Insider Special: Sixth Man Watch

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Sixth Man Watch: How viable

is Voshon Lenard?

By Terry Brown

Thursday, December 19 Updated 11:59 AM EST

You love Voshon Lenard. You hate him.

The Toronto Raptors ask Lenard to come off the bench for some added pop in a rotation that features a 36 percent shooter at backup point guard, a reserve shooting guard who has yet to play his 233rd minute and a rookie swingman who has yet to score his 38th point 25 games into the season.

Then Vince Carter gets hurt and we blame the poor guy for never winning a slam dunk contest he has no business ever entering.

On. Nov. 4, Lenard got his first start of the year and scored 23 points on 8 of 17 shooting after coming off the bench the previous game for five points. He put together double-digit scoring in nine of the next 10 games, averaging 17 per, as Carter rehabbed his knee, then stepped aside for 11 total points in the ensuing two contests when the franchise superstar returned.

When Carter went back to rehabbing, Lenard scored 23 the very next game on 9 of 15 shooting.

Cater returned to play on Dec. 8; Lenard scored 7.

Carter rehabbed on Dec. 11; Lenard scored 24. He averaged 17.4 points per game as the aforementioned franchise superstar sat out the next five games.

And the Raptors fell to 8-17.

As a starter, Voshon Lenard is averaging 16.5 points per game in 15 contests. As a sixthman, he is averaging 11.9 points per game in 11 contests and would be a viable candidate below had he not been asked to take the place of a player who has never averaged fewer than 18.3 points per game in his career despite the fact that, before this season, Lenard has never averaged more than 12.6.

Desmond Mason

Seattle Sonics

Numbers: 14.2 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.1 spg, 9 triples, 45% shooting, 1 start

Desmond Mason may not be the perfect sixthman, but in 25 games, he has failed to score double-digits only three times. Only once has he grabbed fewer than four rebounds. And he's never had more than three turnovers in a game despite averaging 33.3 minutes per game. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to give him the Sixthman or Most Improved or a great, big hug. Remember, Corliss Williamson won this thing last year at 13.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game on the strength of his team's winning record. The Sonics are 14-12 in a much tougher West because of a much tougher sixthman.

Michael Redd

Milwaukee Bucks

Numbers: 15.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.2 spg, 47 triples, 46% shooting, 7 starts

Forty-seven. If the worst thing Michael Redd does this season is start seven games then we might as well hand him the Sixthman Award right now. Forty-seven. But 23 games into the season, his 17.6 points per game as a starter in those seven games are giving him an unfair advantage in the scoring column over Desmond Mason. But those 47 three-pointers keep popping up, almost impossible to ignore. He's hitting one every 14 minutes, almost one a quarter, coming off the bench, while teammate Ray Allen, the starter ahead of him, has hit 61. Did we mention that the guy has hit 47 three-pointers?

Nick Van Exel

Dallas Mavericks

Numbers: 14.3 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 4.9 apg, 0.5 spg, 35 triples, 44% shooting, 1 start

He's played only 14 games so far this season. But, oh, what a 14 games. Since his return from injury on Nov. 30, he has averaged 17.8 points per game and 6.1 assists while hitting 25 threes in eight games. Skip starter and go straight to all-star. And while the rest of the league is going ga-ga over the Mav's 22-3 start, Van Exel remains their go-to guy regardless of who is playing point guard, shooting guard or 7-foot small forward. Most sixthmen simply want to finish the game. Van Exel finishes games.

Andrei Kirilenko

Utah Jazz

Numbers: 13.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2 apg, 1.1 spg, 1.9 bpg, 11 triples, 56% shooting, 9 starts

Nine starts is nine starts and if the Jazz could settle on either him or Matt Harpring as their tip-off small forward or shooting guard or whatever they want to call him, or him, then we'd immediately put the other one here. As it stands, Kirilenko has fewer starts as I go from the blocks to the shooting percentage to the triples wanting to start teaching my kid to speak Russian hoping that some of this will rub off. They've taken to calling him AK-47 along the Wasatch Front. Old school commies only wish and maybe we'd all be speaking Russian.

Stephen Jackson

San Antonio Spurs

Numbers: 3 starts, 11.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2 apg, 0.9 spg, 44% shooting

Forget sixthman awards, they should start scattering rose petals at this guys feet in San Antonio. The Spurs' starting five, as a group, is averaging 7.4 points per game fewer than it did last year while Jackson, by himself, is averaging 7.9 points per game more than he did last season. Palm leaves are in order. Tim Duncan isn't half the man he was last year. David Robinson isn't half the man Duncan is this year. Steve Smith isn't half the man he ever was. It's a good thing Jackson is 2.9 times the scorer, 2.5 times the rebounder and 3.2 times the assist man that he was last year.