1998-02-05, By Glenn Rogers
邓肯和范霍恩并非新秀明星中的独苗
“这届选秀很弱。事实上，非常弱。只有一个孩子，蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)，我们对他很有信心。至于其他人，谁知道呢？……”
这是纽约尼克斯队首席球探迪克·麦奎尔(Dick McGuire)在6月份选秀大会之前所说的话。
一些预测。
也许这反映了联盟球探能力的不足，或者仅仅是难以判断谁能够从大学篮球跃升至职业篮球的现实。
麦奎尔，就像所有选秀专家一样，在邓肯加盟马刺队的时候是对的。关于选秀大会较弱的担忧，他有点偏离了轨道。
这位超级新秀邓肯在职业篮球赛场上大放异彩，与1989年大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)加盟马刺队时的表现不相上下。
邓肯场均贡献17.9分、11.5个篮板和2.38次盖帽，成为马刺队以34胜领跑中西部赛区的关键力量。他需要不断面对双人，甚至三人包夹。教练们也把他选入了全明星阵容。
“显然，他是新秀中的佼佼者，”黄蜂队副总裁鲍勃·巴斯(Bob Bass)说道。
现在，让我们来回答麦奎尔的问题，“谁知道呢？”
很简单，得分榜上到处都是闪亮的新名字。
如果邓肯再多打一年大学比赛，那么新泽西队的基思·范霍恩(Keith Van Horn)就应该是年度最佳新秀了。
“他真的有实力，”范霍恩的队友杰森·威廉姆斯(Jayson Williams)说道，他是范霍恩场上的保护者。“他太棒了。我们只想让他成长起来，成为伟大球员。”
范霍恩因脚踝扭伤缺席了前17场比赛，然后强势回归篮网队的阵容，展现出他的远投能力和隐秘的内线技巧。
“我还记得范霍恩，我曾在大学里和他交手过，”多伦多队的达蒙·斯塔德迈尔(Damon Stoudamire)说道。“我当时心想，‘这谁啊，瘦瘦的白人小伙？’结果他砍下了32分。”
他的成熟也让一些人眼前一亮。
“基思已婚，有两个孩子，”篮网队助理教练肯尼·加蒂森(Kenny Gattison)说道。“我告诉他，‘你22岁，但以人的年龄来说，你就像29或30岁一样。’当你结婚生子，你就会以狗的年龄增长——一年相当于七年。而他打球就像（成年人）一样。他从不慌乱，从不。”
邓肯和范霍恩占据了大部分的新闻头条，但新秀的足迹遍布联盟。
第一站：克利夫兰。
“（总经理）韦恩·埃姆布里(Wayne Embry)应该被封圣，”犹他队球员人事主管斯科特·莱登(Scott Layden)说道。“他做得太棒了。”
这份工作包括在6月份选中布雷文·奈特(Brevin Knight)、德里克·安德森(Derek Anderson)和塞德里克·亨德森(Cedric Henderson)，以及在之前6月份选中扎伊德鲁纳斯·伊尔戈斯卡斯(Zydrunas Ilgauskas)。由于受伤，伊尔戈斯卡斯上赛季全年缺席，因此本赛季获得了新秀身份。
“这使得骑士队能够交易特雷尔·布兰登(Terrell Brandon)和泰隆·希尔(Tyrone Hill)，并引进肖恩·坎普(Shawn Kemp),”巴斯说道。“这改变了球队。我不得不说，奈特是选秀大会上最大的惊喜之一。我们没有意识到他能如此出色地突破。他在大学里并没有这样做。”
的确如此。奈特在第16顺位被选中。骑士队最高的顺位是第13顺位，选中了安德森，一个马刺队看中的球员。
观察家们将奈特的成熟程度与邓肯和范霍恩相提并论。他在大学里打了四年，获得了处理向NBA球风转换的心理能力。
骑士队非常喜欢这批球员，他们在赛季的大部分时间里都让所有四位新秀上场，其中三位通常首发，直到安德森上周受伤。所有四位球员都被选入全明星周末的新秀赛。
奈特以场均2.72次抢断领跑联盟，他有可能加入史上仅有的十位在新秀赛季就领跑联盟主要统计数据的新秀行列。
爵士队在1996年的选秀大会上用第25顺位选中了伊尔戈斯卡斯，但骑士队在第20顺位抢走了他。
克利夫兰队在第二轮用第45顺位选中了亨德森。
随着自由球员对NBA的影响，球队经常为别人培养年轻球员。留住这四位新秀并不容易。
“毫无疑问，”教练迈克·弗拉特洛(Mike Fratello)说道。“他们必须互相信任，说‘嘿，我们可以很出色’，然后他们想要一起留下来。”
克利夫兰的传奇新秀故事，但还有更多。
波士顿队主教练里克·皮蒂诺(Rick Pitino)在马刺队选中邓肯后感到非常沮丧，但他在首轮选中了钱西·比卢普斯(Chauncey Billups)和雷·默瑟(Ray Mercer)，他们都是凯尔特人队的首发球员，因此并没有空手而归。
默瑟场均得分超过13分，投篮命中率为44%。比卢普斯场均助攻4次，得分近11分。
他们俩都不得不忍受皮蒂诺起伏不定的情绪。他时而称赞这对搭档，时而将他们中的一个或两个放到交易名单上。
控球后卫的位置是这个联盟中最难适应的。问问凯文·约翰逊(Kevin Johnson)、约翰·斯托克顿(John Stockton)、马克·普莱斯(Mark Price)和艾弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)就知道了。
奈特似乎正在迅速适应这个角色。比卢普斯需要赛季来赛季地学习，不仅要学习如何突破防守，还要学习何时突破防守，并找到漏洞。
安东尼奥·丹尼尔斯(Antonio Daniels)（第4顺位）和鲍比·杰克逊(Bobby Jackson)（第22顺位）分别担任温哥华和丹佛队的首发控球后卫。他们俩都入选了全明星周末的新秀队。
76人队的蒂姆·托马斯(Tim Thomas)参加选秀大会时，一些人认为他有可能被选中为前两顺位。他最终落到了第六顺位，被新泽西队选中，但立即在交易中被送往费城，换来了范霍恩。
