Tag: rookie of the month

NBA Twitter reacts to Josh Giddey winning third straight Rookie of the Month award

NBA Twitter reacts to Josh Giddey winning his third consecutive Rookie of the Month honors.

The NBA announced its Rookie of the Month award winners for the month of January and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Josh Giddey has made it three-for-three in terms of winning the reward. Giddey also won it for the October/November and December awards.

In 14 January games, the 19-year-old averaged 13.3 points, 8.6 rebounds and 6.1 assists. Giddey is now the only player in Thunder history to have won the award three times during his rookie campaign. Giddey was drafted sixth overall in the 2021 NBA Draft by the Thunder.

Let’s take a look at how NBA Twitter reacted to the 19-year-old winning his third consecutive award.

OKC Thunder news: Josh Giddey wins January Rookie of the Month award

Thunder guard Josh Giddey is 3-for-3 in terms of winning Rookie of the Month awards so far this season.

The NBA announced its Rookie of the Month winners for January and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Josh Giddey won his third straight award. Giddey won the October/November and December awards for the Western Conference.

In 14 January games, the 19-year-old averaged 13.3 points, 8.6 rebounds and 6.1 assists. Per Thunder PR, Giddey becomes the first player in Thunder history to win the award three times.

Giddey was drafted sixth overall in the 2021 NBA Draft by the Thunder and leads all rookies in total assists and is second in total rebounds behind Evan Mobley.

When asked about individual awards and statistical accomplishments throughout the season, Giddey has continuously stated that he cares more about winning than any individual feat. While it’s nice to see the rookie guard be so humbled, his impressive rookie campaign should still be acknowledged.

Giddey is currently averaging 11.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 6.1 assists in 44 games this season.

[mm-video type=video id=01ftxx2cpf7c51bp3pmc playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01eqbvq570kgj8vfs7 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01ftxx2cpf7c51bp3pmc/01ftxx2cpf7c51bp3pmc-50cdb0f16f0ef52344c14b602f6c3b8a.jpg]

[listicle id=451954]

Josh Giddey wins NBA’s December Rookie of the Month Award

Josh Giddey makes it 2-for-2 in terms of winning Rookie of the Month.

The NBA announced Oklahoma City Thunder guard Josh Giddey has won the Western Conference Rookie of the Month award for December. This is Giddey’s second straight Rookie of the Month award; he earned the October/November honor to start the season.

Giddey finished the December averaging 11.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 6.7 assists in 10 games. Giddey becomes the second player in Thunder history to win the award multiple times (Russell Westbrook).

This award comes on the heels of Giddey becoming the youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double.

Giddey was taken sixth in the 2021 NBA draft. In 31 games this season, Giddey is averaging 11 points, 7.3 rebounds and 6.4 assists.

[mm-video type=video id=01frk1a55b40mcnz1npj playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01eqbvq570kgj8vfs7 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01frk1a55b40mcnz1npj/01frk1a55b40mcnz1npj-f14cf787b4a7a397d4de2a5c07e74137.jpg]

[listicle id=449909]

Amon-Ra St. Brown wins NFC Offensive Rookie of the Month honors

Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown wins NFC Offensive Rookie of the Month honors

There were a lot of impressive rookie performances in December, but none outshined Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. For his great month, St. Brown earned the NFC Offensive Rookie of the Month honors for December.

In Detroit’s four December games, St. Brown had 35 catches for 340 yards and three touchdowns. His game lines:

Week 13 – 10 catches, 86 yards and a touchdown

Week 14 – 8 catches, 73 yards

Week 15 – 8 catches, 90 yards and a touchdown

Week 16 – 9 catches, 91 yards and a touchdown

The Lions went 2-2 in the month after entering December at 0-10-1, and St. Brown’s eruption into a top target is not coincidental in the improvement in the win column.

His position coach, former NFL wideout Antwaan Randle-El, talked about St. Brown’s impressive progress this week.

“We’ve seen him continually take off in terms of his play and not just in the passing game,” Randle El said. “You’ve seen what he’s done in the run game in terms of blocking. He’s got better in his route-running and being more defined in it. And then when you do that, obviously to block the way you block, you are deserving of some more opportunities. And he’s been taking advantage of it.”

[lawrence-related id=71729]

Dallas LB Micah Parsons captured the defensive honors.

Josh Giddey wins NBA Rookie of the Month Award

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Josh Giddey has won Rookie of the Month for October and November.

The NBA announced its Rookie of the Month winners for each conference Thursday afternoon for the combined months of October and November, and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Josh Giddey was named the top rookie in the Western Conference..

For the Eastern Conference, Cleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley won the award. Mobley went third overall and Giddey went sixth overall in the 2021 NBA Drafts.

