When one talks of the Warriors most will first think of Stephen Jackson and Baron Davis. Then they’ll think of Monta Ellis, Al Harrington, and Matt Barnes. Those five maybe the faces and the heart of the team,
but I think the efficiency and work down-low of Latvian center Andris Biedrins is hugely-underrated. Biedrins is averaging 10.1 rebounds, and the 12 players that average more rebounds per game than Biedrins, Biedrins averages the least amount of minutes. Did I mention that he leads the league in FG% too?Game by game, Biedrins stats may look inconsistent, but it’s more the coach and style than the ups-and-downs of the 6-11 center with long arms and great hands. Don Nelson loves his small ball, and he’ll start Harrington in the middle against teams with dominant centers, as he did with Dwight Howard. And Harrington played the majority of minutes when they played Yao Ming. So although Biedrins is good for a double-double each game, Harrington’s effectiveness in hitting threes determines Andris’s playing time about 30% of the time.
I think Nelly may be learning that though Biedrins isn’t going to draw opposing centers outside 10-feet, Biedrins is very effective in the pick-and-roll with Baron Davis.
Dare I say that Andris more than held his own against Dwight Howard too and I don’t think it was a coincidence that the Warriors started their run when Biedrins was in the lineup.
I am not complaining about Nelson at all. Being in the bay area, I’m lucky to catch many of the Warriors games; and they’ve perfected the up-and-down, shoot-the-first shot-offense while still getting back to scrap on defense. Additionally, Nelson was the one that first gave Biedrins (and Ellis) his shot, I just wish Biedrin’s minutes were more consistent.
Hedo or Memo?
When it came down to whom was the better Turkish player - Memo Okur or Hedo Turkoglu, the last couple of years had only strengthen my belief that Memo Okur was the better player. But things have flipped around this season. Both players are playing for teams that have great records and are contributing, but it’s Turkoglu this year that is having the better season, not just of the two players, but of his career.
I’ve always thought that Hedo Turkoglu’s decision making towards the end of games has been terrible, but I have to commend his play this year. He is key to Orlando’s start, I would even go to say that outside of Dwight Howard, he is the most important player on the Magic. I have no qualms in saying that Orlando wouldn’t be near where they are at this point of the season without him.
Thus far, Hedo has scored in double figures in every game this year and though his shooting percentages have taken slight dips, his offensive stats have skyrocketed. His eighth season in the NBA, Turkoglu is averaging career-highs in points this year (18.6), rebounds (6.1), and assists (4.1).
It’s early, and outside of a complete collapse, the Magic should be in the playoffs this season. To me, this is the time when Hedo will prove his worth to me. As I mentioned earlier, his decision making has never been great, and when the Magic are in a close playoff game this year, Hedo is their only truly-playoff-tested player. Let’s see if he has learned from his mistakes.
Mehmet Okur on the other hand has never had problems hitting in the clutch. Even last year in the playoffs when he hit a cold streak, he still found ways to hit a couple big time shots when they counted. But unlike Hedo, Memo is having a rough start to the 2008 season.
He truly had a great season last year; not only because he was one of the main cogs on an up-and-coming Jazz squad, he was also named to the NBA all-star team after putting solid numbers, and earned himself a reputation for hitting clutch shots.
But things have dropped this year - maybe because of Andrei Kirilenko’s renewed involvement (see below) and the continuation of Boozer’s dominance — however, Okur is playing roughly around the same amount of minutes an only shooting 1.5 less shots a game than last year, so it just might be a matter of raising his shooting percentage.
“I just go out there and play,” Okur said. “(Carlos) Boozer, Deron (Williams), Ronnie (Brewer) — those guys, they step up their game, especially on offensive end. So I just want to try to shoot open shots,” Okur has taken the team-first perspective when talking about his productivity this year “I‘m gonna do what I’m doing out there because Boozer is doing a great job on the block, and Deron creates open shots for us. … If I’m open, I’m gonna shoot it. If not, I’m gonna pass to whoever’s open.”
In addition to Memo shooting problems on the court, Okur went down with a slight injury that caused him to miss a game. He did come back strong the next game with 25 points in a win over Miami.
Who is Kyrylo Fesenko?
