Well, it happened. After speculating last week that Sacramento Kings guard Isaiah Thomas would fall out of our Sixth Man Rankings despite his impressive stats, Thomas fell out by default as he was elevated to starter. With Greivis Vasquez shipped to Toronto in the Rudy Gay deal, Kings fans can breathe a sigh of relief that Thomas won’t get screwed out of this year’s Sixth Man Award. [Read more…]
The Sixth Man Award is a complicated one. Historically, the winner has been a super scorer who provides a needed offensive boost to a winning team. But this season might be different. No top team has a true standout scorer off the bench who fits the mold of winners from seasons past. The one exception could be Ryan Anderson of the New Orleans Pelicans. Sure, New Orleans is only 9-9 and has been wildly inconsistent this season. Still, since Anderson’s return to the
The guards are still surging in our latest Sixth Man Rankings. After another week of Western Conference dominance, it makes sense that the top five candidates for Sixth Man are coming from West teams. The role of sixth man continues to evolve from the longstanding “super scorer” stereotype into one better designed for all-around contributors. Of the top five players in the rankings, only Jamal Crawford is considered a pure scorer. Three of the other candidates are in the top five in distributing.
Well, it’s happened. The NBA’s early season darling teams have fallen back to earth. The Phoenix Suns, who started 5-2, are now 5-6 and look poised for the early lottery once again. Meanwhile, the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division could be historically bad. The Philadelphia 76ers, who have won only twice in their last 10 games, trail the Toronto Raptors by only a half game for first place. And the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets are fighting for Gotham’s infamy as they both stand
Growing up, fans are taught several “facts” about team sports. It’s a fact that teamwork is better than selfish play. It’s usually a fact that a good defense beats a good offense. It’s a fact in baseball that last licks is more advantageous than leading off. Perhaps no “fact” is more emphasized, however, than the notion that the best players in every sport always start. In the NBA in 2013, that “fact” is fiction. It couldn’t be further from the truth. [Read more…]
This week marks the final edition of our Sixth Man Rankings, and we have a winner. While major alterations to the list have been made throughout this process, the race ultimately has come down to two players on opposite sides of the country: Los Angeles Clippers guard Jamal Crawford and New York Knicks guard J.R. Smith. Both players are in their first full season with their teams and both were able to add a bench scoring dimension to which neither team had
Basketball is a team game, but it is also a game that can easily be altered by a single player, moreso than any other major sport. And that player doesn’t even have to be a starter. In many games this season, there has been a fairly strong correlation between the success of the Los Angeles Clippers when Jamal Crawford is doing well – and when he isn’t. The same can be said for J.R. Smith in New York. With two weeks in the
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. As cliché as that may be, it’s something that NBA coaches tend to live by in terms of player rotations. However, sometimes things break, and it’s the coach’s job to fix the mess. The Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics both have had to deal with adversity of late and have had to make the tough choice to put their most productive sparks off the bench – Gordon Hayward and Jeff Green, respectively – into the