2011 NBA Playoffs: Keith Bogans and Each Team's Most Mysterious Player
The NBA is full of talented stars. At the top you have guys like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. In the middle you have guys like Darren Collison and Shane Battier, who were once standouts at their elite college programs.
In fact, there are plenty of former college stars who struggle to even make an NBA squad, let alone get in the games.
Then there are the guys who get in the game, but leave us wondering, "What exactly does that guy do?" or, "Is this guy actually good?"
Here's a look into the most mysterious players in the NBA Playoffs.
Chicago Bulls: Keith Bogans
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Keith Bogans is the starting shooting guard for the best team (by record) in the NBA.
The players around him are stars. His point guard is the MVP of the league and his small forward is one of the top scorers at his position, once you get past names like Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James and Kevin Durant.
Down low there's the 20 and 10 guy, Carlos Boozer, and a great rebounder, Joakim Noah.
So what exactly does Bogans chip in to the mix?
I had wondered this question all season long and made it my mission to determine what exactly does Bogans do during the playoffs.
In Game 2 of the Bulls vs. Pacers series, I focused all of my attention on Bogans. I wanted to watch his every move, both on the offensive and defensive end.
On offense, Bogans seemed to stay as far away as he could from the action. His go to move seemed to be hiding behind the arc and making sure he was not in the way of Derrick Rose. Eventually he settles behind the baseline three and sort of calls for the ball.
On defense, he did a good job on Paul George, but most of Indiana's offense goes through the post, or through Danny Granger. Bogans is not a lock down defender the way Bruce Bowen was for the San Antonio Spurs or Ron Artest is for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Then I began writing this slideshow and, was ready to claim that Bogans really does nothing for his team. He starts the games, but Coach Tom Thibodeau finishes the games with Kyle Korver or Ronnie Brewer. All in all, Bogans only plays around 19 minutes a night.
Right as I was ready to begin writing, Bogans hits all three of his shots from distance in Game 3, and holds George under 10 points for the third straight game. Now I was confused. Maybe Bogans is an essential part of this starting lineup?
Then came Game 4. Here's Bogan's stat line:
Zero points, zero assists, zero steals, two rebounds and a strange two blocks.
I'm sure there is a long list of "intangibles" that Chicago Bulls fans can point out to me for why Bogans continues to start, and I look forward to reading them in the comments below. For me, I see Bogans as a decent defender who gives the Bulls hardly anything on offense.
With Bogans on the floor, offense becomes four on five for the Bulls. I guess this is fine when you have a guy like Rose who counts for two.
Now, as I am editing this, Bogans has hit five of seven threes for the Bulls in a blowout Game 5 victory. Who is this guy??
Indiana Pacers: Paul George
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Same series. Same position. Same mystery.
Maybe I am completely missing out on something. Maybe this Keith Bogans vs. Paul George matchup is just this epic defensive battle where both players are so gifted defensively, that it is impossible for either one to reach 10 points. Maybe we are all witnessing the NBA's equivalent of a pitcher's duel and we shouldn't expect either one to give up a hit.
I highly doubt this is the case. The reality is Coach Frank Vogel could not get reliable minutes out of Brandon Rush, so he turned the starting position over to the rookie George.
Like Bogans, George only plays around 20 minutes a night. He is not an exceptional shooter, he can't really create his own shot and defensively, well I guess he's kind of shutting down Keith Bogans, but what exactly does that mean?
Unlike Bogans, George is only 20 years old and has plenty of time to develop his game.
Portland Trailblazers: Brandon Roy
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Was Game 4 just a figment of all of our imaginations?
I seem to remember Brandon Roy dominating the second half and leading his team to an epic comeback victory.
After a few rough games, it seemed apparent that the old Roy was officially back. He had just put together a single game performance at the level of what Chris Paul, Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard have been doing in these playoffs.
Then came Game 5. Now that the series was back in Dallas, Roy was held to only five points. Here's the differences between Roy's games at home versus his road performances:
Home: 20 ppg, 4.5 apg, 2.5 rpg
Away: 2.3 ppg, 1.6 apg, 1.6 rpg
If Brandon Roy were still struggling with his knee injuries, the 2.3 ppg numbers would make perfect sense and would be completely understandable. However, the mystery is the fact that Roy looked great when he was back home in Portland, especially in Game 4, but went back to being unproductive, partially injured guy on the road.
