Getting Under the Hump

He would make this article too easy.

The hump is an exceptionally awkward part of any sports league.  Every sports writer seems preoccupied with how a team can get over it, and just what new addition will help them do so.  It seems impossible to measure such a thing as the hump and, frankly, it is, because the hump doesn't exist.  It's an arbitrary measure of a team's improvement, and really means nothing.  This will never stop people from talking about the hump, of course.  It's far too much fun to go on and on about just what a team needs to get over the hump, despite the fact that few if any of us are competent enough to truly tell.

Of course, all this talk of getting over the hump isn't really fair.  The hump is there for a reason: if everybody was over it, then there wouldn't be any competition.  Teams need to be under the hump sometimes, to make it all the sweeter when they improve.  As such, we here at Unique Sports Theme Name bring you the most pertinent list for the continuation of the NBA: the players to help teams get under the hump.  These are teams just close enough to be true contenders that need that one player to push them farther away from that elusive championship, so the rest of us can enjoy it.



This isn't to say that just throwing the worst player one can find on a team is our goal here.  Some players just "fit" on a team, and in much the same way, players often don't "fit" just as much.  It's a true challenge to find that player that's good enough to start on some teams, yet can absolutely destroy any chance for another team to win the championship.  Yes, just like Charlie Villanueva can bring any team under the hump, so too can many other players.  The NBA is chalk full of players just waiting for the chance to be vilified for destroying the hopes of a fan base.

Indiana Pacers
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, SF
The Pacers are a team made up of wonderful team players who mesh into a strong defense, but rely far too heavily on Danny Granger for scoring.  Indeed, without Granger this year, the Pacers have fallen from middle of the pack for scoring all the way to the 4th worst.  Paul George and Roy Hibbert are far too streaky, David West can't carry a team, and George Hill just doesn't create enough on his own for the Pacers to work without scoring.  Bringing in Mbah a Moute, perhaps the most defensively-skewed small forward in all of basketball, would absolutely destroy any chance at this team winning.  Sure, the Pacers defense would improve, as nobody has ever accused Granger of being a strong defender, but Mbah a Moute shoots about as well from outside three feet as... well, nobody shoots as poorly as Mbah a Moute.  Shooting well under 40% from everywhere but on layups and dunks is just inexcusable, and the Pacers would absolutely implode without Granger for at least some of the season.

New York Knicks
JaVale McGee, C
The Knicks are a team that, despite looking like a terrible combination of old and insane people, works.  Mike Woodson has done a tremendous job so far in keeping so many attitude problems from cropping up, especially considering how... fiery the majority of the roster is.  It seems almost impossible for a whole season to go by without one of Rasheed Wallace, J.R. Smith, Melo, and Amar'e exploding about something stupid.  What better way to bring the team together than by bringing in a center that makes the most boneheaded plays that have ever existed?  Sure, the Knicks have a lot of veterans, but none of them are known for being particularly nurturing presences and it would be amazing for McGee to go a whole season without Rasheed choking him to death.  The team is already so fragile in getting everyone touches (which will be even harder once Amar'e comes back), that a center who attempts to dunk the ball from anywhere he gets it passed to him will almost certainly cause too many problems to overcome.

Miami Heat
Carmelo Anthony, SF
This just goes to show how good LeBron James really is.  Take out his unbelievable all-around game and bring in Anthony's unbelievable none-around game, and the Heat just wouldn't work.  Where James embraces the need to play power forward and involve random players like Mario Chalmers, Anthony chafes for years on end at any sort of positional change, no matter how slight.  Playing with two other superstars has done nothing to slow down LeBron as he has adjusted for their talents: playing for even a game with Amar'e is enough to make Melo want a trade.  The Knicks win right now because they can allow Carmelo to get his unbelievably ridiculous amount of touches (league-leading 35.25 usage rate next to the average of 19), and any truly successful team won't be able to do that.  The big difference here is that LeBron adjusts to allow for success, whereas Melo only adjusts if it helps him feel better about how great he is.

Chicago Bulls
Monta Ellis, SG
The Bulls are another team that, especially without Derrick Rose, survive almost exclusively by grit and fear of Joakim Noah.  Tom Thibodeau keeps the Bulls as disciplined as any team in the league, and has even managed to convince Nate Robinson to play basketball rather than dunks-ketball.  This all works because everybody buys into it and plays defense has hard as possible even if they never get to touch the ball.  Anybody not playing defense (except Carlos Boozer, for whatever reason) gets benched, and anybody who'll play defense gets to play more, even if they are Keith Bogans.  As such, bringing in a shoot-first, shoot-second, wait-for-the-defensive-possession-to-end guard would absolutely destroy any chances at winning.  Ellis' gambling attitude, almost constantly going for steals whether he needs to or not, would kill the Bulls solid, rotational system and probably make Joakim Noah eat him.  The only way Thibodeau's system works is if everybody plays smart, and Ellis plays anything but that on defense.

Los Angeles Lakers
Metta World Peace, SF
Yes, the one player that can most effectively keep the Lakers under the hump is none other than their starting small forward, the former Ron Artest.  The Lakers are a team loaded with players used to rightfully getting the ball in their hands a ton, and the only way that will work is if they are all willing to move the ball and give each other the touches they need.  This also means that the one position without a star, small forward, needs to be filled by defense-first guys that won't touch the ball except for the occasional open three.  Metta World Peace likes to pretend he is this, but he's far from it.  His defense has dropped off since coming to L.A., with it now just below league average instead of among the best in the game.  Furthermore, he's a terrible shooter (under 30% 3PT the last two years), and usually has three or four absolutely idiotic plays a game.  If anything can tear apart the impressive talent the Lakers have collected, it would be Peace.