All-Rookie Team – Week 1

Michael Carter-Williams may have stolen the show, but Victor Oladipo has started strong in his rookie campaign.

Point Guard: Michael Carter-Williams (11th Pick, Philadelphia 76ers) 

If you had asked me last Wednesday how many Sixers games I planned on watching this season, that figure would have unlikely reached double figures.  I’d have had the games vs. the Warriors penciled in and maybe one or two more here and there if Noel returned from injury.  As I write this, I’ve already watched their first three, and given that they match up against the Warriors tonight, the pair of them will remain the only two sides in the association whose games I am yet to miss a minute of.  Despite being essentially 0-3 in their quest for Wiggins, they have, without a doubt, been the success story of week one of the regular season.  Michael Carter-Williams, or Michael Carter-“Holy Grail” as I’ve actually heard him referred to, has been involved in everything good that Philly has been a part of.  Most notably against Miami when he flirted dangerously with a quadruple-double, but his play in comeback wins against both the Wizards and the Bulls has rightly garnered league-wide attention.  Through three games, he is averaging 20.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 9 assists, 4.3 steals and all that whilst shooting at a 47% clip.  It is unlikely that he can continue to hit those sorts of numbers as we progress, but he has every right to ride the wave he is currently riding.  Let’s be honest: he probably would have been a shoe-in for the PG spot in a league-wide team of the week, let alone a side made up solely of rookies.  At this rate, let’s see if they can bring Noel back in time for the playoffs (I kid).

Shooting Guard: Victor Oladipo (2nd Pick, Orlando Magic)

This has been a solid, if not spectacular, opening week for Oladipo that has seen him average 28 minutes a night off the bench.  He’s averaged 13.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4 assists, which are certainly not numbers to be sniffed at, and he’s also one of three rookies that have signed with Jordan brand.  His 360 breakaway dunk in last night’s surprising win over the Nets (at least the margin of victory anyway) was a telltale reminder of just what this guy offers: athleticism and supreme confidence in his own ability.  Not many guys would have the confidence, and to some extent the arrogance, to throw down that dunk in a game featuring two future Hall of Famers, but Oladipo has at no point seem fazed by the step up to the big league.  Whilst MCW has dominated the headlines, Oladipo has gone about his business well, and rest assured he will be involved in the Rookie of the Year debate throughout the season.

Small Forward: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (8th Pick, Detroit Pistons)

It’s a first here at The Lottery Mafia’s Rookie Team of the Week as we have two players with double-barreled surnames making the cut.  Isn’t that something to get excited about?  Just me?  I thought as much.  Anyhow, KCP as I’ll call him (simply to cut down on typing time) has finally started to show some of the talent that led to the Pistons taking him with the 8^th pick in this year’s draft.  Brandon Jennings’ fractured jaw gave him a further chance to cement his place in the rotation after what can only be described as a horrendous Summer League and preseason campaign that left even the Pistons faithful slightly dubious at the pick.  While KCP is likely to see more time at the 2-guard than at the 3, his size allows him to play both and, when confident, play both to a pretty good standard.  Throwing up brick after brick for three months can’t have done his confidence much good, so to be shooting at 42% through the first two games is a solid improvement.  Head Coach Maurice Cheeks has been persistent in declaring his faith in KCP which is exactly what he will have needed given his shaky start.  There has been a notable improvement since preseason, and this will need to continue if he is to maintain his place in the Team of the Week.

Power Forward: Kelly Olynyk (13th Pick, Boston Celtics)

Olynyk takes this spot more through being not as bad as the other rookies at the position than by doing anything particularly special.  The play of both Anthony Bennett who, through three games, is yet to register a single field goal and Cody Zeller who, for some reason hasn’t seen much floor time, has left little to be desired, and so Olynyk takes to the floor at the four spot.  Used sparingly at the five for the C’s, as a result of the play of a certain Brazilian, Olynyk has had to settle for sharing minutes with Brandon Bass and is registering only 18 minutes a night.  In that time, he is registering a shade under 8 points per game and grabbing 3 boards which, based upon his preseason averages, is below par.  However as previously stated, any production is better than no production, and therefore Olynyk starts the season in the Rookie Team of the Week.  Don’t go getting comfortable now Kelly…

Center: Vitor Faverani (Undrafted 2009, Boston Celtics)

On the MCW scale, this guy had a fairly average opening week, but as rookies go, the undrafted Brazilian rookie who played the last two seasons in Spain has raised a few eyebrows with his play.  The Celtics are unsurprisingly looking like a pretty poor outfit and find themselves 0-3 following losses against the Raptors, Bucks and Pistons, but in the matchup with the Bucks, Faverani totalted 12 points, grabbed 18 boards and blocked six shots in 37 minutes of play.  While one stand-out performance won’t get you in the Rookie of the Year conversation, when you throw in that he is shooting 60 percent from the paint and getting to the foul line 7 times a night (ranks 3^rd in terms of centers), it’s only right that his name crops up in early season ladders.  Also in his favor is that Faverani is probably the Celtics’ only true center in that he doesn’t have much of an outside game and is therefore happy to do the majority of his work in the paint, plus he is also blessed with real size….and a fair bit of weight.  His competition at the spot comes from Humphries and Olynyk, the former being a liability on defense and once married to a Kardashian, and the latter who is undersized.  Whilst he is no doubt displaying certain tendencies picked up in the European game and has found himself in a fair bit of foul trouble, he has certainly done enough to earn his spot in this week’s team.

By Marc Harries
Follow @Marc_Harries