In 20 starts, Giddey averaged 10.4 points, 5.8 assists and 7.2 rebounds. The assists rank first and the rebounds rank third among the rookie class.

Giddey now joins Russell Westbrook (Dec. 2008 & Feb. 2009) as the only other player in Thunder history to win the award.

Giddey’s consensus draft profile of a tall playmaker with elite passing skills and rebounding skills for his position has so far rung true a month into the season. The rookie’s questionable jumper has also been noticeable. But Thunder fans should be impressed with his aggressiveness and willingness to shoot the ball. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done, but these are great signs that Giddey’s jumper is salvageable if he puts the work in. There have already been a couple of games this season where Giddey’s three pointer looked really polished and was going through the ring. Particularly against the Boston Celtics on Nov. 20 where he went 4-of-6 from three and against the Utah Jazz on Nov. 24, where he went 3-of-4.

It’s still very early in the process, but the Thunder must feel really good about themselves with selecting Giddey sixth overall. The team had the worst lottery luck out of anybody else last summer and they were able to make the best out of their situation by selecting the former NBLer sixth overall. The return on investment has been a positive for the franchise and they must feel very excited about the future of the team with a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey backcourt.

Giddey has missed the last two games with an illness.

[mm-video type=video id=01fn999hchvg8prwtc1g playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01eqbvq570kgj8vfs7 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fn999hchvg8prwtc1g/01fn999hchvg8prwtc1g-977f512b6073242214a8a7afcd9b83a8.jpg]

[listicle id=448518]

Chargers CB Asante Samuel Jr. playing well beyond his years

Chargers CB Asante Samuel Jr. is playing just like his dad.

The reality is that cornerback is one of the most challenging positions to play in the NFL.

But for Asante Samuel Jr., he has sped through the learning curve, and his play early on in his professional career has drawn parallels to his dad, four-time Pro Bowler Asante Samuel.

The uber-confident ballhawk quickly established himself as one of the team’s top defensive playmakers with his performances against the premier passing attacks of the Cowboys and Chiefs.

For his efforts, Samuel was selected as the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Month for September. Through three games, he leads all rookies in interceptions (two) and passes defended (four).

Coming out of Florida State, many tabbed Samuel as an exclusive slot defender due to his lack of size and physicality. However, he has defied the odds, thriving as the starting outside corner opposite Michael Davis.

Samuel has shown the ability to thrive in both man and zone coverage and has played the position like a wide receiver with his ball skills and route recognition. In addition, he hasn’t hesitated as a run defender and has played tougher than he looks.

Samuel has played 103 coverage snaps, the most by a rookie with zero touchdowns allowed. On top of that, in 46 man coverage snaps, Samuel has only allowed a catch for -2 yards.

It’s still early, but it looks like the Chargers might have a shutdown corner with Pro Bowl potential on their hands in Samuel.

LaMelo Ball named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for January

After an impressive first month in the league, LaMelo Ball was named the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for January.

LaMelo Ball earned one of the NBA’s first Rookie of the Month awards for January, the league announced on Tuesday. Ball was named the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month; Sacramento’s Tyrese Haliburton earned Western Conference Rookie of the Month.

In January, Ball averaged 12.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game in 26.3 minutes per contest. Ball led rookies in assists, tied for first in rebounds and finished third in points. Only Isaac Okoro, Cole Anthony and Haliburton averaged more minutes per game in January.

Ball became the youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double during January, doing so against the Hawks with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. In the first six games of the month, culminating in that triple-double, Ball averaged 14.5 points, 7.5 assists, 7.3 rebounds and 1.7 steals.

James Robinson named NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Month for September

After a historic month, Jags rookie RB has earned the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Month award for September.

While the Jacksonville Jaguars don’t quite have the record that fans were hoping for at this point in the season, there has been one player to consistently show up every game and that’s rookie running back James Robinson. In the Jags’ first three games, the undrafted phenom has managed to garner 330 total yards (210 rushing) and three touchdowns and the NFL has taken notice, naming him their Offensive Rookie of the Month for September.

Robinson, 22, has put up historic figures since becoming the Jags’ RB1, becoming the only undrafted player in NFL history to accumulate at least 300 scrimmage yards and multiple touchdowns through three career games. At the rate he’s playing, he’ll only continue to make history as the season goes on as he’s been one of the most interesting players of the 2020 NFL Draft class to watch.

With Robinson acquiring the award, it marks the second consecutive time that the Jags have had a player become Rookie of the Month to open the season. Last September, quarterback Gardner Minshew II was able to win the award, too, after having to replace veteran Nick Foles Week 1.

Robinson is the eighth Jaguar to become Rookie of the Month in team history. He also joined Fred Taylor as the only two running backs in team history to win the award and there could be many more to come if Robinson remains consistent.