g. smitts

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0404/140393.html

LeBron James, the phenom who went from high school to the pros and
kept the Cleveland Cavaliers in playoff contention until late in
the season, has beaten out Carmelo Anthony in voting for the NBA's
Rookie of the Year award.
_____________________

He beat him in the votes he did not beat him on the court.
Melo heads to the playoffs while Lebron goes on vacation.

eichler4

What Carmelo did for his team in the West was a million times more
impressive than what Lebron did (or should I say didn't do) for his team in
the laughable east. If you asked anybody before the season started by
looking at the Cleveland roster with Boozer, Illgauskas, Lebron, Ricky Davis
and factored in they are in the Horrid eastern conference, then looked at
the Denver roster with an aged over the hill camby and Vashon lenard
starting, an unproven Nene starting, scrubs like Jon Barry and 5 ft 5 Early
Boykins coming in off the bench with the only real talent being an
incredibly inconsistent Andre Miller and Carmelo, then factored in they are
in the absolutely loaded West, we all would have bet our houses that Lebron
had a legit chance to not only make the playoffs in the East, but to do some
damage, and we all would have bet our houses that Denver didn't have a
snowballs chance in hell of winning more than 25 games in the loaded west.

That being said, Lebron lived up to the hype which got him points, he didn't
refuse to enter a game which got him more points, and his highlight reel is
a lot more exciting which got him points. It all depends on the criterea
the sportwriters used.

jk

Rookie of the year is not a team award. It's simply the best rookie.
Nuggets could have won it's division. Lebron is better. Let's see who wins
the first MVP.

--
JK Sinrod
Sinrod Stained Glass Studios
http://www.sinrodstudios.com
Coney Island Memories
http://www.sinrodstudios.com/coneymemories

tom kosensky

Although Carmelo of course had a LOT to do with Denver's success, ROY has
nothing to do with how the team performs - it's an individual award given to
the best rookie. Doesn't matter if your team wins 70 games or 10 games.

Overall, LeBron had a better statistical season.

g. smitts

Melo lead his team to the playoffs. LJ didn't.

dz888

then looked at


I haven't watched any Nugs ball this year. Is Camby looking that bad?
His stats look ok.

joe blow

That's absurd reasoning, which I hope is reflective
of how you see the way it really is as opposed to your own
sentiments. First of all, the bottom line is wins
and losses, and Carmelo was clearly the leader of a
team that made the playoffs. Anyone who saw Denver
fold tonight against the T-Wolves the instant Anthony
was benched with two fouls can see that. Second,
the only significant edge that James had over Anthony
was in assists (about a 2 to 1 edge), but it's worth
noting that Anthony's stats were better, even if only
slightly, in numerous other significant categories
(points per game, rebounds, FG%, FT%, and a few others).
So we're going to base it solely on the edge in assists
per game then? That I find unf****veably, unjustifiably
ridiculous.

Also worth noting, if assists are the be-all-end-all of
this comparison, is that Jeff McInnis was the Cavs assist
man before he went down for the season. I'd really like
to know how much Lebron's assists per game went up after
McInnis went down. Did James assume more ball handling
duties, putting him in the position of getting more assists?
If so, it could be argued that James deserves praise (and
ROTY votes) if he picked up the slack, as a true team MVP
should. However, it could also be argued that Andre Miller
****ed up a couple of assists per game that an equally talented
ball handler like Anthony might have gotten....but this is
all speculation, not really worthy of consideration in an
MVP/ROTY vote. I merely wish to point out that the Nuggets
already had somebody else handling that aspect of the game
for them all season long, whereas the Cavs didn't. I'm not
convinced that the assists edge signifies that Lebron James
has better court vision.

Leading one's team to the playoffs *has* to count for something,
especially when the statistical comparison is so nearly a wash,
much closer than you imply. I'll illustrate my argument by appealing
to absurd reductionism. Suppose that Lebron's teammates defer to
his starpower and do little more with their game than dish Lebron
the ball, allowing him to score, say, 50 points per game. In the
process the Cavs win a paltry 10 games, but Lebron has the most
eye-popping statline since Wilt Chamberlain. In what sense was Lebron
James then the rookie of the year? Shouldn't "rookie of the year" be
equivalent to "the rookie who was the most invaluable asset to his
team?" And what good is an asset if it doesn't yield victories?

The way I see it, Lebron got the vote because he's the superhyped
phenom and the NBA desperately needs a new Michael Jordan, especially
now that Kobe is at best a cheatin' bastard. Poor Carmelo just doesn't
have the luxury of the NBA hype machine behind him full steam....

JB

gheiden

Old? Camby? He had his first healthy season in awhile. Nene is
solid. Leonard is an average SG, Barry and Boykins are quality bench
players. I agree with the rookie of the year award going to James
over Anthony. Anthony came to a team that just added a quality point
in Miller. James went to a team that didn't add anyone of conquence
until later in the season. James had MUCH more hype, and he had that
much more pressure to succeed. Anthony has played under the pressure
cooker of the NCAA's. I didn't see the final tally, I would imagine
it was close. As for the comment a few posts ago, about James winning
it because it needs another "Jordan", if that was the case, they could
have just forced it to be co-rooks. Like years past. I would imagine
that the whole not going into a game played on many voters minds.
Even tho it was once, once was enough. Anthony will be fine as that
incident is forgotten over time.

skeptic

I think you can make a real argument that Lebron has more overall potential,
although in terms of this year and their performances, Anthony deserved to
win it.

durrell

That seems about right to me.

--
Bryant Durrell [] http://www.innocence.com/~durrell [] 9/11/2001
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"Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on this planet."
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