April 14th has become known as Unsung Player Day in the NBA blogosphere, thanks to the Lakers blog With Malice. The goal is to come up with a player who averages under 10 minutes a game, but makes the most of his time when the coach calls him up. Naturally, I immediately looked at the Miami Heat's roster to come up with my own unsung player. My initial reaction was to go with "The Dayton Kid" Daequan Cook, but to my surprise, he averages over 15 minutes a game. Also, he really hasn't contributed much this season, so I went with Canadian center Jamaal "The Big Cat" Magloire instead.Magloire has been the epitome of a journeyman throughout his career, spending time with the Hornets, Bucks, Blazers, Nets and Mavericks before signing with the Heat. His time in Miami has seen him mostly on the bench, but when he's been called upon he's provided toughness and great effort in the middle.
Averaging just 9.7 minutes a game, he's managed to put up 2.1 points and 3.3 rebounds while shooting 50% from the floor. Obviously not overwhelming numbers, but certainly not bad for the limited minutes. He isn't shy to dish out a hard foul when players try to take it to him, so his presence alone will make the opposition think twice about driving into the lane.
One thing about Magloire that stands out to me is that Dwyane Wade seems to trust him on the pick and roll more than any other center on the Heat. Jermaine O'Neal does his best offensive work in isolation plays while fellow Canadian Joel Anthony can't catch a pass half the time.
It's hard to say whether or not Magloire will be back in a Heat uniform next season, as the Heat have most of their money tied up in trying to resign Dwyane Wade and another marquee free agent. With that said, his current salary is just $825,497 so there's definitely a chance that he'll be back as a reserve center. At 31-years old, Jamaal has hinted that he might retire sometime soon to be with his family, but he also admits that it's hard to turn down the money.
I didn't know about "Unsung Player Day." Otherwise I certainly would have talked more about Serge "The Congolese Squeeze" Ibaka in my last post. Are you going to help that nickname catch on or not?
ReplyDeleteI didn't know about "Unsung Player Day" until today. Apparently it's been going on for a few years now.
ReplyDeleteThe Congolese Squeeze averages about 18 minutes a game, so he isn't quite unsung enough to qualify.
Hey guys... nice post Slim. Thanks for your involvement!
ReplyDeleteTeenage_Mustache - never too late. Get something up, drop me a line (Slim has the email!)!
Thanks for the link! I love this idea.
ReplyDeleteBTW, Teenage Mustache, a few people over on With Malice put in votes for the Congolese Squeeze in the comments section.