So how’d I do? I wrote this before the season started about who’d make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference: “Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, Toronto, Philadelphia, Orlando and Atlanta. It's difficult to see the Knicks, Nets, Bobcats and Pacers seriously competing for a playoff spot, and perhaps the Wizards with Brendan Haywood lost for the season and Gilbert Arenas for who knows how long. So that leaves the Bulls trying to beat out the Bucks and Heat for the final playoff spot. Will they do it? Probably not. Could they? Possibly.”
I’d just started writing for Bulls.com and a friend in the media department grabbed me and said, somewhat in jest: “You know, Sam, we send this to season ticket holders.”
They could handle the truth, I assured him. I might have been right if not for that February trade, especially with Luol Deng’s injury. I, obviously, missed with Toronto, as Bryan Colangelo did. I’d long argued against adding Jermaine O’Neal when Bulls fans brought it up, so I’m not quite sure why I thought it would work there. Perhaps I overestimated the effect of Chris Bosh. It’s something to consider this offseason.
I had the Lakers, Spurs, Jazz, Rockets, Suns, Mavs, Trail Blazers and Hornets in the West. Missed with the Suns, and underestimated the Nuggets. They, too, made a heck of a trade, the Chauncey Billups/Allen Iverson deal.
I had the Cavs and Lakers to meet in the Finals, which remains to be seen, and I had LeBron as MVP and Michael Beasley as Rookie of the Year.
So I’ll get to how I see the post season awards for this season. And my buddy with the Bulls should be happier this time.
Not only will Derrick Rose win Rookie of the Year, but it should be close to a unanimous vote. If I could have changed my preseason pick the first week of the season, I would have. We all thought Beasley would score so much he’d overwhelm the competition. We also thought he’d be a little on the goofy side, which is why he only began to start for Miami last week. He certainly didn’t disappoint, showing up for the opener with a Batman mouthpiece and driving teammates nuts with his pranks and loud singing around the locker room and practice facility. When he interviewed with the Bulls before the draft, he had five cell phones with him and spent much of the time texting while they were trying to talk to him.
He is a terrific talent and definitely the Heat’s second best player to Dwyane Wade. That he hadn’t started until lately shows how the Heat has been trying to break him. The reason, I suspect, is not so much to conform to Pat Riley’s philosophy than to persuade Wade he would be a worthy teammate and Wade has done plenty of eye rolling about Beasley and Beasley’s presence will certainly play a role in whether Wade intends to resign with the Heat or take an opt out in 2010.
As for Rose and Rookie of the Year, here’s why you cannot even build a case for picking anyone else. And it’s not because I write on the Bulls site. I challenge anyone to make a case for any other rookie. If you vote for anyone else, it will just mean you don’t watch the games.
Beasley: He’s the only rookie other than Rose playing for a team that will make the playoffs. Yet, he hasn’t been a starter until last week. That makes it case closed. Plus, Rose leads him in every key category—even shooting—but rebounding. You might make a better case for Mario Chalmers, who does start and is second to Rose in assists.
O.J. Mayo: He should be the runner-up to Rose. He leads all rookies in scoring at 18.4 to Rose’s 16.6 for second. But his team, with arguably close to the talent of the Bulls with Rudy *** and Marc Gasol, has been an uncompetitive mess at 23-56. If it’s even close, and Rose leads Mayo in assists, rebounds and shooting, doesn’t winning matter? Of course, it determines the MVP, coach of the year, etc. The NBA isn’t baseball. Award winners have to come from winners. Plus, Rose gets the most defensive attention on his team as opponents routinely double team or trap Rose first. No other rookie gets that treatment, and not Mayo with *** on his team.
Brook Lopez: He’d be my third choice. He was the steal of the draft at No. 10, and though Russell Westbrook is a good pick for Oklahoma City, they could have used a young center. Charlotte may be the major violator picking D.J. Augustin just ahead of Lopez. Still, Lopez is barely noticed by defenses playing with Devin Harris and Vince Carter.
Westbrook: The same playing with Kevin Durant and Jeff Green. He’s not even really a point guard. And, oh yeah, they are 22-58.
Who else? Eric Gordon? He’s averaging about 16 per game for the woeful Clippers and a fourth option. Kevin Love? He’s better than I thought he’d be given his lack of athleticism. He’s smart, but again, since Al Jefferson went out he almost never wins a game.
Rose not only is in the playoffs, he’s his team’s best all around player and is first among rookies in assists, second in scoring and fourth in shooting. The only first round picks who play and whose teams are in the playoffs are Beasley, Marreese Speights, J.J. Hickson, Courtney Lee, Nicholas Batum, George Hill.
Rose leads a playoff team, leads overall in rookie stats, and plays the toughest position for a rookie. So what’s the debate? The only one left is who the voter will be who doesn’t vote Rose No. 1. Now, that’s a reason to take someone’s vote away.
