In the Lane: January 11, 2008
HOW THE WEST IS WON…EACH NIGHT
David West could be the least recognized star in the NBA today. Is there another player in the league who has led his team in scoring two straight seasons, yet isn’t considered the best player on his team? Is there another player in the league who has improved his scoring and rebounding every season as a pro, yet is still not recognized as an elite player in his conference? He did capture the T-Mobile western conference player-of-the-week award a week ago, so he’s not flying completely under the NBA’s radar.
West doesn’t have many weaknesses and those he has are hardly his fault:
(1) He’s an undersized power forward (6-9 240).
(2) He’s modest, letting others sing his praises.
(3) He roots for the Detroit Lions in the NFL.
Size does matter in the NBA, especially when you’re a frontcourt player. But David West has certainly overcome the “undersized” label better than most in recent history. As for his modesty, many of us believe it is strength not a weakness; but, in this case it hurt the Hornets starting power forward because he is less recognizable because of it. As for his pro football allegiance that is a vice we both share. It’s a common bond that will forever label us as non-playoff football followers.
Nonetheless, the former Xavier (OH) University standout has proven that, despite these minor indiscretions, hard work can overcome one’s shortcomings. He has steadily added to his game since getting his first real opportunity in the 2005-2006 season following an October (’05) trade involving Jamaal Magloire.
Here are D-West’s numbers over two full seasons as a starter for Byron Scott:
| PPG | RPG | APG | |
| 2005-06 | 17.1 | 7.4 | 1.2 |
| 2006-07 | 18.3 | 8.2 | 2.2 |
Looking at this season’s numbers through 35 games shows us how he’s well on the way to increasing those numbers for a third consecutive season:
| 2007-08 | 19.4 | 9.4 | 2.3 |
|---|
He has also already surpassed last year’s blocks total with 41, including a career high five at the Hive on December 15th against Phoenix.
Why the incremental improvement for a player who was never thought of as a star-in-the-making in a draft headlined by LeBron, Carmelo, and Wade?
Hard work is the first answer. He has steadily improved different aspects of his game since being selected 18th overall in 2003. The unusual off-season training regimen included boxing against his brother to increase his speed and mobility. It has since been scaled back to eliminate the contact part of the sport. He is also very diet conscious, allowing him to add muscle, strength, and weight without losing any speed or athleticism.
He is also very difficult to game plan against. Double team him down low and he will pass to the open teammate. Put a bigger defender on him and he’ll take him away from the basket and hit his deadly 15-20 foot jump shot. Play him to go right and he’ll use his left hand. Play him to go left and he’ll use his right hand.
By the way, among the areas of improvement for West since entering the NBA is his ability to use either hand to score. For all intents and purposes he is now ambidextrous on the basketball court.
The 27-year-old, in his 5th NBA season, has become less predictable. That’s true in terms of defenders’ ability to stop him. For the rest of us he has become much easier to predict. Write him down for 20 points a night. In fact, West has gone for 20+ points so often in the last two seasons he may want to consider changing his number from 30 to 20. He recently had a streak of 7-straight 20+ point games, and going back to the final five games of last season the sharp shooting forward has scored 20 or more points in 20 of his last 39 games.
This, of course, comes on the heels of his breakthrough 2005-2006 campaign when he earned the nickname “Mr. Clutch” (with no disrespect to JERRY West) by winning three games with last second field goals.
Consistency is usually the last element that arrives in a player’s game. It differentiates average from mediocre, great from good, and certainly separates stars from everyday starters.
I believe West has become that reliable, 20-point scorer that every team must have to win on a regular basis. The fact that he plays with emerging super star Chris Paul, and soon-to-be all-star center Tyson Chandler provides more insight as to why few people outside of New Orleans appreciate what the power forward brings to the team each night.
Hopefully, this column has helped achieve something David himself would never sign off on – promoting his improvement, revealing his talents, and flat out bragging about his achievements.
But that’s just more evidence to pass along to disbelievers of the most modest star in the Big Easy.
