The Underrated, Underappreciated All-Stars

Matthew Roberson | @mroberson22

NBA All-Star Weekend is a parade of self-importance. The league honors its greatest players by making them participate in a series of spectacles showcasing how great they are. The Skills Challenge confirms the already-existing idea that basketball players are very skilled at basketball. Ditto for the Three-Point Shootout, which gathers all the best three-point shooters and treats them like show dogs. The Dunk Contest is like if the select few people in your office who are really good at Excel were forced to do a spreadsheet battle.

Make no mistake, All-Star Weekend can be a great deal of fun. It just seems a little odd that a league which is often celebrated for treatment of its stars pauses the season to make them do more things. I’m sure if you talked off the record with guys who have participated in multiple All-Star Weekends, they’d tell you that they secretly wish they could go to Turks and Caicos every year. Making the All-Star Game is more about the recognition than the actual event, like when you get a promotion but then realize that means you’re going to have to do more work.

In this awkward space between the league’s elite engaging in the world’s greatest pickup run and the resuming of actual games, let’s take some time to appreciate the NBA’s yeomen. Those who show up to work every day. Those who consistently deliver excellent performances, whether it’s in an ancillary role or as a vital component in a starting lineup. Those who normally don’t get noticed unless they completely outperform our expectations (Corey Brewer scoring 51 points), or completely shit the bed (J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert combining to shoot 28.4 percent in the 2015 Finals). In some ways, these are the most interesting players in the league, and can often be the difference between winning and losing. In this last quarter of the regular season, take some time to treasure the Underrated, Underappreciated All-Stars.

Jrue Holiday

Photo courtesy of ResearchFantasy/Twitter

Here’s something you absolutely did not know. There are eight players in the NBA currently averaging 18 points, 5 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. The first seven (James Harden, Steph Curry, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, DeMarcus Cousins, Jimmy Butler, Chris Paul) have each made at least four All-Star teams. The other is Jrue Holiday.

You probably know Jrue Holiday for the way his name is spelled, or for looking like Kendrick Lamar. He’s quietly one of the more complete point guards in the game, a classic case of someone who does everything well but nothing great. The Pelicans were building something very, very interesting before the Achilles snap heard ‘round the world. Holiday was an important, albeit unexciting part of that. The ninth-year vet is averaging career highs in points per game, rebounds per game, and effective field goal percentage. He’s playing the most minutes and taking the most shots since his All-Star 2012-13 season. Sadly, playing in a football town like New Orleans with two superstars on his team takes a bit of the shine away.

Literally nothing about Holiday is flashy or particularly noteworthy. There will rarely be a Pelicans game that makes you say “Hey, that Holiday guy is super dope and fun. I’m so glad I get to be alive while he’s a professional basketball player.” Those words are reserved for his teammate Anthony Davis, and that’s ok. Nobody is asking Holiday to be the face of a franchise. He’s more like the teeth of the franchise, something that is easy to take for granted but wholly necessary. He also has very nice teeth.

Playing NBA point guard in 2018 means you need to shoot 40 percent from three or drop 60-point triple doubles to garner big-time attention. I can assure you that Jrue Holiday will never do either of those things. But if you were to start a franchise from scratch, you could do much worse than a 27-year-old point guard with an 18-5-1.5 stat line.

Robert Covington

At present, the 76ers are 30-25. They are eight victories away from matching their win total from the last two seasons combined. A playoff appearance for Philadelphia would serve not only as a culmination of the Process years, and a capital-A arrival for Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, but also as a continuation of the Philly sports renaissance. (What’s up, Rhys Hoskins?) While Embiid and Simmons command the lion’s share of media attention, it’s Covington who serves as the prototypical glue guy.

While Covington’s streaky shooting lingers as a topic of division, his adhesive defense endears himself to the blue collar fanbase. RoCo placed fourth in the 2016-17 Defensive Player of the Year voting. Finishing that high while playing in relative obscurity for an afterthought team speaks volumes about his defensive impact. Media members, coaches, and certainly other players began to take notice of Covington’s smothering defense.

This season, Philadelphia owns a 100.9 defensive rating with Covington on the floor. The Celtics currently boast the best defensive rating in the league, which just so happens to be 100.9. In other words, when Covington plays, the Sixers have a league-best defense. Thanks to Covington’s hounding of opposing wings, as well as Embiid swallowing the paint and the absurd length of the entire roster, Philadelphia is flexing the third best defense in the NBA. They slide in behind only Boston and San Antonio, two of the league’s model franchises. Logically, it follows that with advanced age and cohesion, the Sixers will continue their takedown of the league’s power structure.

