For the first time since they started compiling their rankings online in 2002, rivals.com has a white-boy atop their boys H.S. basketball ratings. B.J. Mullens, a 7′1” Ohio State commit, took the place of Greg Monroe after Rivals released their final rankings following the all-star circuit. While high ranking recruits don’t always pan-out, you could say that Rivals has been pretty good at getting it right. Here are their top ranked players since 2002.
2002- Carmelo Anthony
2003- LeBron James
2004- Dwight Howard
2005- Gerald Green
2006- Greg Oden
2007- Michael Beasley
2008- B.J. Mullens
With the exception of Green, that’s pretty much a list of superstars and #1 picks in the draft. So what kind of player is Mullens? According to Rivals:
Size, athleticism and skill are the big three that separate Mullens from the rest of this class. It just isn’t very often that you find a 7-foot plus center who can run, jump and shoot like Mullens. He has the type of athleticism that makes you think of Bill Walton and then he has the shooting touch that makes you wonder if he could develop into a Dirk Nowitzki type player. Mullens does need to become a tougher defender and rebounder, but the pieces are there for him to be a number one pick in the draft and premiere big man in the League.
Most of the clips I’ve seen on YouTube certainly display unique athleticism for someone his size, and if he has the shooting touch to go with it, his ceiling looks to be that of a more athletic Nowitzki. The White-Boy Report will certainly be keeping an eye on him during his upcoming freshman campaign.
For what it’s worth - here are the highest ranking White-Boys since 2002, this list is not nearly as promising as the previous list:
2002- Paul Davis (Rivals only ranked by position in 2002 - though ‘Melo was the consensus #1)
2003- David Padgett, #7
2004- Robert Swift, #14
2005- Josh McRoberts, #2
2006- Chase Budinger, #4
2007- Kyle Singler, #5
2008- B.J. Mullens, #1
2009- Travis Wear, #19 (Committed to UNC, along with his twin brother, ranked #20)
When I started writing on this blog, it was largely because I would spend a great deal of time coming up with random sports stats and had no one to share them with. This article is exactly the type of crap I would do in my free time, but now all you wonderful people get to read it as well.
This article consists of 30 originally researched stats, one for each team, for the 2007-08 NBA season. Some were easy, most are positive, some are negative, some aren’t that good. Here they are, in alphabetical order.
Atlanta Hawks - SF/PF Josh Smith joined Hall of Fame Centers Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing and Kareem Abdul-Jabaar as the only players to average 17 ppg, 8 rpg, 1.5 stl/g and 2.5 blk/g in a single season. He was also the younger than any of the four when they did it.
Boston Celtics - Non big-3 contributor Leon Powe averaged 26.4 pts and 13.5 rebs per 48 minutes played. That’s a better scoring rate than 12 2008 all-stars and a better rebounding rate than 21 of the 26 all-stars this year.
Charlotte Bobcats - Matt Carroll, my boy from Notre Dame and Hatboro-Horsham, is now the 4th leading scorer in Bobcats history. Sorry Bobcats fan(s), that’s all I got.
Chicago Bulls - Kirk Hinrich, favorite of The White-Boy Report, had career lows in points (11.5), assists (6.0), rebounds (3.3) and steals (1.2).
Cleveland Cavaliers - LeBron is easy. This year was only 7th time in history a player averaged 30 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists per game. Jordan did it once, The Big-O did it 5 times. Oh - and perhaps the most ridiculous stat of the year? LeBron grew an inch.
Dallas Mavericks - How unique is Dirk Nowitzki? After he gets 6 blocks in 2008-09, he will be the only player ever to have 17,000 points, 6,500 rebounds, 1,000 3PM and 800 blocks. And he’s only 29. And I didn’t even mention his 700 steals and 2,000 assists.
Denver Nuggets - Allen Iverson is always full of awesome stats. This season, he became the oldest player (32) to average 26 points, 7 assists and 41 minutes a game.
