RADIO
In the NBA's Super Team era, elite players with no superstar running mate do not get a free pass. In fact, these talented athletes are members of a unique squad. Not only do they have to shoulder the statistical load, but also press to keep their respective teams competitive. They are the Yeoman. These are their stories.
The Yeoman is not a new phenomenon. Russell Westbrook personified this extraordinary subgroup last year when accompanied by a subpar supporting cast. Westbrook transferred that lack of supplemental talent to an MVP season while averaging a triple-double for the year. In fantasy sports, players and teams like this can be a godsend.
Here are three players who have started the year thrust into this role: a competitive team combined with lack of surrounding talent. The Yeoman.
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Kyrie Irving
I'm not sure this is what Irving expected when he asked (demanded?) a trade from Cleveland in the offseason.
A catastrophic injury in the first quarter of game one to teammate Gordon Hayward forced Irving into a lone lead role. After starting the season 0-2, Irving has led the Celtics to a 20-2 record since, including a 16-game winning streak.
On the surface, Irving's game has not been altered that much in the move from Cleveland to Boston.
Last season, Irving's per-36 stats averaged 25.9 points, 6 assists, 2.6 turnovers and 47.3 field goal percentage. This season he is averaging 25.9 points, 6 assists, 2.5 turnovers and 47.6 fg percentage. Despite no LeBron James, with no Gordon Hayward, Irving's two numbers are a mirror of each other.
Where things have drastically changed however is where the Yeoman goes to work.
We all saw a glimpse of what Irving is capable of in the 2016 NBA Finals' Game Seven. Now without another superstar to defer to, Irving has gone absolutely mad in the fourth quarter. Irving is more confident, more willing to get others involved. That's because in the fourth he takes over. With Cleveland, Irving averaged 29.8 points per 36 minutes with 38% fg. This year--as the tweet above indicates--he is near 65 points and a 56% fg.
In Boston's 24 games this year, only six times has Irving failed to score less than 20 points. That's excluding teammate Aron Baynes' Aussie spinning elbow that took Irving out two minutes into a game.
Brad Stevens has also done a masterful job in adjusting his seasonal game plan on the fly. Boston has put a new emphasis on defense. According to Basketball Reference, the C's are allowing the least amount of points allowed per 100 possessions. They also are applying the 7th slowest pace per game. Last season's Cavs had opposite efficiency numbers. Cleveland was one of the highest scoring teams and one of its worst defending teams. It all adds up to more good times ahead for Irving and the Celtics.
Giannis Antetokounmpo
The Greek Freak blitzed the league this year and had the NBA's trusted engravers already etching his name on the MVP trophy.
While others have played their way into the conversation, Antetokounmpo is having a historic start to the season. His current 31.4 PER would rank as one of the top 10 greatest seasons in NBA history. He is second in points per game and 12th in rebounds per game. He is doing all of this while playing alongside the likes of 77-year-old (estimate) Jason Terry, Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe. He either leads or is second in every Bucks statistical category except for threes.
Unlike Irving, Antetokounmpo has struggled lately since the Bucks acquired Bledsoe from the Suns. Giannis started the year with four 30-point games and two 40-point games in the team's first 10 games. Only one game during that span did Giannis fail to score at least 28 points. Since then, he's only cracked 30 three times.
What has emerged, however, has been Antetokounmpo's game at the line. Two of those 30-point games recently have come thanks to the charity stripe, shooting 43 free throws over that span — the most in a three-game span for Antetokounmpo all season.
While Giannis has throttled down on the offense, he has hit the gas on the defensive side of the ball.
In his last three games, Giannis has 11 steals. In six out of the last 12 games he has posted three or more blocks. Antetokounmpo is feeding off the defensive side of the ball and scoring more on transitions and secondary transitions. With Middleton, Bledsoe's continued transition into the Bucks line up and game plan and the return of Jabari Parker, look for Antetokounmpo's numbers to drop a little on the offensive side of the ball, but not enough to make a serious dent in your fantasy team. His defense, however, should more than make up for any loss of production on offense.
Rudy Gobert
When Gordon Hayward left Utah in free agency, many expected Gobert to fill the scoring void left behind. He did not.
Gobert's numbers through the season's first 10 games were--how do you say--très mauvais. Then he got hurt.
In his absence, rookie Donovan Mitchell has stepped up. Mitchell has averaged 20.2 points, 4.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds. The Jazz have won seven games since Gobert's injury and five straight.
Expect Gobert in his return to continue to produce 14 points and 10 rebounds with a couple of blocks. The good news, Utah won't be looking his way for more offense. Mitchell, Rodney Hood, and astoundingly, Alec Burks, are the ones making up for Hayward's scoring. Those who were hoping Gobert--as the only true elite player on the Jazz--would step up and taking on more of an offensive game will be left wanting.
Some just weren't meant to be Yeoman.
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