Insider Special: Who's the Best Kept Secret?

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NBA Scouting Report:

Who's the best-kept secret?

By Terry Brown

Friday, January 10 Updated 9:09 AM EST

On Nov. 2, 2002, Andrei Kirilenko scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 19 minutes on 7 of 10 shooting, including 1-of-1 from three-point range and 5-of-5 from the free throw line.

Between Dec. 8 and Dec. 12, he went 6-for-6 from three-point range and 12-for-12 from the free throw line.

Between Dec. 28 and Dec. 30, he registered 11 blocks in two games.

On Jan. 30, 2003, he tallied 21 points, six rebounds, six assists and five steals on 63 percent shooting from the field.

Now, you tell me. What exactly does Kirilenko have to do to get his own shoe commercial around here?

Kirilenko

"He's a different type of player," said one NBA scout. "He has the ability to make the same impact on the game as Dirk Nowitzki except that he plays better defense. Have you ever wondered how a second-year player who's been in this country for less than a season and a half is always on the floor in the fourth quarter? I know this sounds like a cliche but that's how good this kid is. The sky is the limit."

We asked NBA scouts from around the league for their best-kept secret. We didn't simply want the name of the player they thought was the most underrated in the game today because, well, divulging such information would, in fact, exempt that player from being the most underrated player in the game from hence forth.

We didn't care if they named a rookie, reserve, starter or all-star.

We wanted someone who would roll up to a movie premiere in a Hummer and fuzzy dice and still get carded on the red carpet by the kid holding a trey of hors d'oeuvres.

"If Shawn Marion were playing in New York, he'd be huge," said one NBA scout. "He gets a lot of attention as it is but it's still not enough. He's a highlight film in the making playing major minutes. But it just isn't in his personality to ask for the spotlight."

Player One:

20.7 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.9 spg, 1 bpg, 51 triples, 44% shooting

Player Two:

25.7 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 4.5 apg, 2 spg, 0.8 bpg, 49 triples, 38% shooting

Marion

One of these above mentioned players has become an annual MVP candidate while the other is Marion. And that may have more to do with Paul Pierce playing for the fabled Boston Celtic franchise than anything else.

In his four years in the NBA, Marion has gone from scoring 10.2 points per game as a rookie to 17.3 ppg the next to 19.1 to 20.7 this season. He hit four three-pointers that first year before hitting 21 the next, 48 after that and 51 this season with more than half the games still to play.

Marion, by the way, is also the one shooting better on the chart above.

"Al Harrington may turn out to be the most important player on that Indiana Pacer team," said another NBA scout.

Last year, Harrington could have very well finished the season as the league's Most Improved Player if the Sixthman of the Year voters hadn't beaten them to it. As it was, he blew out the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee on Jan. 23, 2002, ending any type of postseason noise he was already making with is 13.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game in fewer than 30 minutes of play off the bench.

This year, with Ron Artest suspended, Harrington scored 61 points on 25 of 39 shooting from the field in the Pacers' first two games without their starting small forward.

Earlier in the season, Harrington scored 40 points against the Hawks with power forward Jermaine O'Neal taking a break with a bum knee.

And he scored 21 points in 23 minutes on 9 of 12 shooting on Nov. 28 in the Pacers' upset win over the Dallas Mavericks who were 14-0 at the time.

Harrington

"For the team that seems to have everything, he gives them that little something extra to get them over the top," said the scout. "They've got a lot of young talent in Indiana but Harrington is and is going to continue to be the one that keeps getting better and better."

2002-3 Field Goal Percentage Leaders

1. Shaquille O'Neal - 58.2 percent

2. Yao Ming - 55.2 percent

3. Andrei Kirilenko - 53.6 percent

. . . keep going.

4. Richard Jefferson - 52.9 percent

"How could I forget to mention Richard Jefferson," said one or two or three of the scouts.

Which is why we're here in the first place. Right?

"Among his many traits, what's going to separate him from the others is his ability to play forward, to not worry about a mistake or missed foul call and go on to the next play without pouting," said one of the scouts. "A lot of players, when they get to this level, they act as if something is owed them and they're so ready to just cash in. This kid not only wants to be good, he wants to be better. He wants to be the best he can. You hear that a lot from guys around the league, but he really works at it.

"He truly appreciates the situation he's in."

The scout was talking about Kirilenko. But you could have very well filled in Marion or Harrington or some other player that we failed to mention even when mentioning those players who still wear shoes with other players' names on them.