# Dime:5 Rookies That Demand More Attention



## girllovesthegame (Nov 3, 2005)

Thornton and Collison listed.



> Sports media lately has been hit by cupid’s Italian love arrow with an over saturation of all things Brandon Jennings. We all know by now what Young Money and fellow rookies Tyreke Evans and Ty Lawson are capable of. But quietly, the rest of the rookie pile is exceeding many people’s expectations of their class prior to last June’s draft. Across the board, there are numerous rooks making an impact with their respective teams. Here are a few young guys whose play should demand more minutes and attention.
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> *All season averages are as of Tuesday 11/24
> 
> ...





> *Darren Collison,* Hornets (9.9 ppg and 3.7 apg through 11 games/New Orleans: 6-9)
> 
> Ever since Chris Paul went down with an ankle injury and coach Scott was given an indefinite vacation, Collison and Thornton have been lighting it up for New Orleans. Collison is averaging 14 points and 6.4 dimes over the past 5 games; including a 22 and 11 outburst Saturday against Atlanta and the best record in the League. After watching Collison dominate the Pac-10, despite having to share duties with Russell Westbrook and Jrue Holiday, I was skeptical whether he could make the leap from great collegian to solid pro. 15 games into the season and he looks to be one of the steals of the first round (Drafted 21st).


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## Geaux Tigers (Apr 26, 2004)

Nice!


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## girllovesthegame (Nov 3, 2005)

Stat guy John Hollinger has taken notice as well.



> The Hornets knocked off the team with the best record in the East (Atlanta) and the best record in the West (Phoenix), and a win in Miami would have made it four in a row under new coach Jeff Bower. The Hornets may be only 6-9, but they've also played the league's toughest schedule to date and stand a respectable 17th in the Power Rankings as of this morning.
> 
> *A big key has been Bower's using players that Byron Scott wouldn't -- rookies Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton.* Thornton, in particular, has been a revelation as a scoring sixth man. New Orleans' bench production had been abysmal, but the second-round pick from LSU is averaging a whopping 27.8 points per 40 minutes. He won't maintain that level of production, but he can be a volume scorer in the Flip Murray mold. That's something the Hornets have needed for a long time, and it's yet another indication that this year's draft class is much, much stronger than had been initially projected.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

If they could sustain what they've done lately that would address two of the Hornets biggest problems recently,backup point guard and another scorer.It would sure help out a lot if Peja and Posey could keep hitting shots.The Hornets are just a vastly better team when they're hitting the trey.


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## Ben (Nov 7, 2006)

The rookies have been playing well and their 'surprise' contribution has led to some wins. Teams haven't seen them enough to devise any way of stopping them, so they can do what they want for now.


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## Tooeasy (Nov 4, 2003)

hahah! theres the rooking top ten ranking on yahoo sports, and they have photos of al thornton and nick collison for our two rooks on accident. Wonder how long it'll take em to fix that considering their on the main nba page right now...
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AgLufVSEuwa6z0yseabeKPy8vLYF?slug=nba_com-rookie.rankings-20091124&prov=nba_com&type=lgns


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