From Dennis Velasco,
Your Guide to Basketball.
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WHO HAS PLAYED LIKE THE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR THUS FAR?

Atma Brother #1: Kevin Durant. Five years from now we'll all be joking about how the 2006 NBA Draft class was one of the worst of all time. It's been so bad that the ninth pick in the lottery has been sentenced to the D-League for the rest of the season. Thank you Commish for instilling a curious rule that prevented Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, Thaddeus Young, Hasheem Thabeet, Darrell Arthur, Bill Walker (poor guy's probably just lost millions too), and Daequan Cook from making a big impact on the league this season.

Dave: There's no discussion here. Brandon Roy wasn't supposed to be the best scorer in the bunch, but at 15.2 points per game he leads the most touted offensive rookies - including Andrea Bargnani (10.2 ppg) and Adam Morrison (13.3 ppg) - in scoring. He leads all rookies, including every rookie point guard you can name, in assists. He's averaging more rebounds than all of his close competitors except for Paul Millsap, Jose Garbajosa, and Shelden Williams, all of whom are big men and the best of whom (Williams) is only 1.7 boards ahead of the 6'6" Roy. He's a good defender and is starting on a team that's going to win more games than it did last year. Any or all of these players may end up being better in the long run, but barring catastrophic injury Roy is going to win this year's contest and there won't be a close second.

Mike: Can we give it to nobody? Is that possible? Brandon Roy is having the best season, but he's missed a lot of time with injuries. At the end of the year, he probably gets it, but that's not saying much. Eventually, guys like Andrea Bargnani and LaMarcus Aldridge will be very good, but they haven't been yet this season.

Ryan: I know that Brandon Roy has better numbers, but if you were to put Bargnani on the Blazers I feel he'd have far superior numbers to what Roy's been posting. Because Bargnani is coming off the bench and isn't the focal part of the offense his numbers aren't "padded" as much as Roy's have been.

Tom: Brandon Roy's numbers make a strong enough case for R.O.Y honors but he also brings some strong floor leadership into the equation. Unless you hold the time missed for injury against B-Roy, he's a no brainer.

Ron: My boy, Andrea Bargnani is the man so far for the season. Brandon Roy is making a strong run and it'll be a two man race for Rookie for the Year. I have a conspiracy theory that Roy will win it because they do not want to give the award to a non-American and someone on a Canadian team. Just kidding!

HOW GOOD ARE OUR NEIGHBOURS UP NORTH, THE TORONTO RAPTORS?

Atma Brother #1: The Raptors are well... Craptors. They're a bad team that looks mediocre record-wise because they play in the East. But thanks to their membership to the NBA's Atlantic Division, they'll probably make the playoffs. Membership does have its benefits.

They do have some nice pieces in Chris Bosh and T.J. Ford and they are headed in the right direction. If they play their cards right in the next two drafts and manage to swing a nice deal or sign a good free agent, they'll be a force in the East for years to come. And Bosh is just that good.

Dave: They are north of "pat yourself on the back" good, but just south of "let's not get carried away now" good. They have some wonderful young players and are going to improve over the years. But they're only two games above .500 in a weak division, their point differential is in the negative, they allow opponents to shoot better than they do, and they give up 3.7 more rebounds per game than they get. All of those stats are traditionally indicative of a team's strength and post-season chances.

Mike: Honestly, pretty good. They'll be a part of the Eastern Conference picture for a while. Bargnani is going to be a star with Bosh, and they have a good point guard duo in T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon. Once they get a really good wing player, they'll be dynamite. Right now, they're at least a pest in the Eastern Conference picture.

Ryan: While I don't think the Raptors are one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference I think they'll easily win the Titanic Division and secure home court advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. Over the past couple of months they have beat up on the teams they should (i.e. Atlanta and Boston) while gutting out some tough wins against Washington. While they are hovering around .500, hoop fans should know they had a deadly opening month of the season while having to blend nine new faces into their lineup. Now that they've survived their rough opening month and the players are gelling, look for the Raptors to be a force in the second half of the season.

Tom: The Raptors have championship talent in development but with so much youth they have to learn how to win. They are lucky to be in the Atlantic where they can survive the mistakes of the young and still make the playoffs, which could help accelerate their development as a team to be reckoned with in the near future.

Ron: My hometown Raps are for REAL and are playing great team basketball as they are sharing the ball and believing in each other. They will win the weak Atlantic division and I think that the Raps may even win a round in the playoffs. We'll see.