Another round of Senior Superlatives for the NBA's frosh

We've come to the penultimate Rookie Rankings of the season and while next week will be time to crown the overall winner, now is time to unveil the second annual NBA.com Rookie Rankings Senior Superlatives.

Last year readers flooded the mailbag with suggestions for categories. We've kept some, dropped some and added some others in our best attempt to shine a little light on just about everybody who donned an NBA uniform for the first time this season.

The public relations departments for NBA teams have noticed collegiate sports information departments' Heisman and All-American campaigns and have followed suit.

Derrick Rose, Bulls -- Check out the microsite
O.J. Mayo, Grizzlies -- Check out the microsite

And the worst, because he has no business sniffing the award ...

Kevin Love, Timberwolves -- Check out the microsite

When I had some downtime on the road recently, I bought a bunch of packs of basketball trading cards for inspiration for a future column and came across this gem.

Joey Dorsey, Rockets -- I pulled a Dorsey Topps Chrome Orange Refractor Rookie Card individually numbered 098/499 which seems pretty rare and valuable. Until you consider that Dorsey has only played six minutes, or 360 seconds, in the NBA this season.

Even if these players have a bad week on the court, my e-mail inbox and Facebook wall are still littered with fans pleading their cases for Rookie of the Year.

Marc Gasol, Grizzlies
Courtney Lee, Magic
Greg Oden, Trail Blazers

All it will take is some extended playing time and these players could be vying for the MIP trophy next season.

JaVale McGee, Wizards
Marreese Speights, 76ers
Anthony Randolph, Warriors

These players are ahead of the curve, using their Twitter accounts to not only entertain their fans, but for self promotion as well.

Jason Thompson, Kings -- Follow him
Donte Greene, Kings -- Follow him
Kevin Love, Timberwolves -- Follow him

It's always better with two; these are the most successful pairs of rookie teammates.

Marc Gasol and O.J. Mayo, Grizzlies
Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers, Heat
Rudy Fernandez and Greg Oden, Trail Blazers

Who are these guys? The average NBA fan has no idea who these rookies are.

Alexis Ajinca, Bobcats
Walter Sharpe, Pistons
Rob Kurz, Warriors

On one night, you forgot these guys were rookies and thought you were looking at All-Stars.

Marc Gasol, Grizzlies -- Nov. 3 vs. GSW: In Memphis' third game of the season, Gasol proved he was legit, racking up 27 points on 9-for-11 shooting to go with 16 rebounds and three blocks in a win.

Eric Gordon, Clippers -- Jan. 23 vs. OKC: Even with the Clippers' season going down like the Titanic, Gordon explodes for the season high for all rookies with 41 points on 12-for-19 shooting, including 5-for-7 from downtown, to beat the Thunder.

Russell Westbrook, Thunder -- March 2. vs. DAL: Racks up a triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in an upset of the Mavs.

You forgot these guys were even in the league before they had one big night.

Anthony Morrow, Warriors -- Nov. 15 at LAC: In his first career start, the undrafted free agent went off for 37 points on 15-for-20 shooting and snagged 10 boards to boot.

Brandon Rush, Pacers -- March 29 vs. WAS: Rush hits for 29 points for the second-consecutive game after totaling just 21 points in his 12 games in the month of January.

Mike Taylor, Clippers -- March 25 at NYK: Drafted out of the D-League, Taylor never thought he would be dropping 35 points off the bench in the world's most famous arena.

They'll give you 15 and 10 one night and zero and two the next. Their flashes of brilliance are evened out by their no shows.

Rudy Fernandez, Trail Blazers
Bobby Brown, Timberwolves
DeAndre Jordan, Clippers

Injuries seriously hampered these players' seasons.

Danilo Gallinari, Knicks
Greg Oden, Trail Blazers
D.J. White, Thunder

Derrick Rose, Bulls -- Placing him No. 1 in the first Rookie Rankings of the season back on Draft Night followed by Mayo at No. 2.

And the worst ...

Jerryd Bayless, Trail Blazers -- Putting him at No. 7 in the same column.

