Each week, our stable of NBA experts will take a close look at the big issues in the NBA.The Starting Five take a look at some of the best unearthed players this season, guys that werent expected to find a spot in the rotation but have grabbed their opportunity. Simon Legg - NBA Australia: Robert Covington Robert Covington has been a bright spot since signing with the 76ers in mid-November. Hes given a poorly functioning offence a spark, averaging 12.1 points and shooting 43.5 percent from deep. Covington shone for the Rio Grande Vipers a year ago, earning Rookie of the Year honours in the D-League after launching a ton of threes and averaging 23.2 points and 9.2 rebounds. You may also remember him for his stint in Houston where he managed seven games for the Rockets last season, totalling just 34 minutes. Yes, Im aware hes now with the Sixers and there are opportunities for just about anyone, but could you have imagined Covington becoming a significant rotation piece? Probably not. The Sixers have posted an offensive rating of 95.4 with Covington on the floor and just 86.9 when he sits. The teams offensive rating as a whole is an abysmal 91.0. These arent groundbreaking numbers but its January and were talking about Covington as a rotation piece on an NBA team. In December, RoCo nailed 39 triples, the ninth best in the league over the course of the month (at 43 percent). The Sixers have been wanting to launch threes and have legitimate floor spacers, but they hadnt found someone who could knock them down at a regular clip. Covington also opens up driving lanes for Tony Wroten and Michael Carter-Williams, either from floating out to the corners or trailing the two ball handlers. Hes operated more efficiently playing at the four and, per Basketball Reference, hes spent around 45 percent of his floor time at that position. While hes only been in the system for six-to-seven weeks, Covington has proven himself to be a capable rotation player, with the ability to help out offensively in multiple positions. Not a bad outcome for a guy who has spent his young career fighting for an opportunity to just crack a roster spot on an NBA team. Leigh Ellis - The Starters: Dennis Schroder As the Atlanta Hawks sit atop the Eastern Conference, coach Mike Budenholzer is facing one of those good problems coaches sometimes talk about. He has a legitimate All-Star caliber starting point-guard in Jeff Teague, but he is finding it harder and harder to not give sophomore stud Dennis Schroder more minutes. Schroder has been one (of the many) great stories from the Hawks this season. Schroders first season was like many rookies - forgettable. He struggled to get minutes and when he did see action, he looked out of his depth in the NBA. Sure he was a rookie, but you wondered if all the praise lavished upon him prior to the 2013 draft was justified. This season has seen tremendous improvement by Schroder, as he has become a valuable contributor for the Hawks. The stats back it up ? hes averaging 8 points and 3.3 assists, almost double last seasons output ? but most importantly, the eye test also proves Schroder is a far more accomplished player in season two. Hes confident in his ball handling, is driving with intent and he and the coaching staff trust his shot. His most impressive stretch of the season came when Teague was forced to miss three games due to injury (Schroder actually started four straight as Teague came off the bench in his return vs. the L.A. Clippers). Schroder stepped into the starting role and was brilliant. In those four games, he averaged 11.3 points on 47 percent shooting while dishing out almost seven assists per game in 27 minutes. The Hawks won all four games against top quality opposition in Dallas, Houston, L.A. Clippers and a 29-point blowout at Cleveland. The game against the Mavericks was Schroders best as he displayed calmness down the stretch that had to impress Budenholzer. As the Mavs were surging back from a large deficit, Schroder calmly drained a midrange jump shot, then hit two clutch free-throws in the final 90 seconds which effectively sealed the win for Atlanta. With Teague back to full health, Schroder resumes his role off the bench but as the surprising Hawks continue their run to the playoffs, he will remain a critical part of the teams success. Angus Crawford - NBA Australia: Cole Aldrich Aldrich re-upped with the Knicks in July with little fanfare, clinching a roster spot on the back of a few late season flashes and a one-game stint with the Knicks Summer League team in Las Vegas. He penned a new one-year, veterans minimum deal after making the trek to Vegas as a willing pupil in Derek Fishers first efforts to preach the tenets of the Triangle. At 611, and entering his fifth year in the league as a former lottery pick who had failed to log more than 400 minutes in any season prior to 2014-15, Aldrichs best hopes at carving out a career appeared to be as a reclamation project under the tutelage of Phil Jackson and Fisher in New York. But before the Knicks boat really got rocky, Fisher was hesitant to reward the plodding 26-year-old with a regular role. With the team now well and truly rudderless, staring down a historically inept 82-game grind and waning short-term motives, Aldrich has been a lone flicker of optimism. Teammates with his head coach for one season (2011-12) in Oklahoma City, Aldrich has started eight of the past nine games, en route to averages of 15.4 points and 11.5 