The Changing of the Old Guard

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by Martin Sumners

Led by a flower and juice, the collection of good rookie guards in the NBA is unprecedented.  This basketball Garden of Eden is led by Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls) and O.J. Mayo (Memphis Grizzlies) but playing almost as sweet is Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder), Eric Gordon (LA Clippers), Mario Chalmers (Miami Heat) and D.J. Augustin (Charlotte Bobcats).    

I loved Rose’s playmaking ability at first sight while he played in college at Memphis while me and Gordon went way back to his senior year in high school when I ooohed and ahhed over his outside range and strength.  Augustin was a tough-minded sleeper who I liked as I watched him play along side Kevin Durant during the 2008 Rookie of the Year’s one-year tenure as a Longhorn. 

But I have to admit that I thought Westbrook was frail and a reach for the Oklahoma City Thunder to select as the third overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. I thought he just had the good fortune to play well in a few games that spring in the NCAA tournament for UCLA en route to the Final Four.   

Similarly, I thought Chalmers out of Kansas was riding the wave of his big three-point shot in the Final Four championship game that sent the game against Rose’s Memphis team to overtime that was ultimately won by Kansas.

And I considered Mayo a replica of Larry Hughes; a player with similar exceptional talent and skills but who would not reach that potential.  But I was wrong about Mayo, Chalmers and Westbrook.

All six of the guards are averaging at least ten points. For comparison sakes, no other draft class this decade has produced more than three rookie guards to accomplish that.

Mayo leads the bunch in scoring with at 19.7 ppg while Rose is right behind him at 16.9 ppg. Then comes Westbrook (14.9), Gordon (14.4), Augustin (12.5) and Chalmers (10.1) But Rose leads the group in assists with 6.3 apg followed by Westbrook at 4.9 apg and Chalmers at 4.8 apg. 

Chalmers is most deadly from the perimeter and three-point range.  And although he runs the point along side Dwayne Wade for the Miami Heat, the only true point guard among the dirty half-dozen is Rose.  Only he fits that postulate posed by Stephon Marbury, that great basketball philosopher, who said that great point guards are not made; they are born.    

Mayo however may be the most dynamic. At 6-4, he is the biggest and posses a mature all-around game beyond almost all rookies not named LeBron.   

Westbrook has been the most surprising as he has stepped right into the Thunder starting lineup with Kevin Durant and Jeff Green, two second-year players, to form a baby big three.  

Both Gordon and Augustin were coming off the bench for the most of the season. But Gordon’s recent excellent play as a starter may have made his team mate Baron Davis expendable as evidenced by trade talks for the falling All-Star.  Augustin has also been recently plugged into the starting lineup and in a match-up with Gordon both scored 17 points.

Rose, Mayo, Westbrook and Gordon will all be playing for the rookie team in the Rookie-Sophomore Challenge this All-Star weekend.  The sophomores better be ready for the foursome and the rest of the rookie class as they could snap the sophomore’s six year winning streak.

This story is filed under: Sports

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