Can an injury activate on the road, but return back to health at home?
If Roy has another sub six point performance in a Game 6 loss, then I have no choice but to believe the second half of Game 4 never actually happened.
Miami Heat: Mike Miller
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Mike Miller made $5 million this year.
He is scheduled to make $5.4 million next year, $5.8 million the year after that, $6.2 million the year after that and has a player option of $6.6 million for the 2014-15 season.
He will be 34 years old by that time, is there any question Miller will take that near $7 million option?
In the Miami Heat's first round series, Miller has given them nothing. Literally nothing. He has zero points and two DNPs. He is fighting a nagging thumb injury now, but that doesn't explain his lackluster regular season.
Miller averaged 5.6 ppg this year in 41 contests. For those of you wondering, that is a total of 228 points on the season. The idea behind bringing him in, was that he could hit three pointers that were left open due to defenses covering the Big Three. Miller only connected on 43 of the 118 three pointers he attempted.
Miller is not a great defender, and does not create offense for his teammates.
Playoffs included, the Heat have paid Miller $21,929 for every point or $116,279 for each three pointer he has made this year.
To put those numbers into perspective, the Heat have paid Dwyane Wade only $6,910 and LeBron James $6,543 for each of their points.
We know what Mike Miller is supposed to do, but it hasn't been clear this year what he actually does.
Boston Celtics: Nenad Krstic
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We knew what he did in Oklahoma City. Nenad Krstic was a high percentage shooting center who would give the Thunder near 10 points a night.
In Boston, and especially in the playoffs so far, Krstic has made the Celtics fans cringe every time he steps onto the floor.
What makes things especially tough for Krstic is the fact he was included in the Kendrick Perkins trade. Every mistake he makes becomes 100 times worse, because fans link the two together and scream at their television, "We traded Perkins for this balding mess?!?"
Thankfully for Danny Ainge, Krstic and the logic of this deal may not be fully exposed in these playoffs. They likely will not play Dwight Howard in the Eastern Conference rounds, and teams like Chicago, Miami and Atlanta do not have dominant centers.
If they make it to the finals, Andrew Bynum would devour Krstic in the minutes he is in, but if they play Dallas or Oklahoma City, they do not have to worry about the depth of the center position.
Maybe this was Danny Ainge's plan all along. He saw the road ahead, and didn't see the need to keep a strong defensive presence at center. He figured it made more sense to ship away Kendrick Perkins in favor of backing up his two veteran, injury prone centers with Krstic, a guy who can not seem to play offense of defense and has a last name that always appears to be a typo on the back of his jersey.
I think one of the first things God will ask Danny Ainge in heaven is, "Wait, so why did you trade Perkins for Krstic?!?"
New York Knicks: Landry Fields
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The Knicks may be out of the playoffs, but I figured I would throw them in anyways.
For the first half of the season, Landry Fields would have never fallen into this slideshow. In fact, I am pretty sure he was in plenty of "Rookie of the Year" slideshows on this very site.
His impact on the court before the All-Star break was obvious. He hustled, he played hard on defense, he attacked the basket, he grabbed rebounds and he dived for loose balls. He did so much for the Knicks that Spike Lee began wearing his jersey and Charles Barkley made the case for Fields over John Wall (keeping Blake Griffin out of the discussion) for the league's best rookie.
The Carmelo Anthony trade changed everything. Fields has not been the same sense. This was made even more clear in the Knicks short first round series with the Boston Celtics.
Fields scored a total of seven points. He could not be relied on to hit open jump shots, he no longer seemed to crash the boards and he allowed Ray Allen to have big games.
If you had seen Fields play for the first time this postseason, you would have no idea he was such a quality player early on in the year.
I know what Fields is capable of, I just don't know if his style of play will fit into their new two superstar system.
Orlando Magic: Players Received in the Blockbuster Trade
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Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson are the only players on the Orlando Magic that should feel at all pleased with their personal performances in their first round series.