If the draft was done over again today, these guys would have to wait a little bit longer to shake David Stern's hand.

Joe Alexander, Bucks
Jerryd Bayless, Trail Blazers
Robin Lopez, Suns

If the draft was done over again today, these guys would have to wait a lot less time to shake David Stern's hand.

Mario Chalmers, Heat
Courtney Lee, Magic
Luc Mbah a Moute, Bucks

Korleone Young Drop of the Week: R. Westbrook OKC; K. Love MIN (-2)
Eddie Gottlieb Rise of the Week: Four players (+1)

1. Derrick Rose, G, Chicago G MPG PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% 3P% FT% 77 36.8 16.6 3.9 6.2 0.8 0.2 .470 .235 .792 Last Week: 1 | Drafted: 1 Rose has Rookie of the Year all but wrapped up and has the Bulls primed to make the playoffs after falling off last season, but he's not satisfied. "I can improve in the area of being more aggressive offensively, finishing better at the rim and improving my shooting on mid-range jumpers," Rose told the New York Daily News. "I think it's important for me to have a more complete game." If he comes through on his improvement plan, expect more awards and postseason appearances in Rose's future.

2. O.J. Mayo, G, Memphis G MPG PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% 3P% FT% 77 38.0 18.4 3.8 3.2 1.1 0.2 .437 .384 .875 Last Week: 3 | Drafted: 3 Mayo had his first 30-point game since early February, going off for 31 points on 13-for-21 shooting against the Blazers. He has finally broken out of the shooting slump that claimed the last six weeks of his season and he's also doing his best to shed his reputation as a ball-stopper, dropping seven dimes against both the Wizards and Bucks last week. NBA TV's Chris Webber suggested Mayo and Rose split the Rookie of the Year award on the final Fan Night of the season.

3. Brook Lopez, C, New Jersey G MPG PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% 3P% FT% 77 30.5 13.0 7.9 1.1 0.6 1.8 .532 .000 .797 Last Week: 4 | Drafted: 10 The Nets season might have gone up in flames, but there is reason for hope in the future and his name is Brook Robert Lopez. The 7-footer shot a ridiculous 20-for-28 last week (71.4 percent) and averaged 17.3 points and 8.3 rebounds as New Jersey played spoiler to the Pistons and Sixers with two wins against the postseason-bound squads.

4. Russell Westbrook, G, Oklahoma City G MPG PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% 3P% FT% 77 32.5 15.5 4.8 5.1 1.4 0.2 .400 .275 .812 Last Week: 2 | Drafted: 4 Having the quickest first step out of the whole rookie class won't do Westbrook much good if he continues to struggle finishing at the hoop. The 6-foot-3 mound of muscle shot just 8-for-27 (29.6 percent) in three Thunder losses last week.

5. Eric Gordon, G, L.A. Clippers G MPG PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% 3P% FT% 74 34.7 15.9 2.5 2.8 1.0 0.5 .447 .388 .855 Last Week: 5 | Drafted: 7 Gordon had it going on Sunday with 24 points, eight rebounds and four assists when the Clippers readied to inbound the ball against the Lakers. The Clippers cut a 19-point deficit all the way down to three and Gordon had Kobe Bryant guarding him as he tried to free himself to launch a three to tie the game. Gordon never touched the ball, Baron Davis missed a three at the buzzer and the Clippers lost. "It was like we didn't play basketball at the end," he said about Bryant?s defense. "It was like WWF or something. Wrestling." Bryant just smiled and said, "There's no way he was getting a shot off. He just wasn't." Another day in the life of a rookie.

6. Marc Gasol, C, Memphis G MPG PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% 3P% FT% 77 30.8 11.8 7.4 1.7 0.8 1.1 .533 .000 .729 Last Week: 7 | Drafted: 48 by L.A. Lakers in 2007 The two hardest positions for a rookie to play are point guard and center. While point guards have to contend with protecting the ball and cutting down on turnovers to stay on the court, big men have to deal with the dreaded official's whistle. Gasol was rolling right along, averaging 16.6 points and 9.3 rebounds in three Memphis wins last week until he ended up with just eight points, four rebounds and six fouls in a loss to the Blazers.

