Your team's most surprising and disappointing player

[*Swish*]

Post your team's most surprising (positively and negatively surprising) player(s) here.

 

 

Raptors most surprising player:

 

Reggie Evans: I didn't expect him to help us that much on the defensive end but also on the offensive boards. He helps us a lot and gives the Raptors more opportunities to score the ball. Yeah there are some players that are playing better than last year like Weems and Derozan but it's not surprising. It was really expected. I'm really happy to see Reggie performing like this and even though he doesn't score often, he gives the Raptors more opportunities to score on fast breaks and second chance opportunities.

 

Most disappointing player: Linas Kleiza.

 

I know he averages 11 points per game and 4 rebounds BUT he's over confident. Sonny Weems will take very shortly the starting role over Kleiza because he proved he hustles more and knows what to do with the basketball. When you see Kleiza with the ball, he often drives it or shoot it and it doesn't get in all the time. Basketball is a team game. He's a good player but could improve that aspect of the game. Other than that, I don't see anyone from the Raptors really disappointing to me except Bargnani's defense.

[Check my Stats]

As much as I love what Reggie's done, it is Sonny so far. He has easily been our best player so far this year, and with starter minutes, he hasn't backed down. We know Reggie is a horse on the glass, maybe not this much, but I for one would not have expected Weems to be our best player 10 games into the season.

 

Linas has sucked. I had high hopes for him, but he obviously isn't quick enough or have a good enough handle to be consistent against other starters in this league. I like him as a player, but it is pretty obvious he is just a role player. Sonny definitely needs the minutes more, and obviously Demar too.

 

I had no expectations of Barbosa, but he needs to gtfo.

[Smitty]

Most Surprising: Elton Brand. While I kinda expected Brand to bounce back a little bit from last season, I didn't expect him to do well as he's been doing. He's been the lone bright spot on the Sixers' big man rotation. (Honorable Mention: Andres Nocioni)

 

 

Most Disappointing: Spencer f'n Hawes. I thought he'd do well in Philly, but...man. He has been horrible. He makes me miss Dalembert...yes, it's that bad. (Honorable Mention: Andre Iguodala)

[kingfish]

Shannon Brown. His jumpshot is unbelieveable this year, hes playing like one of the best bench scorers in the league.

 

Dissapointing would be Theo Ratliff I guess.

[The Regime]

Surprising: Shannon Brown, as kingfish said his jumper has been near automatic this season, the question is whether he'll be able to maintain it all season long. Lamar Odom has also been playing in midseason form (15 ppg, 11 rpg), this summers FIBA tournament clearly kept him in shape and I personally think he's playing with more confidence, my only hope is that he can sustain such a high level of play once he's delegated back to our 6th man.

 

Disappointing: Every single guy on our roster, just because we've lacked defensive effort on a nightly basis.

[bigdog17k]

Surprising: Brandon Bass, or Vince Carter. Bass has really been playing with an energy that I wish our whole team had, he's really proving something. And Carter has been surprising because he looks finally comfortable in the offense, to me it seems like he isn't forcing anything like he did last year.

 

Disappointing: J.J. Redick, or Rashard Lewis. Both are in big shooting slumps; though I hope Lewis shot his way out of it last night. He actually had some impressive drives to the basket, he also was finishing well. Redick is sidelined with some injury right now, but I hope he can get it going once he returns. I actually thought Redick might cut into Carter's minutes this year... but doesn't look likely right now.

[Newman]

Most surprising: I can't really think of anyone, maybe Asik as I thought he would never get PT.

 

Most disappointing: Kurt Thomas/Ronnie Brewer. Brewer is coming off an injury though and he seems to be playing better. Kurt doesn't seem to be helping us much.

[Teletopez]

Surprising: Humphries and Favors. Humphries was impressive last year too, but when Lopez went into his slump, Kris really took over. Favors has gotten off to a much quicker start than projected, and as you'd expect, the Nuggets have still have their eyes on him.

 

Also nice to see Harris showing signs of his 08-09 self over the past couple of games. He is the main source (on the court) of our offense's success in terms of play execution, but he has also started adding to the point totals himself.

 

Disappointing: Lopez has had an inconsistent first ten games. That slump in the middle was pretty ugly, and his stats reflected that. He was forcing a lot of his shots. Even now, his jumper isn't nearly as consistent as it was last year.

 

Outlaw started off very disappointing, but his shooting percentage has rocketed up since then.

[Dash]

Surprising: Ish Smith - great court division and controls the pace well and makes some good passes. Great young pure point guard, only issue is shooting.

 

Disappointing: Courtney Lee - Morey and Adelman praised Lee over the summer for his work ethic, skills and tool set. They loved him so much that they traded away our starting small forward (a position we are now weak at) and also one of the best defensive wings, but Courtney has done nothing but disappoint. Decent defense but he's not particularly well at anything else and he's horrible down the stretch.

[Flash]

Surprising: James Jones - He's been excellent so far and has really come through for us when we need timely threes.

 

Disappointing: Joel Anthony - I expected a lot more from him this year. He's been average at best defensively and his hands are seriously made of stone. The guy couldn't catch a cold.

[Finch23]

Most Surprising- Richard Jefferson

I was confident that RJ would be better than he was last season, but so far RJ has been night and day from last year. He is shooting the ball well, and is being aggressive taking the ball to the rim. His defense has also been solid.

