Lawson Entertains Rookie of the Year Talk Milwaukee’s Brandon Jennings is at the top of the list, without question. Ty Lawson, however, is playing himself into any conversation there may be going forward in the race for NBA Rookie of the Year. And yes, the small-in-stature, large-in-heart Nuggets’ point guard has thought about it some. “I’m a rookie, of course I want to be rookie of the year,” Lawson said. “ But right now I’m focused on the team. We’ve got big things we can do right now, so I’m focused on the team.” At 10.3 points per game, Lawson is tied for fourth in scoring among rookies with his former North Carolina teammate Tyler Hansbrough – although Hansbrough has only played in three games. It’s significant because aside from Hansbrough, Lawson averages the least amount of minutes of any in the top six, by a large amount. Lawson has gotten 21.8 minutes per game in a role off the bench. That’s 6.6 minutes fewer than the next lowest – Minnesota’s Jonny Flynn at 28.4 minutes per game. In addition, Lawson is among the top seven in field goal percentage (.527), 3-point percentage (.500) and free throw percentage (.941). He’s been better faster than his coach, George Karl, could have ever asked for and, to this point, is pushing veteran Anthony Carter out of his normal reserve point guard slot. Lawson has shown a better much jumper than he was ever given credit for, the speed that he was advertised to have, and an explosiveness to the rim that in a game against the Lakers last Friday resulted in a monster dunk over L.A. 7-footer D.J. Mbenga. “Ty Lawson’s dunk was pretty special,” Karl said. And smiled. “The kid is…he’s just good,” Karl continued. “He’s a guy you fall in love with as you watch him play.” Lawson said he received in the neighborhood of 200 text messages after the dunk seen around the sports world. “I’m still getting calls and texts about that,” he said on Sunday. And while rookie of the year might be out of reach if Jennings continues his juggernaut play, earning a spot in the rookie-sophomore game during All-Star weekend in Dallas this season isn’t. Playing in that game danced around his head a lot prior to the season. “I thought more about the rookie game,” Lawson said. “But, I guess I’ve opened up a lot of eyes, so I’ll keep playing hard and see where it takes me. ” CARTER BEING PUSHED Nuggets guard Anthony Carter is not in a talking mood these days, refusing interviews more often. Who can blame him? He’s injured, with the same hip problem that has plagued him in the past. And when he has been healthy, the veteran has seen his minutes melt away because of the spectacular play of rookie Ty Lawson. In the summer, Carter said he was told by Nuggets coach George Karl that his minutes would not be reduced even though the organization acquired Lawson, the 18th pick in the draft, from Minnesota to be the Nuggets point guard of the future. Things have changed. Lawson changed them. The irony of it all for Carter his ascension to the job two seasons ago came at the expense of Chucky Atkins. Atkins was signed in the summer of 2007 to play a big role at point guard, whether that was as starter or top reserve if Allen Iverson started at point. Atkins was injured early and lost his job to Carter when Carter played great in his absence. Eventually, Carter’s steady play made Atkins expendable and the Nuggets traded him to Oklahoma City for Johan Petro. Obviously this situation wasn’t created because of injury, but sports’ sometimes cruel perform-or-sit nature is rearing its ugly head again. “I’m sure he’s disappointed,” said Karl of Carter. “But again, the first nine games, 10 games this season has been so hectic. I think it would be kind of crazy for anybody to react one way or the other on what’s going to happen. “Bench players always got to be ready for the opportunity. Sometimes it’s not always predictable. I know you want it to be predictable, you want it to be rhythmic. But right now it is much more unpredictable.” Karl hasn’t written Carter off yet. “I think there’s a positive role for both of them,” Karl said. “How we go there, or what we do is, I think, to be determined.” MORE DUNKING LAWSON Just when did Lawson know he was going to dunk the ball over the Lakers D.J. Mbenga? He’ll tell you. “Probably when I saw Mbenga coming,” Lawson said. “He’s a shot-blocker, so he probably thought I was going to float it, since I’m a short guy. Me and Joey (Graham) was talking about it early that if I get the right angle, I have to go up there and dunk it because they are going to block it. So when I took that last step to see him coming, I knew I was going to dunk it.” 本赛季初，金块首轮新秀Ty Lawson的表现让人眼前一亮，场均21.8分钟内10.3分的贡献 也已经让他坐稳了金块替补控卫的位置。而这位来自北卡的小个後卫也已经将目标放在 更高的地方——今年的最佳新秀。 “我是一名新秀，所以我当然希望自己能成为年度最佳新秀。”Lawson说，“但现在我的 注意力更多的是集中在球队上。我们还有很艰巨的任务要完成。” “关於我的这年菜鸟年，我考虑过很多。”Lawson说，“不过我想现在我已经让很多人眼 前一亮，所以我会继续努力打球，看看能达到怎样的高度。” -- 加油吧孩子! http://blogs.denverpost.com/nuggets/2009/11/16/lawson-entertains-rookie-of-the -year-talk/ --

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