Emeka or Gordon?

[Keo]

Look at this: http://www.nba.com/features/rookie_050331.html
I'd personally go with Emeka. He's helped the Bobcats a lot. An expansion team who has the players that the Bobcats do, are lucky to have this many wins and I think that's because of Emeka Okafor. Plus they lost a lot of their games when Meka was injured and he's also putting up great numbers especially most recently, and he averages a double-double...

[Amphatoast]

ben gordon simply cause of the bulls' success this year and his great crunch time play

[Andrew]

Predictably, my choice is Gordon though I'm guessing the award will go to Emeka. And it's not as though he doesn't deserve it, far from it. Being on an expansion team doesn't disqualify a player from ROY contention; after all, the last time there was league expansion it was a rookie on an expansion team who took home ROY honours.

The overall contribution is difficult to argue against, but Gordon has a few statistics that are pretty impressive. He's averaging more points than Okafor in 11 fewer minutes per game. He leads the league in double digit fourth quarter scoring and has been quite the clutch performer.

I'm not the biggest fan of per 48 minute stats as they don't truly prove a player could put up certain numbers if they played 48 minutes. But Gordon's are interesting because he's only playing 24 minutes per game.

Per 48 minutes:
30.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.8 apg, 1.19 spg, 42% from three, 42% overall

The scoring's a bit unrealistic, but the other numbers are spot on. I'd say he could be averaging around 22, 5 and 4 if he was playing starter minutes. Those would be nice numbers and assuming the Bulls would still be 41-31, I'd think he'd have a much better chance at winning ROY. As it is, it shows how well he can do playing just half a game, not to mention the fourth quarter heroics.

So I'll say Emeka will likely get ROY, but I think Gordon should get it. Emeka's helping the Bobcats win, but Gordon is helping the Bulls win a lot more as a very productive and increasingly dangerous sixth man. I realise my opinion is biased, and believe me I won't scoff at the selection of Emeka or Dwight Howard for that matter, should the voting go that way.

[Bl@ck_Thorne]

i'll go for gordon, look at the bulls right now their now at the 4th seed because of the lost of wizard today.

[fgrep15]

The problem with Gordon is the he can't guard 2's, and isn't a PG. He's a great punch off the bench, but remids a lot of people of Vinnie from the Pistons.

The Bulls success shouldn't keep Meka down, it should help Gordon's case, but it shouldn't be a factor to keep Meka down. Andrew, I'm not a fan of per 48 minute stats myself, per 40 minute stats mean more as no one plays 48 MPG in the NBA.

Gordon per 40 mins
25.0 points | 4.3 rebounds | 3.1 assists | 3.8 turnovers | 4.6 fouls

Those are fairly good numbers, but his PPG average would go down a little due to fatigue throughout the game, and his turnovers are a little too much when you consider his assists. He's also fouling a little too much right now with 2.8 fouls a game in 24 mins. Their's also the fact that coming off the bench, he's on free jack mode, and is really allowed to shoot when he wants. He's third in the NBA in FG attempts per 48 mins behind Iverson and Webber...Okafor is at #43. He could be a 18-20 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists starter though, so he's definately got something going there.

The biggest counter agaisnt Gordon is that he's too one dimensional, he's 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.

Emeka per 40 minutes
17.2 points | 12.1 rebounds | 2.0 blocks | 1.93 turnovers

[cklitsie]

Sorry to say this, but Gordon is just overhyped right now. His prestations are pretty good, but Emeka has been doing it all - all year - for the Bobcats. Too bad they weren't playing like this when they both were attending UConn, although they already won the National Championship. Would've been scary to see them both in their NBA forms against all those other young guns.

[jwill2]

gordon deserves it, but emeka's gonna get it.

[AlwaysWhat,NeverWhy]

I agree, Ben Gordon deserves it but Okafor has been a one-man show in Charlotte, plus he's a big man, and is going to get the award.

But if we were talking about the 'best player each rookie can eventually become' award, that one goes to Dwight Howard hands down. Give this kid 2-3 years and he'll be eating Amare for breakfast...

[8-Hype]

Emeka is my man! I talked to him yesterday on the phone and he said he's sure he gonna win it. But he also said that he and Gordon are two completely different types of players, and the NBA will consider that before announcing the good news for him.