7. Michael Beasley, F, Miami G MPG PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% 3P% FT% 77 24.5 13.3 5.1 1.0 0.5 0.4 .465 .380 .774 Last Week: 8 | Drafted: 2 It's the time of year that everybody and his brother is blogging about who should get what award when David Stern starts doling out the hardware come playoff time. Here's a new name to consider: Mike Beasley for Sixth Man. While Jason Terry of the Mavericks and Nate Robinson of the Knicks seem to be the front runners for the award, you have to at least give Beasley a look after last week where he averaged 17.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals to give Dwyane Wade some help as Miami fights to hold on to the No. 5 seed.

8. Kevin Love, F, Minnesota G MPG PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% 3P% FT% 77 25.4 11.1 9.0 1.1 0.4 0.6 .464 .111 .786 Last Week: 6 | Drafted: 5 Love followed up a ho-hum two-point, six-rebound game against the Jazz with a that's-more-like-it 13 and 15 against the Clippers. Like Oklahoma City's Jeff Green had to learn last season after effortlessly stroking threes in college, Love has to put in the work this summer to harness his perimeter game because it's a lot harder to do in the league. Green, another hybrid 3-4 like Love, has upped his percentage from 27.6 to 39.5 this season. Love is starting at even a lower basement of 11.1 percent from downtown.

9. Jason Thompson, F, Sacramento G MPG PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% 3P% FT% 77 27.7 11.1 7.3 1.1 0.6 0.7 .500 .000 .696 Last Week: 9 | Drafted: 12 He played like a man possessed, averaging 17.3 points on 53.1 percent shooting, 11.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.5 blocks over four games last week. Despite his surge in production, news that Blake Griffin has declared for the Draft has Kings fans already wanting to move Thompson to the bench and bring in the Oklahoma big man as the team's starting power forward.

10. D.J. Augustin, G, Charlotte G MPG PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% 3P% FT% 68 25.9 11.7 1.9 3.5 0.6 0.0 .436 .440 .894 Last Week: 10 | Drafted: 9 Forget Augustin's 14 points in 19 minutes against Boston or his 22 points against Detroit last week, the one stat that sticks out for the 6-foot, 180-pound combo guard is his one blocked shot in a tight 101-98 win over Philadelphia. It was just the second block of the season for Augustin.

The Next 10 (alphabetical order): Mario Chalmers (MIA), Rudy Fernandez (POR), Roy Hibbert (IND), Courtney Lee (ORL), Luc Mbah a Moute (MIL), Anthony Morrow (GSW), Greg Oden (POR), Anthony Randolph (GSW), Brandon Rush (IND), Marreese Speights (PHI)

Noteworthy White D.J. White (OKC) abolished the Have Not Played A Minute Yet (HNPAMY) list with two weeks to go, scoring 14 points on 7-for-8 shooting in his NBA debut against the Pacers. JaVale McGee (WAS) saw his playing time dry up with the return of Brendan Haywood as he totaled just 14 minutes in three games last week. . Greg Oden (POR) is fouling at an alarming rate, collecting four whistles or more in 13 of his last 14 games, including the Blazers? last nine games in a row. . Brandon Rush (IND) has scored in double figures 10 straight games and is averaging 16.0 points during the tear. . Anthony Randolph (GSW) and Anthony Morrow (GSW) lifted the Warriors to a 3-0 week, including an upset of the Hornets when Randolph racked up 20 points and 15 rebounds while Morrow scored 24 points and shot 5-for-9 from deep. Ryan Anderson (NJN) chose to ignore the scouting report that says he?s just a shooter and collected 10 rebounds and 17 points against the Bulls last week. D-League Watch: Nathan Jawai was re-assigned to the Idaho Stampede by Toronto; Kyle Weaver and D.J. White were recalled from the Tulsa 66ers by Oklahoma City

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