Rajon Rondo (Celtics)-10.6 PTS, 9.0 AST, 4.0 REB, 3.1 STL
Rondo has kept the Celtics rolling at the start of this long NBA season with a mix of everything. The first four games of the season saw Rondo dish out double-digit assist totals, giving him a 5-1 assist to turnover ratio. There wasn’t much scoring on his part but that also began to pick up as the games went on. He’s averaged nearly 14.5 points in his last four matchups, leading the Celtics to a 7-1 record. Rondo is one of the most versatile point guards in the league and is developing into one of the better defensive players in the game. It wouldn’t surprise anyone if he made the All-Defensive 1st team at the end of the season. He’s averaging 3.1 steals/per game and picked apart the New Jersey Nets for five on Saturday in East Rutherford.
Rondo is clearly backing up the contract extension he just signed, which will net him around $11 million a season. That’s Top-10 point guard money in terms of highest paid players at that position. The Celtics are looking very good at this point in the season and are already the East’s best team. The month of November looks promising for the Celtics as they only have three road games. Look for Rondo to continue to push the Celtics at full throttle well into the winter months.
Kelenna Azubuike (Warriors)-12.4 PTS, 5.0 REB, 1.2 BLK
Azubuike has found his way into Golden States starting lineup by stepping into the small forward position rather than the shooting guard spot. Here, he has outplayed veteran Corey Magette by way of getting aggressive and improving his rebounding totals. He’s averaging a solid 12.4 points on the season, giving head coach Don Nelson reliability from both the starting lineup and bench play. The emphasis on a smaller lineup by Nelson, allows Azubuike to step up in several different ways. He can start and come off the bench, rebound, and block shots as well. Through five games played, he leads the Warriors in blocked shots at 1.2 a game. He isn’t much of a distributor but that’s no different than when he was in college. Azubuike’s assist totals are going to be very low for the entire season. He’s not even averaging one assist after five games.
A rotation of Azubuike, Magette, and Anthony Marrow has been apparent for the past couple of games, as rookie Stephan Curry looks to have hit a mild rookie wall. His minutes are getting cut into and Azuibuike is getting some of those. If Azubuike is to continue his solid play, look for him to be in the starting lineup on a regular basis.
Chuck Hayes (Rockets)-7.7 PTS, 7.3 REB, 1.7 AST, 2.3 STL, 0.7 BLK
The workhorse formerly known as a Kentucky Wildcat, Hayes has led the Rockets to a surprising (4-2) start and has been a serviceable replacement for starting center Yao Ming. Hayes isn’t your prototypical NBA center. At just 6’6” and 238 lbs, Hayes uses hustle to get the job done against taller opponents. As you can by his statistics he doesn’t do one thing great, but instead does everything well. He can get points here and there, rebound at a high rate with his season high at 14 against the Lakers, and play defense. He’s already recorded three steals during a game three times this season. What’s even better is that all of his teammates are extremely fond of the fourth year pro and his work ethic, that he has become a leader on and off the court. Hayes was never the best in college but he put forth a tremendous amount of effort and became one of the best. His name will never be synonymous with “super-star” but every team in the league would love to have a player like Hayes on their team. He, Luis Scola and Carl Landry have been doing a fantastic job at the post-positions this year with Yao out and look for it to continue.
Jodie Meeks (Bucks)-8.3 PTS, 0.7 AST, 50% 3P
Meeks is the benefactor of an injury to starting shooting guard Michael Redd. Meeks has stepped in for Redd nicely thus far, an opportunity that wasn’t presented to him earlier in the season. Meeks has had a helping hand in two straight wins for the bucks, as he is teaming up with starting point guard and fellow rookie Brandon Jennings to create quite a rookie duo. In a win over the Timberwolves, Meeks saw nineteen minutes of play, while scoring 6 points and grabbing 5 rebounds. He showed some jitters in his first extended action with three turnovers but settled down the next night against the Knicks.
On Saturday, Meeks finally displayed some of his talents when he scored a season high 19 points to go along with 3 rebounds. He was 7/11 from the field and 5/7 from three-point land, showing many why the Bucks decided to draft him in the first place. Meeks will give the Bucks much of what he gave Kentucky during his college years. His high motor, constant activity on offense and light’s out shooting will give Jennings another option to look for on offense. Meeks has fresher and younger legs than Redd and could be just what the doctor ordered for the Bucks.
Tayshaun Prince (Pistons)-12.3 PTS, 5.0 REB, 2.3 AST
Prince is unfortunately out with a ruptured lower disk in his back. He hasn’t played in four straight games and will be out of the Pistons lineup indefinitely until further word is given. It looks to be a rather serious injury so several weeks could be the prognosis on Prince’s status. It’s a hit for the Pistons and as he is one of their best defenders, usually guarding the opponents start player. After the injury subsides, it will take a while for Prince to get back into playing mode and who knows where the Pistons will be by then. They are (3-4) on the season so far and if they can get by without the services of Prince, it will be a definite bonus. This will be the first time Prince has seen extended time on the bench due to injury, as he is usually a durable player throughout the season. However, after seven years of playing 82 games in a season, your body begins to wear down. Prince may have hit that point, with the possibility of smaller injuries becoming more persistent throughout his career. Let’s hope for the best.
Keith Bogans (Spurs)-1.8 PTS, 1.3 REB, 0.8 AST
Bogans started in place of Michael Finley recently as the Spurs have been struggling as of late. It could be a move to shake up the roster and jump start the Spurs with some extra defense on the floor, but don’t look for it to be a permanent move. At this point in his career, Bogans could serve more as a Bruce Bowen type player, focusing on defense more than offense and giving the Spurs an extra body when needed.
Jamaal Magloire (Heat)-
Magloire recently served out his suspension for an altercation during a pre-season game. Don’t look for too much production out of Magloire as he is closer to an 11th or 12th man off the bench.
Nazr Mohammed (Bobcats)-
One night Mohammed with get 15 minutes and put up fairly decent production. On other nights, he’ll get 3 minutes of play and do nothing. It’s a roller coaster ride for Mohammed in his 11th NBA season, as Larry Brown seemingly doesn’t know where to use Mohammed. He had 8 points and 3 blocks in a 20 point win over the Hawks, his best outing of the year thus far. Don’t expect too m
uch from the big-man, as his contract looks enticing in the trade market.
Randolph Morris (Hawks)-0.5 PTS, 0.5 REB, 0.5 BLK
Morris scored his first point of the season against the Bobcats on Friday and also recorded a rebound the next night against the Nuggets. Morris will likely only see minutes during mop-up time and won’t likely be much of a factor for the Hawks this season.
Andrew Hardison is a recent UK alum and frequent contributor to Wildcat Blue Blog. You can find more Andrew Hardison articles on his Kentucky Examiner site.
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