“（费城队主教练）拉里（布朗）明显犯了一个错误，”一位总经理说道。
但另一位联盟高管表示，交易是必须进行的，因为范霍恩的经纪人戴维·法尔克(David Falk)仍然对他的客户肖恩·布拉德利(Shawn Bradley)在费城的经历感到愤怒，他告诉76人队，范霍恩根本不想在那里打球。
不过现在，在经历了缓慢的开局之后，托马斯正在逐渐崛起。他场均得分超过10分，三分球命中率接近40%。
波特兰队的阿尔文·威廉姆斯(Alvin Williams)和凯尔文·凯托(Kelvin Cato)、休斯顿队的罗德里克·罗兹(Rodrick Rhodes)、快船队的莫里斯·泰勒(Maurice Taylor)以及没有被选中的迈克尔·斯图尔特(Michael Stewart)在国王队也引起了人们的关注。
“考虑到我们在球探方面投入了大量的资金和时间，斯图尔特从我们眼皮底下溜走，真是令人震惊，”莱登说道。
斯图尔特入选了新秀全明星队，被国王队的球迷称为“野兽”，因为他对篮板球的渴望。他场均还抢下7个篮板。
国王队还在第40顺位选中了他们的首发控球后卫安东尼·约翰逊(Anthony Johnson)。奇怪的是，他们用第11顺位选中的塔里克·阿卜杜勒-瓦哈德(Tariq Abdul-Wahad)（选秀时名为奥利维尔·圣让(Olivier St. Jean)）场均仅有12分钟的上场时间。
当然，选秀大会上也有一些令人失望之处。
首先看看达拉斯队，那里一切都进展不顺。
小牛队选中了凯托，但将他交易到波特兰队，换来了选秀球员克里斯·安斯蒂(Chris Anstey)。
凯托是一个成功故事，展现出成为统治级中锋的潜力，一个可怕的盖帽者。
7尺高的安斯蒂却很难获得上场时间。
“我担心让他们（安斯蒂和第35顺位的球员巴巴·韦尔斯(Bubba Wells)）上场可能会让他们感到尴尬，进而对他们以后的心理造成伤害，”小牛队主教练唐·尼尔森(Don Nelson)说道。“他们距离那个水平还差得很远。”
尼尔森在选秀大会上称安斯蒂是联盟中最好的跑动型中锋。
“我承认，我高估他了，”尼尔森说道。
新秀得分榜领先者
球员，球队，场均得分
基思·范霍恩，篮网队，19.5
蒂姆·邓肯，马刺队，18.2
罗恩·默瑟，凯尔特人队，13.7
鲍比·杰克逊，掘金队，13.7
扎伊德鲁纳斯·伊尔戈斯卡斯，骑士队，12.4
德里克·安德森，骑士队，12.0
劳伦斯·芬德伯克(Lawrence Funderburke)，国王队，11.3
钱西·比卢普斯，凯尔特人队，10.8
蒂姆·托马斯，76人队，10.8
莫里斯·泰勒，快船队，10.7
其他统计数据领先者
篮板：邓肯，马刺队，场均11.5个
投篮命中率：邓肯，马刺队，.557
三分球命中率：埃德·格雷(Ed Gray)，老鹰队，.391
罚球命中率：安德森，骑士队，.884
抢断：奈特，骑士队，2.72
助攻：奈特，骑士队，8.4
盖帽：迈克尔·斯图尔特，国王队，2.72
点击查看原文：Duncan, Van Horn aren't alone among rookie stars
Duncan, Van Horn aren’t alone among rookie stars
“This draft is weak. As a matter of fact, it’s very weak. There’s one kid, Tim Duncan, we’re sure about. And then, who knows? …”
Thus spoke New York Knicks chief scout Dick McGuire prior to June’s draft.
Some prognostication.
Perhaps it says a little bit about the league’s scouting prowess or perhaps just the difficulty of trying to determine who will be able to make the leap from collegiate to professional basketball.
McGuire, like all predraft gurus, was on the mark with Duncan when he came to the Spurs. He was more than a little off with the worries about weakness.
The super-rookie Duncan splashed deep into the professional pool, rivaling the arrival in 1989 of David Robinson with the Spurs.
Duncan, averaging 17.9 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.38 blocks, has been a major cog in the Spurs machine’s drive to 34 victories and its place atop the Midwest Division. He demands constant double-, sometimes triple-teaming coverage. And the coaches put him on the all-star team.
