| Love Ascends Up Rookie Ladder Authored by Andrew Perna - March 5, 2009 - 3:17 pm
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With so much of the season already in the books, a number of rookies have either hit the infamous wall, or broken right through it. A handful now have sixty NBA games under their belt, and several have entrenched themselves as solid members of their team's rotation.
Chicago's Derrick Rose, the first overall pick from last June's NBA Draft, has been the most-heralded rookie in the league for a majority of the season. However, guys like Brook Lopez, Marc Gasol, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love and O.J. Mayo have been gaining on him as of late.
Each of those six guys has been a fixture in their first professional season, while some have been more productive and efficient than others.
In past rookie pieces, I have ranked players based on FIC per game (Chris Reina's Floor Impact Counter), but I'm going to take a slightly different approach this time. For all intents and purposes, the best players of this year's class are really no longer green. So I've decided to rank them based on FIC per 40, a calculation of their FIC numbers over forty minutes of action (typically, solid starter minutes).
Mayo and Rose, who lead rookies in minutes with 37.9 and 36.5, respectively, have dropped significantly down this list because they are closer to the prorated level of forty minutes than any other player. If you like the approach I took in earlier rookie pieces, don't worry. I've included the FIC per game stats (and rankings) as well.
--All statistics are through Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
--A rookie must have appeared in at least twenty games to qualify
--Player, Team: Averages, FIC40, FIC/Game (Rank)
1. Kevin Love, Minnesota: 9.9 points and 8.8 rebounds in 24.2 minutes, 16.0 FIC40, 9.72 FIC/Game (5th)
2. Anthony Randolph, Golden State: 5.8 points and 4.2 rebounds in 12.6 minutes, 14.8 FIC40, 4.68 FIC/Game (21st)
3. Marreese Speights, Philadelphia: 7.8 points and 3.8 rebounds in 15.2 minutes, 14.6 FIC40, 5.57 FIC/Game (15th)
4. Brook Lopez, New Jersey: 12.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 30.2 minutes, 14.3 FIC40, 10.77 FIC/Game (2nd)
5. Greg Oden, Portland: 9.0 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 22.9 minutes, 14.2 FIC40, 8.14 FIC/Game (8th)
6. DeAndre Jordan, Los Angeles: 3.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 14.3 minutes, 13.5 FIC40, 4.85 FIC/Game (19th)
7. Marc Gasol, Memphis: 11.1 points and 7.5 rebounds in 30.3 minutes, 13.4 FIC40, 10.18 FIC/Game (3rd)
8. JaVale McGee, Washington: 6.2 points and 3.9 rebounds in 14.8 minutes, 13.2 FIC40, 4.89 FIC/Game (18th)
9. Kosta Koufos, Utah: 4.7 points and 2.9 rebounds in 11.8 minutes, 13 FIC40, 3.84 FIC/Game (27th)
10. Roy Hibbert, Indiana: 6.2 points and 3.0 rebounds in 12.6 minutes, 12.5 FIC40, 3.92 FIC/Game (26th)
11. Derrick Rose, Chicago: 16.4 points, 6.3 assists and 3.6 rebounds in 36.5 minutes, 12.3 FIC40, 11.24 FIC/Game (1st)
12. Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City: 15.7 points, 5.2 assists and 4.7 rebounds in 32.4 minutes, 12.3 FIC40, 9.97 FIC/Game (4th)
13. Anthony Morrow, Golden State: 8.2 points and 2.6 rebounds in 18.3 minutes, 11.3 FIC40, 5.18 FIC/Game (17th)
14. Rudolfo Fernandez, Portland: 10.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 26 minutes, 11.2 FIC40, 7.28 FIC/Game (10th)
15. Michael Beasley, Miami: 13.4 points and 5.2 rebounds in 24.3 minutes, 11.2 FIC40, 6.80 FIC/Game (13th)
16. Ryan Anderson, New Jersey: 7.1 points and 4.6 rebounds in 19 minutes, 11.2 FIC40, 5.32 FIC/Game (16th)
17. Danilo Gallinari, New York: 5.7 points and 2.0 rebounds in 13.2 minutes, 11.1 FIC40, 3.66 FIC/Game (28th)
18. Jason Thompson, Sacramento: 10.3 points and 6.8 rebounds in 26.6 minutes, 10.7 FIC40, 7.16 FIC/Game (11th)
19. Luc Mbah a Moute, Milwaukee: 7.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in 25.5 minutes, 10.7 FIC40, 6.79 FIC/Game (14th)
20. Mario Chalmers, Miami: 9.8 points, 4.7 assists and 2.5 rebounds in 31.1 minutes, 10.4 FIC40, 8.07 FIC/Game (9th)
21. J.J. Hickson, Cleveland: 4.3 points and 2.8 rebounds in 12.2 minutes, 10.4 FIC40, 3.18 FIC/Game (30th)
22. D.J. Augustin, Charlotte: 11.8 points and 3.9 assists in 27.6 minutes, 10.2 FIC40, 7.03 FIC/Game (12th)
23. Eric Gordon, Los Angeles: 15.1 points and 2.7 assists in 33 minutes, 10.1 FIC40, 8.30 FIC/Game (7th)
24. O.J. Mayo, Memphis: 19.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 37.9 minutes, 9.8 FIC40, 9.25 FIC/Game (6th)
25. Nicolas Batum, Portland: 5.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in 17.8 minutes, 9.6 FIC40, 4.30 FIC/Game (24th)
Best of the Rest
26. George Hill, San Antonio 9.2 FIC40
27. Darrell Arthur, Memphis 9.1 FIC40
28. Kyle Weaver, Oklahoma City 8.9 FIC40
29. Rob Kurz, Golden State 8.5 FIC40
30. Roko Ukic, Toronto 8.3 FIC40
31. Courtney Lee, Orlando 8.1 FIC40
32. Robin Lopez, Phoenix 8.0 FIC40
33. Joe Alexander, Milwaukee 7.4 FIC40
34. Goran Dragic, Phoenix 7.2 FIC40
35. Jerryd Bayless, Portland 6.8 FIC40
36. Mike Taylor, Los Angeles 6.3 FIC40
37. Brandon Rush, Indiana 6.0 FIC40
38. Donte Greene, Sacramento 5.9 FIC40
39. Chris Douglas-Roberts, New Jersey 5.9 FIC40
40. Bobby Brown, Sacramento 5.5 FIC40
Andrew Perna is Deputy Editor of RealGM.com and co-host of RealGM's Radio Show. Please feel free to contact him with comments or questions via e-mail: Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com |
