This week 11 in the NBA some young talents have shown their potential. Let’s go through
the NBA Top 5 rookies of the week with Jeremy Sochan, Jabari Smith Jr., Jalen Williams, Jalen Duren, and Jaden Ivey. All of those players had a huge impact on their team during this week’s games.
1. Jeremy Sochan (San Antonio Spurs) -This week’s games have been marked by the strong performance of the San Antonio Spurs forward, Jeremy Sochan against the Dallas Mavericks. Sochan has been selected in the first round and the 9th overall pick of the 2022 NBA Draft. Despite the good game
of Sochan, the Spurs lost their game 126-125 against the Mavericks and the rookie went for 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists while shooting 58.3% from the field. He played 33 minutes. Sochan is proving game after game that he is a strong defender but not only. In the 130-114 loss of the Spurs against the New York Knicks on Tuesday, December 27, Sochan played 30 minutes and shot 43.8% from the field with 16 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks. The next Spurs game on Thursday, December 29, The Spurs won 122-115 but Sochan had a calm game. He played 27 minutes and shot 57% from the field
with 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 assist. The 6-foot-8 forward did a better job defensively
than offensively in this game and that’s why he can bring something important to the
Spurs on both ends of the court.
2. Jabari Smith Jr. (Houston Rockets) – Jabari Smith Jr. of the Houston Rockets is number two of this week’s top five NBA
rookies of the week because the defensive abilities that he showed this week prove that
he is essential to his team even when he has hard games offensively. Smith Jr., the No. 3 overall pick of the 2022 NBA Draft, showed his defensive skills in the 126-102 loss of the Rockets against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, December 27. Smith Jr. was guarding Jayson Tatum of the Celtics and Tatum only scored one three-pointer out
of 8 attempts and 3 shots out of 12 attempts. Even if Smith Jr.’s offensive game was absent with 6 points while shooting only 28.6 from the field, 9 rebounds, and 2 assists in 29 minutes played, his defensive one stood out in this game. In a 129-114 Rockets loss on Thursday, December 29, Sochan played 27 minutes, shot 53.8% from the field, and went for 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 assist. Again, if the stats don’t seem like he had an impactful game for the Rockets it’s because he did the job
defensively. The Houston Rockets is a young core team in the making, so even if the
Rockets are last of the Western Conference with a 10 victories and 26 losses record, it’s
interesting to observe the defensive progress of Smith Jr.
3. Jalen Williams (Oklahoma City Thunder) – The Oklahoma City Thunder rookie, Jalen Williams, the No. 12 overall pick of the 2022
NBA Draft, proved that he is important for the Thunder. Williams has confidence on the
court which is rare for a rookie. He knows where he is needed on the court, he knows
what he wants to do, and he knows how to create and use the space. Even though he is
capable of doing a little bit of everything on the court his offense really is his strength. The way he creates a path to the hoop is as remarkable as his jump shot. On Tuesday, December 27 the Thunder won 130-114 to the San Antonio Spurs, and the 6-foot-6 forward played 31 minutes and shot 58.3% from the field with 15 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists. Then, on Thursday, December 29 the Thunder lost 121-113 to the Charlotte Hornets despite the good game of Williams. He played 27 minutes and went for 15 points while shooting 55.6% from the field, 5 rebounds and 1 assist. Finally, in the last Kings game of the week and of the year on Saturday, December 31, the Thunder lost
115-96 to the Philadelphia Sixers and the No. 12 2022 NBA Draft pick played 28 minutes and went for 17 points while shooting 60% from the field, 3 rebounds and 1 assist. For a moment now, Jalen Williams is consistent and has a strong impact on he Thunder’s season despite the fact that the team is ranked 12th in the Western Conference with a 15 victories and 21 losses record.
4. Jalen Duren (Detroit Pistons) – Jalen Duren of the Detroit Pistons is the rebounds leader of the rookies with 8.6 per game. This week he has proven how good of a rebounder he is and the impact he has on
the Pistons. However, Smith’s best performance of the week was in a 142-131 overtime loss against the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday, December 26. The 6-foot-10 center played 39 minutes and went for 15 points while shooting 63.6% from the field, 12 rebounds, and 2 assists. On Wednesday, December 28, the Pistons won 121-101 against the Orlando Magic and the No. 13 overall pick from the 2022 NBA Draft played 34 minutes and went for 7 points, 18 rebounds ad 4 assists. Despite the hard season for the Detroit Pistons with a 10 victories and 29 losses record and being last of the Eastern Conference Jalen Duren has shown why he is actually Top 6 in the Kia NBA Rookie Ladder.
5. Jaden Ivey (Detroit Pistons) – Another Detroit Pistons rookie is in this Top five NBA rookie of the week. It’s Jaden Ivey, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. The 6-foot-4 point guard performance of the week has been on Friday, December 30 against the Chicago Bulls. Despite the loss, Ivey played 29 minutes and went for 22 points while shooting 60% from the field and 6 assists. Since Cade Cunningham has been announced out for the rest of the season due to injury, Ivey gained more minutes and so more time to show why he is the
No. 5 overall pick of the 2022 NBA Draft.
Before that strong performance, Ivey had another good game also in a tough 142-131
loss in overtime against the Los Angeles Clippers. He went for 15 points, 8 assists, and 3 rebounds. It will be interesting to follow how he can step by step become a key player for the Detroit Pistons in the long run after the injury of Cade Cunningham.
