[Ghost01Participant]

There is this idea that Anthony Davis is the rookie of the year. And I don’t know why, but its really starting to bother me. The argument for Davis is based on efficiency. Well, Davis is a power forward who basically gets all his points on dunks and lay ins so its not too surprising he’s been more efficient than a PG who shoots 3s and is arguably his team’s best player.

Listen, I like PER and metric stats, but this is where they fail. Anyone who thinks Davis had a better year than Lillard is looking at a stat sheet, and not watching the games. Davis’ efficiency was so deceptive because he played so little minutes in comparison to Lillard, and again, was basically scoring from 2 feet and in all the time, and not at a high rate.

Also, Davis has been absolutely terrible on shots away from the hoop. Lillard has played almost every night, and lately with Batum, Aldridge, and Mathews out, basically with a D League team. Meanwhile Davis is splitting minutes with Ryan Anderson and Robin Lopez, and has been missing games with injuries. He just wasn’t that good this year. This ROTY race is no contest. Lillard is the better player right now, and had the better year. I think analysts are just angry that all of their “Anthony Davis will be GREAT from day 1” predictions were so off, so they are trying to argue a thoroughly mediocre season has been good.

[TyroberParticipant]

Davis will be great and I have no doubt that Lillard will be great as well. Lillard is going to be the ROY, but the #1 pick is ALWAYS going to get more attention. Both players are going to be beasts in the NBA.

[MikezParticipant]

holy crap shut up, the good part about this forum & sports media is so that people can discuss different things, do you really want a new article every day about how Lillard is going to be ROY?

I don’t think that Lillard was the best rookie this year, I think hes in a tight race with Davis, with Waiters not too far behind, look at their stats per 36 mins. I mean Lillard only scored 6 more ppg with 10+ minutes and had a better supporting cast so other teams didn’t mainly focus him.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=1&p1=lillada01&y1=2013&p2=waitedi01&y2=2013&p3=davisan02&y3=2013

[Ghost01Participant]

People discussing different things is fine, people discussing stupidity is not.

I’m not going to look at their stats per 36 minutes, because Davis never plays 36 minutes so why would those be relevant? The reason Lillard played so much more was because he had a much more significant role on the team. He played with better players (Aldridge and Batum) but still had a bigger role on the team. And teams really didn’t focus on Davis at all, because he was often on the bench in crunch time, and he wasn’t nearly their sharpest offensive player when he was out there. Lillard has been playing with Will Barton, Victor Claver, JJ Hickson, and Meyers Leonard lately, so its safe to say he’s been focused on.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

No Question Lilliard has had the better year….And should win rookie of the year…Lilliard came out of the gates smoking..While Davis had to deal with a variety of injuries,yet he nearly averaged a double double……

Davis played better after the all star break..His percentage on shots from 8-16 feet went from 40% before the break to 44% after the break and shot 54% fg….Both guys will be all stars soon,but i think Davis will have the better career….

[ThepessimestParticipant]

This is without question an award for Lillard. There is no debate on this topic. The things stats and other metrics do not take into account is role on your team, responsibility, and defensive attention (all 3 can be lumped into same category). With respect to Aldridge; every night Lillard was a major focus of the other team’s defense. He was not left open for kick out 3’s etc. He was responsible for creating opportunities for himself and others. So any lack of efficiency is because of the role he was asked to play.

Anthony Davis is a fine young player with great potential. But his role in New Orleans was not that of a go to guy. He was asked to play a complimentary role which by rule will not create situations where you will make more mistakes than someone who is in a role where they are asked to carry a team. On many nights Ryan Anderson was in for Davis when New Orleans were playing games because of his well he often plays.

Again both are nice young players but Davis does not deserve this award over Lillard. And no; there does not need to be an article written just for the sake of having a different perspective based upon stats that are not based on real time situations. Stats do not account for role and responsibility.

[Ghost01Participant]

Thank you for basically painting the picture I was trying to paint.

Stats take A LOT into account, but not everything.

[BenchWarmerParticipant]

Ok first of all Damien Lilliard is pretty much the unanimous choice for the rookie of the year.
Second saying he gets all his shots off dunks and layups inside is not an argument for him being worse or less deserving. What are you saying? That he isnt a shooter and plays to his strengths?
Finally id like to point out that Davis averaged 13 8 and 1.8 blocks to go with 1.2 steals. Shooting over 50% and 75% from the line… in 28 minutes a game. As a 19 year old big that pretty impressive work. Scary to think what his numbers would be like if given the minutes Lilliard has

[BenchWarmerParticipant]

And don’t try the stats aren’t everything thing. I know that. Lilliard had a bigger role with the team (hence leading the league in minutes). But don’t blindly say that Davis’ season was medicore. I don’t even see how you could argue that it wasnt good

[bballjunkie09Participant]

Lillard won the ROY award months ago, just sayin.

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