Originally Published: March 22, 2010
Getty photoHawks center Al Horford has averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds this month.
Alfredo R. Berríos
ESPNDeportes.com

Who says scheduling doesn't play a big part in players' performance?

This is what happened as Week 21 rolled along in the Latino Power Rankings, where Al Horford edged Pau Gasol for the week's top spot.

Although Gasol had better stats, the truth is the Lakers' schedule was a bit lighter than the Hawks'. Plus, Horford had his second-highest rebounding game this season, against Tim Duncan and the Spurs.

Francisco Garcia stepped up in the rankings, as he got his first start this season and produced 17 points. Meanwhile, Rudy Fernandez and Marc Gasol got hurt, dumping them down in the list with no timetable set for their return.

The NBA Latino Power Rankings by ESPNdeportes.com are based on games played through last Sunday. Click here to read the rankings in Spanish.

Horford 1. Al Horford G MIN FG% 3P% FT% STL BLK RPG AST PTS PER
69 35.2 .557 1.000 .775 0.8 1.1 9.6 2.3 14.3 19.5
Horford's week was consistent, in a stretch where the Hawks had better quality opponents than the Lakers, and that's why he edged Gasol. His 18-rebound performance against Tim Duncan was the crowning jewel.
Gasol 2. Pau Gasol G MIN FG% 3P% FT% STL BLK RPG AST PTS PER
53 36.8 .528 .000 .792 0.6 1.7 11.1 3.4 17.5 22.2
The Lakers won all four games this week, but their opponents weren't elite. One thing that caught my eye was L.A. didn't win any of those games by more than 10 points, notwithstanding Gasol's excellent week.
Ginobili 3. Manu Ginobili G MIN FG% 3P% FT% STL BLK RPG AST PTS PER
63 27.9 .435 .380 .869 1.5 0.3 3.7 4.8 15.3 22.1
Now that Tony P. is out for the regular season, Ginobili has turned it up a notch. He had 38 Sunday against the Hawks in an OT loss. Plus, there's something about a little thing called a contract coming up.
Scola 4. Luis Scola G MIN FG% 3P% FT% STL BLK RPG AST PTS PER
68 31.4 .518 .200 .783 0.7 0.3 8.8 2.0 15.5 17.4
After posting career numbers in the past couple of weeks, Scola's production went down thanks to a stomach virus that took its toll in the last couple of days. Still, he's been the fuel in the Rockets' offense in March.
Hilario 5. Nene Hilario G MIN FG% 3P% FT% STL BLK RPG AST PTS PER
70 33.7 .592 .000 .708 1.4 1.0 7.8 2.4 14.0 19.1
Nene has been posting above career average numbers all season long. But I think he still lacks that overdrive effort that will take him to the next level. The Wizards game was a perfect example of this potential that will not come out.
Varejao 6. Anderson Varejao G MIN FG% 3P% FT% STL BLK RPG AST PTS PER
69 29 .569 .200 .665 0.9 0.9 7.9 1.1 8.8 16.1
As I've said many times, Varejao's contributions do not show on stats, but we have to use a standard to measure a player's achievements. He should get much needed help this week when the Cavs get Ilgauskas back.
Villanueva 7. Charlie Villanueva G MIN FG% 3P% FT% STL BLK RPG AST PTS PER
67 24.2 .437 .344 .809 0.6 0.8 4.8 0.6 12.0 15.5
Villanueva has been struggling with all sorts of ailments this season, but he still shows and gives his best. His numbers were better this week, something that can't be said of the Pistons.
Delfino 8. Carlos Delfino G MIN FG% 3P% FT% STL BLK RPG AST PTS PER
64 30.1 .411 .374 .785 1.0 0.3 5.3 2.7 10.8 12.7
Delfino missed a game against the Clippers due to a bruise in his ankle, then bounced back with a 47 minute effort against Sacramento. He had 21 in the Denver victory and is still a reason the Bucks are climbing in the race.
Garcia 9. Francisco Garcia G MIN FG% 3P% FT% STL BLK RPG AST PTS PER
17 23.3 .487 .354 .875 0.3 0.8 2.4 1.8 8.6 13.3
Garcia got his first start of the season on Sunday against the Clippers, and he came with his "A" game. He has been playing close to 30 minutes per game and is very close to tip-top shape. Not bad for a guy whose season started after the All Star Break.
Barea 10. Jose Juan Barea G MIN FG% 3P% FT% STL BLK RPG AST PTS PER
67 20.5 .439 .366 .857 0.4 0.1 2.0 3.4 7.9 12.6
Barea scored 14 or more points twice last week before Dallas cut his minutes short against Boston. He has responded to the challenge presented by Roddy Beaubois with quality play, reclaiming his backup point guard position.
Calderon 11. Jose Calderon G MIN FG% 3P% FT% STL BLK RPG AST PTS PER
54 27.3 .488 .394 .813 0.7 0.1 2.2 5.9 10.8 17.0
Calderon reclaimed his starting position last week from Jarrett Jack. Even though his numbers have not been impressive, you notice the difference in the way he controls the game, another example of unmeasurable stats.
Nocioni 12. Andres Nocioni G MIN FG% 3P% FT% STL BLK RPG AST PTS PER
63 19.3 .405 .377 .707 0.4 0.4 3.0 1.0 8.6 11.8
After a few DNP's in the last few games, Nocioni is getting a chance to display his stuff. He's averaged 8.6 points in March and his plus-minus stat during this stretch was higher than most of the team.
Arroyo 13. Carlos Arroyo G MIN FG% 3P% FT% STL BLK RPG AST PTS PER
60 19.6 .461 .294 .820 0.5 0.1 1.7 2.8 5.3 12.0
Can't figure out Arroyo yet. After pulling a double double two Sundays ago, he still looks timid at times and can't seem to get his best game on full time. On Saturday, he went scoreless and Spoelstra took a chance with Mario Chalmers, his backup.
Najera 14. Eduardo Najera G MIN FG% 3P% FT% STL BLK RPG AST PTS PER
34 14.6 .408 .256 .600 0.5 0.3 2.5 0.7 3.1 8.1
I believe Najera's real season began Jan. 30, when he played his first game for the Mavs. He's played more minutes in Dallas than he did with the Nets. This month alone, he's averaged 20.5 per game, and has grabbed more than half of all his rebounds.
Fernandez 15. Rudy Fernandez G MIN FG% 3P% FT% STL BLK RPG AST PTS PER
51 23 .393 .380 .868 1.1 0.2 2.7 2.0 8.8 14.2
Fernandez is nursing a strained left quadricep which made him miss Sunday's game against Phoenix. His status is to be evaluated day to day. A shame, as he's had a great year with Portland.
Barbosa 16. Leandro Barbosa G MIN FG% 3P% FT% STL BLK RPG AST PTS PER
32 18.8 .423 .327 .860 0.6 0.2 1.6 1.7 10.0 14.5
Barbosa returned to action this week against Minnesota and is still in the process of getting his court rust out of the way. He averaged a bit more than 10 minutes per game and shot close to 50 percent from the field.
Rodriguez 17. Sergio Rodriguez G MIN FG% 3P% FT% STL BLK RPG AST PTS PER
54 15.3 .458 .329 .705 0.9 0.1 1.4 3.3 6.3 15.1
Will Rodriguez be back with the Knicks next season? I have no idea, as he was riding the bench again with no known injuries. On Sunday, he had a DNP-CD in the boxscore.
Oberto 18. Fabricio Oberto G MIN FG% 3P% FT% STL BLK RPG AST PTS PER
44 10.8 .605 .000 .769 0.2 0.2 1.5 0.8 1.3 5.1
Oberto received some very good news last week, as a routine monitoring of his heart showed he's doing well after offseason surgery that corrected an irregular heart beat. His game? The news wasn't as good.
Gasol NR. Marc Gasol G MIN FG% 3P% FT% STL BLK RPG AST PTS PER
67 35.9 .583 .000 .669 1.0 1.6 9.5 2.4 14.8 19.8
The younger Gasol sat all week nursing a strained neck. No timetable has been set for his return.