Detroit Pistons - This was the 5th straight year their top 4 scorers were Rip Hamilton, Chauncey Billups, Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace. They are a boring team, what can I say.
Golden State Warriors - Baron Davis, Monta Ellis and Stephen Jackson are the first trio to each average 20 ppg for the same team since fellow Warriors Chris Mullin, Tim Hardaway and Mitch Ritchmond did it in 1990-91.
Houston Rockets - According to ESPN’s John Hollinger and his PER (Player Efficiency Rating) system, Carl Landry had, by far, the most efficient rookie season, with a PER of 21.56 - good for 16th best in the entire NBA and better than Nash, Iverson, Melo, Deron, Pierce, B. Davis, T. Parker and several other stars.
Indiana Pacers - The Pacers have never had a player average 10 assists in a season. They still haven’t.
Los Angeles Clippers - Chris Kaman, another hero of the White-Boy Report, was the first American-born white player to average 15 ppg, 12.5 rpg and 2.5 blk/g since Bill Walton in ‘77-’78.
Los Angeles Lakers - No one has ever had more points (21,619) before age 30 than Kobe Bryant.
Memphis Grizzlies - Only 19 players had more points in a season, before the age 22, than Rudy Gay. Of those players, 7 are in the Hall of Fame, and 6 likely will be.
Miami Heat - Clearly couldn’t find any positive stats for Miami. Here are Miami’s team leaders’ ranks in the NBA - Total Points (Dwayne Wade, 51st), Total Rebounds (Udonis Haslem, 65th), Total Assists (Wade, 32nd), Total Blocks (Shaquille O’Neal, 62nd).
Milwaukee Bucks - Andrew Bogut has quietly become a very well-rounded player. Since 2000, the only players to average 14 pts, 9.5 rebs, 2.5 asts and 1.7 blks in a season are Shaq, Duncan, Garnett, Brand, Webber, Gasol and Bogut.
Minnesota Timberwolves - Al Jefferson was only the 2nd Wolves player (KG, the man he was traded for) to average 21 points and 11 rebounds in a season. KG was the same age (23), when he got his first as well.
New Jersey Nets - Jason Kidd tied his career high for a season with 12 triple-doubles in only 49 games with the Nets. His first for the Mavericks came on the last game of season.
New Orleans Hornets - One of the best seasons ever for a PG? Chris Paul is the 2nd(Isiah Thomas, ‘83-’84) player ever with 21 ppg, 11 apg and 2.5 stl/g. Comparing his season to Thomas’, Paul had a better FG%, 3-PT%, more RPG, and less turnovers and personal fouls.
New York Knicks - As a team, they were last in the NBA in assists. Probably because of plays like this.
Oklahoma City Super Sonics - For all the criticism Kevin Durant got, he put up the 3rd best PPG ever (20.3) for a player under 20. The first 2 are LeBron and Melo - andDurant was put in a far worse situation than either. Side Note: People like the Sonics owners should not be allowed to own professional sports teams. There are millions of Sonics fans, many who have been fans for decades, who just got their team flat-out stolen because a couple rich a-holes decided they wanted the team somewhere else. This should NOT BE ALLOWED in places with a clear, established fan base.
Orlando Magic - Dwight Howard is the youngest player ever (22) to average 20 points, 14 rebounds and 2 blocks per game. He also put on a dunk contest performance that prompted my favorite quote of the year, from Kenny Smith, who was just screaming “he’s not a real person! he’s not a real person!.”
Philadelphia Sixers - The only players to have Andre Iguodala’s season totals (1,600 points, 390 assists, 440 rebounds, 170 steals) at a younger age than Iggy are Michael Jordan, Julius Erving and LeBron James.
Phoenix Suns - The best shooting season ever? Steve Nash became the first player ever to shoot 50% from the field, 47% from three and 90% from the foul line.
Portland TrailBlazers - Their top 4 scorers (Roy, Aldridge, Outlaw, Webster) are all 23 and under. It would have been 5 if Greg Oden had played.
