The NBA season has reached the quarter mark. Let's take a look at some players who haven't lived up to their expectations so far with the first ever All-Disappointment team.
Point Guard: Rajon Rondo, Boston Celtics
It's not that Rondo has been particularly bad this season. It more of a "we saw you play at an unbelievable level in the playoffs, and hoped you could keep it up but haven't"-type thing (man that sounded catchier in my head). Rondo paced the Celtics in the 2011-12 NBA Playoffs, averaging 17.3 points-per-game to go along with 11.9 assists and 6.7 rebounds. He was particularly amazing in the Eastern Conference Finals as he went toe-to-toe with LeBron, and was narrowly edged out. That performance had me thinking Rondo would be in the MVP discussion in 2012-13, but so far the Celtics have struggled and Rondo seems to be shrinking a little in the spotlight. Rondo has never been a good shooter, but this season he often doesn't even look to score, as time after time he passes up good looks for himself in order to rack up an assist. You averaged over 17 points against the NBA Champs, Rajon! Step it up!
Shooting Guard: Joe Johnson, Brooklyn Nets
He's been turning it on lately, but overall Johnson has had a bit of a down year so far. He's shooting 41.9% from the floor in 2012-13 (his worst percentage in 10 seasons), while his per-game assissts, points, rebounds and steals are all down as well. This is not the guy Brooklyn thought they had acquired in the offseason. Like Rondo, I expect Johnson to rebound as the season goes on, but the results just haven't been there so far.
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| Johnson has been turning it on lately, but has been disappointing overall so far this year |
Small Forward: Michael Beasley, Phoenix Suns
4 years ago, Beasley was a highly touted prospect, a guy who was supposed to be a legitimate front-end starter in the NBA. He had one nice season in Minnesota, but that was two years ago and he's struggled ever since. This year, he's averaging just 11.1 points-per-game while shooting 37.3% from the field. Some will say that he simply needs a change of scenery, but he's already played for 3 different teams in just 4 full seasons. I think he's maxed-out on his potential, and this is the type of player he'll be from here on out.
Power Forward: Andrea Bargnani, Toronto Raptors
Look, this one's easy. A couple analysts thought the Raps could have been a back-end playoff team in the East, but they've been terrible. A lot of the blame rests with Bargnani. He's taking—and missing—a ton of shots, and his defense has been non-existent, as usual. I honestly think that Ed Davis is a better starting power forward at this point. There is some good news for Raptors fans, though: he's out indefinitely!
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| The way this season is going, Hibbert probably missed this one |
Center: Roy Hibbert, Indiana Pacers
After a fierce playoff battle with the Heat last year, a lot of people pegged the Pacers as a team to be reckoned with in 2012-13. Indiana signed Hibbert to a max-contract in the off-season, hoping he would develop a little bit more and establish himself as a top-tier center. How did Roy respond? By putting up his worst numbers ever, of course! His per-game numbers and Player Efficiency Rating are the worst they've ever been, but perhaps the most alarming thing is his field-goal percentage. Dude is 7'2 and somehow shooting 37.5%. How can anyone that tall shoot that badly?!?
The Bench: Dwight Howard, Andrew Bynum, Jeremy Lin, Ersan Ilyasova, Danilo Gallinari, Everyone on the Lakers not named Kobe Bryant, Landry Fields
I agree with the comment about Rondo, but I also wonder how the trade rumours late last year has affected him. He is known to be a cerebral player, and trade rumours can mess with your head.
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