When a ball-handler gets by Robert Covington but Joel Embiid is waiting there pic.twitter.com/TpTolg3r3i

— shamus (@shamus_clancy) October 18, 2017

Covington is somewhat of an old head in Philadelphia at 27 years old, while Embiid and Simmons are both 23 and under. Even if the offense – which ranks smackdab in the middle of offensive efficiency – never quite coalesces, the Sixers can hang their hat on pristine point prevention. A small offensive jump from Covington could really give this team wings. His 12.8 points per game are fine, but his depressed shooting numbers could be a cause for concern if they carry into the stretch run and playoffs. He’s making just 36.9 percent of his treys and 40.6 percent of his total field goals. The 42.7 three-point number he rocked for the season’s first 25 games is starting to look like an aberration.

Offense will always be the sexiest, but here’s a little secret. Defense is just as important. It’s no secret that Philadelphia is one of the most entertaining League Pass Reddit stream teams in the league. If Covington can straighten out his shooting numbers and maintain his hellacious defense, we could all be treated to a few Sixers playoff games.

T.J. Warren

If a tree drops 19 points a night on 50 percent shooting, but no one is around to hear it, does it even make a sound? Such is the dilemma of T.J. Warren, a wonderfully efficient scorer playing for the wonderfully terrible Phoenix Suns. Most of what Warren is doing, and really most of what the Suns are doing this season, has been cast into the shadows by their league-worst 18-41 record.

For most NBA fans outside the Southwest, the only Sun in the galaxy is Devin Booker, he of the 70-point game and devastating Twitter burns. But while Phoenix drives its tank 200 MPH toward the finish line, keep an eye on Warren. He’s already logged games of 40, 35, and 31 points this year, doing so largely without the threat of an outside shot. He’s a midrange maestro in a league that’s turning its back on them. A modern wing player taking 90.8 percent of his shots inside the arc – as Warren has done this season – is almost unfathomable. Only Ben Simmons and LaMarcus Aldridge shoot at least 12 times a night and take a higher percentage of their shots from two-point land than Warren.

Warren’s game immediately creates a kinship with old men and range-deficient pickup players. The highlights from his 40-piece against the Wizards is a mix of floaters, methodical drives, and savvy cuts to the basket. Other, more famous players wow audiences with their ability to perform otherworldly actions. No one on this planet can shoot like Steph Curry, or dominate like LeBron, or be anything even remotely similar to Giannis Antetokounmpo. Warren is a hero of the everyman, relatable by his limitations. While others light it up from 30 feet or dunk on everybody, he stays within himself, picks his spots, and gets buckets.

When Warren came out of North Carolina State in the 2014 draft, he was plucked by Phoenix with the 14^th overall pick. He came off the board after Doug McDermott and Dario Saric, two similarly-sized players with better jump shots. Four years later, Warren has proved to be a better scorer than both of them, even with a 28 percent career three-point clip. The path to 19 points a game without a three-point shot goes through the paint.

Warren excels at finishing around the hoop. According to Basketball-Reference, he has cashed in on 69.6 of his attempts at the rim this season. Shots at the rim account for 36 percent of his total shot attempts, while threes make up just 8 percent. Pau Gasol and Dewayne Dedmon, two seven-footers, have both launched from downtown more than Warren this year.

During his short time in the league, Warren has proved that efficient scoring and above average three-point shooting are not mutually exclusive. There are 43 players with an effective field goal percentage at 50 or better and a three-point percentage at 25 or worst. Warren is the leading scorer in that group. Of course, this is just Warren’s fourth season in the league. He doesn’t turn 25 until September. There is still time for him to develop at least a competent three-point stroke, much like DeMar DeRozan has done.

My favorite fun fact about DeRozan: in his second year in the league he started all 82 games, scoring 17.2 points a night with a .096 three-point percentage. .096. As in, less than 10 percent! Warren can rest easy knowing that he’ll never sink to a level that low. Although he’s below 21 percent for 2017-18, Warren splashed 40 percent from deep in his second year. In the NBA, improvement is always one summer away, and Warren has good shooting in his memory bank. If Phoenix comes back for the ’18-19 campaign with a top-three lottery pick, a rejuvenated Booker, and an upgraded Warren jumper, the Suns will be shining a little brighter.

Joe Ingles

Jazz music is all about improvisation. The legends of the genre made their names on the unpredictable, free-flowing sounds that were unique to their style. Basketball can be the same way. An offensive player stringing together a series of dazzling, deceptive moves is not dissimilar to a trombone player blaring a one-of-a-kind solo, or a singer pulling some scat noises out of thin air to delight an audience. The on-the-spot chemistry needed for a pick and roll can be likened to a bassist and saxophonist reading each other, the situation, and the other players to create something beautiful.

