Fantasy Owners Wouldn't Have Screwed This Up
We would have gotten it right, right? Fantasy owners would have realized that Al Horford was the real ROY, correct? I'm sure you would have, even if you aren't a homer like me. How many times this season did Horford hurt his team? Looking at the game log, I'll go out on a limb and say somewhere between 3-5 times. There were a few games where he shot it poorly and the team lost a close game. But the reality of the situation is that Horford was the third-best Hawk over the course of the season, and the second-best player on the team more than a few times. He averaged a double-double and brought leadership and heady play every night, despite being a rookie. The numbers don't lie. He had 25 double-doubles, which tied him with Dirk Nowitzki, and was a higher number than we saw from guys like Carmelo Anthony, Josh Smith and Baron Davis. How many dub-dubs do you think the MVP candidates had this season? LeBron had 31 and KG had just 29. Horford shot 50 percent from the floor (OK, 49.9) and averaged 10.1 points and 9.7 boards to go along with 0.9 blocks.
As for Kevin Durant? He scored a lot of points (20.3) for a terrible team, but hurt the Sonics (and no doubt, fantasy owners) for much of the year with terrible shooting. Number of double-doubles for KD? 1. Number of times he was dreadful from the floor? Too many to count, but here are some of them.
5-of-22
7-of-22
3-of-17
7-of-21
7-of-20
6-of-21
2-of-12
4-of-12
4-of-17
3-of-11
8-of-20
6-of-26
3-of-12
5-of-20
2-of-12
2-of-17
OK. You get the idea. First of all, I love Durant. He is going to be an amazing pro and played really well in March and April, finally getting his shot under control. But my point is, fantasy owners would have done a better job of picking the ROY this year because you guys know that there's more to the game than just scoring. Looking at the numbers stacked on top of each other from a fantasy perspective, and it's pretty clear to me that Horford should have won the trophy. It's ironic that Horford ended up being the only unanimous selection to the All-Rookie Team, and further proves the point that he was truly the ROY this season.
Horford: 10.1 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.7 steals, 0.9 blocks, 1.69 TOs, 50% shooting, 73% free throws
Durant: 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.9 blocks, 2.9 TOs, 43% shooting, 87% free throws
The Hawks won 17 more games than the Sonics and gave the Celtics all they could handle in the playoffs. I'll get off my soap box now, but Durant's first-half shooting and turnovers likely buried your team in those categories. When fans are voting for the All-Star starters, or when writers are voting for the ROY, I wish you guys had a say.
Comments
I didn't see Horford play much until the Celtics playoff series. Not only does the kid have good stats but he has a winners attitude and confidence. His college titles somehow give him more maturity and poise when he's on the floor (most of the time). Look for him to be a major player in years to come.
Posted by: mark sedita | May 14, 2008 11:40 AM
Indeed. It almost seemed like Durant was going to win without question, even though Horford clearly was the guy who played better. Like it was almost predetermined. Horford deserved it hands down, and it was picking him in the late rounds that solidified my bigs. To average a double double in a rookie year is no small feat. I also thought it should have been Horford. It's true. Fantasy players wouldn't have messed it up.
Posted by: Tim | May 14, 2008 04:38 PM
Dr. A,
You make a really good argument and the stats make a good case as well. As a fantasy rookie, agreed, Al Horford is the ROY. However, in real-life basketball, I agree that Kevin Durant should be the ROY.
Consider these points:
Durant was much more important to his team:
-Horford took 668 shots to Durant's 1366.
-Horford took 221 free throws to Durant's 448.
The comparison between Horford and Durant is also faulty because of the position difference. Durant, compared to other SGs, was much better than Horford, compared to other C/PFs.
How many shooting guards averaged 1 spg/1 bpg? How many shooting guards averaged 20 ppg?
How many Center/Power Forwards averaged 10 ppg? 10 rpg? 1 bpg? Shot better than 50%?
Posted by: Sean | May 14, 2008 08:49 PM
Durant was the leading scorer for his team and the guy taking most of the shots, thus the high turnovers. But I guess the core of my argument is that Durant seemed to hurt the Sonics more than he helped, at least until March rolled around. Where as Horford came in as a rookie, but acted more like a veteran leader of his team. And unlike Durant, who shot his team out of games in the first quarter for the entire first half of the season, Horford did nothing but help give the Hawks a chance to win almost each and every night. But you're right...The positional difference is big. I just think the ROY should be the guy who helped his team win the most games...And that was clearly Horford. Good offseason chatter though, either way.
Posted by: Doc | May 15, 2008 12:01 AM
I had Al all year on my fantasy team and enjoyed everything I read about him, including interviews. during the Boston series I was alarmed to see his emotions take a negative turn(in my opinion). I especially disliked seeing him be the first to congratulate(support?)Marvin Williams on his flagrant2 on Rondo. I've had Josh Smith most every year,too,and see the same thing happening to him.I know they're young and the NBA allows rougher play in the playoffs and I don't watch many regular season games, but I read sports blogs daily and try to keep an open mind.
Posted by: crowvalleycosmonaut | May 17, 2008 09:13 PM