Thursday, December 3, 2009

The All-Out of Nowhere Team

While perusing NBA box scores a few days ago, I came across an unfamiliar name in the Milwaukee Bucks starting lineup -- Ersan Ilyasova.  I consider myself a pretty big NBA fan, but I had no idea that the second year Turkish import was averaging 11.7 points per game.  Upon further investigation, I learned that Milwaukee selected Ilyasova in the second round of the 2005 draft.  The forward saw limited time in 66 games with Milwaukee during the 06-07 season, but then returned to Europe for two years.  Back in the NBA, Ilyasova has emerged this year as a key contributor for the shockingly decent Bucks.  Ilyasova is not the only breakout performer of the young NBA season.  In fact, there seems to be an unusually high number of players outperforming their preseason expectations.  With apologies to Danilo Gallinari (who sadly just missed the cut), the Buck List presents the All-Out of Nowhere Team.....

PG - Brandon Jennings.  Jennings was only the fifth point guard taken in the 2009 draft, but he has emerged as the clear standout in the rookie class.  Jennings leads the Bucks in scoring (21.8 ppg) and assists (5.7 apg), and he put up an astounding 55 points against Golden State in just the seventh game of his career.   Now if only someone could persuade Jennings to bring back his incredible flat top

SG - Dahntay Jones.  Since entering the league in 2000, Jones has served primarily as a part time defensive stopper.  The former Duke star had never averaged more than 7.5 ppg in a season, but now is scoring just under 17 per game for the Pacers.  Also, he did this.....



SF - Trevor Ariza.  Some of you might disagree with Ariza's inclusion on the All-Out of Nowhere Team.  After all, Ariza played a prominent role on last season's championship Lakers team and signed a five year, 33 million dollar contract with the Rockets in the offseason.  But Ariza's value on the Lakers was primarily on the defensive end.  Often he covered the opposing team's top perimeter scorer, freeing Kobe Bryant to conserve most of his energy for the offensive end.  Ariza has continued to play stellar defense in Houston (he is fourth in the NBA in steals), but he has upped his offensive game considerably.  The small forward leads the Rockets with 18 points per game, more than double his previous career high.  Ariza is also averaging 5 rebounds and 4 assists per contest.  Most NBA fans knew that Ariza was a valuable asset, but few expected him to carry a team the way he has so far in Houston.

PF - Ersan Ilyasova.  With 11.7 ppg and 7.6 rpg, Ilyasova is Milwaukee's third leading scorer and second leading rebounder.  The 6'10'' Turk is shooting an impressive 37 percent from three point range.  Imagine how dominant a team would be if they had five Ilyasova's!  Or just watch this Turkish commercial....



C - Joakim Noah.  Noah entered the league with great expectations after leading the Florida Gators to back to back national titles.  The Bulls took Noah with the ninth pick of the 2007 draft, but the flashy center disappointed in his first two seasons in Chicago.  Noah has looked like a completely different player this year, though.  In addition to putting up 11.5 points and 1.6 blocks per game, Noah is third in the NBA in rebounding -- behind only Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh -- with an average of 12.1 per night.  Also, he sure can dance....

2 comments:

  1. You forgot Toney Douglas!

    That's OK, so has Mike D'Antoni...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I nominate shin-shin for the next list. this one was me.

    ReplyDelete