Chapter Seventy-Two: The Best Rookie Contest

Who was the best rookie in the class of '09?

This question was very topical as soon as it was raised, and as the war intensified in the 09 season, Chinese kid Li Shihao, Kings' Terrick Evans, Bucks' Brandon Jennings, and Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry ......

Who among this group of talented young people can stand out and become the best rookie like no other!

Bill Simmons, a basketball commentator for ESPN's column, had something to say about this year's rookies.

In his opinion, Tyrek Evans will occupy the first spot in the rookie power list, the second will be Brandon Jennings, the third will be James Harden, the fourth will be Thabit, the fifth will be Stephen Curry, and Li Shihao will hope to challenge for the sixth position.

As soon as this ranking came out, it was widely reprinted, and many experts in the basketball field agreed with it, Bill Simmons's fame is over there, who dares not believe his vision!

However, nearly a third of the way through the season, the rookie rankings put Bill Simmons' predictions up short.

In terms of statistics, Tyrek Evans is the best rookie in this class, and the former No. 1 high school student in the United States is still shocking in the NBA.

Averaged 19 per game. The eight-point scoring performance made Sacramento fans quickly accept this brilliant young man, a talented young man with excellent reach and lateral movement speed, even in the NBA, few people can stop his breakthrough.

What's even more rare is that Evans has a good ball handling ability, and is not inferior to many No. 1 players in many leagues, and is an excellent two-way guard.

The only fly in the ointment is that Evans' jump shooting ability is too shabby compared to the rookies of the same class, Brandon Jennings and him can be said to be very similar to the type of players, both of them are aggressive in playing, scoring ability is biased towards breaking through the offense, and the jump shot is not very good.

In fact, in the basketball soil of the United States, there are countless talented guards, seventy or eighty percent of guards will choose breakthrough as their first means of scoring, and very few people will choose jump shot as their first choice.

Moreover, in the basketball world of the United States, players who are good at jump shots are often not recognized by the mainstream population.

There are many well-known basketball games in the United States, such as the McDonald's High School All-Star Game, which is held for high school students in the United States and is very influential in the United States.

It would be a great honor to receive an invitation to this pinnacle tournament in high school, but this tournament is rarely open to high school players who are good at projection.

A great breakthrough scorer means you can step up and help your team win when it matters most.

And those projection players can't be the leaders at critical moments, and it would be too child's play to put the outcome of the game in the hands of such players.

As the former No. 1 high school student in the United States, Terek Els has participated in well-known high school basketball events in the United States, such as the McDonald's All-Star Game and the Jordan Classic.

At that time, Li Shihao was just one of thousands of basketball high school students, mediocre and without any special features. At that time, a person like Tyrek Evans was an existence to look up to.

But after the start of the new season, the first player who occupied the rookie list was the Chinese rookie Li Shihao, who averaged 26 per game at the beginning. The 4-point stat and All-Star stat performance have changed many people's evaluation of him.

Although there were more and more back-to-back games as the season deepened, and the teams in the league began to gradually make defensive tactics against Li Shihao, under the constraints of various factors, Li Shihao did not have the magical performance at the beginning of the season, and the scoring began to gradually decrease, and the scoring data in several games even fell below 15 points.

Even so, Lee still occupies the first place in the rookie list, averaging points per game three or four points higher than second-place Tyrek Evans.

Not only that, Li Shihao's ability to lead the team has also made more people realize that this Chinese kid is extraordinary, with an excellent sense of the overall situation and smell on the court, which allows him to better control the rhythm of the game.

What's even more rare is that he makes his teammates better, Kevin Love, Marc Gasol, Cory Brewer, these players who were not outstanding in stats, after Li Shihao came to the Timberwolves, his data and performance have been greatly improved.

However, Li Shihao still has shortcomings.

His lack of physicality makes it difficult for him to limit against the league's top scorers, often needing to be covered by teammates.

When facing the Suns, Li Shihao was helpless against Nash's wind-like speed and couldn't make corresponding restrictions, and when he was in Staples, not to mention Kobe Bryant, who was at the peak of his career, Li Shihao completely fell into disadvantage at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, and his level was greatly disappointed.

This point has made some experts in the field of basketball in the United States question Li Shihao, even if Li Shihao is now in the limelight, and his team performance and personal data are extremely good, it still can't change the opinion of those experts on Li Shihao.

On the evening of December 19, the Timberwolves will face the challenge of the Sacramento Kings at the home target center, and this game is very interesting, not only the clash between the two Western Conference teams, but also the battle for the best rookie of the year!

On the rookie list, Li Shihao occupies the first place, Evans is close behind, Curry occupies the third position, and there are two dark horses in the top three, especially in the team's record, and the debate between the three rookies has not stopped.

Li Shihao's team results and data are good, but there are still no fewer doubts, many people think that under his leadership, the Timberwolves lack the so-called toughness, and it is difficult to win in the face of strong teams.

Evans' personal data is very good, but the Kings are at the bottom of the West this season, and even Curry's Golden State Warriors are in a better situation than the Kings, which has also made many people wait and see Evans.

As for Curry, the controversy is even greater, with too many forced shots in the game, and as a rookie, he has a lot of shooting opportunities, but his shooting percentage is not as good as in college, which makes more people think that he is difficult to adapt to this league.

Therefore, this game between the Timberwolves and the Kings has received a lot of attention, and the matchup between the two rookies has made this game a lot more exciting.

Many people want to know, between the Chinese kid Li Shihao and Tyrek Evans, which is better or worse?

As early as before the game, Tyrek Evans let out wild words to Minnesota media reporters: "I'll tell everyone who's the best rookie!" ”

Evans in front of the camera looks unruly and confident, he is once the No. 1 high school student in the United States, a Chinese kid? Sorry, he didn't hear that!