“He’s obviously the best of the rookie crop,” Hornets vice president Bob Bass said.
Now, let’s answer McGuire’s query, “Who knows?”
Easy, the boxscores are littered with the bright new names.
New Jersey’s Keith Van Horn would have been rookie of the year if Duncan had had just one more year to go at Wake Forest.
“He’s the real deal,” said teammate Jayson Williams, Van Horn’s on-court protector. “He’s fantastic. We just want to let him grow and become great.”
Van Horn missed the first 17 games with a sprained ankle, then barged into the Nets’ lineup and unleashed his array of long-distance shots and stealthy inside moves.
“I remember Van Horn; I played against him in college,” Toronto’s Damon Stoudamire said. “I was like, ‘Who the heck is this, some skinny white-dude freshman?’ Then he put in 32 on us.”
His maturity also has opened some eyes.
“Keith is married with two kids,” Nets assistant coach Kenny Gattison said. “I told him, ‘You’re 22, but in man-years you’re like 29 or 30.’ When you get married and have kids, you age in dog-years - one year is equal to seven. And he plays that (grown-up) way. He never gets rattled. Never.”
Duncan and Van Horn have captured most of the headlines, but the trail of the rookies curves through the league.
First stop: Cleveland.
“(General Manager) Wayne Embry should be canonized,” Utah director of player personnel Scott Layden said. “He’s done an incredible job.”
That job was the drafting of Brevin Knight, Derek Anderson and Cedric Henderson in June and Zydrunas Ilgauskas the June before. The latter sat out all last season with injuries so he gets rookie status this season.
“That enabled the Cavaliers to move Terrell Brandon and Tyrone Hill and bring in Shawn Kemp,” Bass said. “It changed that team. I’d have to say that Knight is one of the biggest surprises of the draft. We didn’t realize he could penetrate so well. He didn’t do that in college.”
Indeed. Knight went No. 16. The Cavs’ highest pick was No. 13, Anderson, a player the Spurs were fond of.
Observers put Knight in the same class of maturity as Duncan and Van Horn. He stayed in college for four years and gained the mental stature to help handle the transition to NBA ball.
The Cavaliers liked this bunch so much, they played all four rookies, three usually starting, through great stretches of the season - until Anderson was hurt last week. All four were named to the rookie game for All-Star Saturday.
