Well, we thought we would get a lot of mail when we listed Charlie Villanueva as the No. 2 rookie for the week despite his 48-point game, and we were absolutely right. This was easily the busiest week of the season for the Rookie Rankings Mailbox. Despite all the arguments coming out of the T-Dot, we stand by our rankings. Raymond Felton had an incredible week and deserved the No. 1 spot. Believe it or not, a few people from Toronto actually agreed with us.
If you haven't seen it yet, check out our Q & A with Ryan Gomes. He tells us about his draft hopes, his rookie experience and some of the other rookies in the league.
Let's get to the mail...
 CV: Future scoring champ? Ron Turenne/NBAE/Getty Images |
Jamal - Los Angeles, Cal.
T-Mobile Rookie Report: Averaging 30 points per game is not exactly an easy thing to do, Jamal. Kobe Bryant has only done it once (30.0 in '02-03) before this season and other than him, only Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson have done it among active players, with LeBron looking to join the party this season. Shaq has never done it. KG has never done it. Carter, Pierce, Dirk ... So, pardon us if we disagree with that statement.
Also, we wonder how you can make such a definitive statement about Villanueva being much better than anyone else in this class down the line. It's certainly possible (CV has all the tools), but we have just begun to see what these guys can do. We get a lot of mail asking us to predict who will be the best players from this class five or 10 years from now, but it's really hard to say. Some players just haven't had much of an opportunity yet, and some might not work at their game over time.
Firstly, I would like to apologize to you guys for all the mail you will be receiving from Torontonians in the next couple days. Obviously everyone has seen the game put in by Charlie Villanueva last night. Just wondering if there really is reason for all the excitement. By no means does Charlie deserve Rookie of the Year, but is the excitement warranted? Or is it that after all the criticism, it's more of a "I told you so?" Also wanted to know your thoughts on Gerald Green's dunk last Wednesday against Toronto with under five seconds to play. Personally I thought it was un-classy to say the least.
Mark - Toronto, Ont.
RR: I think there's a legit reason to be excited, because 48 points is a great accomplishment for a rookie, although it would have been nicer if a 'W' came along with it. However, we do think that respect is the main issue here. Toronto fans seem to think that the rest of the league, and the media, don't respect their team. The thing is, every team's fans think the same thing. We've had Piston fans write us complaining that we didn't respect their team, even though we had them ranked No. 1 in our Power Rankings. It's some sort of league-wide phenomenon: the media doesn't give your team enough respect unless that's all they're writing or talking about.
As far as Green's dunk: We didn't watch the game, just the highlights, so we don't know the exact circumstances surrounding the play. Sure, it would have been a little more respectful to just hold on to the ball, but it probably wasn't something anybody got too upset about.
 Paul's run at the top has never been done before. Layne Murdoch/NBAE/Getty Images |
Spencer - Toronto, Ont.
RR: This is the third year of Rookie Rankings here at NBA.com. Last season, Emeka Okafor was at the top for the last couple of months, but Dwight Howard and Luol Deng each held the No. 1 spot at times. In '03-04, LeBron held the top spot in the last week, but Carmelo was No. 1 the week before. So to answer your question, if Chris Paul was to hold on for the rest of the season, it would indeed be unprecedented.
You made a key point about the Hornets. He made 20 points and 9 assists in "their only win in the last 12 games." Before, you people said that the rankings were also based on how much a team wins, which is why you didn't put CV at number one. Paul is a good player, but he hasn't had a big enough impact on the team to make them win lately. Charlie had the better week, so he DESERVES number one! Enough with the bias please!
Marc - Boston, Mass.
RR: Well, the Hornets may have lost 12 of their last 14, but we do recall the Raptors losing 15 of 16 to start the season and the Hornets are still 7 1/2 games up on the Raps in the standings, so we don't quite understand your point. Despite their recent woes, Paul's impact on the Hornets has been tremendous.
Wow, doesn't surprise me ...you didn't even mention that Charlie V didn't get 48 points beside his name in your overall rankings. All you did was talk about how he will be getting extra minutes. Doesn't surprise me at all, just because he is on a team from Canada, and you American's can be so ignorant sometimes.
Tyler - Saskatoon, Sask.
RR: How's your vision Tyler? We used the entire intro to this week's rankings to talk about the 48-point game, and we accept your apology in advance. And by the way, "Americans" shouldn't have an apostrophe. Ignorance, eh?
 Frye probably isn't going anywhere. D. Clarke Evans/NBAE/Getty Images |
Brian - Albany, N.Y.
RR: We're not sure why you assume that the rankings are completely based on numbers, Brian. Numbers are a part, but the intangibles that you speak of definitely factor in. We watch as many games as possible (obviously we can't catch every game or even most of them) and we talk to teammates, coaches and other analysts to get their opinions. Sometimes, we even factor in the fans' opinions if it seems like they know what they're talking about. Players like Bogut, Granger and Marvin Williams probably wouldn't be ranked where they are if it was all about the numbers.
I just have a question after watching Charlie Villanueva's 48-point game: What is the record for the most points in any game by a rookie? I think it was Wilt Chamberlain with 53, but I'm not sure.
Aaron - Guelph, Ont.
RR: Check this page out, Aaron. All of the rookie records in one place. Wilt holds the rookie record for points in a game with 58, which he did twice.
This week Channing Frye should have dropped. If you felt sorry enough to let Channing Frye stay at #6, how come you didn't put Charlie Villanueva as #1?
The Real Deal - Yonkers, N.Y.
RR: We don't see the correlation TRD, and it will be tough to drop Frye at all in the last few weeks of the season. The gap between No. 6 and No. 7 is pretty big right now. The same can be said for the gap between No. 1 and No. 2, although Villanueva has closed it some in the last couple of weeks and has definitely solidified his hold on No. 2.
 Felton could be the first two-time winner in the East. Kent Smith/NBAE/Getty Images |
Brian - Layton, Utah
RR: Deron certainly gets up for those head-to-head matchups with CP3, doesn't he? He's averaging 17.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.3 steals, while shooting .636 in his three games against the Hornets so far. Their final meeting is April 14 in Utah, and with both teams in the hunt for that last playoff spot out West, that game could be huge.
What do you guys think about maybe having a new eastern rookie of the month, Ryan Gomes?
Mitch - Ajax, Ont.
RR: There are two days left in the month, so let's take a look at the candidates:
| G | MPG | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | |
| A. Bogut | 14 | 26.6 | 8.9 | 5.9 | 3.1 | 0.4 | 0.36 | .542 | .000 | .645 |
| R. Felton | 13 | 36.4 | 17.2 | 3.8 | 6.3 | 1.1 | 0.08 | .471 | .486 | .714 |
| R. Gomes | 16 | 33.2 | 12.4 | 7.9 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 0.19 | .503 | .333 | .827 |
| D. Granger | 16 | 25.9 | 9.1 | 5.7 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.88 | .492 | .250 | .800 |
| C. Villanueva | 15 | 34.1 | 13.0 | 8.4 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 1.00 | .440 | .293 | .784 |
Gomes is done for the month, but the other four each have one more game. Right now, we'll select Felton, but Villanueva probably has a shot as well.
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