Playoff Revelations honors playoff players without big names, but who are having a big impact in the postseason.Bostjan Nachbar, a shooter who couldn't shoot. In four seasons before this one, Boki had an NBA career field goal percentage of 37.4%. Had he not been gifted a four-year deal by New Orleans in 2005, he'd probably be shoveling Vlade Divac's driveway or playing in Greece.
The Hornets ushered Boki off to New Jersey in the least publicized midseason deal ever last year (in exchange for Marc Jackson's incredible contract). Nachbar finished 05-06 playing only garbage time, and he logged exactly one minute of playoff action in the Nets 11 postseason games.
But 06-07 brought burn for Boki, and now it's starting to look like the 'Big Four.'
Nachbar dropped 16 on Toronto Saturday morning, and was New Jersey's only bench player with more than 15 minutes logged. In the month of April, he's shot 58% from three and is averaging 20.1 points per 40 minutes. For the type of player New Jersey needs off the bench behind Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson, Boki's perfect: Receive passes, nail jumpshots.
Toronto's visceral venom will continue to focus on Vince, but Sam Mitchell is going to have to pay attention to Nachbar for the Raptors to pull even. Running out Morris Peterson to push Boki hard on the other end might not hurt either.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
His name sounds like somewhere you'd find a mass grave of Bosnians.
His game is generally "catch-n-shoot", but he's also a faster down the court and a much better slasher than he's given credit for. The playoffs aren't the time I'd like Lawrence Frank to start experimenting with Boki's usage, but I think he'll put up many more shots inside the paint next season (especially if Vince goes away).
...and as long as I'm here, I think all the calls to fire Lawrence are a bit out of line, notwithstanding that they haven't done much with the Carter-Kidd-Jefferson era. Look at some of the guys he's had to give big and/or important minutes to over the past couple of years: Jacque Vaughn, Lamond Murray, Scott Padgett, Uncle Cliffy, Rodney Buford, Travis Best, John Thomas & Billy Thomas. Aside from Vaughn & Robinson, those guys' families don't even know where they're playing these days. Moreover, guys like Boki & Mikki Moore became players here, where they were nothing before.
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