Post by HyperYellow on Aug 11, 2014 13:30:04 GMT
FBB Sportdesk:
Just like every team has it go to guys, plenty of minutes, plenty of touches, every team has it’s scrubs – lucky to get a minute let alone a touch. Starting Fives – Bench Scrubs. But quite often overlooked are the players that step in when a starter gets in foul trouble, or even worse – injured. The Sixth man. Not every team has one that can make a difference, but the top tier teams often do. And that’s what we’ll have a look at tonight, those often unsung heroes of the upper echelon. To qualify here, I've looked at teams over .500 and players getting over 20 mins per game.
Brooklyn Nets:
At 6’8” and 239lbs, you could almost be excused for thinking Alex Poythress personifies the classic “Tweener”. Too slow to guard smaller wings and not strong enough to guard big fellas down low. In Brooklyn, Poythress who is now in his 3rd year in the league has developed a stroke good enough to maintain a 45.5% FG percentage without sacrificing the power to nab 4.6 boards a game in only 20.8 minutes per game. Poythress though may soon find himself leapfrog Al-Farouq Aminu on the Nets DC, but in the meantime, if Aminu or DeRozan cop an injury, Poythress is ready to step up.
Indiana Pacers:
Yi Jianlian is a sixth man at the other end of his career. He’s playing the fewest minutes per game in 5 years this season, but it is his ability to cover any position from Centre through to Small Forward that makes him so versatile. Range? 44.8% from downtown – Check. Strength? How does 8.0 rpg sound? Check. Yi’s nickname should be “Foodhall” because he is the real Chinese combination. With such an aging front-court in Indiana, GM Shard24 should have the peace of mind in knowing Yi Jianlian is ready to step in.
Atlanta Hawks:
We’ve looked at swingmen and versatile big men so far, but what about the other end of things? Look no further than Atlanta and “The Dutch Cookie”. Of course I speak of Von Wafer. His ratings of B C+ C+ C C- belie his current output of 8.3ppg and 4.4apg. Could you ask for much more from a 32 year old vet playing for $1,000,000.00 per year? Wafer remains the grounded one in Atlanta’s back-court of Wayne Ellington and Dwayne Wade. He might command as much attention, but certainly commands the respect of not only his team, but the whole league.
Memphis Grizzlies:
It can be tough for a high draft selection coming in to a team of established stars, but that is the situation Dakari Johnson finds himself in. Forced to bide his time behind front court beasts Andre Drummond and LaMarcus Aldridge, Johnson may not be getting the minutes he would have been expecting coming in to the league, but the apprentice certainly has some classy mentors to serve behind, that could be a good thing given his poor 39.9 FG%, but his 7.5rpg and 1.3bpg shows any voids caused by trades or injuries will be quickly plugged in Memphis.
Phoenix Suns:
Mentioning Dakari Johnson above might suggest that efficiency is a key characteristic of a good Sixth Man, maybe that is only true of bigs, especially when you look at Eric Gordon of the Phoenix Suns. Gordon is of similar ilk to Jianlian in that he has past the prime of his career, but continues to earn every dollar. Who needs to defend when you shoot at 50.6% from the field? Gordon is probably just a victim of an attempt at a youth movement as his production and ratings is better than the starting SG in Phoenix.
LA Clippers:
We've looked at efficiency, versatility and unbridled youthful potential and talent as reasons why a player may find himself in a back-up role. Depth at a players preferred starting position is another reason and Wilson Chandler suffers in this situaton. In Chandler, you find across the board contribution. Talk about a stat sheet stuffer: 5.3ppg 4.7rpg 0.7apg 0.8spg 0.5bpg, Chandler scores, rebounds, steals, blocks, and makes his free throws. Kevin Love won't be looking over his shoulder any time soon, but Rudy Gay should consider himself lucky to be still getting the amount of minutes and touches he is getting.
