Who would of won Rookie of the Year last year, Reke vs Griffin?

[est.1999]

Numbers are fine and dandy but until his team can muster a better winning percentage than sub 40%(and that's with way better play as of late) then I dont think it's fair to label his rookie season better than those other guys even though they had major talent on their rosters. The jump in wins from year to year that bird put up and magics ability to win a ring cannot be matched. I don't care if griffin averages 50 a game, he's got a decent enough team to be better than 15-25 on the year.

But I still think griffin would win the award pretty easily.

 

[Kingsguy881]

Uh... no.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&page=PERDiem-110118

"As it turns out, Griffin's rookie year (so far) isn't the best in history … I'd say Wilt Chamberlain has that pretty safely salted away by jumping out of the gate with a 37.6-27.0 campaign in 1959-60."

"Everybody else takes a back seat to Griffin. EVERYBODY. Shaq, Duncan, Magic, Bird -- no dice, fellas. The comparison of Griffin to other dominant big men of recent vintage is particularly noteworthy. Once we adjust for pace and minutes, as I've done in the chart, his rookie season seems completely in place next to those of Robinson, Duncan, Shaq, and Olajuwon. And in one respect (his passing ability) he's already far beyond them and nearly into Larry Bird/Chris Webber territory."

So, to sum up, this is once in a lifetime. Only on this board would you see 13% voting for Tyreke. SMH

Bullspit. Robinson, Duncan, Shaq and Olajuwon all had one thing they could do that Blake can't (and trust me, I've been following Blake all season, he's on my fantasy team). They could block shots, alter shots, and play goalie on top of putting up monstrous #s on the glass and offensively. The aforementioned players changed the game not only offensively but defensively, in fact their defensive impact was HUGE and completely unnoticed by certain folks. Blake is exciting, athletic, dynamic, you name it, and he puts up crazy stats. But the one glaring weakness right now, especially for someone who has the athleticism he does, is the lack of blocks especially, and steals to a lesser extent.

As far as anyone voting for Tyreke, I highly doubt they are being honest and hope they are being jokesters but the reality is Blake is too dynamic for 20-5-5 to walk away with the award.

 

[hrdboild]

I would bet the 6 people that did vote for Reke when this poll was put up probably wish they could re-vote now. A few weeks ago there was maybe still a case for Reke, but not anymore. Blake wins it pretty much every single year with the numbers he's putting up and the attention he's getting in the process.

 

[ParniValjak]

Most would (or should) go with Griffen. Even the Kings hierarchy at the time said that Griffen would be their #1 pick and Tyreke was next best.

But when its all said and done, it doesn't really matter because both teams have stars. Tyreke has had a down season so far for a number of reasons but has still produced in some games to the level that we all expected from him.

I still believe that Tyreke will be a superstar once he gets his jump shot down. His to the basket game is just about unstoppable and once he rounds out his game by adding a consistent jump shot he will terrorise defences for the years to come.

With Evans and Cousins we have the combination of a great inside out duo (and Clippers do as well with Griffen and Gordon) and all we need to do is get that 3rd star (preferrably a SF) and fill in the rest of the roster with complementary pieces.

Just think in 3 years time Cousins will be best offensive C in the game and Tyreke will be a perennial all-star. Thats some major building blocks going forward and while they started slow, they have been building some good chemistry and results of late.

 

[AL/kfan]

Most would (or should) go with Griffen. Even the Kings hierarchy at the time said that Griffen would be their #1 pick and Tyreke was next best.

But when its all said and done, it doesn't really matter because both teams have stars. Tyreke has had a down season so far for a number of reasons but has still produced in some games to the level that we all expected from him.

I still believe that Tyreke will be a superstar once he gets his jump shot down. His to the basket game is just about unstoppable and once he rounds out his game by adding a consistent jump shot he will terrorise defences for the years to come.

With Evans and Cousins we have the combination of a great inside out duo (and Clippers do as well with Griffen and Gordon) and all we need to do is get that 3rd star (preferrably a SF) and fill in the rest of the roster with complementary pieces.

Just think in 3 years time Cousins will be best offensive C in the game and Tyreke will be a perennial all-star. Thats some major building blocks going forward and while they started slow, they have been building some good chemistry and results of late.

I fully agree especially when you mention Tyreke is having an off year. If we compare Tyreke's last season to Griffen's game thus far, Giffen wouldn't be head shoulders above Evans, Maybe just a head and half a shoulder. Who me? Well my vote goes to Blake Griffen.

 

[kennadog]

I have no doubt Blake Griffin would win. However, I do think Reke would beat the heck outta "Glake" Griffin.

 

[Spike]

I figured people would have long ago caught on, but I guess it was just me...and you.

 

[hrdboild]

If the original question were about which is going to be the better player, and not which would have won rookie of the year, you can start to build a case for Tyreke though. Firstly, Griffin is not a difference maker on defense and Tyreke is (which is also why the comparisons to Shaq, Duncan, Hakeem, and Robinson should stop). Secondly, Griffin would be a college senior this year and Tyreke would be a junior so he's one year behind on his development. Thirdly, Griffin has already had knee surgery twice, which is a bit worrisome for a big man, and Tyreke has not -- though he has had a lot of ankle injuries in two years. I also don't think Griffin can sustain the level of energy he currently plays with over a 10+ year career. The way he gets up for dunks, you have to figure injuries are always going to be a risk for him. Tyreke's game is based more on strength than athleticism -- though we've seen this year that his effectiveness can be dramatically impacted by ankle or foot injuries. So overall I think, rookie seasons aside, it's a toss-up right now which player will end up having the better career. If I had to guess I'd say Griffin would have the higher peak but Tyreke may have a longer period of sustained excellence.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

I figured people would have long ago caught on, but I guess it was just me...and you.

I just figured that it was one of those asisnine nicknames that are some sort of amalgamation of their real names that fans have a tendency to give players, which I generally ignore.

It's not unreasonable that if Griffin, Evans and Curry all played last year that Curry may have won.

Say what now?

 

[est.1999]

Yeah I didn't get that Curry statement either. You add a potential superstar to last years rookie class and all of a sudden Curry has a better chance to win it??

 

[Asaf]

Yeah I didn't get that Curry statement either. You add a potential superstar to last years rookie class and all of a sudden Curry has a better chance to win it??

Griffin is already a superstar. If he was a FA right now, I can think of very few teams that wouldn't offer him a max contract right away.

 

[Kingsguy881]

Yeah I didn't get that Curry statement either. You add a potential superstar to last years rookie class and all of a sudden Curry has a better chance to win it??

Dude, come on. He's pushing 80.

 

[Spike]

I just figured that it was one of those asisnine nicknames that are some sort of amalgamation of their real names that fans have a tendency to give players, which I generally ignore.

Unless they also misspelled "Gleek", who was a companion of the Wonder Twins. I often wonder about the uselessness of the Wonder Twins. Does anyone else even come close? Aquaman, I suppose...