rebounds per-36 minutes. The signs were there?albeit in scattered sequences?when he lapped up his initial opportunity with New York, leading the league in defensive rebound percentage (33.8) among bigs who registered at least 300 minutes of playing time in 2013-14, according to Basketball-Reference. Sitting snugly at the southern end of the Eastern Conference standings, at a nightmarish 5-31, nothing could displace thorough talent valuation as the top priority for the Jackson regime across the remainder of this season. And Aldrich, who?unlike most of his experience and stature?boasts a nice pair of hands and a capable low-post game, might be the best example of that. Though hes largely ground-bound, not overly mobile and is still frustratingly prone to foul trouble, beneath the wreckage of a lost season, you can see the foundations of a more polished product. With the near-seven footer clumping about the paint, opponents have converted just 47.0 percent of their shots at the rim, per SportVU tracking data, a major contributing factor to the Knicks defence improving by six points per 100 possessions with Aldrich on the floor. He may well end up being one of a scant few from this current Knicks ensemble to survive the oncoming tear down and remain on the roster through to next season, but if nothing else, Aldrichs play of late has been like a daffodil sprouting above a scoured walkway. Liam Santamaria - Downtown: Joe Ingles What a massive 12 months its been for Joe Ingles! In May, Ingles won a Euroleague Championship under David Blatt at Maccabi Tel Aviv. Four months later at the FIBA World Cup, Ingles turned heads with his impressive all-court play as he led the Boomers to the Round of 16. Scoring at a ridiculous 69.7 percent from the field, Ingles was the only player in the entire tournament to average at least 10 points, three rebounds, three assists and 1.5 steals per game. On the back of his strong FIBA showing, Ingles spent the preseason with the LA Clippers - where he developed a close bond with All-Star forward Blake Griffin - before being waived just days before opening night. It was a body blow to his NBA dream and for 48 hours Ingles was without a team and was facing an uncertain immediate future. Enter Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder. Snyder was familiar with Ingles, having coached against him in Europe in 2012-13, and convinced Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey to claim the Aussie off waivers just two days before the start of the season. Hes a versatile guy that could make plays and help his teammates, Snyder recalled. Upon arrival in Utah, Ingles was immediately inserted into the rotation and over the course of the season has become an important element of Quin Snyders up-tempo, motion system. Aussie Joe has played in every one of Utahs 34 games and has played fewer than double-digit minutes in only four of them. He even started their most recent game over the weekend, scoring seven points and adding three rebounds, four assists and two steals in 30 minutes of Utahs 101-89 win over Minnesota. Snyder clearly trusts Ingles, having played him in crucial moments of close games, and has said that Joes unselfishness is invaluable to our group. As a mature-age rookie, Ingles has made a surprisingly fast start to his NBA career. And with Snyder at the helm in Utah, Ingles projects to increase his impact even further before seasons end. To quote the words etched on Frank Sinatras tombstone in Hoboken, New Jersey, the best is yet to come! Michael Collins - Downtown: Marreese Speights Its time to send out a search party for the real Marreese Speights, or at least, for the Speights that was seemingly on the edge of NBA extinction. I look at the daily box scores, asking, Is Speights ever going to regress? roughly 500 times a week. Were in the New Year and he remains the most surprising weapon in the NBA. Hes also Coach Steve Kerrs new favourite player. My new favourite player, Mo Speights, Kerr told reporters in November. Hes amazing. He just keeps producing every time we throw him out there. Good enough for me. Speights is averaging 12.6 points, five rebounds, and has mostly overshadowed former All-Stars Andre Igudola and David Lee this season. Spotting enthusiastic midrange bombers are easy, but detecting the efficient types can be a strenuous task. Speights has been a breath of efficiency, especially from 15-19 feet, nailing a ridiculous 47.3 percent. The big mans jumper hasnt been this useful since the 2011 playoffs at the Grind House. Its not all glowing. Speights has struggled at times defending centres. His feisty but size can overwhelm him in the post. Of course, a healthy Andrew Bogut helps here. Still, in a second unit that struggles in the half court, and with no discernable pick-and-roll guard, Speights midrange marksmanship has helped the Warriors offence endure without Steph Curry on the floor. Notably, the Dubs score 113.4 points per 100 possessions with Curry on the floor, and merely 96.9 points without its MVP candidate. Indeed, its a concern, but not a debilitating one as it was last season. The Dubs will need to go big at some point in the playoffs to combat the big brutes in the Western Conference. And so, Mo Buckets minutes might ultimately depend on matchups. But for now, Im staying off the Speights regression train!
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 15:30:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015