.3 points in his final eight games. Durant scored the winning points in what could have been the Sonics' final home game in Seattle, a 99-95 win over Dallas, then followed up with a career-best 42 points in the Sonics season finale against Golden State.
All those numbers came in a season where the Sonics won just 20 games, often overshadowed by the off-court battles of where the team will play in the future.
"He's had a big load on his shoulders for a rookie to step in and be asked to carry the scoring load and be the face of the franchise," teammate Nick Collison said after the season. "He's just been great."
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/8089544?MSNHPHMA |
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clipnasty
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Post subject: RE: Report: Durant will be named top rookie
Posted: Apr 30, 2008 - 05:06 PM PST
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Clipper Starter
Joined: Jul 18, 2007 Age: 24
Posts: 606
votes: 7
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| Not too much of a shocker. Give Thorton some more minutes early on, he would have had a chance. I liked Hortford too, until he started pulling all those shenanigans in the playoffs. |
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david
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Post subject: RE: Report: Durant will be named top rookie
Posted: Apr 30, 2008 - 06:14 PM PST
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Site Admin
Joined: Apr 13, 2001
Posts: 2244
Location: Austin, TX
votes: 14
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I hope Al comes in #2 or #3, though I wouldn't be surprised to see the voters drop him to 13th like they did to Kaman.  |
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clipnasty
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Post subject: RE: Report: Durant will be named top rookie
Posted: Apr 30, 2008 - 06:29 PM PST
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Clipper Starter
Joined: Jul 18, 2007 Age: 24
Posts: 606
votes: 7
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Sick picture David, I like it!
I would guess Al will be somewhere around 3-5. You gotta figure Hortford is 2, then maybe Scola and Al or vice versa. |
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Post subject: RE: Report: Durant will be named top rookie
Posted: Apr 30, 2008 - 07:03 PM PST
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Clipper Starter
Joined: Apr 09, 2008
Posts: 583
Location: L.A
votes: 6
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| I think al is gonna fall behind scola and horford.So I say he will be the 4th in voting. |
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Let the Baron Davis Era begin already.
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dwb
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Post subject:
Posted: May 01, 2008 - 12:19 PM PST
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Clipper 6th Man
Joined: Jun 30, 2007
Posts: 189
votes: 13
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| I agree with clipshow, 4th will be as good as it gets. Scola really did play pretty nicely for Houston, 'course calling him a rookie with his big league experience overseas is kind of a misnomer, but he definitely became more and more an integral part of their playoff run as the season progressed. I like him a lot. And it's hard to deny Horford's contribution to Atlanta's success, he had a fine season and will be a force for years to come. Tough kid, very tough. Durant... well yeah, he had carte blanche as far as shots go, but he improved too, and looked a much better player towards the end of the season. We knew he'd be hard to beat out just because of the scoring opportunities. I just hope that Al (our Al) DOES make the first team. There's been a lot of talk about Moon, Landry and even Noah has his supporters. None of them deserve to beat Thornton out though, by any stretch of the imagination. Al played a better all around game than any of them, and is a much better offensive threat. If there's ANY justice he'll make the first team All Rookie squad. As David says though... after CK's shocking thirteenth place finish in the MIP, which could've ONLY been attributed to the games he missed, you just never know. |
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dwb
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Post subject:
Posted: May 01, 2008 - 02:57 PM PST
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Clipper 6th Man
Joined: Jun 30, 2007
Posts: 189
votes: 13
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Here are the results from the voting:
Player Team 1st 2nd 3rd Pts
Kevin Durant Seattle 90 30 5 545
Al Horford Atlanta 30 74 18 390
Luis Scola 146
Al Thornton L.A. Clippers -- 1 27 30
Jamario Moon Toronto -- -- 7 7
Juan Carlos Navarro Memphis - - 3 3
Thaddeus Young Philadelphia -- -- 2 2
Carl Landry Houston -- -- 1 1
Mike Conley Memphis -- -- 1 1
Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.
For some reason Scola's specific's breakdown wasn't included, but the article on NBA.com did say that he totaled 146 points. So, Al Thornton finished fourth with 30 points, the only other double figure points scorer besides the top three finishers. I HOPE this means he makes the All Rookie Team. |
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david
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Post subject:
Posted: May 01, 2008 - 03:16 PM PST
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Site Admin
Joined: Apr 13, 2001
Posts: 2244
Location: Austin, TX
votes: 14
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| Yep you guys were right- he was 4th. Like dwb said let's see if he makes the 1st team- it'd be a travesty if he doesn't. |
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jlemmen43
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Post subject:
Posted: May 01, 2008 - 04:37 PM PST
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Clipper All-Star
Joined: Oct 03, 2005
Posts: 1297
Location: Green Bay, WI
votes: 9
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| Yeah it should be Navarro, Thornton, Scola, Horford & Durant as 1st team. |
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laclippers
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Post subject:
Posted: May 01, 2008 - 06:27 PM PST
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Clipper Starter
Joined: Dec 05, 2007
Posts: 526
Location: Los Angeles, California
votes: 4
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| Al Horford is OVERRATED. I think it was a bad choice. Thornton should have finished at least 3rd |
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Dedicated to the Clippers. Now. Forever. Always.
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clipnasty
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Post subject:
Posted: May 01, 2008 - 08:36 PM PST
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Clipper Starter
Joined: Jul 18, 2007 Age: 24
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The thing is Hortford puts up numbers on a team that made the playoffs. Averaging close to a doub doub is pretty impressive.
I could not imagine why Al would not make first team. The only way he wouldnt is because of the position he plays. You figure you would call Hortford a C, Scola PF, Thor a SF, Durant (a long, tall) SG, then i guess Navarro. Do they even do All Rookie team based on position tho?
On a side note, remember pre-season all the hype Marco Bellinelli of the warriors, an he never got in during the season! |
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Miquel
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Post subject:
Posted: May 02, 2008 - 03:02 AM PST
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Clipper Starter
Joined: Jan 28, 2002
Posts: 705
Location: Barcelona
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clipnasty wrote:
The thing is Hortford puts up numbers on a team that made the playoffs. Averaging close to a doub doub is pretty impressive.
I could not imagine why Al would not make first team. The only way he wouldnt is because of the position he plays. You figure you would call Hortford a C, Scola PF, Thor a SF, Durant (a long, tall) SG, then i guess Navarro. Do they even do All Rookie team based on position tho?
On a side note, remember pre-season all the hype Marco Bellinelli of the warriors, an he never got in during the season!
Yeah about Bellinelli I think it has been a little strange...It's obvious that he should have had more opportunities as the rookie he is. But it seems this is the nelson's mentality with the rookies considering that Brandan Wright who was a top ten pick last year hasn't played either. IMO not to play the rookies systemathically is a narrow minded position. |
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