Delonte West Would Start at Guard On the NBA's All-Underrated Team

First off, I'm inviting everybody to give me their nominees for this list.

I figure it should go six deep because when you're talking about the underrated, there's always a sixth man.

I wanted to come up with a starting five of underrated players, but I'm having trouble finding guys who are actually underrated.

• Millsap got his due this season.
• The Celtic big men not named K.G. have been getting a lot of attention with K.G. out, though I think Perkins might need some more.
• Hedo "The Turk" has become a little overrated.
• Same with Kevin Martin, who is very good but is getting credit for being something he won't be for at least another two years.
• Anthony Randolph is still too raw and has too much potential.

However, I know this guy fits the bill.

Delonte West - Guard

I'm a huge Cavs fan, so I avoid writing about the Cavs. But watching Games One and Two against the Hawks, I couldn't help but think how underrated Delonte West is.

Nobody outside of Cleveland knows how good he is.

Let me put it this way: What if I told you that there's this guy, he's a shooting guard by nature, a little undersized at 6'3" and change, but he...

• has the handles and decision-making skills to run the point competently;
• shoots the spot-up three at nearly 40 percent;
• can break down his defender and either get to the hoop or hit the mid-range jumper with deadly accuracy off the dribble;
• can post up and abuse most point guards and smaller guards. (He looked like he was going to abuse Ben Gordon for 40 the game he, West, broke his wrist);
• can lock down against dribble penetration and is strong enough to force taller guards out of their spot in the post.

On top of all that he's going to be the funniest guy in any locker room.

To quote Bob from Entourage, "Is that something you'd be interested in?

In Cleveland he basically shares PG duties with Mo Williams or LeBron and sometimes runs it on his own when Boobie Gibson is in the game.

Analysts who watch the Cavs will tell you he is the cog in the lineup that keeps LeBron and Mo from stalling the offense with one-on-one play.

As a matter of fact, a friend of a friend suggested that Delonte doesn't like LeBron because Delonte "never passes the ball to LeBron" and even waves off his requests sometimes.

That's balls.

You need that guy when you've got any alpha-dog superstar out there.

Mike Brown tapped Delonte as the the guy he'd want his left-handed son to emulate. He made special mention of Delonte's ability to both attack off the dribble and work the mid-range game.

Delonte is great at using his first step as an initial attack and then using his handles to create more space to either get to the hoop or step back for a mid-range jumper. He makes those 42.7 percent of the time.

Real fans of the game have got to watch Delonte. He moves so quickly and gracefully,  with and without the ball. There's just something beautiful about the way he makes room for himself, rises up on a mid-range jumper, and releases it at the peak of his jump.

If you want to talk about balance and consistency, check out Delonte's Hot Spot chart. Over the course of the season, Delonte took 176 shots in the paint and made more than 50 percent. He took 220 from mid-range and 208 from three and was at 40 percent

To get an idea of his ability on defense, consider Joe Johnson's absence in this series.

Or consider Richard Hamilton's 13.3 ppg on 35.6 percent shooting—down from 18 ppg on 45.4 percent during the regular season and way down from the 21.6 ppg on 47 percent shooting in last year's playoffs.

Remember, also, Ray Allen's disappearance from the second round last year against the Cavs and that Delonte almost always draws first coverage on the other team's best guard.

And if you have yet to be introduced to Delonte and question my claim of his hilarity:

The sock quote

Rome is Burning

How could you not love having that guy on your team?

I mean, he's got the tangibles and the intangibles that help make any team better.