Jason Richardson- Scores a total of 12 points in the first two games, finally has a good game in Game 3, but then loses his temper late and gets himself suspended for an important Game 4.
Hedo Turkoglu- Turkoglu can not score like he used to in 2009 for the Magic, and he is a defensive liability against Josh Smith.
Gilbert Arenas- The only player who seemed to be able to create his own offense went off for 20 points in Game 4. Problem is, he is not a good defender and does Coach Van Gundy really want to rely on Arenas firing up shots as his second offensive option?
As I am editing this, the Orlando Magic have just dominated the Atlanta Hawks in Game 5. The three mysterious Magic pieces combined for 35 points. Not too bad.
Denver Nuggets: Nene Hilario
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There are times when Nene Hilario gets the ball on the low block, makes a powerful spin move and then slams the ball on his opponent, that I wonder, "Is this the second best center in the league?"
In this series, Nene is being guarded by Kendrick Perkins, who is possibly the best defensive center in the league. Even then, Nene has these moments where he gets to the basket with ease and finishes with an emphatic dunk.
His post moves are crisp, his touch around the basket is solid and he has plenty of size. He's not at the same level of Dwight Howard, but he has more offensive skill than Andrew Bynum and after that, who's left to compete with? Marc Gasol?
I don't think the Nuggets will comeback to win this series, but I am interested to see what the future hold for Nene in this league. Will he stay with the Nuggets? Will there be another team out there who is willing to spend more money and make him their franchise center? Can he be a franchise center?
Philadelphia 76ers: Andres Nocioni
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Andres Nocioni was exciting to watch for the Argentinian national team a few years ago, but now on the Philadelphia 76ers, he doesn't exactly fit.
Doug Collins tried him out in Game 1, played him 10 minutes and received zero points and a turnover. It was almost as if Collins said to himself, "Yeah, I really don't know what this guy does for us," and decided never to play him again.
Games 2 through 4, Nocioni has been a DNP and Collins has trusted Evan Turner with Nocioni's reserve minutes.
San Antonio Spurs: Tiago Splitter
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The mystery is not so much in Tiago Splitter, but why Gregg Popovich doesn't utilize the Brazilian big man more often.
If you are unfamiliar with Splitter, he is a talented, young seven-footer who put together big games in the FIBA tournament last summer. It seemed, that he along with the physical DeJuan Blair, would be the perfect tandem off the bench to backup Tim Duncan and Antonio McDyess.
But Coach Popovich only used him for 12 minutes a night during the regular season, and kept him on the bench for all of Games 1-3 against the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Spurs were being abused by the Grizzlies' big men in the first three games of the series, but apparently Popovich thought it was wise to play Matt Bonner on Marc Gasol or Zach Randolph rather than bringing in a true big man like Splitter.
When Splitter was given the chance in Game 4, he scored 10 points and pulled down nine rebounds, six of those were on the offensive glass in 21 minutes of action. Zach Randolph was held to 11 total points and Gasol was contained to nine.
For the first time in this series, it wasn't the big men that defeated the Spurs, it was their guard play.
Maybe Popovich will learn from Game 4 and give Splitter more minutes in the next three games.
If there are three more games...
Atlanta Hawks: Jason Collins
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Remember this offseason when the talk was all about Jermaine and Shaquille O'Neal going to the Celtics, and the Miami Heat signing six centers to equip themselves to guard Dwight Howard?
Apparently the real answer to defending Howard is the 11 year veteran, Jason Collins.
Or is it?
Howard has terrorized the Hawks for 32 ppg and 17.5 rpg in the first four games of the series. In Game 5, he was finally held under 10, but yet the Magic won? That's a whole other mystery in itself.
Jason Collins has the responsibility of trying to slow down the Howard train for around 17 minutes of action (or six fouls, whatever comes first). He had not slowed Howard down whatsoever in the first four games, but yet the Hawks were up three games to one. Then finally the game that Howard was actually contained, the Hawks lost. Does this make sense to anyone else??
The mystery of Jason Collins, is how much do you sign him for at the end of this season? He becomes a free agent this summer and only made $1.3 million this year. He makes things a little tougher for Howard and allows Atlanta to single cover the Magic's big man, but he isn't an elite defender the way Kendrick Perkins was for the Celtics.