With the aforementioned injury to Memhet Okur (and to Carlos Boozer), 7-1, 288lbs Ukranian center Kyrylo Fesenko got called up f
rom the Utah Flash, his NBDL team, for the Jazz’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers Friday. Fesenko, who would also leave the game with an injury, did well in his short NBA debut — accumulating six points and seven rebounds in only 11 minutes.Fesenko is a physical, energetic, and agile center. Constantly moving, looking for contact, aggressive with hair-flying. The way Kyrylo plays, I can see him being a more-effective Zaza Pachulia. His naivete might be his biggest asset, he doesn’t come into the NBA afraid of anyone and though light-hearted off the court, his intensity on-court will be his biggest asset. The kid wants to dunk the ball like Shaq circa 1995 every time he touches it “I like (Shaq’s) animal rage under the basket, his power,” he said. “When you look at him even on TV, you are afraid of him. He is huge, big…”
While trying out for the Pistons last year, Fesenko got a chance to meet his childhood idol Shaquille O’Neal. So what did Fesenko when he had a chance to chat with his basketball hero? He reportedly told Shaq in a half-joking fashion “I will dunk over (you), if (you) play one or two more years.”
This kind of humor and blase attitude off the court has apparently made quite an impression on the Utah media and his Jazz teammates, even though he’s only been a in Utah a month or so “He might be so unaware, he plays well,” said Carlos Boozer speaking of Fesenko’s
In his only NBA game thus far, Fesenko was hit on the side of the head Chris Mihm while attempting to rebound a missed shot. He left that game, but was activated for the next game against Miami, but with Okur and Boozer back from injury, Fesenko didn’t play nor get the chance to dunk on Shaq (he also didn’t play last night against Seattle).
Things, however are looking up for Kyrylo as his short 20-day stint in the NBDL has made an impression on Jerry Sloan “His demeanor out here is 100 percent better than what it was when he left. Not even playing basketball, just being around his teammates and being a little bit more professional about what he’s doing.” And Fesenko wasn’t phased when he moved to the D-League, “I want to play in D-League and to be here, to get enough of game time to adjust to American basketball,” he said before being called up “I repeat it 100 time, I am not upset about it. I glad to be here. What can be better than to have enough of game time — and a guaranteed contract with the NBA?”
I guess it’s Utah Jazz talk this week. I would be remiss to not mention Andrei Kirilenko’s progress this season. His renewed perspective has him filling up box-scores again including the third triple-double of his career (that seems odd that he wouldn’t had had more by now) — 20 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, 6 steals and 4 blocks.
The great thing about Kirilenko, for Kirilenko fans, Utah Jazz fans and Fantasy teams that have him on their team — it’s never just points or rebounds or assists, whenever he is on his game — you can always account on great block and steal numbers too.
Andrew Who Again?
Has there been any #1 draft pick in the last ten years that has flew under-the-radar as Andrew Bogut has thus far? In his third season, the 7-0 center from Australia is having another decent season by putting up 12.6 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks, but I really haven’t heard anything about him; there just isn’t much discussion of Bogut. Has he shown any potential to eventually become worth a #1 pick overall?
What I am saying is personally, I haven’t heard anything about Bogut, and for being a #1 overall pick, that’s a little odd to me. We’re still tracking the progress of Andrea Bargnani. Everyone knows all about LeBron James and Yao Ming. We’re still talking about Allen Iverson and Tim Duncan. Greg Oden hasn’t put on an NBA jersey and we’re still talking about him. We know that Olowakandi and Kwame Brown were complete busts; that’s been discussed and proven. So what of Andrew Bogut?
Is it because he is playing in Milwaukee and no one cares outside of brewtown? I mean, I feel Yi Jianlian will consistently get more press. The question is, what can we expect from the Australian center? The #1 pick of 2005 hasn’t really had the chance to become the focus point because of the Milwaukee’s perimeter-orientated offense with great guards Mo Williams and Michael Redd.
I wonder whether it’s because Bogut hasn’t asserted himself enough. The brash, confident, and dominant college player that we saw at Utah has yet to surface. Is he still learning the NBA game? Can anyone in or outside of Milwaukee let me in on what’s going on?
Will Anderson Varejao Still be a Fan Favorite if he Returns to Cleveland?