ESPN Conversations


You must be signed in to post a comment

Already have an account?

You are fully responsible for the content you post. Content that includes profanity, personal attacks or antisocial behavior (such as "spamming" or "trolling"), or other inappropriate content or material will be removed. We reserve the right to block any user who violates our terms of use, including removing all content posted by that user.

NBA Video Archive

• Manu tours Argentina with Popovich

Rockin' Rocket

Marc Stein
ESPN.com

There are two theories in circulation to explain Luis Scola's recent career-best run of five consecutive 20-and-10 games in Houston.

1) The attention newcomer Kevin Martin is drawing from opposing defenses with his movement off the ball -- imagining how he'll mesh next to Yao Ming next season with his ability to put teams in the penalty by drawing fouls is what got the Rockets so interested -- is loosening things up for Scola.

2) Scola has been playing like a man unburdened since the passing of the Feb. 18 trade deadline.

One source close to the Argentinean says that the unsettling prospect of being dealt, no matter how much his Houston bosses assured him that he wouldn't be moved, had seeped into Scola's psyche.

Since the deadline? Scola finds himself with a bigger role because the Rockets had to surrender Carl Landry to Sacramento in the Martin deal and has responded with nine double-doubles in 13 games.

In March alone, Scola is averaging 23.1 points and 12.8 rebounds. Which makes him an interesting name for your list of 2010 free agents no one's talking about, even if the 29-year-old is only a restricted free agent, meaning that Houston will have the right to match any offer sheet Scola receives.

Pau Wins West Honors

Dave McMenamin
ESPNLosAngeles.com

Pau Gasol left Sunday's game against the Wizards holding a stack of about a dozen cut-out photos of his head on popsicle sticks, taking home a few souvenirs after the 18,997 people in attendance at Staples Center were given the "Pau-sicles" as part of the league's Noche Latina promotion.

It was a big end to a big week for Gasol, as the NBA announced Monday that he was named the Western Conference player of the week for games played March 15-21.

The 7-foot forward averaged 24.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.0 block while shooting 68.5 percent (third best in the NBA) from the field. The Los Angeles Lakers went 4-0 during the week, beating Golden State, Sacramento, Minnesota and Washington.

Gasol will receive a plaque of commendation from the league, but the giveaway on Sunday was already a good enough prize for the three-time All-Star.

"It was cool," Gasol said. "I hope that the fans had fun with it, that they don't throw them away, that they don't do anything weird with them. & It was cool to see 20,000 Pau's heads hanging out in the stands."

Dave McMenamin covers the Lakers for ESPNLosAngeles.com.