Will the R.O.Y. Reside in Los Angeles?

When it was announced just prior to training camp that #1 overall pick Greg Oden would miss the entire season, most pundits simply handed the Rookie of The Year award to Seattle 's Kevin Durant. It seemed like the logical thing to do at the time. However, after watching Al Thornton of the Los Angeles Clippers play this preseason, voters might want to hold off on the seemingly inevitable for a bit longer.

For a rookie to have success in the NBA, he obviously has to crack a coach's rotation first. This is easier said then done on a lot of clubs. In LA, though, head coach Mike Dunleavy is already planning to give Thornton his fair share of minutes.

When asked if he believed Thornton would be a contributor this season for the Los Angeles Clippers, Dunleavy responded: "Yeah, I think he will. I've said this from very early on that we've felt that way about him. He's got to be ready to play. I'm not going to commit to how much or what I expect of him, but he played really for us in camp."

Thornton averaged 16 points and nearly five rebounds per-game in eight preseason games, numbers very much on par with Durant's in Seattle . So has Thornton 's solid play in the preseason inspired Dunleavy enough to give the rookie even more run than he initially intended to?

"It depends on his consistency and how he picks things up," Dunleavy replied. "I can tell you this: he works really hard, and he studies a lot. So those are two good attributes as far as we're concerned. Mentally he's trying to prepare for games. He's working hard. We're pleased with him and what he's done so far."

The attributes Dunleavy mentioned above are what so often separate average players from good or superstar players in the NBA. Every season there are plenty of physically talented players who enter the league, but finding ones willing to put in the work, both on the court and in the classroom, is far from an easy task. Thornton 's teammates have certainly taken notice of these qualities in the team's newest edition.

"Al has really been working hard, man," explained Corey Maggette. "He comes in and he's the first one in here trying to work hard to be the best player he can be. He has a great opportunity to be a good player in this league. It's going to take a good work ethic, and he's got to understand the mental aspect of the game. Once he gets that down he'll be fine. But he's really been working hard."

Ironically, coming out of college many people compared Thornton's game to Maggette's, whose locker is now just a couple of stalls away.

"I think we have a lot of similarities to our game," Thornton said with a smile after listening to my conversation with Maggette. "We're both aggressive, attack the basket, and are scorers. We're also both physical. I think there's some truth to that."

Even though Thornton has made himself at home both in the locker room and on the court this preseason in Los Angeles , he's also made sure not to get too excited too soon.

"I'm feeling good," he said. "I'm enjoying it and bonding with my teammates. But it's just preseason. It's a learning experience, and I'm trying to get better with each and every game."

One player who knows how tough it can be to make the transition to the NBA is Clippers' center Chris Kaman, and the big-man is doing his best to keep Thornton grounded.

"It just depends," Kaman responded when asked if Thornton can be a major factor for the team this season. "He's a rookie, and he's still learning a lot of stuff. It's going to take him some time, but he's definitely talented. He definitely has some skills, and he can shoot the basketball."

As Kaman mentioned, there's no doubt that Thornton can score. The question is whether or not he'll be able to defend consistently at the NBA level.

"He's still a little lost on defense out there," Kaman said. "He's got a ways to go that way. He's definitely going to help us on the offensive end of the floor at some point. Whether we need him right away or whether he develops slow, it's going to be up to him. We've just got to keep helping him along the way as best we can. I think he'll be alright. He works very hard. He's always getting extra shots up and working on his game, so that's not a big concern there. He just needs to continue to improve."

When asked what the toughest adjustment for a rookie usually is, Dunleavy responded: "Typically I think defense. Usually offensively you're going to come in with what you have and be able to do that. Part of it depends on what your skill was when you came in and why they drafted you. If they drafted you to be a volume shooter sometimes that can be an issue because people can focus in on you a lot on this level, and they're much better defenders. Teams can put schemes against you to pretty much take you out. You've got to learn to adapt to all that. But typically if you don't become a focal point of the other team, than it's about the defensive end.

"If you were a star in college, a of lot times your coach probably hid you on the defensive end so you didn't have to expend much energy. On this level it's kind of hard to do. Usually when you're coming in they're trying to hide somebody else," Dunleavy said with a laugh. "You have to start from the bottom and work your way up."

As Dunleavy noted, teams in the NBA are quick to adjust. They learn a rookie's tendencies extremely swiftly even in the preseason as evidenced by Thornton 's struggles on the offensive end in the final couple of preseason contests where the rookie scored just 18 combined points.

"You know, you have so much to learn as a rookie coming in," Dunleavy confided. "You have to learn a new system, but you also have to learn the league. You've got to be familiar with all kinds of different formations that you may not have seen in college. There's some generic calls like a UCLA- set, box- set, or whatever. It's a recognition on the floor of being able to anticipate like, 'Oh yeah, that's the set they're getting ready to run on us, and here are the potential things that can happen to me.' Once you understand that you can better prepare yourself to get through it."

Thornton had better be ready to get through it because with Elton Brand out, the youngster is going to be counted on to deliver while receiving on the job training.

Apparently Thornton still has a lot to learn about interacting with the media, too. Instead of regurgitating the company line that he's not putting more pressure on himself with Brand out, Thornton said after a long pause: "I think in some ways I am. EB's an All-Star type of player, and he's the leader of our team. So it's definitely on my mind. I constantly think about it."

The rookie was speaking from his gut. This season matters to him, and he's putting pressure on himself to deliver. Combine that attitude and passion with Thornton 's jump shot and willingness to study, and it looks like the Los Angeles Clippers may have found themselves a gem with the 14th pick in last summer's draft who will give Durant a serious run for the R.O.Y. hardware.

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