While some NBA players earn millions for their ability float between different tempos and rhythms, others occupy singular roles that enhance the overall performance. Ball-handling point guards are trumpeters, smooth yet reckless, controlled yet crashing, capable of carrying the song, yet reliant on the bit players. When Miles Davis needed a break, the drums were there to provide the big finish.

Joe Ingles is those drums. He is best suited for the end of a long groove, when others have so artfully set him up to do what he does best. Don’t feel like playing anymore? Done enough for now? Need a second to catch your breath? Pass it over to the drums, the music version of a catch-and-shoot specialist. Ingles excels in that role. Utah’s sweet-shooting lefty is at 44.9 percent on catch and shoot threes, and 47.4 on threes that NBA.com defines as wide open, typically a product of his teammates riffing for 15 to 20 seconds so Jinglin’ Joe can end things with a bang. (Jinglin’ Joe is both a name that would work if Ingles was a jazz musician and also a real nickname that’s listed on his Basketball-Reference page.)

The Jazz strummed into the All-Star break on an 11-game winning streak to get above .500 and muck up the Western Conference playoff picture. During that run, Ingles averaged a hair below 16 points per game while converting a preposterous 54 percent of his three pointers. He is second in the entire league in three-point percentage, just decimal points behind Klay Thompson. He’s slow, his shot is a little goofy, and I wrote earlier this year that he looks like the kind of dude who smokes Camels. But make no mistake, Ingles is a highly effective player, and the Jazz are 49-38 in games he’s started over the last three regular seasons. He’s a guy everyone in the league should want to jam with.

Taj Gibson

Photo courtesy of @LastWordHoops/Twitter

We are nine years in to the Taj Gibson Experience, and I still don’t believe he’s gotten his proper recognition. Many of you are probably thinking, Taj Gibson? That dude who averaged single digits over seven years with the Bulls, in what was considered his glory days? Fuck outta here. Allow me to disagree.

Gibson is like a light skin Udonis Haslem. People generally seem to adore him and can’t speak about him without using the words “character” or “winner” or “locker room guy”. They’re both described as familial men whose contributions extend beyond the box score to affect the cities and teams they play for on a much grander scale. Everyone from Russell Westbrook to Chance the Rapper has spoke highly of Gibson and his impact.

This season, his basketball impact just so happens to be pretty palpable. Reuniting with his boy Tom Thibodeau has likely eased Gibson’s transition into Minnesota. He’s extremely comfortable in Minnesota’s third-ranked offense, where he’s become a fixture. At 12.4 points per game, Gibson is pouring it in at his highest rate since 2013-14. He’s also not missing very often. Among players taking at least nine field goals per game, Gibson is fourth infield-goal percentage. More than 40 percent of his shots are jumpers, too. That is not something that can be said about the three players ahead of him (Clint Capela, Steven Adams, and Enes Kanter).

The Wolves are going to find themselves in unfamiliar territory this spring. Minnesota will be on the road in a playoff game. It will be close with three minutes to play. Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins will be strangers in a new land, in need of guidance from a sage elder. That’s where they’ll look to ol’ number 67, whose stabilizing presence on the young Timberpups should not be overlooked. 

J.J. Barea

I have an idea for how Donald Trump can save his presidency. Ready? Here’s the idea:

Anyone who makes fun of J.J. Barea gets thrown in federal prison.

Tobias Harris

You, a rube: Tobias Harris was shipped out of Detroit to make way for an older, injury-prone player who plays the same position. He’s 25 years old and already been traded four times. How good can he be?

Me, an intellectual: Harris was a wise pickup by the Clippers, and criminally undervalued by the Pistons. He’s 25 years old and yet to reach his prime. He also wears a headband. He can be very good.

Consider that Harris’ 18 points per game between Detroit and Los Angeles serves as a new career high. In his seven years in the league, he’s only played an entire season for one organization four times. Doc Rivers is the fifth head coach of Harris’ NBA adolescence. The man needs stability. He’s also 6’9”, homies with Boban, and jumped from a 34.8 career three-point bomber to 40.8 percent this year, seemingly overnight. He deserves a stable home.

Reggie Bullock

Photo courtesy of Reggie Bullock/Instagram

Reggie Bullock spent a portion of the season with blonde hair dye that made him look like a SoundCloud rapper. Reggie Bullock also drains 45.2 percent on three pointers. That skill alone is earning him a spot on this team. In his last 30 games of action – a roughly two-month span – Bullock has been good for 12.6 points per game with a ridiculously wet three pointer. This incendiary run has both legitimized Bullock as an NBA player and outlasted the lifespan of most SoundCloud mixtapes. Bullock carries a career average of 4.5 points per game. He’s nearly tripled that over this 30-game stretch, and swished 49 percent of his threes in the process. He is currently underrated, underappreciated, and living his best life.

Subscribe to 90s Babies on iTunes or listen on Bumpers