[air gordon]

what is the bigger and more difficult feat: posting a double double nightly in "meaningless" games or carrying a playoff bound team by leading the league in double digit scoring 4th quarters? picking either is a good choice...

Sorry to say this, but Gordon is just overhyped right now. His prestations are pretty good, but Emeka has been doing it all - all year - for the Bobcats.

what's prestations and how is gordon overhyped now? not many rookies can step into the league and immediately become great clutch performers. none of the current superstars were able to do this.. not counting dwayne wade, that's if you consider him a superstar in the league

Too bad they weren't playing like this when they both were attending UConn, although they already won the National Championship. Would've been scary to see them both in their NBA forms against all those other young guns. Wink

imo they were playing 'like this' last year. find tape of the big east tournament and watch gordon go off. or okafor against duke in the final four or for the whole season. that uconn team was the consensus #1 for much of last year and marched on to the championship lead by okafor and gordon

The biggest counter agaisnt Gordon is that he's too one dimensional, he's 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

not necessarily. skiles uses gordon primarily as a scorer so that's what he does. whenever he's on the court, so is either duhon or hinrich. in the 4th quarter all 3 of them are on the court at the same time. gordon can be a playmaker, he's just not often put into that role. yes he has many turnovers, many of which come off of lazy passes, but let's not make him out like he's yinka dare. he can penetrate the lane & dish, as evidenced by that play against cleveland on national tv late in the 4th qtr

[Keo]

Poor Dwight Howard #1 Pick in the draft and barely even considered for the award...

[cklitsie]

air gordon, you didn't really get what I meant.
IMO ( ) Gordon is overhyped right now, especially by the NBA. They need new stars and they are promoting guys like Amare, Wade, LeBron and Gordon because they really have the potential. Even though Gordon has been amazing, all of a sudden everyone likes him and 2/3 of the kobe sigs turn into gordon sigs.
The fact that he got way more popular made him a bigger candidate for the ROY too.

Of course Gordon and Okafor were playing good in college too, but the quality level between the NBA and the NCAA is so big that IMO (there it is again ) they are playing better right now than they were last year.

Luckily "IMO" still means "in my opinion" so nobody has to agree.

[Fresh8]

Anyone gonna make them co-roy???

[beau_boy04]

I go for my main man Ben Gordon but i think it would be a tied co-ROY Gordon and Emeka.

[Jona]

Emeka Okafor.

[The GOAT]

I say it's Gordon. He's been teh MVP IMO for teh Bulls, and they have had amazing success.

[Fresh8]

His stats and his pay should win it for him hands down but then u take into account how Charlotte is an expansion team... but Bulls have been bad since 99...

[The GOAT]

Teh Bulls have completely turned it around though, I think that's better than being a slightly better than average expansion team.

[Fresh8]

Yeah.. theres the arguement though. And when u compare both teams... the Bulls have a much deeper roster...

[fgrep15]

His stats and his pay should win it for him hands down but then u take into account how Charlotte is an expansion team... but Bulls have been bad since 99...

...and were good a lot of the years before that, the Bobcats were never in existence

[Fresh8]

Thats what im saying.. .can we say that to put these stats and make the team ok for expanison standards worthy for the award...

Or getting the Bulls who have a deeper roster into the playoffs as a potential 4th, 5th seed beats that?

[cyanide]

Sorry to say this, but Gordon is just overhyped right now. His prestations are pretty good, but Emeka has been doing it all - all year - for the Bobcats.

Agreed. Emeka had to carry the load for an expansion team, and he's doing very well. He put up some amazing strings of double doubles, and stats wise, even though Ben Gordon has a lot of points, Emeka's putting up major rebounds. IMO, if Gordon is to be considered, I think Howard should be a consideration too. But all in all, Emeka deserves it.

[Fresh8]

Do they take team records into account for ROY???

[fgrep15]

They take a lot of things into account, it's all about the preference of whoever's voting...

[Andrew]

The Bobcats aren't really a slightly better than average expansion team though. They're 15-57 so far with a couple of wins over superior teams, which is pretty much par for the course as far as expansion teams are concerned. It's no easy feat given their roster (which is probably a little better than the Grizzlies' and Raptors' rosters in 1995/1996) but it's not exactly a tremendous expansion effort. That would be something like winning 33 games and making the playoffs in your first season, as the Chicago Bulls did.

(Sorry, just had to get that in. )