Some Pre-Rising Stars Game Thoughts

Since JLin is in the Rising Stars game, we thought it would be interesting to compare JLin's development with that of all the other "rising star" rookie and sophomore players here in Orlando.

First, here are the rosters for both teams, along with their NBA team, position, height, weight, college team (or country), years of experience (Rookie or Sophomore), and draft position information. All information - including the listing of JLin as a "rookie" -- was taken from the NBA's website:

Team Chuck
Player Team Pos. Ht. Wt. Home Country Exp Draft
MarShon Brooks New Jersey G-F 6-5 200 Providence R 25
DeMarcus Cousins Sacramento C 6-11 270 Kentucky S 5
Paul George Indiana G-F 6-8 215 Fresno State S 10
Gordon Hayward Utah F 6-8 210 Butler S 9
Kyrie Irving Cleveland G 6-3 191 Duke R 1
Kawhi Leonard San Antonio G-F 6-7 225 San Diego St. R 15
Tiago Splitter San Antonio F-C 6-11 240 Brazil S 28 (07)
Evan Turner Philadelphia F 6-7 205 Ohio State S 2
John Wall Washington G 6-4 195 Kentuck S 1
Derrick Williams Minnesota F 6-8 241 Arizona R 2

Team Shaq
Player Team Pos. Ht. Wt. Home Country Exp Draft
Norris Cole Miami G 6-2 175 Cleveland St. R 28
Landry Fields New York G 6-7 210 Stanford S 39
Blake Griffin L.A. Clippers F 6-10 251 Oklahoma S 1 (09)
Brandon Knight Detroit G 6-3 189 Kentucky R 8
Jeremy Lin New York G 6-3 210 Harvard R Undrafted
Greg Monroe Detroit C 6-11 250 Georgetown S 7
Markieff Morris Phoenix F 6-10 245 Kansas/USA R 13
Ricky Rubio Minnesota G 6-4 180 Spain R 5 (09)
Tristan Thompson Cleveland F 6-9 227 Texas R 4
Kemba Walker Charlotte G 6-1 172 Connecticut R 9

A few things jump off the page. First, only two players were not drafted in the first round (Fields and Lin). And, of course, only JLin was undrafted. It's not clear to us how many undrafted players have ever played in the Rising Stars (a/k/a "the rookie-sophomore") game. But that's something that we'll look into. Finally, of the 20 players selected for the Rising Stars game, 13 of them were taken at the overall #10 spot or higher.

Now, lets look at the same players' PER stats.

Team Chuck
Player 2011-12 PER (thru 2/23)
MarShon Brooks 16.32
DeMarcus Cousins 20.83
Paul George 15.18
Gordon Hayward 13.77
Kyrie Irving 20.74
Kawhi Leonard 15.12
Tiago Splitter 18.99
Evan Turner 13.17
John Wall 17.96
Derrick Williams 13.93

Team Shaq
Player 2011-12 PER (thru 2/23)
Norris Cole 11.21
Landry Fields 13.32
Blake Griffin 23.41
Brandon Knight 11.91
Jeremy Lin 22.33
Greg Monroe 23.46
Markieff Morris 13.74
Ricky Rubio 15.74
Tristan Thompson 13.49
Kemba Walker 15.55

Now, we fully realize that stats are NOT everything. But we find these PER results interesting. First of all, only 5 players had a PER of 20 or higher. They were Blake Griffen (#1 overall pick), Kyrie Irving (#1 overall pick), DeMarcus Cousins (#5 overall pick), Greg Monroe (#7 overall pick), and JLin (undrafted).

Keep in mind that JLin's PER numbers include last night's game against the Heat. Notwithstanding, JLin was still the #18 player in the league regardless of position for PER. Prior to last night's game, JLin was #8, behind only Lebron, DWade, Kevin Durant, CP3, Kevin Love, DRose, and Dwight Howard (and one position ahead of Kobe).

That's pretty astounding no matter which way you cut it.