NBA Roundtable: Roundtable: Playoff Busts
The playoffs are generally a time when the studs are supposed to step up, but this season we’ve seen an abnormal amount of key players underperform in the postseason. With that said, I asked the Rotoworld hoops crew to discuss the players that have been the most disappointing in their eyes. Matt Stroup will start things off for us this week.
Matt Stroup (@MattStroup)
Al Horford – He averaged 3.5 rpg in the four-game sweep against Cleveland. Sure, he did some other things well (14.8 ppg, 1.0 spg, 2.0 bpg, 1.3 3s, 51.0 percent from the field), but Horford’s lack of aggression against Tristan Thompson and his inability to score in the post were huge problems for Atlanta. I’ve enjoyed Horford’s work over the years, but paying him something around $150 million is a steep price for a player who, like so many of his teammates, was maddeningly inconsistent during the playoffs. (Sincerely, frustrated Hawks fan.)
Kyle Lowry – Seeing how badly he has shot in the postseason (33.5 percent from the field, 22.5 percent on 3s) makes me even more angry that the Hawks blew the chance to play the Raptors in the conference semis instead of the Cavs. I’m trying to move on from the Hawks now because no one wants to hear it, but I can’t escape because here comes a former Hawk:
DeMarre Carroll – I know he’s a useful player even when he’s not scoring a lot, and in fairness he hasn’t been back that long since having knee surgery, but I would certainly want more than this (9.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.2 spg, 1.5 3s, 41.0 percent FG, now dealing with a wrist injury) from a player I’m paying $14 million per year.
Jae Crowder – It seems like a while ago now, but let’s not forget how bad Crowder was in the first round. In six games, he shot 27.8 percent from the field, and 24.4 percent on 3s.
Jared Johnson (@JaredJ831)
Serge Ibaka — The Thunder are winning despite him. Through Round 2 Ibaka only managed to contribute 11.6 points, 3.4 boards and 1.0 blocks per game. Sure, he showed up for Game 6 and also knocked down 2.4 triples per contest, but that’s hardly consolation for a guy that the Thunder are paying $12.3 million annually. He’ll need to have a more impactful effort in the Western Conference Finals if the Thunder hope to upset the champs.
Jeff Teague — He shot just 38.0 percent from the field through the postseason as a whole and really struggled once Atlanta advanced to Round 2. In four quick losses to the Cavs, Teague was more or less a no show with averages of 11.5 points, 6.5 assists and just 1.0 3-pointer per game on 34.1 percent shooting. Gross.
Ethan Norof (@Ethan_Norof)
Jared Sullinger: Sully shot 13-of-42 (31%) in the postseason without eclipsing 20 minutes in any of the six contests. His foray into restricted free agency will certainly be interesting.
Marvin Williams: Marv had two solid contests and four really bad ones, and his overall six-game sample is poor no matter how you slice it with 36 points on 14-of-51 shooting (27.5%). He also went scoreless in three of the final six.
Trevor Ariza: After playing heavy minutes all season long to get the Rockets into the playoffs, Ariza looked like he ran out of gas in the first round as he had more shots than points in every game played.
Jonas Nader (@JonasNader)
I agree with Ethan regarding Trevor Ariza. The guy was outstanding after the All-Star break with averages of 13.4 points, 4.3 boards, 3.1 assists, 2.1 steals and 2.3 3-pointers, yet he scored just 6.6 points per game on 25.5 percent in the playoffs. The Rockets in general were just a mess, and if anything maybe this poor showing will reduce Ariza’s price in fantasy drafts after flirting with top-20 value in the last few months of the regular season.
Harrison Barnes– We can all agree that Barnes would be an intriguing fantasy prospect if he leaves the Warriors this summer, but he’s had a quiet postseason so far. This is a guy who’s supposed to command a max deal in free agency with the salary cap expanding, but he’s only averaging 9.0 points, 5.4 boards, 1.1 assists and 0.7 3-pointers on 35.9 percent shooting so far. He will probably spend a lot of time guarding Kevin Durant in the next round, so things won’t get any easier for him.
Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan have also been pretty brutal at times, but all will be forgiven if they advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. I initially thought that the Raptors could give the Cavaliers some problems in the next round, but I’m nowhere near as confident anymore. To be fair, Lowry’s elbow is probably bothering him more than he’s letting on and DeRozan is banged up as well.
I also agree that Serge Ibaka has been disappointing, but that’s been going on for a couple seasons now. Good luck against Draymond Green.
Mike Gallagher (@MikeSGallagher)
DeMar DeRozan – He’s been awful for the vast majority of the playoffs. On top of making just 34.6 percent from the field, he has 2.3 turnovers per game with his 2.5 assists. He finally went off on Wednesday with 34 points in what was Toronto’s best game. We’ll see what he does tonight.
Tim Duncan – Maybe Pop should’ve rested him the entire second half of the season. Duncan looks like he aged 15 years in the last month and he could retire after this season.
Jae Crowder – Like Matt said, Crowder was terrible on offense. The Celtics losing Avery Bradley (hamstring) made it that much worse with how they had to go small with two-PG lineups. Crowder was probably the second most improved player all season and his contract is a steal, but he will have pressure on him in the playoffs next year.
