All Rookie Teams: The Next Stars of the NBA

The all rookie teams were announced today and the rookies have come a long way this season. Let's take a look at them.

1st Team All-Rookie

F- Andrew Wiggins
F- Nikola Mirotic
C- Nerlens Noel
G- Elfrid Payton
G- Jordan Clarkson

2nd Team All-Rookie

F- Bojan Bogdanovic
F- Langston Galloway
C- Jusuf Nurkic
G- Marcus Smart
G- Zach LaVine

Now, I want to take a look at the First Team all rookie first. I agree with Andrew Wiggins. Look at this kid. He won the rookie of the year. You can't tell me that this kid isn't on the first team all rookie. He lead all rookies in scoring. Next is Nikola Mirotic. He cam off the bench, shot well from 3 point range. He did a great job rebounding. Coming off the bench he played great in close games and played a big role for the Bulls. Nerlens Noel lead rookies in steals, blocks, rebounds, and he averaged over 10 PPG. Of course he will be on this list. Jordan Clarkson averaged about 11 PPG and did a great job shooting the ball. He was a great offensive player and he deserves to be on this list. The only one I had to disagree with was Elfrid Payton. I honestly think that Zach LaVine deserved it more than Elfrid Payton. Take a look at the stats that these guys had.

Elfrid Payton                                                                   Zach LaVine

• 8.9 PPG                                                                       10.1 PPG
• 6.5 APG                                                                        3.6 APG
• 4.3 RPG                                                                        2.8 RPG
• 26.2% 3-point                                                               34.1% 3-point
• 55.1% FT                                                                      84.2% FT
• 1.7 Steals                                                                       0.7 Steals
• 2.5 Turnovers                                                                2.5 Turnovers 

 As you can see, Zach LaVine is just the better offensive player. He shoots well, he can score, and he can get to the free throw line in produce. And if you look at LaVine, he porduced better while only playing 77 games and starting in just 40 of them. Payton started in 63 but played all 82 games. LaVine scored really well and shot well from the floor too. And people criticized LaVine for all his turnovers but Payton averaged the same amount. I have to put LaVine on there instead of Payton because Payton just didn't have enough production. However, should have Langston Galloway made the 1st team all rookie? Yes, he did only play 45 games. I get that. But he averaged a good 11.8 PPG, 3.3 assists, 4.2 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 35.2% from 3 point range. That is better than LaVine. The problem is, he played only 45 games. If we put him on the list, then we might as well put Jabari Parker on too, who played only 25 games. Yes, people that play, should be rewarded. That's why I think Zach LaVine gets this 1st team all rookie. To me, he should. I think Payton just didn't score and shoot well enough. I feel like Zach LaVine did rebound, assist, and stole the ball well enough. I felt like he just had a better season.

That is how I feel about the All-rookie teams. If you disagree please comment and tell me why. I am interested in how the rest of the world thinks about the All-Rookie team. And remember folks, I'll be keeping you updated on all NBA playoff action! Join the NBA Inside the Play Nation today.

DeMarcus Cousins or Marc Gasol

Who would make your all NBA first team at the center position? Would it be Marc Gasol or DeMarcus Cousins? I will try to help you decide in this post. Let's compare these two in shooting first.

Shooting: 5-15 Feet: DeMarcus Cousins shoots below the average for a center in the league while Marc Gasol is above. Cousins only shoots 29% from 5 feet out while Gasol shoots about 47%.

Take a look at DeMarcus Cousins' shot chart. Notice how he has poor consistency form the top of the key area.

Now take a look at Marc Gasol's shooting chart. Notice how he takes more shots from that area.

You can also see that Marc Gasol has more red in the in the paint and you can see a lot of blue in the paint for Cousins. In conclusion, Gasol is the better shooter.

Defense: If we take a look at defense, DeMarcus Cousins allows the opposing team to 103.3 Point per 100 possessions when he is on the court. Gasol allows 101.5 Points per 100 possesions when he is on the court. Yes this does factor in the players that Gasol plays with, so they are about the same.

Rebounding: Let's take a look at Rebounding now. DeMarcus Cousins has won this one. He averages 12.7 RPG while Gasol averages 7.9. DeMarcus Cousins also accounts for 20.9% of the rebounds in a game while Gasol takes in about 13.9%.

Assists: Now this is where it gets complicated. If we look at the APG, Cousins averages 3.6 while Gasol averages 3.9. About the same right? If we look at the Assist % for their teams, Cousins is at 20.2%. Gasol on the other hand, is at 19.4. What does this mean? It just means that Gasol's team has more assists per game. Cousins Assist to Turnover Ratio is at 0.83 while Gasol's is at 1.73. This means that Cousins turns the ball over more than he assists, while Gasol assists more. Clearly Gasol is the better at assisting.

Scoring: If we compare the usage%, Cousins is used 33.9% of the time. Gasol is only used 24.7% of the time, which makes it seem that Cousins gets the ball more. That is why he averages 24.1 PPG and Gasol only averages 17.6. Gasol can score in many more ways than Cousins can though. When it comes down to who is the better scorer is though, the answer is obviously Cousins. Cousins scores about 6.5 more PPG.

Who is the better player? I'm not making this decision for you. You can make a case for both sides. If you can't decide, let me ask you this. Who would be the better player to have on a team? Cousins or Gasol? Everyone has their own opinion on what makes a better player.