NBA Awards Watch: Rookie Of The Year

Nov 3, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Nerlens Noel (4) brings the ball up court against the Houston Rockets at the Wells Fargo Center. The Rockets defeated the 76ers 104-93. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

2. Nerlens Noel – Philadelphia 76ers/PF

Last Week: No. 1

After having a terrible scoring game in his NBA debut against the Indiana Pacers, Noel went back to the drawing board and learned from his mistakes. Instead of attempting to shoot jump shots that he is not particularly good at making, Noel finally got the looks he wanted when he played against the Milwaukee Bucks.

In a matchup against his fellow rookie and one of the favorites to win the NBA Rookie of the Year award in Jabari Parker, Noel stole the show from the second pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. Offensively, Noel showed up and in a big way scoring 14 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and blocking three shots.

There was one particular play that stood out to me, watching Noel read the defense on an out of bounds play. Noel used his brain to score two points.

When he saw the Bucks weren’t set up in their defensive set correctly, he faked going one way to the basketball, back cut and jumped in the air for the sweet lob pass from out-of-bounds, resulting in an alley pop from an out-of-bounds play (boy, do I love those plays).

In addition, his game against the Houston Rockets was amazing. Noel played with a lot of heart, and though he was overmatched going against Dwight Howard, he continued to play tough, fronting him on the block every chance he got. Even James Harden attempted to challenge Noel…lets just say it didn’t go well.

Next: JABARI PARKER