Cleveland's Finest Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 (edited) Anderson Varejao's all-star season--------------------http://www.macombdaily.com/content/articles/2011/01/10/sports/doc4d2b07f93402e060850598.jpg Now that the starters have been named for the All-Star game, all the talk is heating up on who the reserves should be. It's pretty obvious for some positions, but when looking at the East centers, no name really sticks out. I'm hearing a lot of talk about Roy Hibbert, but one player is not getting enough talk. That player is Cleveland's Anderson Varejao. Following his career more closely, it's easy to see how impressive he has been this year. Obviously when LeBron left, the expectations for his performance increased, and so did his opportunities. Last season he was fulfilling those expectations with career high averages in points and rebounds. Then he got injured, and ended up missing the rest of the season, only playing 31 games. This season, he's come out even more intense, and there have been so many moments in games where he comes up with the key rebound when it looks like there's no way he could get it. For example, his rebound in the final minute in Boston kept our possession, leading to a huge win on the road. These little things are not noticed in the stat sheet. In our last four games against Boston, Dallas, and Orlando, he's had 18, 20, 12, and 17 points along with 9, 20, 15, and 17 rebounds. The point of that is his consistency. He's doing it over long stretches against quality defenses. He's averaging 10.5 points and 11.6 rebounds. Now, looking at his competition the statistics really aren't that far off. Hibbert's averaging 13.8 points and 10.0 rebounds, and Chandler's averaging 11.3 points and 10.0 rebounds. After seeing Varejao's impressive game against the Knicks, in which he frustrated Chandler, I was thinking...after Dwight, how can Varejao not be considered the 2nd best center? Even knowing that he's playing out of position, he has been so effective. He's leading the league in offensive rebounds with 4.6 per game and 96 overall. He's even improved his jumper. He had a nice floater tonight against Dallas. He even has a few nice passes every few games. He's an all-around versatile center. So what's the consensus here? Can he be at least considered a candidate? Be cause so far, I'm not hearing his name anywhere, and it's a shame because when you watch him play, you see how special a player he is. It's rare you find someone that willing to do the dirty work and get loose balls. Edited February 5, 2012 by Cleveland's Finest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChosenOne Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Statically yes he is having an allstar season but his name just is out there and he plays for a bad team. Therefore wont get in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleveland's Finest Posted February 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Statically yes he is having an allstar season but his name just is out there and he plays for a bad team. Therefore wont get in. I would not call the Cavs a bad team necessarily. To me, they are the West's version of the Timberwolves, who most would not say are a bad team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Please God no. I don't need to watch flopping during the All Star game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleveland's Finest Posted February 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 This is exactly what I mentioned in my opening post. People haven't been able to follow his career. He can't even be classified as a flopper anymore. He plays harder than 90 percent of the league, and it's been working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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