Hollinger on Deng
by Moses Taylor on Jan 3, 2007 3:50 PM CST
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PrintDeng was number 5 on Hollinger's Most Improved Team. His reasoning:
Humble pie alert: This is the only player from my preseason All-Breakout Team to also make this list (though Lee, Martin, Bynum and Biedrins got honorable mentions).
But Deng has been the real deal. The Bulls have quite possibly been the best team in the East thus far, and he has quite possibly been their best player, which means he could be headed for his first All-Star Game. He's shooting a sizzling 53.5 percent from the floor and pumping in more than a point every two minutes. One key has been abandoning the 3-point shot and getting to the rim -- Deng, a 26.4 percent career shooter from downtown, has attempted only two 3-pointers all season, but upped his free-throw attempts to over four a game.
Deng's PER last season was 15.86, this year it's 19.80. Side note: Gordon's PER last season was 14.59 and this year is 19.60.
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Maybe he started writing this article a week ago?
by Eddy Currys Broken Heart on Jan 3, 2007 4:21 PM CST reply actions
follow-up
SportsNation John Hollinger: Because he had that 41-point game (or whatever it was, not able to check at the moment since I'm a little busy here) right after I came up with the list, and that improved his PER by more than a full point. So if I made the list today, yes, he'd be on it.
by your friendly BullsBlogger on Jan 8, 2007 2:55 PM CST up reply actions
Who were
by Colossus @ Blog a Bull on Jan 3, 2007 5:19 PM CST reply actions
1) Kevin Martin
- T.J. Ford
- Josh Howard
- Deron Williams
- Luol
- David Lee
- Matt Barnes
- Luke Walton
- Sean May
- Andris Biedrins
- Hakim Warrick
- Andrew Bynum
by Repeat Threepeat on Jan 3, 2007 5:27 PM CST up reply actions
Maybe
Howard's PER the last 3 seasons:
03-04: 15.78
04-05: 15.80
05-06: 19.37
06-07: 23.05
Here's what Hollinger wrote:
Howard's PER jump hasn't been as large as some of the others, but making moves in the 20s is much more impressive than the same leap in the teens. The Mavs' second banana has looked more and more like leading man material of late, especially when he led a Dirk-less Mavs team to a tough road win in Denver last week.
The key for Howard has been increasing his scoring load while simultaneously improving his accuracy. Most players' percentages suffer when their shot attempts rise, but Howard is taking nearly two more field-goal attempts a game than last season while raising his shooting mark from 47.1 to 48.5 percent. He's also become a 3-point threat, knocking down 43.3 percent on nearly four attempts a game, and his 83.3 percent mark from the line is easily a career best.
Howard's improvement is even more impressive when one considers he made a similar-sized performance leap a year earlier. He's no spring chicken either at 26, making his continued development an ongoing surprise -- not to mention a steal for the Mavs, who plucked him with the final pick of the first round of the 2003 draft.
What a great pick by Dallas.
Gordon
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