Throughout these past weeks, our own IMG Basketball Academy Alums have truly excelled throughout the early part of NBA season. Some of these athletes include:
Chauncey Billups, LA Clippers Guard
14th year veteran out of Colorado is still proving year after year that he is one of the most underrated players in the league. Just from stats alone no one can deny that the former NBA finals MVP is still one of the top point guards in the league. The 35 year old is averaging 16 points and almost 5 assist a night while sharing the guard spotlight with the likes of Chris Paul and Mo Williams (who all 3 combine for almost 50 points a game.) With a deadly all star backcourt such as this, in combination with the high rising Blake Griffin, the Clippers have truly changed their legendary status as LA’s other team.
Below is a clip of “Mr. Big Shot” hitting a game winner against the reigning champs, Dallas Mavericks.
DeJuan Blair, San Antonio Spurs Forward
Many are saying that DeJuan Blair should have made it on the 2012 all star ballot due to his 14.8 points and 6.4 boards a game this season. What is even more astonishing than his non appearance on this year’s all-star ballot is his life story. Blair is one of the most solid and consistent players in the game today, he never takes plays off and he has been called a “man child” by some of his peers. Blair’s mind blowing story entails how he can put up these numbers on a nightly basis, how he can pound in the paint against the best big men in the world, and how he can give 120 percent every second of every game, while at the same time he is missing ACL’s in both of his knees.
“The former University of Pittsburgh star was initially projected as a high pick in the 2009 NBA draft, but he slid to the second round after a physical Revealed something unsettling The player has no anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in either knee—the result of two high school surgeries. Since Blair lacks ACLs, his quadriceps and hamstring muscles, and the remaining soft tissues in his knee, will need to pick up the slack, as it were, straining harder to stabilize and absorb shocks. So long as his quads and hams remain strong, it’s possible for Blair to play. During his high-school surgeries, Blair’s doctors did not purposefully remove his ACLs—the going theory is that they tried to repair some partial damage to the ligaments and failed. Then, over time, Blair’s ACLs deteriorated to the point of disappearance. Since this was a gradual change, his muscles and other ligaments could have adapted slowly to the added strain. Without such an adjustment period—if his doctors had simply cut out the ligaments, for example—it’s likely he would have injured himself on the court quite rapidly.”
Corey Brewer, Denver Nuggets forward
Everyone remembers that unstoppable Florida squad that won back to back championships in 2006 and 2007. With that stellar junior cast of Al Horford, Joakim Noah, Taurean Green, and of course the 2007 tournament most valuable player: Corey Brewer. Brewer is making sure that he is not remembered solely from those memories at Florida. In only his fourth year, Brewer is beginning to find his way in the NBA, and is starting to prove that he was picked 7th overall for a reason. Brewer is averaging a solid 8 points a night coming off the bench for the Nuggets, yet lately his game has been flourishing. Against the Milwaukee Bucks, Brewer scored 22 points, going 8 for 14 from the field and shooting an astonishing 50 percent from behind the arc.
Here is what Nuggets Head Coach, George Karl and Brewer had to say after their big win.
“Corey is playing well enough to the point where we are going to have find minutes for him,” Karl said. “I think he brings energy to our team. Usually energy and aggressiveness are positive personalities of a successful team.”
Said Brewer, “Personally when I come into the game, I just try to pick up the pace,” he said. “Try to bring some energy. Try to get everybody going up and down because when we are playing fast, we are at our best.”
Al Harrington, Denver Nuggets forward
Brewer’s teammate, bench mate, and former IMG Academies mate, Al Harrington is beginning to make his name known again and building quite the case for sixth man of the year award. The 13th year veteran is averaging almost 16 points and 6 boards a night; truly excelling during the Nuggets recent four game win streak. Harrington is in the sixth man race with the likes of James Harden (OKC Thunder), Jason Terry (Dallas Mavericks) and Jamal Crawford (Portland Blazers). He is a premiere candidate with his overall impressive numbers of 53 percent from the field while averaging a mere 25 minutes a game coming off the bench. After a long and trialing journey, Harrington has seemed to found his niche/home in Denver, becoming the role of a scoring threat that he was born to play.