Sacramento Kings - Kevin Martin proved himself to be a very efficient scorer. He was the youngest player ever to average 23 ppg while shooting 45% from the field, 40% from three and 85% from the FT line. He was only the 11th player ever to do so.
San Antonio Spurs - Big Shot Bob? There are only 5 players in the NBA who have logged 10,000 minutes this decade and shot under 40% from the field over that stretch. They are - 5′10” Damon Stoudemire (.399), 6′2” Rafer Alston (.388), 6′3” Jamaal Tinsley (.395), 6′6” Quentin Richardson (.398) and the 6′10” Robert Horry (.389).
Toronto Raptors - While fellow draft-mates (LeBron, Melo, D-Wade) have catapulted to stardom in the last 3 years, Chris Bosh hasn’t taken the next step, averaging 22.5, 22.6 and 22.3 points per game.
Utah Jazz - PG Deron Williams was only the 4th player in history to average 18 pts and 10 asts per game while shooting a blistering 50%+ from the field. The other 3 players are Steve Nash, Magic Johnson and Kevin Johnson. (Note: Williams ruined one of my best stats by falling under 19 ppg for the season. Had he stayed there, he and Carlos Boozer would have been the second pair of teammates to go for 20 ppg / 10 rpg and 19 pg / 10 apg in the same season. The first, and only, pair are Oscar Roberson and Jerry Lucas in 1965-66)
Washington Wizards - Is Antawn Jamison the most underrated player of the decade? Since 2000, he has the 10th most points in the NBA. The top 9 average 8.2 of 9 possible all-star appearances. Jamison made just his 2nd appearance this season.
APRIL 10 - 2008
Welcome to the White-Boy Report!
The White-Boy Report is going to be a recurring feature that keeps an eye on the progress of the American-born white basketball player. They are a dying breed, becoming less and less relevant in the NBA.
The reason why is anyone’s guess - and will remain that way because it is an issue too layered, potentially controversial, and almost impossible to tackle without sounding racist, that no major sports provider will touch it - and neither will I…at least not right now.
The reason for this feature is simple. I love basketball, and one of the things I love most about it is that it is as diverse as any sport - with players from about 70 different countries and Americans with backgrounds from all across the country - all bringing unique styles and culture to the game.
Well, right now, the part of the NBA puzzle that represents my demographic is sucking it up pretty badly. To the point that the best American-born white player ever, Larry Bird, has gone so far as to say “As far as playing, I didn’t care who guarded me -red, yellow, black. I just didn’t want a white guy guarding me, because it’s disrespect to my game.” Thanks Larry, Wally Szczerbiak and I appreciate it.
I am confidant that somewhere, there is someone who can bring some respect back to us, lead his team to a championship, win an MVP (Steve Nash is Canadian, folks) and put an end to the running punch-line that is the American-born white basketball player.
SO - this feature will follow, obviously, the players that are already in the NBA, but also, look over the horizon at the players in the college game, and the players being recruited out of high school. We will look at the success stories (Chris Kaman, I guess?), embarrassing failures (Nice work, Adam Morrison) and the up-and-comers (turn that fat into muscle, Kevin Love!).
And as a final note, to be perfectly clear, this is not about “taking the back the game” or anything horrendously, or even slightly, racist. It’s about giving young white boys hope that they can one day make the NBA, and not have to look like Ashton Kutcher, or play in Utah, to get attention.
NOTE: Since this is going to be a recurring feature, I would like to make a banner. Any suggestions as to who should be on it?
Coming Up in the White-Boy Report
- State of the White-Boy: From Jerry West to Mike Dunleavy Jr. The statistical decline currently in it’s 4th decade
- NBA Draft Previews: Kevin Love, Chase Budinger, Joe Alexander, Tyler Hansborough - what’s the upside? - and - is there anything TV Analysts like to do more than argue how white-boy’s games translate to the pros, without actually pointing out the guy is white?
