NBA recap Week 9: Rondo continues All-Star push, Bogans starts for Spurs

by Andrew Hardison

Rajon Rondo (Celtics)-12 PTS, 9.7 AST, 2.6 STL

At this point last week, the Celtics had won 11 straight games, further solidifying their place as the best team in the Eastern Conference and quite possibly the NBA. Four nights later, that streak came to an end with a 98-97 loss to the Sixers, although not due to the play of one of the leagues more unheralded players. That isn’t to say however, that Rondo isn’t still excelling in the Celtics lineup because he is. Rondo’s recent willingness to score is something to note. Although averaging over 12 points/game this season, he was able to put up 14.7 points/game this week, a boost in Boston’s two victories this week. Another promising sign of Rondo’s game is his assist totals. He dished out over 11 per game in three games this week, just slightly more than Utah’s Deron Williams (9 assists/game) and slightly less than the Suns Steve Nash (13 assists/game).

What makes Rondo so dangerous is his defensive abilities. The fact that he is in the Top-5 in the NBA in steals is clearly and indicator of how active he is on defense. What would make Rondo even more dangerous is if he could sink all of his free throws. It has always been the Achilles heel of his game and if he were to improve those totals, his scoring output could go up by several points each game.

All in all, Rondo is one of the league’s best point guards and there isn’t another point guard in the East that will compete against him for the starting PG spot in February’s NBA All-Star game. Game of the Week: 13 PTS, 15 AST, 2 REB, 3 STL in a 122-104 win over the Timberwolves Sunday night.

Keith Bogans (Spurs)-5.2 PTS, 1.2 AST, 37.3 3P%

Bogans might be the biggest surprise of any former UK basketball player because of the decision of his head coach. Greg Popovich decided to insert Bogans into the Spurs starting lineup and it has paid off nicely other than his zero point effort in a loss to the Suns last Tuesday. In the Spurs next two games, Bogans was able to put up double-digit scoring numbers, which helped lead the Spurs to two consecutive victories.

Bogans has never been heralded as a starter in the NBA. His 7.4 points/game for his career is certainly nothing to write home about, but he gives solid effort game-in and game-out. What is more important to those numbers is the minutes he’s getting in games. Bogans has averaged around 25 min/game in the Spurs last two matchups, which has allowed him to look for more scoring opportunities. What is nice to see about his scoring totals is how efficient he is in doing so. Bogans is 10-13 from the field in his last two and 4-6 from the free throw line. Those are encouraging numbers for Bogans because Popovich doesn’t have to worry about his offensive letting down having Bogans in the starting lineup.

Two areas he could work on to possibly continue to play in the starting lineup whenever regular starter Michael Finley comes back, would be to improve his assist and rebounding numbers. If he does that, Bogans could end up the Spurs starter as Manu Ginobili is best served as a sixth man coming off the bench. It could be a promising season for Bogans if he can keep up his recent play. Game of the Week: 14 PTS, 2 AST, 3 REB in a 100-99 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night.

Chuck Hayes (Rockets)-5.3 PTS, 6.7 REB, 0.4 BLK

As Hayes garnered praise for being the NBA’s shortest center in the history of the league, he went out and proved any remaining critics wrong once again. The Rockets had a slew of games this week, which has given Hayes plenty of chances to improve upon his season totals. One of the most notable traits of Hayes’ game is his defense. His numbers are never going to blow you away, but his attitude towards guarding some of the best big-men in the NBA is great for the Rockets. It may be corny, but Hayes acts as a glue guy and all of the NBA teams would want a guy like this on their team.

Hayes continues to get it done in the rebounding department. He pushed those numbers up nicely to 7.4 rebounds/game this week, while pulling down a game high 15 in a 95-90 victory over a potential playoff team in the Oklahoma City Thunder. Of those 15 rebounds, 8 of them were offensive rebounds keying in on Hayes work effort on the offensive glass. Those rebounds were extremely vital for the Rockets in winning because if they had gotten all of those, the game could have easily gone to the Thunder instead of the Rockets. Expect a much of the same for the rest of the season. Game of the Week: 13 PTS, 15 REB in a 95-90 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Jodie Meeks (Bucks)-4.4 PTS, 0.5 AST, 32.6 3P%

The best way to describe Meeks’ early career in the NBA is consistent bringing up questions as to whether Meeks will even be able to retain his rookie spot on the Bucks roster. Three straight games saw Meeks getting zero action, unable to showcase any of his abilities that got him drafted by the Bucks in the first place Meeks had some areas that he needed to work on before going into the draft and it seems like those are beginning to peek through as the season progresses.

He did get nine minutes of play on Saturday and put up some encouraging numbers based on the questionable status of Meek’s position with the team. In those nine minutes, Meeks scored 5 points and dished out two assists. As said throughout the first nine weeks, is that Meeks is overshadowed by more versatile and talented veterans like Carlos Delfino and Charlie Bell, who both play the shooting guard spot regularly in Scott Skiles rotation. Another glaring obstacle in Meeks’ bid to get some more playing time is the return of injured Michael Redd, who had sat out several games before returning. Redd has been the Bucks starter at the two-spot for quite a while and you’d have to think that his return pushes Meeks further down in the Bucks playing rotation.

Whatever the case, Meeks should be able to develop some of the skills that his coaching staff is looking for and a trip to the NBDL may be a blessing in disguise. Game of the Week: 5 PTS, 2 AST in a 96-95 heartbreaking loss to the Sacramento Kings Saturday night.

Nazr Mohammed (Bobcats)-7.0 PTS, 4.1 REB, 0.7 BLK

Mohammed’s opportunities have decreased as the weeks have worn on, losing minutes to starter Tyson Chandler. The idea of losing minutes to a starter doesn’t make as much sense as losing minutes to another guy off the bench, but Chandler
has done a good job of staying out of foul trouble recently. With Chandler sticking around longer, Mohammed hasn’t been able to get as much time as before.

Earlier in the year, Mohammed was able to get around 6-8 rebounds/game and at one point had looked to rejuvenate his aging career. That rejuvenation has kindly subsided, as he only averaged 9.2 minutes/game in the past week. With that, his numbers have decreased as expected. It will be interesting to see if Mohammed gets a larger role as the season moves on with the Bobcats in a position to make the playoffs for the first time in the franchise’s history. Game of the Week: 8 PTS, 5 REB in a 98-94 loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday.

Jamaal Magloire (Heat)-2.2 PTS, 2.0 REB, 0.2 BLK

Not much to note on Magloire as he doesn’t get a whole lot of action for the Miami Heat. He got a total of four minutes of play this week and didn’t accumulate any stats in that game. At (13-12), Magloire’s role may be found to be on the bench more so than on the court for the rest of the season.

Randolph Morris (Hawks)-3 PTS, 1.6 REB, 0.2 BLK
Most of Morris’ minutes come in the Hawks blowout games, where he is able to see some mop up time. In three blowout wins, Morris was able to get around nine minutes of play and did a solid job. Two of those games saw Morris put up 7 points and 3 rebounds. Whenever Morris does get time, he seems to be able to be production in doing so.

In the Hawks one close game this week against the Chicago Bulls, Morris didn’t see any time with the Hawks losing 101-98 on Saturday. This will most likely be the story for Morris for the rest of the season as the Hawks look to push forward towards the playoffs. Game of the Week: 7 PTS, 3 REB in 130-107 blowout win over the Knicks last Sunday.

Tayshaun Prince (Pistons)-injured/Kelenna Azubuike (Warriors)-injured

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