'2012-13 NBA Season: 8 Most Underrated Players In The NBA'



Bledose could start on a lot of NBA teams.

Eric Bledsoe, G, Los Angeles Clippers
3rd year, Kentucky, 2010 - 1st round, 18th pick (Oklahoma City Thunder)
2012-13 stats: 15 games, 9.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.3 spg

Try being a young NBA guard competing with minutes behind the league's premier point guard in Chris Paul, former NBA Finals MVP Chauncey Billups, and former Sixth Man of the Year and scoring machine Jamal Crawford (leads team with 17.5 ppg) on the same roster as you. This is exactly what Bledsoe is faced with, and is only averaging around 18 minutes per game, but the boy sure knows how to make every minute count. His stats show that if he got more minutes, he would be one of the premier guards in the league. Besides shooting a sizzling 49.6-percent from the field, Bledsoe ranks 31st in scoring per 48 minutes (25.0) and seventh in steals per 48 minutes (3.28). You can also catch the kid on the nightly highlight reels, as he uses his freak athleticism to make plays above the rim.

Al-Farouq Aminu, F, New Orleans Hornets
3rd year, Wake Forest, 2010 - 1st round, 8th pick (Los Angeles Clippers)
2012-13 stats: 14 games, 10.3 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.8 spg

After being a spot starter for most of his previous two NBA seasons, Aminu is finally coming into his own with the Hornets in his role as starting small forward.  He started 14 of the last 17 games last year and has started all 14 games this year with steadily increasing results.  Aminu is shooting 49.6-percent from the field (career 40.2-percent entering season) in just shy of 32 minutes per game.  Defense and rebounding are the six-foot nine-inch swingman's best attributes.  Aminu pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds Nov. 7 vs. the Philadelphia Sixers and has recorded a steal in 13 of the 14 team games played so far this season.

Carl Landry, F, Golden State Warriors
6th year, Purdue, 2007 - 2nd round, 1st pick (Seattle SuperSonics)
2012-13 stats: 15 games, 14.2 ppg, 7.1 rpg

Landry has showed glimpses of double-double potential, as he averaged 18 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game after being traded from the Houston Rockets to the Sacramento Kings midway through the 2009-10 season. He'll never get the attention he deserves, because his game isn't very flashy, but his steady play will always earn him starters minutes.  Landry, who has never shot less than 49-percent from the field in his career, is currently hitting at a 58-percent clip.



Sessions is an underrated scoring threat.

Ramon Sessions, G, Charlotte Bobcats
6th year, Nevada-Reno, 2007 - 2nd round, 26th pick (Miami Heat)
2012-13 stats: 14 games, 16.5 ppg, (tied with Kemba Walker for team lead) 3.7 rpg, 4.3 apg

Sessions is off to a sizzling start in his first year in Charlotte, averaging a career-best 16.5 points per game (previous career high, 13.3ppg, 2010-11 with Cleveland Cavaliers) while coming off the bench. He's only shooting 20.6-percent from three-point range after shooting 45.2-percent last year, but there is no denying the impact he has had on the Bobcats turnaround from a dreadful 2011-12 season.



Reggie Evans, F, Brooklyn Nets
11th year, Iowa, Undrafted
2012-13 stats: 14 games, 3.0 ppg, 8.6 rpg

The 2012 version of Dennis Rodman?  Better known for flopping and poor free-throw shooting (which Rodman was also known for, by the way) Evans is turning into one of the most prolific rebounders in NBA history.  The 11-year veteran leads the NBA in rebounds per 48 minutes at 21.1 and is 8.6 rebounds per game average is tied with New York Knicks center Tyson Chandler for 19th in the NBA.  Evans averages 19.5 minutes per game, mainly due to him being an offensive liability, but his rebound average makes him the only player in the NBA in the top 50 rebounders that averages less than 23 mpg.

