Unsung Player Day
Thanks to the good folks at WithMalice, today is ‘Unsung Player Day.’ It’s a great concept that a few of us bloggers have gotten in on. CelticsBlog has chosen Leon Powe, and Loy’s Place has chosen Kendrick Perkins to be recognized from the Celtics roster. Since I’ve already sung the praises of James Posey on this site, and Glen Davis was just on NBA All Access… I’d say the Celtics are pretty much covered.
So I’m going to go away from the C’s and talk a little about maybe the most Unsung Player in the league: David West.
When you hear ”New Orleans Hornets” you immediately think Chris Paul. And that’s for good reason… because he’s a legitimate MVP candidate. But you never really hear much about everyone else on that team. I was lucky enough to fall into some tickets for the last Celtics/Hornets game and I got to see first-hand what the Hornets were about. And the best player the Hornets had on the floor that night was West.
West is scoring more ppg than Stephen Jackson, Paul Pierce, Manu Ginobili, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan. He’s in the top 20 in rebounding. At 6′9″, 240, he’s strong enough to bang down low… but I saw him face Kevin Garnett up at the top of the key (in a play that featured Kevin crawling like a rabid dog) and then get by him to score the hoop. Every time Chuck and I looked up at the scoreboard… we kept wondering how the hell West was scoring so much. He can kill you without you even knowing it.
Every year, there’s one player on a playoff team that makes “the jump.” He’s sort of unknown to the casual NBA fan and he never gets a lot of play in the national media. This year, I think that guy is going to be David West. A lot of focus will be on Chris Paul and how he can dominate the games and do things like drop 15 assists in a game… but someone’s got to finish off those passes.
West is the 2nd leading scorer and 2nd leading rebounder on the #1 team in the Western Conference. You’d think he’d be mentioned along with some of the big names out there… but he’s not. The Hornets are Chris Paul’s team and that’s it. If that’s not an unsung player… I don’t know what is.
I hate David West. He’s probably the biggest complainer in the league… and he isn’t even that good to be complaining. John, I think you are missing the major point here. Chris Paul is an MVP candidate because he made marginal talent like David West into a 20 ppg scorer. It’s the same with Derron Williams and Carlos Boozer. And you know why West scores more than those other guys you mentioned… because he takes more shots. You’d be out of your mind to take West over any one of those guys except for Stephen Jackson.
I didn’t say I’d pick him over any of those guys. But I don’t think you can be a shitty player and then be a 20 and 9 guy because of a great teammate. To be a 20 ppg guy, you’ve got to create at least SOME of your own offense. Does Chris Paul make him better? Sure… but the point of the post was to bring some attention to a guy that I felt wasn’t getting as much as he deserved.
[...] impressed: Red’s Army - a Celtics Blog - went with David West (of the Hornets) for [...]
not sure if i would label the 17 foot assassin as unsung, per se - yes chris paul comes to mind when you think hornets, but everyone knows west is a beast
George
http://sportstsar.com/
Hey, thanks for the D-West love!
@Tim: Give West a little credit, man. He does take more shots than all those guys mentioned, but he also shoots a higher percentage than Jackson, Pierce and Manu. He’s obviously not on the same level as Duncan or Garnett, but he’s averaging 20 and 9 on the best team in the West, and for the past few months he’s been doing it despite regular double teams.
I’ll agree with you though that he does complain too much.