Even casual basketball fans have likely heard (and perhaps even overheard) of NBA MVP candidate Derrick Rose.You've seen plays like this: ...and it's no surprise.But what allows someone like DRose to thrive, are players that are able to put in the work, put in the minutes, and execute when it counts. No cliches, no maxims, or platitudes. Just do whatever it takes to win, whether it's defense, rebounding, or scoring, with nary a complaint. For your consideration, I'd like to present Luol Deng.Looking at his season averages and statistics, the numbers don't really jump out at you. In 61 games played (61 games started)FG / FGA - 6.6 / 14.3
FG% - 0.459
3P / 3PA - 1.4 / 4.2
3P% - 0.344
FT / FTA - 3.1 / 4.2
FT% - 0.749
ORB / DRB - 1.4 / 4.5
TRB - 6.0
APG - 2.7
SPG - 0.9
BPG - 0.6
PPG - 17.7
Minutes per game - 39.2 (4th in the NBA) In fact, across a couple of numbers, his numbers are actually down compared to his career averages (FG% and rebounding for example). And though some might like to look offensive stats like the increase in his 3 point shooting, let's look a number that Deng is in the Top 5 statistically: minutes per game. Now, if just a question of what Deng brings to the table on the offensive side of the court, I think we'd all wonder why he averages nearly 40 minutes a game. Let's peek at a quick gameflow, and see how Deng's minutes are typically allocated. http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/gameflow.cgi?date=20110306&game=CHIMIALook at this game, and most other games, and you'll see that Deng is the only starter that will play the entire 1st quarter and part of the 2nd. The same pattern repeats, and he quickly returns to close out the game. In the first half, Deng will typically stay on longer to anchor the second unit while DRose and Boozer get an extended rest until midway through the 2nd. In the second half, Deng comes back earlier to defend James for the remainder of the game. Basically, Deng stabilizes the second unit while the main starters get their rest. While the starters are in, Deng usually draws the tougher defensive assignments (e.g. James). Additionally, his versatility allows the coaching staff to play him at both the 3 (SF) and 4 (PF). He's rarely out of position on defensive assignments, and is a very competent help side defender. This coaching staff leans heavily on Deng's contributions as evidenced by his minutes played. Defensively, Deng and the Bulls lead the NBA in lowest opponent's field goal % allowed at 0.428, and are a shade behind Boston in opponents points per game allowed at 91.9. In fact, the Bulls are riding a 6 game streak of holding opponents to under 100 points. Impressive stuff. The Bulls have played well in the game when DRose wasn't available, it's quite hard to imagine how the Bulls would do without Sweet Lu (Enjoy this Luol Deng fastbreak from the Miami game!)
FG% - 0.459
3P / 3PA - 1.4 / 4.2
3P% - 0.344
FT / FTA - 3.1 / 4.2
FT% - 0.749
ORB / DRB - 1.4 / 4.5
TRB - 6.0
APG - 2.7
SPG - 0.9
BPG - 0.6
PPG - 17.7
Minutes per game - 39.2 (4th in the NBA) In fact, across a couple of numbers, his numbers are actually down compared to his career averages (FG% and rebounding for example). And though some might like to look offensive stats like the increase in his 3 point shooting, let's look a number that Deng is in the Top 5 statistically: minutes per game. Now, if just a question of what Deng brings to the table on the offensive side of the court, I think we'd all wonder why he averages nearly 40 minutes a game. Let's peek at a quick gameflow, and see how Deng's minutes are typically allocated. http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/gameflow.cgi?date=20110306&game=CHIMIALook at this game, and most other games, and you'll see that Deng is the only starter that will play the entire 1st quarter and part of the 2nd. The same pattern repeats, and he quickly returns to close out the game. In the first half, Deng will typically stay on longer to anchor the second unit while DRose and Boozer get an extended rest until midway through the 2nd. In the second half, Deng comes back earlier to defend James for the remainder of the game. Basically, Deng stabilizes the second unit while the main starters get their rest. While the starters are in, Deng usually draws the tougher defensive assignments (e.g. James). Additionally, his versatility allows the coaching staff to play him at both the 3 (SF) and 4 (PF). He's rarely out of position on defensive assignments, and is a very competent help side defender. This coaching staff leans heavily on Deng's contributions as evidenced by his minutes played. Defensively, Deng and the Bulls lead the NBA in lowest opponent's field goal % allowed at 0.428, and are a shade behind Boston in opponents points per game allowed at 91.9. In fact, the Bulls are riding a 6 game streak of holding opponents to under 100 points. Impressive stuff. The Bulls have played well in the game when DRose wasn't available, it's quite hard to imagine how the Bulls would do without Sweet Lu (Enjoy this Luol Deng fastbreak from the Miami game!)