As for the friendly debate between the only two Detroit Lions fans in Hornets City, here’s a comparison of our all-time favorite NBA drafts:
David West
2003
NO. |
PLAYER, SCHOOL/COUNTRY |
TEAM |
1. |
LeBron James, St. Vincent-St. Mary HS (Ohio) |
Cleveland |
2. |
Darko Milicic, Serbia & Montenegro |
Detroit |
3. |
Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse |
Denver |
4. |
Chris Bosh, Georgia Tech |
Toronto |
5. |
Dwyane Wade, Marquette |
Miami |
6. |
Chris Kaman, Central Michigan |
L.A. Clippers |
7. |
Kirk Hinrich, Kansas |
Chicago |
8. |
T.J. Ford, Texas |
Milwaukee |
9. |
Mike Sweetney, Georgetown |
New York |
10. |
Jarvis Hayes, Georgia |
Washington |
11. |
Mickael Pietrus, France |
Golden State |
12. |
Nick Collison, Kansas |
Seattle |
13. |
Marcus Banks, UNLV |
Memphis (1) |
14. |
Luke Ridnour, Oregon |
Seattle |
15. |
Reece Gaines, Louisville |
Orlando |
16. |
Troy Bell, Boston College |
Boston (1) |
17. |
Zarko Cabarkapa, Serbia & Montenegro |
Phoenix |
18. |
David West, Xavier |
New Orleans |
19. |
Aleksandar Pavlovic, Serbia & Montenegro |
Utah |
20. |
Dahntay Jones, Duke |
Boston (1) |
21. |
Boris Diaw-Riffiod, France |
Atlanta |
22. |
Zoran Planinic, Croatia |
New Jersey |
23. |
Travis Outlaw, Starkville HS (Miss.) |
Portland |
24. |
Brian Cook, Illinois |
L.A. Lakers |
25. |
Carlos Delfino, Italy |
Detroit |
26. |
Ndudi Ebi, Westbury Christian HS (Texas) |
Minnesota |
27. |
Kendrick Perkins, Clifton J. Ozen HS (Texas) |
Memphis (1) |
28. |
Leandrinho Barbosa, Brazil |
San Antonio (2) |
29. |
Josh Howard, Wake Forest |
Dallas |
Bob Licht
1984
NO. |
PLAYER, SCHOOL/COUNTRY |
TEAM |
1. |
Akeem Olajuwon, Houston |
Houston |
2. |
Sam Bowie, Kentucky |
Portland |
3. |
Michael Jordan, North Carolina |
Chicago |
4. |
Sam Perkins, North Carolina |
Dallas |
5. |
Charles Barkley, Auburn |
Philadelphia |
6. |
Mel Turpin, Kentucky |
Washington (1) |
7. |
Alvin Robertson, Arkansas |
San Antonio |
8. |
Lancaster Gordon, Louisville |
L.A. Clippers |
9. |
Otis Thorpe, Providence |
Kansas City |
10. |
Leon Wood, Cal State-Fullerton |
Philadelphia |
11. |
Kevin Willis, Michigan State |
Atlanta |
12. |
Tim McCormick, Michigan |
Cleveland (1) |
13. |
Jay Humphries, Colorado |
Phoenix |
14. |
Michael Cage, San Diego State |
L.A. Clippers |
15. |
Terence Stansbury, Temple |
Dallas |
16. |
John Stockton, Gonzaga |
Utah |
17. |
Jeff Turner, Vanderbilt |
New Jersey |
18. |
Vern Fleming, Georgia |
Indiana |
19. |
Bernard Thompson, Fresno State |
Portland |
20. |
Tony Campbell, Ohio State |
Detroit |
21. |
Kenny Fields, UCLA |
Milwaukee |
22. |
Tom Sewell, Lamar |
Philadelphia (2) |
23. |
Earl Jones, District of Columbia |
L.A. Lakers |
24. |
Michael Young, Houston |
Boston |
