Stoudemire,Yao Headline got milk? All-Rookie Team

NEW YORK, May 7 – The got milk? NBA Rookie of the Year Amare Stoudemire of the Phoenix Suns and Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets, the number one overall selection in the 2002 NBA Draft, lead a cast of talented rookies named to the got milk? NBA All-Rookie Team, the NBA announced Wednesday. Stoudemire and Yao were unanimous selections with 56 points each and were joined on the got milk? NBA All-Rookie First Team by Miami’s Caron Butler (55 points), Orlando’s Drew Gooden (45) and Denver’s Nene Hilario (40). Stoudemire ranked first among all NBA rookies in rebounding (8.8 rpg) and tied for second in scoring (13.5 ppg) and blocks (1.06 bpg) while Yao rated first among rookies in blocks (1.79 bpg), second in rebounding (8.2 rpg) and tied for second in scoring (13.5 ppg). Butler led all rookies in scoring (15.4 ppg ) and was ranked in the top 10 among rookies in eight of nine major statistical categories including scoring (first), rebounding (seventh), assists (fifth), field goal percentage (10th), three-point field goal percentage (ninth), free-throw percentage (second), steals (first) and minutes (first). Gooden ranked fifth among rookies in scoring (12.5 ppg) and rebounding (6.5 rpg), and fifth in field goal percentage (.457) while Hilario ranked second among rookies in field goal percentage (.519) and steals (1.59 spg), and sixth in rebounding (6.1 rpg) and scoring (10.5 ppg). The got milk? NBA All-Rookie Second Team consisted of San Antonio’s Emanuel Ginobili (38 points), Orlando’s Gordon Giricek (33 points), Cleveland’s Carlos Boozer (28 points), Chicago’s Jay Williams (22 points) and Boston’s J.R. Bremer (18 points). The voting panel consisted of the NBA’s 29 head coaches, who were asked to select five players for the first team and five players for the second team, regardless of position. Coaches were not permitted to vote for players on their own team. Two points were awarded for first team votes and one for second team votes. The got milk? Milk Mustache campaign is sponsoring the NBA Rookie platform to highlight the importance of milk’s bone-building calcium and eight other essential nutrients for active people, teen boys especially, who add about 15 percent of their height during these years. The platform includes the ‘got milk?’ Rookie Challenge, the ‘got milk?’ Rookie of the Month awards, the ‘got milk?’ Rookie of the Year award and the ‘got milk?’ All-Rookie Team. Attached are the results of the balloting for the 2002-03 got milk? NBA All-Rookie teams: 2002-03 got milk? NBA ALL-ROOKIE FIRST TEAM Player Team Points 1st Team Votes Yao Ming Houston 56 28 Amare Stoudemire Phoenix 56 28 Caron Butler Miami 55 27 Drew Gooden Orlando 45 17 Nene Hilario Denver 40 13 2002-03 got milk? NBA ALL-ROOKIE SECOND TEAM Player Team Points 1st Team Votes Emanuel Ginobili San Antonio 38 13 Gordan Giricek Orlando 33 7 Carlos Boozer Cleveland 28 5 Jay Williams Chicago 28 3 J.R. Bremer Boston 18 2 Other players receiving votes, with point totals: Dajuan Wagner, Cleveland, 13; Mehmet Okur, Detroit, 11; Marco Jaric, LA Clippers, 6; Mike Dunleavy, Golden State, 4; Rasual Butler, Miami, 2; Junior Harrington, Denver, 2; Mike Batiste, Memphis, 2; Juan Dixon, Washington, 1; Vincent Yarbrough, Denver, 1; Reggie Evans, Seattle, 1; Casey Jacobsen, Phoenix, 1. www.nba.com