Empty the Bench

- His minutes have taken a hit since Kyle Korver came to town, but Utah Jazz second-year man Ronnie Brewer has proven to be one sneaky sonofabitch and a frequent beneficiary of Deron Williams’ excellent court vision. Currently leading his team in field-goal shooting at 54% on the season, the lanky 6-7 Brewer assumed his role as starting SG since the Jazz’s first game after averaging just 12 minutes a night during his rookie season. His overall line isn’t eye-popping — 11.9 points, 3.1 boards, 2 assists, 1.8 steals — but he does what’s asked of him very well: chip in modest contributions across the board, stay active on defense, and shoot a high percentage. It seems like every time I tune in a Jazz game, Brewer attempts more point-blank dunks and layups than jumpers, a testament to both Williams’ ability to find open teammates as well as Brewer’s knack for floating to unmanned parts of the court and making himself available. Just for the record, he was my pick for this season’s Breakout SG.

- I’m not sure I’d call the situation “fascinating,” as ESPN’s Doris Burke did during Sunday night’s telecast of the Pistons-Bulls game, but coach Flip Saunders has some decisions to make over these last 20 games as to what his playoff rotation will look like. Before the arrival of veterans Juan Dixon and Theo Ratliff, Detroit’s second unit was largely comprised of young, unproven players like Rodney Stuckey, Jason Maxiell, Amir Johnson, and Arron Afflalo. Dixon has since gobbled up Afflalo’s minutes, and lately has been the first guard off the bench, ahead of Stuckey. With Rasheed Wallace sidelined with a sprained ankle, Ratliff stepped right into the starting lineup Friday night against the Knicks and has played well in his first two games as a born-again Piston, averaging a solid 7.5 points, 6.5 boards, and 2.5 blocks in 24 minutes against the Knicks and Bulls. Another vet, the ball-hawking Lindsey Hunter, will also be worked back into the rotation shortly.

It’s a long-standing axiom that coaches tend to opt for veterans over young guys come playoff time, but last year Daniel Gibson and Anderson Varejao proved during the Cleveland-Detroit Conference Finals that youth can be served on the big stage. My best guess is that Detroit’s guard pecking order off the bench this postseason will be split between Dixon, Stuckey, and Hunter, with minutes being allotted based on the situation or need. Afflalo will likely see little to no minutes. In the frontcourt, Ratliff and Maxiell will get most of the burn behind Antonio McDyess and Rasheed Wallace. It just makes more sense to utilize a healthy Ratliff’s size and shot-blocking ability, though I don’t want to see Johnson glued to the bench, either. Stay tuned.

- Speaking of Sunday’s Pistons-Bulls matchup, there was a lot of talk during the game about the Bulls’ lack of any leadership amongst the players negatively impacting their on- and off-court demeanor and contributing to their underwhelming performance. I totally agree. Just a few days after Tyrus Thomas was suspended for skipping practice, Chris Duhon was fined and benched for sleeping through the Bulls’ Sunday morning shootaround after he had a late night chartering a plane roundtrip to catch his alma matter, Duke, take on North Carolina. You’d think he’d be at least somewhat remorseful, but there he was on the bench, laughing it up throughout and joking around with a teammate about something in the waning seconds of yet another loss. And there was Shannon Brown checking in late after Ben Gordon fouled out, casually walking up to Larry Hughes with a huge smile on his face and a joke to tell.

Duhon has fallen out of interim coach Jim Boylan’s rotation and will likely be leaving town this summer, but it seems like he’s ready to book his ticket out over a month early. Thomas… who knows what is going through this talented bonehead’s head. Gordon wants to get paid by somebody, anybody, and seems to have little to no allegiance to Chicago. And after the game, rookie Joakim Noah proved once more that he’ll say something idiotic if you put a mic in his face, telling reporters that “there’s no reason why we shouldn’t have beat that team. I think Detroit’s a great team, but I still feel like we’re better than them, really. I feel like we’re a better team.” Somebody please find a muzzle for Noah and and a player with leadership skills for Chicago. Please.

My prediction for this year’s All-Rookie First Team, thoughts on the recent dominance of Rasheed Wallace, and the Eastern Conference playoff race after the jump…

- The addition of a bonafide point guard in Mike Bibby has been huge for Alfred Horford, our pick to win this season’s NBA Rookie of the Year award over Kevin Durant. Since Bibby’s arrival on February 19, the spry 6-10 Horford has averaged 11.6 points and 9.6 boards, which is a modest two-point uptick on his season average and right about on par with his season rebounding. Unfortunately, the continued solid play from Horford and Bibby hasn’t necessarily translated to more wins for the Hawks, who’ve gone 4-8 over their past 12 but are still clinging to the 8th seed in the East, an insignificant 0.5 games separating them from the New Jersey Nets.

