I heard on ESPN radio this morning that Francis and Brand would split the crown for rookie of the year. I would have liked Francis to get all for himself, but this is fine, and understandable. Two things: (1) The last rookie duo to split was grant hill and jason kidd i believe. (2) the last time chicago and houston had top rookies was 1984, eight rings ago. not bad company! ------------------
Brand IS good, but... I guess a split isn't too bad. Steve performed in so many other dimensions (like leading a young team - and starting from scratch) that I felt he had an edge, but we all know the NBA hates Houston... It's a miracle our guys get any recognition at all. I'll take a split for ROY. That'll kinda make up for Rodgers beating out Cat for 6th Man - c'mon, we all know who burned who last game... ------------------
really? I think its the best thing to do anyways . Do they just tell the certain people who to vote for? 121 votes 60 /60 and 1 for odom ------------------ Dont do today what you can put of until tomorrow
I looked it up a bit and found the source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/printedition/article/0,2669,SAV-0005080056,FF.html BRAND, FRANCIS TO SPLIT AWARD Sam Smith May 8, 2000 Half a Rookie of the Year award is certainly better than none. According to league insiders, the Bulls' Elton Brand will share Rookie of the Year honors with the Houston Rockets' Steve Francis. An announcement is expected within the week. No official confirmation could be made. It would mark the third time since the award was first given in 1953 that rookies have shared the award. In 1971, Boston's Dave Cowens and Portland's Geoff Petrie were co-winners, and in 1994 the award was shared by Detroit's Grant Hill and Dallas' Jason Kidd. The first indication there could be a tie came when Brand and Francis shared rookie-of-the-month honors for April after each won it twice before this season. Brand, a 6-foot-8-inch forward who was the top pick in the NBA draft, averaged 20.1 points and 10 rebounds, the only player in the Eastern Conference to do so and one of six in the NBA. Brand was 19th in the NBA in scoring and seventh in rebounding. Francis, a 6-3 guard selected No. 2 in the draft, averaged 18 points, 6.6 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.53 steals. Francis, who was drafted by Vancouver and traded to Houston, was 15th in the NBA in assists and 20th in steals. ------------------
I'm not sure, but I think that the writers vote for the award. Otherwise I would assume a conspiracy on the NBA's part to promote young stars without cornrows and tattoo's. I guess I can't blame them. Their target market is middle and upperclass males, not many of whom can identify with tats' and rows'. Honestly I'm sure we can all agree that Francis will have a better future. But their years were pretty even. One's potntial shouldn't tip the scales. Brand is a solid player and we should not be offended that Francis would have to share anything with him ------------------
Its not half its x2 They dont saw the trophy in half and give it to both players. I think its made offical on Wednesday ------------------ Dont do today what you can put of until tomorrow
The last time Chicago and Houston had the top two rookies in the draft, the guard who was picked after the low post player won 6 championship to 2. Maybe just maybe....history can repeat itself. ------------------
It doesn't matter who wins it, I just want to try the jello mold. ------------------ humble, but hungry.
Props to Plato -- who was on top of this story this morning... You just knew this was going to end up being a co-ROY situation .... though admitedly I thought Brand would get it down the stretch. I know this question was posed earlier so not sure if the answer was posted: Does it have to be an exact tie in votes? ------------------ NOTHING BUT .NET CLUTCHCITY.NET
Uhmm.. about that Houston and Chicago Co-ROY. Did Dream really share that? I thought he placed second in balloting. Thanx. -ELIE17 ------------------
Elie #17 -- Dream did finish second -- Jordan was Rookie of the Year. Da Man was just talking about the top two rookies of the draft .... not that they tied in the voting for ROY. ------------------ NOTHING BUT .NET CLUTCHCITY.NET
Props to Francis Props to Brand Two Future Superstars . ------------------ Dont do today what you can put of until tomorrow
I think that this was actually the best possible decision. Francis and Brand play at positions that can't really be compared very accurately, and both had excellent rookie years. Too many variables affected their performance. Brand padded his stats because he didn't have much help, and Francis played against better competition in the West and still won more... yet had more help. Brand was nearly a 20/10 player, yet Steve was (by position) an even better rebounder than Brand. Steve had almost as many points and more assists... but more turnovers as well. Brand turned in a 44pt performance... but Steve had an incredibly impressive triple double. Steve was the NBA player of the month once... but Brand was the rookie game MVP. Francis made more spectacular plays... but Brand has sounder fundamentals. What I mean is, there were too many questions to call one player better than the other this year. I think that Francis has a higher ceiling, but you can't really absolutely say he had the better year... a strong case can be made for either one. This was the best of all possible solutions. ------------------
This is Steve's punishment for what he did on draft day, and forcing the trade to Houston. He is the better well rounded player. What player in the history of the NBA has done what he's done, from the hardest position to learn, the point guard position, in his rookie year? The NBA knows he's the player of the future, better with the media, better in actual character, flambouyant, and makes the highlight reels, aka Jordan. But they at least had to let him share it with someone else who had done things the traditional way, like Brand did. I'm not saying that both didn't have very impressive seasons, but what Francis has done in a well rounded, team oriented way is what the NBA is supposed to be all about. This is Francis' spank on the hand. On the other hand, they realize he's very marketable for the future and had to give him his props, since momentum for him is growing. This was the best solution. ------------------ the more I know, the more I know I don't know...
They need to leave Roy alone. one word: conspiracy. No way this was a real tie. ludicrous. IMPOSSIBLE. ------------------ Cato is 7 feet tall.
LOL Doc. Next thing you know the NBA will be sending letters to cc.net because Will used the word "losers." ------------------
Well, I don't think it is solidly official. The guy on ESPN radio (don't remember who it was, but it is the morning show, 6am chicago central time), said it was "pretty much decided" and was talking about it as if it would be annouced soon. So yes, this is speculative. but it was presented in such a way as to be more a confirmation of something that was definitely going to happen very soon. Should have said this in the first post, sorry about that! ------------------
