04-30-2008, 12:39 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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BRILLIANT!
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: My Own World - You're All Living In It
Age: 22
Posts: 16,873
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Report: Kevin Durant Is The Rookie Of The Year
Quote:
Seattle SuperSonics guard Kevin Durant will be named NBA Rookie of the Year, the Seattle Times and The Associated Press reported.
Durant, who led all first-year players in scoring, assists and free-throw percentage, reportedly beat out Atlanta Hawks forward Al Horford to become the first Rookie of the Year in Seattle franchise history. The NBA is expected to officially announce the award on Thursday.
Durant averaged 20.3 points per game in 2007-08 -- the highest scoring average for a rookie since Carmelo Anthony averaged 21 points per game and LeBron James averaged 20.9 ppg in 2003-04. Only three of the past 10 rookies of the year -- Durant, James and Elton Brand -- have averaged at least 20 points in their first season.
Among qualifiers, Durant also was the first rookie to lead his team in scoring since the 2004-05 season, when both Charlotte's Emeka Okafor and Atlanta's Josh Childress led their teams in scoring.
Durant became the favorite to win the award when No. 1 draft pick Greg Oden was forced to miss the entire season following microfracture knee surgery.
Horford averaged 10.1 points and 9.7 rebounds, helping the Hawks back to the NBA playoffs for the first time in nine years.
Durant experienced the typical rookie struggles early on. He took rushed and challenged shots at times, dropping his shooting percentage.
But as the season progressed, Durant's confidence grew even as the team stumbled through the worst season in franchise history. Durant averaged 21.8 points and shot nearly 53 percent in March. He capped his rookie season by averaging 24.3 points in his final eight games. Durant scored the winning points in what could have been the Sonics' final home game in Seattle, a 99-95 win over Dallas, then followed up with a career-best 42 points in the Sonics season finale against Golden State.
All those numbers came in a season where the Sonics won just 20 games, often overshadowed by the off-court battles of where the team will play in the future.
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http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3374806
Congrats to Durant.
__________________
“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion, spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never tasted victory or defeat.”
Bleeding purple & gold...
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Report: Kevin Durant Is The Rookie Of The Year
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