The list of players who have gotten a 20-20 game this season is basically a list of the best centers in the game: DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond, Dwight Howard, DeAndre Jordan, and Hassan Whiteside. A who’s who of traditional bigmen who know how to grab the rock from the sky.
Willie Reed was two rebounds short of joining that elite club tonight. Yes, Willie Reed. I agree. It IS really messed up. 22 points and 18 rebounds was his statline tonight, a statline born from the Heat having only one other dude who could conceivably play center available to play. Since Udonis Haslem isn’t exactly capable of playing big minutes these days, the responsibility fell to Not Willis to imitate as best he could what he watched Hassan Whiteside do from his place on the bench.
Damn, I’m thinking again about how sick it would have been for him to drop a 20-20 game. What he did is still one of the most unexpected performances of the year, but 20-20 has a certain mystique about it that 22-18 lacks.
P.S. He looks WAY too much like Greg Monroe.