Wesley Matthews, G, Portland Trail Blazers
4th year, Marquette, Undrafted
2012-13 stats: 16.8 ppg, 2.4 apg, 2.1 spg

Matthews played in all 82 games as a rookie for the Utah Jazz (48 starts), all 82 games his first year with Portland (69 starts) and has not missed a single game to this point in his NBA career (245 games).  Not bad for a guy that no team selected in the 2009 NBA Draft after a successful career at Dwyane Wade's alma-mater.  Want more consistency?  He's shooting 44.5-percent from the field, just below his 44.8-percent career average entering the season and his steals per game average has increased by about 0.4 each year since he's been in the league (2.1 spg this year compared to 0.8 his rookie year, 1.2 his second year, and 1.6 last year).  Only inconsistency has come in free-throw shooting. Matthews has already missed 20 free-throws (39-59) after only missing 24 all last year (147-171).  His 2.4 assists per game is better than what he has done and should continue to increase with the offensive improvement of Nicolas Batum (career-high 17.9 ppg ) and a healthy LaMarcus Aldridge.


Conley is becoming a true floor general.

Mike Conley, Jr., G, Memphis Grizzlies
6th year, Ohio State, 2007 - 1st round, 4th pick (Memphis Grizzlies)
2012-13 stats: 12 games, 14.9 ppg, 6.4 apg, 2.2 spg

More known as a penetrator, defender, and distributor than a scoring point guard, Conley is finally starting to put together the type of season people expected him to after he and Greg Oden led the Buckeyes to a memorable NCAA tournament run a few years ago.  Through 12 games Conley has been dynamic for the Grizzlies, shooting 50-percent from the field, and 43.5-percent from three-point range.  Conley is ranked 10th in the NBA in adjusted field goal percentage, leads all NBA point guards in adjusted field goal percentage (57.8).   There's nothing to sniff at on the other side of the ball either, as his 2.2 steals per game ranks him 3rd in the NBA.

Goran Dragic, G, Phoenix Suns
5th year, Yugoslavia, 2008 - 2nd round, 15th pick (San Antonio Spurs)
2012-13 stats: 16 games, 15.8 ppg (leads team), 2.9 rpg, 6.8 apg , 2.1 spg

Dragic has proved to be one of the better point guards in the NBA both as a scorer and a passer. He's currently boosted his scoring average by four points per game (11.7 ppg last year with Houston Rockets) and ranks second amongst NBA point guards in adjusted field goal percentage (54.7). Goran is a magician with the rock that also distributes the ball efficiently, ranking 10th in the NBA amongst starting point guards in assist to turnover ratio (2.9).

'Can't Take The Heat'

Wade has seen better days in South Beach.

The regular season in the NBA doesn't mean anything.  The schedule is for 82 games and we can't judge a team in April by what they did in November.  Plus, good teams lose to the Memphis Grizzlies and the Charlotte Bobcats all the time; not because those teams are better or have better players, but because good teams can't get up to play those games on the second night of a back-to-back on a roadtrip.  And when two good teams collide in the regular season, whoever wins doesn't matter either, 'cause like Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson said "Is is the playoffs yet?"  The only thing that the team's overall record means is where they will be seeded in the playoffs and whether or not they will have home court advantage; it has nothing to do with their chances of reaching or winning the Finals . . . In my opinion, NONE OF THESE EXCUSES APPLY TO THE 2010-2011 MIAMI HEAT!!!!!  After blowing a 24 point second half lead at home to the Orlando Magic last night, and squandering leads of 15 and 11 to the New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls respectivley in the past week and a half, it is clear to me that this team does not have what it takes to make a significant playoff run this year.
This was supposed to be the newest, biggest, and best "BIG 3" of any collection of three players to attain that moniker in the entire history of the NBA!  LeBron James coming off an MVP season, Dwyane Wade coming off an MVP calibur season, and Chris Bosh, a 20-10 guy that can drop 40 on any given night, joining forces to form the most powerful group of heroism since the Justice League.  The "Heatles" were supposed to sweep across the universe to the tune of 72+ wins, according to ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy, eclipsing the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls for the single season wins record.  They won't sniff 70 wins this year and frankly, there's been some hard day's nights for the Heat lately, especially when it comes to playing good teams and closing out games.  Allow me to throw out everything that happened before Christmas Day 2010, since those guys with big egos were still in the 'feeling out' process with each other's games.  On that Christmas, the Heat blewout the defending champion Lakers in L.A. 96-80, and had everyone thinking that they had turned the corner.  Since that win, Miami has two wins over a top 10 NBA team (at Oklahoma City Thunder Jan. 30 and at Orlando Feb. 3).  On the other hand, they have lost to the Denver Nuggets (when they still had Carmelo Anthony), the Bulls (twice), Boston, and then this recent slide when they have had double-digit leads and still were not able to close out.  The toughest question to answer is "what is going wrong with them?" since it seems that there are multiple responses to that singular question.  You wouldn't think a team with that much star power would have so many holes.  Let me atleast scratch the surface.