So Anderson Varejao decides to sign an offer sheet with the Bobcats… 3 years for 17 million… The Cavs have said that they’ll match the offer, but as of this writing nothing is solid. Varejao can opt out of the deal after the second season and become an unrestricted free agent - which is likely in either case.
Why? I think it’s plainly obvious that Andy is settling for 5.5 million a season and playing for the Bobcats for transparent reasons. Nothing wrong with playing with the improving-Bobcats, but if the choice is to play for $5.5 million on the maybe-playoffs Charlotte Bobcats or play with LeBron James and the Cavs, the Eastern conference champions? Andy’s got dollar signs in his eyes still.
It seems to me that Varejao’s plan is to play his ass off, opt-out when the time comes, and play the free-agent game again trying to get his ridiculous 10/mil. Andy my friend, you better pull in 20 and 10 this season to even get close to that — good luck. You’re competing with a lot of other up-and-coming Bobcats that have already established themselves offensively with the Cats — Okafor, the under-rated Raymond Felton, Gerald Wallace, Matt Carroll, and Jason Richardson. Whoa, on second thought you better focus on grabbing 15 rebounds, blocking 5 shots, and play D like Ben Wallace circa 2004 in order to get the 10 mil you are looking for. Maybe the Bulls will sign you?
Seriously, I’d rather pay Fesenko 10x his salary, I think he has much more potential than Varejao.
Nash done with Canada?
Steve Nash has said that he probably won’t participate in next year’s Olympics in Beijing even if Canada qualifies, and many believe that the two-time NBA MVP might be done with the Canadian National Team altogether.
Though Nash is saying that he is still undecided, he is leaning towards not participating. citing his responsibilty to the Phoenix Suns “I would say no, but I can’t really talk about it until the situation arrives and this season’s come to a conclusion,” Nash said. “But in my mind right now, I’m not going to play for Canada anymore. I just can’t do both.“
Many speculate that when Canada decided to part ways with Jay Triano, the Canadian National Team coach from 1998-2004 and a good friend to Nash, they knew that the decision would not entice Nash to come back.
Unlike many countries (and their press), Canadians aren’t calling for the Steve Nash’s head. Overall, it seems they take a nicer and more understanding approach to Nash’s likely decision.
“We can’t fault him.” said Triano, whom is currently an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptor “Nash has given so much over so many years. I mean, you can’t expect guys to play until they can’t walk any more. Especially now, when he’s playing on a team that plays so deep into the summer.”
Current national team coach Leo Rautlins was quoted as saying “(Steve’s) got a young family, and he’s got to do what he feels is best for him … And whatever he feels is best, we all support him.”
Coincidentally, Nash and his Phoenix Suns will be in Toronto tonight to play the Raptors. Even with the disappointing news, no doubt the Canadians will be giving the Victoria BC native a warm welcome/thank you.
Tony Parker, Ginobili Bigger Factors than Ever
With Tim Duncan going down with an injury that will keep him out the next few games, it will be time for Tony Parker to quiet those critics that assert his success is only based on Duncan’s inside presence. Given, the numbers of those critics have grown smaller over the last few years, but when Duncan went down, it was inevitable that I would come across something to that fashion.
While people drum up something to complain about the Spurs, they continue rolling through the regular season again at 15-3, with the second-best record in the league. And they’re doing it with less-reliance on Tim Duncan as Parker and Manu Ginobili are both averaging career-highs in points, FG attempts, 3pt FG attempts, FT Attempts, Assists and Rebounds.
Yes, without Duncan, they would be a different team, but the Spurs wouldn’t have had the last couple championships without the play of Manu and Tony Parker. The fact that the Spurs are still successful with less-effective Tim Duncan, shows that the Spurs are special and says a lot about the system Popovich has in place.
Sources: Okur Steps Back, Others Step Up (Deseret News), Fesenko Might Get Chance to Dunk on Shaq (Salt Lake City Tribune), NBDL Stint Helps Fesenko (Salt Lake City Tribune), Fesenko Fine with D-League (Deseret News), Cavs Match Bobcat’s Varejao Offer (AP), Nash at End of an Era with Canada (National Post), Tony Parker Profile (Yahoo), Manu Ginobili Profile (Yahoo)
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