Tonight’s dose of gossip sees the Americans hopping on the Nikola Mirotic bandwagon again. Only this time, we agree with them. Rookie of the Year, Nikola? Hmmm.
MIROTIC NOT SURE ABOUT ROOKIE AWARD
According to the NBA, even if you have played a number of years abroad, you are still classed a s rookie when you enter the league.
Nikola Mirotic isn’t quite sure about that.
Like Rudy Fernandez and Ricky Rubio before him, they were classed as rookies despite both playing for Joventut Badalona and the latter going to Barcelona before heading to the NBA.
Via Chicago Sun Times:
For all the naysayers that feel Nikola Mirotic shouldn’t be a candidate for Rookie of the Year because of his Spanish League experience?
The 6-foot-10 Bulls big man actually agrees with you.
“Maybe because I played three and four years total [in the Spanish League] too, I don’t know,’’ Mirotic said Saturday, after the Bulls shootaround. “I really don’t feel like a rookie too. I know that I’m a rookie because this is my first year in the NBA. But I played before in Spain five years professionally. And I won five professional championships there with Real Madrid.
CUBAN: HOW DOES MONTA NOT GET CALLS?
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is unhappy with the treatment that Monta Ellis has been getting from NBA officials.
Via The Score:
Cuban said he has sent the league a playlist of non-calls on Ellis this season, but to no avail.
I’m not allowed to say how many and what, but we literally have a playlist of all the calls of Monta getting smacked and no call. It’s crazy. It’s always the same: “Oh, it’s incidental,” or “It’s not this, it’s not that.” … I’m not even expecting the league to change anything. I’m hoping fans, every time that happens, fans post a video of it so everybody can see it.
Cuban, of course, is no stranger to criticizing NBA officiating. He’s been fined approximately $2 million by the league for various comments and actions since becoming Mavs owner in 2000.
With Ellis, he appears to have a case. As cited by MacMahon, Ellis ranks 10th in the league with 609 drives this season, according to NBA.com’s advanced player-tracking data. Conversely, he ranks 35th in free throws attempted.
It is understood that respect from referees in the lane must be earned, but considering Ellis’ style as a player, he doesn’t often get the benefit of the whistle.