Knight leads the league in steals at 2.72 per game and could join the ranks of just 10 rookies to ever lead the league in a major category.
The Jazz had earmarked Ilgauskas in the 1996 draft with their 25th pick but the Cavs nabbed him at No. 20.
Cleveland snagged Henderson in the second round with the 45th pick.
With the way free agency has impacted the NBA, too often teams groom young players for someone else. It’s not going to be easy keeping the four rookies.
“No question,” Coach Mike Fratello said. “They have to buy into each other, say, ‘Hey, we can be real good,’ and then want to stick together.”
Cleveland is an amazing rookie story, but there’s more.
Boston coach Rick Pitino was devastated when the Spurs got Duncan, but he didn’t come up empty with Chauncey Billups and Ray Mercer, both Celtics starters, in the first round.
Mercer is averaging more than 13 points a game and shooting 44 percent. Billups averages four assists and almost 11 points a game.
Both have had to endure Pitino’s elevator emotions. He at once praised the pair, at once put either or both on the trading block.
The point-guard slot is the most difficult to ease into in this league. Just ask Kevin Johnson, John Stockton, Mark Price and Avery Johnson.
Knight seems to be gobbling up the role. Billups needs seasons to season, learn not just how but when to break down defenses and spot the seams.
Antonio Daniels (No. 4) and Bobby Jackson (No. 22) start at the point for Vancouver and Denver, respectively. Each made the rookie team for the All-Star Saturday.
The Sixers’ Tim Thomas went into the draft with some believing he could go as high as No. 2. He fell to six to New Jersey but immediately traversed to Philadelphia in a trade for Van Horn.
“An obvious blunder on (Philadelphia coach) Larry’s (Brown) part,” said one general manager.
But another league honcho says the trade was made mandatory because Van Horn’s agent, David Falk, still burning over the experience of his client Shawn Bradley in Philadelphia, had told the Sixers that Van Horn simply did not want to play there.
Now, though, after a slow start, Thomas is coming on some. He’s averaging more than 10 points per game and is hitting nearly 40 percent of his three-point tries.
Also opening eyes have been are Portland’s Alvin Williams and Kelvin Cato, Houston’s Rodrick Rhodes, the Clippers’ Maurice Taylor and the undrafted Michael Stewart in Sacramento.
“Considering all the money and time we spend on scouting, it’s rather frightening that Stewart fell through the cracks,” Layden said.
Stewart made the rookie all-star team and is called “The Animal” by Kings fans because of his hunger for loose balls. He’s also averaging seven boards a game.
The Kings also found their starting point guard, Anthony Johnson, with the 40th pick. Strangely, their No. 11 pick, Tariq Abdul-Wahad (Olivier St. Jean when drafted) averages only 12 minutes a game.
There were, of course, some downers in the draft.
Look first to Dallas, where nothing has been going well.
The Mavericks picked Cato but traded him to Portland for draftee Chris Anstey.
Cato is a success story, showing signs of becoming a dominant big man, a fearful shot blocker.
The 7-foot Anstey can’t buy playing time.
“I’m afraid playing them (Anstey and No. 35 pick Bubba Wells) might embarrass them to the point it would hurt them psychologically down the line,” Mavs coach Don Nelson said. “They are that far away.”
Nelson had labeled Anstey the best running big man in the league on draft day.
“I admit it. I overrated him,” Nelson said.
Leading rookie scorers
Player, team Avg.
Keith Van Horn, Nets 19.5 Tim Duncan, Spurs 18.2 Ron Mercer, Celtics 13.7 Bobby Jackson, Nuggets 13.7 Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Cavaliers 12.4 Derek Anderson, Cavaliers 12.0 Lawrence Funderburke, Kings 11.3 Chauncey Billups, Celtics 10.8 Tim Thomas, Sixers 10.8 Maurice Taylor, Clippers 10.7
Other statistical leaders
Rebounding: Duncan, Spurs, 11.5 average
Field-goal pct.: Duncan, Spurs, .557
Three-point FG pct.: Ed Gray, Hawks, .391
Free-throw pct.: Anderson, Cavaliers, .884
Steals: Knight, Cavaliers, 2.72
Assists: Knight, Cavaliers, 8.4
Blocks: Michael Stewart, Kings 2.72
By Glenn Rogers, via San Antonio Express-News