Nerlens Noel is making a push for Rookie of the Year. How exciting is that? I thought he would do well, but he definitely has surprised me. He’s on one of the worst teams in the NBA but he finds a way to grind it out and make his team better. That’s what experienced veterans are supposed to do, not rookies.
Just watching the video below has me thinking of all the “what ifs”.
Here’s an excerpt from “Rookie Ladder”
The difference is, this Kia Rookie of the Year chase has been about Nerlens Noel against everyone, not just his fellow rookies. Andrew Wiggins spent 2014-15 being compared to other first-year players and Nikola Mirotic spent months locked in internal minutes combat with the rest of the Chicago front-court depth chart.
That perspective alone is why Noel deserves Rookie of the Year, because he has faced the burden no one else in the class did. Because he earned it, actually, as the 76ers center played beyond his experience to push into the top 10 of the league in two prominent statistical categories.
Wiggins: No. 1 among rookies in scoring. (Plus No. 4 among all players in minutes.)
Noel: Entering Wednesday, he was No. 8 in the league in blocks and No. 9 in steals. (Plus, No. 4 in defensive plus-minus, No. 9 in defensive win shares, along with the possibility of finishing first among rookies in rebounds, blocks andsteals.)
Wiggins is having a good offensive season for a rookie. Noel is about to join David Robinson as the only newcomers to average at least 1.50 steals and 1.50 blocks in a rare combination of speed with size and inside power. Noel is so being measured against everyone that the comparisons include past players.
Read the entire article here.