Collins is playing his role well in these playoffs, but has Howard really become so dominant of a player that a successful "role" can be considered going out there and banging with him for 17 minutes, picking up five or six fouls and "containing" Howard to 30 points?
Whatever strange type of role Collins is fulfilling, it is sort of working for the Hawks.
Memphis Grizzlies: Sam Young
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Sam Young is the Keith Bogans of the Western Conference.
The players around him all make sense and contribute something to the starting lineup, but I am not exactly sure what Young does to merit his starting status.
Granted, the small forward is normally occupied by Rudy Gay, but why have the Grizzlies decided to start Young over Shane Battier?
Young does nothing wrong when he is on the court, but since Battier ends up playing more minutes anyways, I am not sure what the rationale is to continue to start him.
Los Angeles Lakers: Derek Fisher
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How long can the Los Angeles Lakers continue to start Derek Fisher and expect to win championships?
First of all, his legacy with the Lakers can not really be attacked. He has been there for every one of Kobe Bryant's five rings and has hit plenty of big shots along the way. However, he may also be the reason the Lakers don't win the title this year.
If the Lakers had a young, athletic point guard, they would not be in danger of losing a first round series to the New Orleans Hornets. Chris Paul is one of the best in this league, but there is no excuse for letting him have these types of games.
Fisher can not guard Paul, he can not guard Westbrook and how in the world would he guard Derrick Rose if they played in the finals? The Lakers have to switch Kobe Bryant over on the game's best point guards, which then in turn hurts Kobe's offensive production by wearing his legs out.
The mysterious thing about Derek Fisher is the times when people scream that he's washed up and can no longer compete, are the times when he goes out and hits a game winning shot that shuts us all up.
New Orleans Hornets: Aaron Gray
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Every once in awhile, the NBA does something like this when a player you haven't seen since their college days turns up in the playoffs and somehow plays an important role for their team.
I remember Aaron Gray at Pittsburgh. He's in the same fuzzy memory compartment of my brain that also remembers Carl Krauser and Chris Taft. I had no idea he has been in the NBA for the last five years of my life.
The injury to David West has allowed Gray to play more minutes for the Hornets. He has not been a standout offensively, but his presence on defense has helped contain the normally effective Lakers' big men.
Here are Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum's averages for the series:
Pau Gasol: 12.5 ppg, 6.25 rpg
Andrew Bynum: 13.75 ppg, 10 rpg
The Hornets have had surprising post play in this series, and Aaron Gray has been a surprising key factor in all of this.
Dallas Mavericks: Brian Cardinal
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I was convinced that before his 11 years in the NBA, Brian Cardinal spent around 10 years playing at Purdue.
He was one of those guys like Jason Kopono or Julius Hodge that seemed to stay at their University forever.
The fact that Cardinal is, in actuality, only 33 years old was a major surprise to me. I had him pegged for 45.
The mystery of Cardinal is that every time he has played in this series, even though it has been for less than two total minutes, the Mavericks have won. He has given the Mavericks a grand total of one rebound, but in the two games that Coach Rick Carlisle left him on the bench, the Mavericks lost.
Do the Mavericks need this bald man's 30 second, dim spark off the bench in order to be successful?
Oklahoma City Thunder: Nate Robinson
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Coach Scott Brooks has no faith in Nate Robinson.
He has yet to give the small guard a single second of playing time in the playoffs. He hardly played him during the regular season.
I have a problem with this for two reasons.
First of all, Robinson showed in last year's playoffs that he could be an effective spark off the bench for the Boston Celtics. He is not a guy you rely on for more than 10 or 12 minutes of action, but for a team that lacks offensive options outside of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, I think Brooks could find some use for Robinson.
In this series, the Denver Nuggets often have lineups that involve two point guards. Robinson could come in and play alongside Eric Maynor or Russell Westbrook for a few minutes and pressure Raymond Felton or Ty Lawson. On offense, he could fire up a couple threes. If he's on, keep him in, if he's not, pull him out and continue on like it never happened.
Second of all, if you have watched the games, Robinson is always the first off the bench to congratulate his teammates and is constantly engaged in the action. This is the type of thing you should reward as a coach.