More on the “race” for postseason irrelevancy in the East below; real quick I wanted to tick off my final predictions for this year’s All-Rookie First Team.

Predicted 2008 NBA All-Rookie First Team

PG: Rodney Stuckey, Detroit Pistons: Because square pegs are often fit into circle holes for these things (i.e. all guards are likely eligible for this slot), Stuckey probably won’t make the actual first team. But despite missing the season’s first 25 games with a broken hand — and playing behind two All-Stars — the Eastern Washington standout has been the best PG of his class thus far (yes, even better than Mike Conley, Jr.). That jumper needs work, but love his ability to break down defenders and get to the hole. Runner Up: Mike Conley, Jr., Memphis Grizzlies

SG: Kevin Durant, Seattle SuperSonics: I was a little down on this year’s most-hyped rookie for awhile there because of poor shot selection, but he’s making strides in that area, and as a result has seen his FG PCT climb back up to 40%. It’s important to remember that Durant is still a teenager, and if he can average 19 points, 4.2 boards, 2.3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, and 87% FT already, it’s going to get scary once he matures and gets some help. Runner Up: Juan Carlos Navarro, Memphis Grizzlies

Rodney Stuckey Photo Credit: Icon SMI

SF: Luis Scola, Houston Rockets: As this year’s version of Jorge Garbajosa — an older, seasoned-overseas rookie — Scola has made a major impact with the Rockets and helped blunt the considerable sting of losing Yao Ming for the year. He’s logging most of his minutes at power forward, but is versatile enough to play here or even in the middle for short spells. The 6-9 Argentinean has scored in double digits 28 times and pulled down 8+ boards 21 times through 62 games. Runner Up: Jamario Moon, Toronto Raptors

PF: Al Thornton, LA Clippers: It took longer than expected (thanks, coach Dunleavy), but the 14th overall pick has finally come on strong for a team that’s desperate for somebody to give them hope for a brighter future. With Tim Thomas thankfully starting games on the bench, Thornton has flourished as a starter, averaging 13.6 points and 5.2 boards in 17 games. That’s fine, but then he’ll go out and drop 33 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists as he did on February 29 against the Nuggets. I don’t know if he’s quick enough to play SF full-time, but if Elton Brand resigns this summer and regains his form, these two could pair with Chris Kaman to comprise a rather formidable starting frontcourt. Hey, look, there’s hope for the Clips after all! Runner Up: Thaddeus Young, Philadelphia 76ers

C: Alfred Horford, Atlanta Hawks: The third overall pick in the draft, Horford instantly made last year’s top-five pick, Shelden Williams, an afterthought (Williams has since been traded to Sactown) and has the frame, skills, and jump-out-of-the-gym hops that favorably project to Amare Stoudemire. Runner Up: Glen Davis, Boston Celtics

- He’s sat out Detroit’s last two games with a slightly sprained ankle, but before going down Rasheed Wallace was enjoying one of the best overall stretches of his season. During a 15-game string between February 3 and March 5 that saw the Pistons go 11-4, “Roscoe” averaged 15.4 points, 6.5 boards, 2 blocks, 1.3 steals, and almost 2 three-pointers a night. That’s pretty impressive stuff considering how loathe he usually is to dominate the ball and be the team’s go-to guy. Heading into the last year on his current contract, and turning 34-years-old in September, Wallace remains Detroit’s best post-defender, best help-defender, and the key to any hopes of winning a second title in five years this June.

- With all the talk about who’ll make the playoffs out West, and in which seed, it’s easy to forget there’s also a close race for the bottom few seeds in the Eastern Conference. And by “race” I of course mean a contest to see who can lose slightly less games than the others. A few weeks ago I thought the Bulls were likely to earn either the 7th or 8th seed, but I’m not so sure now. They’re only 1.5 games back from the Hawks, but seem too uneven, too inconsistent, to sustain any kind of extended success. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia 76ers are playing as good a team basketball as anyone in the league right now, and are pushing the reeling Washington Wizards for the 6th seed. I think they’ll stick and make the postseason, and as long as Caron Butler comes back at least somewhat healthy, the Wiz should hang on too.

That leaves one spot up for grabs and an enviable first-round date with either the Celtics or Pistons. Right now, if I had to pick one between the Hawks, Nets, Bulls, Bobcats, Pacers, and Bucks — it’s silly that any of those teams are still in it, much less all of them — I’d go with the Hawks based almost exclusively on their favorable schedule. All in all, I think it’ll ultimately come down to them and the Bulls.

Tags: Ronnie Brewer, Rasheed Wallace, Al Horford, Kevin Durant