 

 

Most disappointing- George Hill

Although he is starting to play better Hill has been pretty bad on the offensive end. He isn't looking for his shot, and he is not being aggressive taking the ball to the rim. I think it's pretty clear he is not a PG as the offense comes to a screeching stop when TP or Manu are not in the game. His defense is coming around though....

[Real Deal]

Most surprising for the Lakers? Probably Brown, for all things mentioned already. I figured he'd shoot better than he did last season, though, but the most surprising is that he's playing the role he should be, instead of being selfish and trying to play like Kobe.

 

Most disappointing? Blake, but part of that is because he's really not getting much playing time due to Fisher eating up almost 30 minutes a game. He's picking up the triangle a little here and there, but the rotations are a bit weird, with Barnes playing some four and Odom playing in the starting five...may be just a bit overwhelming for Blake at this time.

[Multi-Billionaire]

Most surprising: Shelden Williams... guy can really rebound the ball, and catch the ball... he grabbed 16 rebounds in limited minutes in opening game, and 13 rebounds the next. Too bad he's playing for George Karl, who gives his minutes to Al Harrington instead because for the simple fact Al can score... But an little known fact is Shelden can actually score. He can really drain those 15-20 footers with consistency... in fact, I feel like he has a better shot than Nene, who's pretty good. He also has pretty good post moves.... in addition he's a pretty good post defender, and he can block some shots weak side or not. If Shelden plays 25 mins a night consistently, I'm sure he can average 9 pts and 9 rebounds. Honorable mention: Gary Forbes

 

Most disappointing: Chauncey Billups... this guy is so intent on living to his name, Mr. Big Shot that he shoots a three on 1-on-4 possession in transition with 18 secs still in the shotclock, or like in the Portland game, a 30 footer with 13 secs left. Most veterans, especially those so-called "leaders" get wiser but I swear Billups gets unglued as he ages. Honorable mention: Nene, he can be great, but he settles to be average as always. Ty Lawson, mostly because he's not forcing anything, and trying his best to play within the system, but you figure he has to start being aggressive 10 games into the season and he has not.

Edited November 20, 2010 by Multi-Billionaire

[The Lone Granger]

Most Surprising: Mike Dunleavy

 

In all honesty I think I have to go with Mike so far this year. Over the past couple years he really hasn't been able to help us out too much. He's had knee injuries that have hampered him down, and now that it appears like he's finally getting healthy, he's starting to play like the Mike Dunleavy from a few years back that averaged 19 PPG. His shot has returned, and he's hitting threes left in right. Also, he's still moving extremely well and moving without the ball. Defensively he's still a liability, but he's working hard and that's all you can ask. Rebounding wise he's really stepped up for us as well. There's no doubt in my mind that Dunleavy has been the biggest surprise so far this year for the Indiana Pacers.

 

Most Disappointing: Josh McRoberts

 

I've been very disappointed with the way Josh has been playing so far this year. It doesn't look like he's worked on much at all on the defensive end, and very little on offense. He still commits very stupid, touch fouls, and also hasn't improved in his post game, or mid-range game. I can't count the number of times that teams have left him wide-open from 15-18 feet, and he hasn't been able to knock it down. I will give him that he's improved drastically from behind the arc, but still, his all-around game really needs to improve.

[headliner]

Most surprising: I want to show some love for Demar but he still has a long way to go but Weems has been very surprising to me. Thus far he has shown that he is more than just a high flyer who can show his athleticism at will. He has improved his mid range jumper and he has also extended his range to the three point line. Sonny is shooting that three with absolute confidence and it's great to see. He ball handling has improved too. He is now able to take any defender to the basket and score. Speaking of scoring he has become a more efficient score to the point was he hit his first game winner ever in his career against the Magic.

 

Most Disappointing: Jack has been disappointing for me. I think he is a total ball hog and he turns over the ball quite a bit. He looks for himself first and I really do think he has been playing some selfish basketball. He needs to become more of a creator for others do to the lack of talent on this team and I know he is capable of it.

[AboveLegit]

Disappointing: Andray Blatche

Over dribbles, mentality of a guard, doesn't know how big he is, doesn't go in the paint as much, soft, complains too much, lazy on defense, basically everything he did last year...

 

Surprising: Al Thornton

People used to think he was one dimensional, but he's really improved his game and has matured. He's a good rebounder, plays very physical in the paint, and is a good defender. Not to mention he has a nice midrange game and doesn't force anything on offense.

[Guru]

Surprising: Kris Humphries. Averaging 7.7 PPG, 1.1 BPG, and 7.3 RPG all while shooting 68.9%. He has easily been the most surprising for me.

 

Disappointing: Troy Murphy. He may still be injured but from what I have seen from him so far is very disappointing. I'm just hoping it is just the injury lagging because he is off to an awful start.

[Oliver P]

Most surprising : Landry Fields. I'm pretty sure no one expected him to average 11 pts and 7 rbds while shooting at 57 %FG (!). I sure didn't anyhow.

 

Most disappointing : Danilo Gallinari. He had a very good year last year (after a first season wasted because of injury) and I was expecting him to average around 20 PPG. Not only he doesn't, but his stats are even less good than last year overall, his FG% is especially disappointing. I expect him to do much better than that.. Well he was better in our last two games at least, I hope it will last cause this player is definitely very talented.