The three most talked about Wildcats from last season are all considered to be an option for the NBA Rookie of the Year this season. John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins are real contenders and Patrick Patterson is listed as a “Possible Dark Horse”. Not to take away from Wall or Cousins, but if the ROY award was given based on work ethic then Patterson would be ranked as a higher chance.
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[quote=CBS Sports]
[B]John Wall, Wizards -[/B] In terms of pure flash, skill and NBA talent, it’s hard to top John Wall. He just has some sort of allure to him that makes him must-see. And that sort of thing goes a long way in determining Rookie of the Year. Wall has “it,” whatever “it” is.
He’s going to struggle some though, especially early on. He’s being put in charge of a fairly bad Wizards team from the get-go. He’s going to have to manage being a scorer and a distributor, something really good point guards don’t figure out most times until their third year. He will struggle at times. He’ll turn the ball over. He’ll miss open shots. And he’ll likely get frustrated. But Wall will have flashy games, good numbers and most of all, that Derrick Rose like draw that just makes him fun to watch.
[B]DeMarcus Cousins, Kings -[/B] A lot of really smart analysts agreed in June, DeMarcus Cousins was the most talented overall player in the draft. He’s the most NBA ready player and most capable of stepping on the floor and contributing this second.
But for Cousins, it was a between-the-ears thing.
Assuming his head is on straight and he’s focused, Cousins is an absolute force on the post. In the first three games of Vegas summer league, he was nearly unguardable. He was a walking double-double. But then he got tired, lost interest and his numbers dipped severely. If we see the good Cousins consistently, he’s a legit contender. If he wavers, he might not even make an All-Rookie team.
[B]Patrick Patterson, Rockets – [/B]Daryl Morey traded Carl Landry away to Sacramento last season at the deadline. And he replaced him with, basically another Carl Landry.
Patterson is a machine on the post. He never stops working, never stops fighting. He’s pretty much a perfect Houston Rocket at this point. The traditional box score may say he’s not great, the measurables may say he’s not super talented, but he just gets it done. Given the chance, he might slip in and average quality numbers playing in a bench role for Houston. And if so, he might also slip into the ROY discussion.[/quote]
[URL=”http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22748484/24456957″]Source[/URL].
The widely accepted consensus is that the real battle will be between John Wall and Blake Griffin. If DeMarcus can stay out of foul trouble throughout 82 games, I think he has a real chance to take it over. Any Kentucky fan that watched him last year knows he can be a dominate figure in the middle.
Good luck to all three of you!
