The Birdman has been a key part in Miami’s success so far this season (Photo Credit: Mark Runyon, Basketball Schedule)
One of the Miami Heat’s biggest problems, despite owning the NBA’s best record, has been a lack of depth at the big-man spots. That resulted in the team struggling against opposing bigs, ranking dead last in the regular season in rebounding with 38.6 a game. In comes Chris Andersen.
The tattoo-covered Energizer bunny from Texas has established himself as a fan favorite, taking over Joel Anthony’s minutes to become a regular in coach Erik Spoelstra’s rotation. He’s not going to blow up the rebounding stats in his limited time, but he’s arguably the most important player off the Heat bench.
Miami is as talented a squad as any out there with the Big Three and names like Ray Allen, Mario Chalmers and Shane Battier. And as good as the other role players are, the primary skill they bring to the table is shooting and in Battier’s case, defense too. Nonetheless, none of them bring the energy and effort Andersen conjures up on a nightly basis. If there’s one thing the fans–and teammates–love, it’s 100 percent effort and that’s exactly what you get from him.
Having said that, not only is he a hard worker, the Birdman is talented too. No, not talented in the sense that he’ll drop 30 points on you or be the cornerstone of an NBA franchise, but he’s certainly talented and is a major contributor for this Miami Heat team.
That may be hard to believe when you look at his stats and see that he’s only averaging 4.9 points and 4.1 rebounds in just 15 minutes a game for the 2012-13 regular season. However, put those numbers in context and you’ll find that he’s racking up 15.9 points, 13.8 rebounds, 3.4 blocks per 48 minutes.
During the Miami Heat’s first-round sweep of Milwaukee in the playoffs, Andersen showcased his scoring prowess, racking up at least 10 points in the first three games of the series. He also scored 13 of his 16 field goal attempts, although most of them were dunks–but hey, a basket is still a basket.
To top it all off, he’s a strong defensive presence in the paint, swatting the ball away with reckless abandon which makes players think twice when going to the hoop. Plus, he’s big enough and tough enough to bang with the big boys inside.
Oh, and Miami’s only lost three of the 46 games he’s played since signing Andersen in January. That may be because of King James and the team playing ridiculously good basketball, but it’s still a nice stat to have next to your name.