Still looking for answers.

1.  They don't run anything on offense.
The next time you watch the Boston Celtics, see how they set up their offense when they are in the half court.  Rajon Rondo gets the ball at the point and will throw up some type of hand signal to key the beginning of a play.  Players will set screens for Ray Allen to run through, big men make back picks, the ball moves from one side of the floor to the other, and no one cares who shoots the ball; as long as they get a layup or a good open look.  This doesn't happen with Miami.  They are at their best in transition; converting on the break when other teams miss a basket or turn the ball over by using their athleticism to get down the floor.  They get ball movement sometimes off isolation but that mainly happens when James and Wade are hitting (see last night's game, first half).  When 'Bron and D-Wade are off, the offense is stagnant, and that lag leaks into the team's defensive intensity as well (see last night's game, second half).

2.  The team's best defender, rebounder, and shot blocker, is LeBron.
James is a physical beast that prides himself in doing it all and excelling at it all but his bread and butter is on the offensive end.  He can lockdown on D, and chip in rebounding the ball, but he cannot be the biggest presence in the paint on defense.  If LeBron has to be in the low block so often to help stop penetration, it takes away from his capability to leak out and start transition offense.

3.  No one outside of the 'Big 3' is reliable.

No role player is stepping up in big games.

If Wade, Bosh, and James each score 25 points, my math tells me that's only 75 points.  Those are good games individually, but clearly not enough collectively to win against elite teams without some help from someone else.  James Jones and Mike Miller get plenty of open looks when the big guys are rolling, but they don't create shots for themselves or teammates and they are defensive liabilities.  Erick Dampier, Joel Anthony, and Zydrunaus Ilgauskas are average rebounders and defenders at best and are totally inept offensively, so forget about creating offense by feeding the post like the Celtics, Magic, Lakers, Bulls, and San Antonio Spurs can do.

4.  Who takes the last shot?
When you look at it honestly, newly acquired veteran guard Mike Bibby is the clutchest player on this roster.  Every once in a while, one of LeBron's fadeaway 35-footers to tie or win a game actually goes in, but the next leap year isn't until 2012, so I guess we will have to wait until then to see that again.  Wade is a proven finisher, but when James is on the court, I think he is almost expecting to not get the ball, and it steals his swagger a little bit.  Bosh would be an option if he actually played in the post, but he's just a jump shooter and you would rather have James or Wade doing that.

5.  The wrong guy is coaching this team.
History shows that a team with this many egos requires a coach with an above average to equal ego of the top players or they will pretty much coach themselves.  Erik Spoelstra is just another guy.  Pat Riley has stated that he doesn't want to coach anymore but he might be exactly what this team needs.  The last time he took over the Heat, when they had just acquired Shaquille O'Neal from the Lakers, Miami went on to win the championship.  Don't know why Riley is holding out but I think that he could probably coach this team in his sleep.  No way are they blowing fourth quarter leads and taking wild shots with someone heading that team to steer them right when things are going wrong.

Listen, I'm not trying to bash the Heat, because I think eventually they will work out the kinks.  I just think that the time to figure out all these problems have run out for this year.  Maybe they can miraculously turn things around these last games and in the playoffs but I doubt it.  They have the Spurs tonight in San Antonio, before the Bulls, Lakers, and the Spurs again next week at home.  We'll see really soon whether or not they can prove me wrong.