Bruce Willis looked like he was having “nice…very nice” time in New Orleans during the Hornets/Lakers game.
In his defense, most of us would be “feeling good” if we were in New Orleans for night and taking in a basketball game. The difference is that we don’t have some guy running around with a microphone and camera asking us for an interview.
It’s that time of year again. Let’s try to figure out who will win this year’s Rookie of the Year…
Brandon Jennings jumped out in the ROY race with a 22-4-6 average in October and November, while shooting 43% from the field and 50% from three-point land. This included an epic 55-point outing against the Golden State Warriors in which Jennings hit 21 of 34 shots, including 7-for-8 from behind the arc. Since then, he is averaging 14-3-6 and is shooting just 35% from the field and 36% from 3PT. He has struggled with scoring from inside the arc, but he leads all rookies in assists and has a pretty nice assist-to-turnover ratio — 2.41, but he has posted a 2.72 ratio since the start of December. Maybe most importantly, the Bucks are 41-32 and are in the #5 spot in the East.
Tyreke Evans overtook Jennings with a 22-5-5 December and hasn’t looked back. On the season, he is averaging 20-5-6, and is shooting 46% from the field. He’s on the verge of joining LeBron James, Michael Jordan and Oscar Robertson as the only players to average 20-5-5 in their rookie seasons. However, the Kings have the 6th-worst record in the league and have been out of the playoff hunt for some time. This is both good and bad for Evans’ stats. On one hand, the Kings are so bad that he has to be the clear focal point of the offense — unlike Jennings, he doesn’t have to get the ball to Andrew Bogut or John Salmons — but the fact that the Kings are so bad means that defenses can focus on stopping him.
And then there’s Stephen Curry, whom NBA.com’s Drew Packham lists first in his rookie rankings. Since the start of December, he has averaged 18-5-6, while shooting 47% from the field and 44% from long range. And he keeps getting better. In February and March, he averaged 21-5-7. But at 21-52, the Warriors are even worse than the Kings. In fact, Golden State is tied for second third in fewest wins this season.
One thing that pure averages don’t account for is a team’s pace (i.e. the average # of possessions a team has during the course of a game). Is it fair to compare Jennings’ numbers to Curry’s when the Bucks are #18 in overall pace and the Warriors are #1? Using the league average of 95.15 possessions, here is a look at the pace-adjusted numbers for each player, along with John Hollinger’s PER:
All due respect to Mr. Packham, I think this is a two-man race between Evans and Jennings. Evans’ numbers are better than Curry’s and his team is a little better, so if we’re going to go with a good player on a bad team, it should be Evans.
As for Jennings, his case depends how much importance we place on a team’s record and how responsible the player is for that record. It’s funny — a good record is crucial in winning the league MVP, but for ROY, it doesn’t seem to matter all that much. Why is that?
In the end, I think Evans will win Rookie of the Year. Given the history of the award, if a player clearly has the superior numbers, winning just doesn’t matter. That’s the case here.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
After being criticized for forgetting his cleats and testing slow in two 40-yard-dash runs yesterday at a private workout for NFL scouts, Oklahoma State receiver Dez Bryant lashed out in an interview with the Associated Press on Wednesday.
From USA Today:
“I’m not the type of person that will try to confront somebody but now I feel like it’s gone too far. It’s gone too far,” Bryant said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I ain’t never got in trouble with nobody. I never said anything. I don’t say anything wrong to nobody. I’m friendly. This here is too far.
“What is this? Y’all don’t want me to go to the NFL or something? It’s going to happen,” Bryant said. “It is going to happen. God blessed me to have this ability to play this game.
“I haven’t did anything wrong to nobody.”
“What do this got to do with me playing football? Even if I did forget my cleats, what do that have to do with me playing football? I don’t think it has anything to do with me playing football.”
I don’t know about anyone else, but if I were about to work out for pro scouts, I would have made sure that I wore my cleats to bed the night before. I would have forgotten to put my underwear on before I forgot my cleats. It’s like a surgeon forgetting his scalpel the day of surgery.
Maybe the criticism has gone too far, but perception is often reality. While he was at Oklahoma State, there were reports that Bryant skipped meetings and classes and even showed up late for games. Then the NCAA suspended him for almost the entire 2009 season because he lied to investigators about his interaction with Deion Sanders. Then, amidst rumors that he was out of shape, he didn’t work out at the Combine or at OSU’s Pro Day and forgot his cleats yesterday for a private workout.
So what does Bryant expect people to think? He has done nothing to change the perception that he’s mature or that he’s willing to change his rep. He needs to slow down, put in the work and then let everything else take care of itself.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Jaguars and Redskins have each scheduled private workouts in South Bend with Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen. Washington holds the fourth overall pick in April’s draft, while Jacksonville has the 10th.
It’s no secret that Redskins’ owner Daniel Snyder would rather cut off one of his ears than watch Jason Campbell take another snap under center in Washington, while Jaguars’ head coach Jack Del Rio went as far as to say that David Garrard wasn’t a “Super Bowl-caliber” quarterback in early February. Needless to say, both teams would like to upgrade their quarterback situation sometime in the near future.
What the Redskins do at No. 4 may ultimately depend on what the Rams and Lions do at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. If the Rams draft Nebraska DT Ndamukong Suh, then Sam Bradford will be available for the Redskins at No. 4. If St. Louis takes Bradford, then Clausen will definitely slip to No. 4. If the Lions pass on offensive tackle Russell Okung at No. 2, then it may come down to Okung and Clausen for the Redskins.
Andy Glockner, SI.com: Tom Izzo is the best college basketball coach in America. Relax, North Carolina and Duke fans. No one’s slighting your leading men or their career accomplishments. We’re talking about right now, this very moment, two days after Izzo pulled off the near-impossible and made Michigan State’s three-year turn-of-last-decade run now look more like the rule rather than the exception. Think last season’s dramatic push to the national title game in Detroit with a youthful roster was stirring? This year’s Spartans have overcome a leadership void, player-coach discontent and a back-stiffening gym-floor sleepover in addition to the late rash of injuries. Their quartet of NCAA tournament wins are highlighted by a crucial lane violation, a buzzer-beating three and the country’s largest temporary (and most loquacious) point guard dropping a delicious dime that helped beat Tennessee. And let’s be honest: On the list of legendary college basketball settings, how long after Westwood, Lawrence, Chapel Hill and Durham would it take to finally get to East Lansing? Izzo doesn’t get enough credit for the level of talent he brings in, considering he’s selling kids on winters in central Michigan. Meanwhile, Roy Williams’ office phone has a golden arches insignia on it.
© 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑
