Sheridan Hoops Rookie Rankings: Week 23

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Damian LillardThis is the final edition of the Rookie Rankings, and we will allow Kobe Bryant to have the final word on a race that was decided long ago.

Bryant is a student of the game who understands its history and normally is not given to hyperbole. So when he offers an evaluation of an opponent – most of whom he holds in disdain – it should not be taken with a grain of salt.

And here’s what he had to say about Portland Trail Blazers rookie point guard Damian Lillard.

“He’s spectacular … really fantastic,” Bryant said. “A lot of players get hot, but he’s got the moves, patience, intelligence, the balance on his jumpers. He’s the real deal.”

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Sheridan Hoops Rookie Rankings: Week 21

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MagicEarly next week, Rookies of the Month for March will be handed out. It is possible that Anthony Davis could end Damian Lillard’s stranglehold on the Western Conference honor, while the East will be a toss-up between Moe Harkless and Jonas Valanciunas.

Davis, Harkless and Valanciunas have yet to win the award. But as we approach the season’s final month, it is the time where many previously unheralded rookies make a name for themselves.

Last year, Atlanta’s Ivan Johnson broke through in the East as Kyrie Irving spent most of April on the sidelines. Ditto Denver’s Kenneth Faried after Ricky Rubio and Isaiah Thomas shared the first three West awards.

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Sheridan Hoops Rookie Rankings: Week 20

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El Magic Moe HarklessThis coming weekend, Moe Harkless will have to match up against both LeBron James and Kevin Durant for the second time in three weeks. But that doesn’t scare him.

Do you know what does spook the 19-year-old rookie forward of the Orlando Magic? Haunted hotels.

Last weekend, Harkless and his Magic teammates made a trip to Oklahoma City and stayed in the Skirvin Hilton, which is supposedly haunted. After his first stay there, Harkless may be a believer. 

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Sheridan Hoops Rookie Rankings: Week 19

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Damian LillardAs good as Damian Lillard has been in his rookie season, his impact on the Portland Trail Blazers ends April 17.

That’s the last day of the regular season, and the Blazers are not making the playoffs. While they currently are just two losses out of eighth place in the Western Conference, they also are in 11th place, with Utah and Dallas in front of them.

Lillard is not alone; most of this season’s top newcomers will be watching the postseason on TV. In fact, very few rookies will have the ability to impact the playoffs.

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Sheridan Hoops Rookie Rankings: Week 18

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MotiejūnasPower forward for the Houston Rockets has been a revolving door.

The Rockets have had seven different power forwards on their roster this season. At last month’s trading deadline, they took a bit of a risk and moved the two men who had manned the position for most of the season – Patrick Patterson and Marcus Morris – in separate deals.

That shuffling brought back Thomas Robinson in a deal that most believed was a fleecing of the Sacramento Kings, who gave up on the struggling fifth overall pick in last year’s draft way too early and did so simply to save a couple million dollars.

But the deals left the Rockets without an established power forward. Second-year man Greg Smith, with 53 games under his NBA belt, was their most experienced 4-man.

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