Five NBA Players You Need To Notice

Every year in the NBA, there are players who perform well or even amazing on a night to night basis and don’t receive the recognition that they deserve. It is the plight of a league that is dominated by superstars and that we don’t fully understand. Just as baseball took decades too long to realize that a walk is just as good as hit, basketball is still learning to understand what is valuable to a team and what isn’t. This causes us to dramatically underrate and just plain ignore certain players. The next time you sit down to watch the TNT or ESPN game or even log into thefirstrow.eu to watch some games, pay attention to these five guys.

Eric Bledsoe, Los Angeles Clippers: While Bledsoe has already started earning some recognition, his full talents have not been appreciated by the larger basketball community. Eric Bledsoe has the 7th best PER of any player who has played at least 10 games and averages at least 10 minutes per game. Part of the reason the Clippers bench has been so sublime has been because of Bledsoes play. His per 36 minutes numbers are seriously off the charts, with 19.4 points, and 5.6 rebounds and assists.

He is also the best perimeter defender on a team that ranks 7th in defensive efficency. Going beyond the numbers, Bledsoe is just a joy to watch. He is jumping passing lanes, dunking and replicating the best Russel Westbrook facsimile west of Oklahoma City. As a restricted free agent after the season, it will be interesting the type of money that gets offered to him. The next time A Tribe Called Bench takes the floor, watch how Bledsoe owns the court with his patented intensity and athleticism.

Thaddeus Young, Philadelphia 76er’s: Much of the coverage that surrounds the Sixers these days is about the misadventures of Andrew Bynum or the emergence of Jrue Holliday as legit all-star candidate. Thad Young, the 6-8 wing, and his outstanding performance has been getting lost in the mix. So far this year, he has already accrued 2.4 win shares which ties him for 29th with Al Horford, a big man whose performance that has already been lauded this year.

Young’s game is not particularly flashy, but with the absence of Bynum and the dearth of talent in the Philadelphia front court, his performance has been a solid anchor to a team that a preseason favorite for the 3rd seed in the Eastern conference. In a team full of uncertainties, Young is a sure thing, night in and night out.

Thabo Sefolosha, Oklahoma City Thunder: The image in the forefront of most casual fans mind is going to be the 3 missed or botched dunks that Thabo committed in the 2011-12 NBA Finals. Hilarious as his inability to get the ball through the hoop was, that isn’t really the player Thabo is. Perhaps one of the more meaningful OKC plays of the whole series was Thabo ripping the ball from Dwayne Wade and half court and stampeding to the rim for a quick lay in.

Thabo is a defensive mastermind, someone that Scott Brooks can put on the opposing teams best perimeter player and not have to worry about; but he has extended his game this year, hitting 44% of his threes and averaging 9.3 points per 36 minutes. If Brooks ever rightly sends Perkins to the bench in crunch time and runs a line up of Westbrook, Martin, Thabo, Durant and Ibaka, that is a lineup where every player has to be defended. What Thabo does for his team doesn’t show up in the box score alot of the time, but he is an important cog in the wheel for the best team in basketball.

Andrei Kirilenko, Minnesota Timberwolves: This is a case of a player meshing perfectly with his coach and his teammates. The system that Rick Adelman runs has allowed Kirilenko to become a borderline All-Star level player.

Without Ricky Rubio for all of the season and without Kevin Love for most of it, the Timberwolves have gotten to a 11-9 record, thanks largely in part to Kirilenko’s stellar play. He has the exact same Ortg as Anthony Davis and is averaging 3.3 assists as a post player while hitting 31% of his 3′s. He has been a solid defender and really allowed Adelman’s offense to run properly without Ricky Rubio at the helm. The Timberwolves are a League Pass favorite and AK-47 is a large reason why.

Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers: A majority of the hardcore NBA fanbase already knows about Lillard. He has a tremendous offensive game and is already performing well above expectation and challenging Anthony David for the Rookie Of The Year crown; however, because he plays his games late and on the West Coast, alot of casual NBA fans are unaware of how good Lillard really is. As a rookie, he is averaging 18.9 points per game, 6.4 assists and hitting 36% of his threes. Besides Lamarcus Aldridge, there really is not an offensive threat on this Trail Blazers team, but Lillard has kept them competitive and more importantly, fun to watch.