Who's your Unsung Player?

[Toronto BC 07]

Hey,

A certain site has announced April 5th of this year as Unsung Player Day, where people let it be known who their unsung player is. My player is Kelenna Azubuike of the Golden State Warriors, the man gets next to no attention and has bounced around the past couple of seasons.

http://hoopsaddict.com/2008/04/05/unsung-player-day-kelenna-azubuike/

So, with this a special day for these unsung players, I wanted to ask the RealGM guys/gals who your choices are. There aren't any guidelines to your choice as its strictly an opinion.

My other players are James Posey of the Celtics and Joey Graham of the Raptors.

Who is your Unsung Player?

[Number34]

Haslem and zo for the heat

[Rox_Nix_Nox]

The Machine and Derek Fisher sometimes Ronny Turiaf

[DelaneyRudd]

Mehmet Okur has been under appreciated. Sort of a all-star backlash since he isn't a traditional big man.

[Toronto BC 07]

This may sound dumb, but I'm guessing it's a Laker, who is "The Machine?" lol

[Buck You]

Ramon Sessions.

This may sound dumb, but I'm guessing it's a Laker, who is "The Machine?" lol

Sasha Vujacic I believe.

[DelaneyRudd]

This may sound dumb, but I'm guessing it's a Laker, who is "The Machine?" lol

No, "The Machine" sounds dumb. That is a lame name.

[Rox_Nix_Nox]

Yes Sasha Vujacic is "The Machine" and no it is not lame.

[chrice]

Yes Sasha Vujacic is "The Machine" and no it is not lame.

Yes it is. The Machine sounds incredibly gay.

[Jemini80]

Malik Rose is definitely our unsung hero. I can always count on Malik for some good travels and getting his **** blocked whenever he comes in. He has been very reliable to the tanking process.

If anyone honestly questions that Tim Duncan is one of the 10 greatest players of all-time, think back to how when Malik was playing next to Duncan and seemed like he deserved to be in the NBA, guess what....he doesn't.

[That Nicka]

Definitely Sasha for the Lakers

[The Rondo Show]

I'd go with Kendrick Perkins for the Celtics. KG gets all the credit for being the anchor of the Celtics D, and he deserves a lot of it and is the best defensive player in the NBA IMO, but it's really when the combination of Perkins AND KG are out there that the Celtics are almost impossible to score on. I'll post what "Pogue Mahone" posted on the Celtics board:

I knew about Garnett's defense and the effect it would have on the rest of the team but I realized about 20 games into the season I was severely underrating Kendrick Perkins' defense. Rather, I was severely underrating the combination of Perkins and Garnett on defense. Together, they have been absolutely nasty.

Something even more amazing, as of 30 March 08:

Kevin Garnett (w/ Perkins)

Team ORtg 112.30
Team DRtg 94.09
Team OReb% 28.09%
Team DReb% 74.21%
Expected Win% .922

Kevin Garnett (w/o Perkins)

Team ORtg 111.75
Team DRtg 103.30
Team OReb% 27.85%
Team DReb% 69.14%
Expected Win% .750

Now realize that 80.65%, on average, of the oppositions starters have been in the game when Perkins and Garnett have been paired. IOW, the Perkins/Garnett pairing has been doing their damage against 4.03+ starters on the floor and not feasting on back-ups.

He also usually covers the other teams best post player for the first 3 quarters of the game, allowing KG to stay out of foul trouble and allowing KG to not be in foul trouble when he then covers that guy in the 4th Q in situations where Doc decides to go small (which is quite often).
Despite the impact he has had defensively, he doesn't get any credit from the media or fans around the league or really, even the majority of Celtics fans.

[Ming Kong!]

Mehmet Okur has been under appreciated. Sort of a all-star backlash since he isn't a traditional big man.

Yeah definitely a lot of people outside of Utah don't know what he brings. He's our #1 scoring threat next to Boozer, and on many nights better than Boozer. He also has been hitting the boards very well of late, if he has a consistent year next year, he can definitely have a 17/10 campaign. He's actually gotten MUCH better in the paint too. He used to be very sloppy and turn it over there, but not he makes strong moves, and hell acrobatic moves that man with his body is not meant to make. His defense is pretty average for a big, but he has certain match ups he matches up pretty well for, like Yao who his very effective against. I have a feeling with Shaq slowing down that Okur can do an amiable job.

[Ming Kong!]

I'd go with Kendrick Perkins for the Celtics. KG gets all the credit for being the anchor of the Celtics D, and he deserves a lot of it and is the best defensive player in the NBA IMO, but it's really when the combination of Perkins AND KG are out there that the Celtics are almost impossible to score on. I'll post what "Pogue Mahone" posted on the Celtics board:

I knew about Garnett's defense and the effect it would have on the rest of the team but I realized about 20 games into the season I was severely underrating Kendrick Perkins' defense. Rather, I was severely underrating the combination of Perkins and Garnett on defense. Together, they have been absolutely nasty.

Something even more amazing, as of 30 March 08:

Kevin Garnett (w/ Perkins)

Team ORtg 112.30
Team DRtg 94.09
Team OReb% 28.09%
Team DReb% 74.21%
Expected Win% .922

Kevin Garnett (w/o Perkins)

Team ORtg 111.75
Team DRtg 103.30
Team OReb% 27.85%
Team DReb% 69.14%
Expected Win% .750

Now realize that 80.65%, on average, of the oppositions starters have been in the game when Perkins and Garnett have been paired. IOW, the Perkins/Garnett pairing has been doing their damage against 4.03+ starters on the floor and not feasting on back-ups.

He also usually covers the other teams best post player for the first 3 quarters of the game, allowing KG to stay out of foul trouble and allowing KG to not be in foul trouble when he then covers that guy in the 4th Q in situations where Doc decides to go small (which is quite often).
Despite the impact he has had defensively, he doesn't get any credit from the media or fans around the league or really, even the majority of Celtics fans.

Wow that analysis was brilliant. Yeah I thought since last year that Perkins was going to be a good player.

[halfHAVOC]

JOSH BOONE

[Birth of the Cool]

Nets: Josh Boone
Raptors: Anthony Parker

outside of those teams fanbase most people wouldn't think much of these guys but Nets/Raptors fans who watch all the games know better.

[JES12]

Erick Dampier fo sho!

[bleu]

For the Jazz I'm going with Mehmet Okur. He's been playing real well lately and not getting any attention.

[dockingsched]

the machine isn't an unsung player, he gets TONS and TONS of praise and attention.

the unsung player is lamar.

[black06eclipse]

Eduardo Najera

-besides Iverson, no one else risks life and limb for loose balls like him.
-the protypical dirty work player every team needs.---takes charges, instant energy, always does his job.

was a lousy 3pt shooter his entire career until this year. he's been huge.