Zach Randolph named ‘Western Conference Player of the Week’
The face of the Memphis Grizzlies franchise, Zach Randolph has been named the Western Conference Player of the Week for the week spanning from 24-30 January, it was announced today by the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Z-Bo, as he is famously known, took the award ahead of New Orleans' Chris Paul, Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Sacramento's DeMarcus Cousins and San Antonio's Manu Ginobili. After being crowned the player of the week, Randolph is now
the odds on favourite to sweep the player of the month honour as well.
Randolph leads the NBA in double-doubles (15) and offensive rebounding (5.3), while averaging 23.1 points and 14.5 rebounds across the board (3rd in the NBA). He has been awarded this laurel for the second time this month. The occasion also marks only the
third time any Grizzlies player has achieved this feat.
Zach Randolph is undoubtedly one of NBA’s most phenomenal post scorers and rebounders. A player who can single-handedly turn the game on its head, Randolph is averaging a double-double in points and boards for the fifth season in a row, which is the second
longest active streak in the league behind Orlando’s Dwight Howard. Building on his All-Star campaign from last season, Randolph is on the cusp of breaking his own franchise record for rebounding (11.6), set in his first outing with the Grizzlies in 2009-10.
However, off late it is not only Z-Bo’s individual brilliance that is under the spotlight, but it is the magnitude of his influence in turning his team’s season around that has left the league bewitched. The Grizzlies are 13-7, whenever Zach strikes at least
20 points and 10 rebounds. Randolph has lifted Memphis to a 10-6 record this month, the Grizzlies’ best month since January 2010 (10-5) when he went on a similar streak.
In the week under the scanner, Randolph marshalled his franchise to an impressive 3-1 week with wins over the Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers and the Washington Wizards.
Recording a double-double every time he set foot on the court this week, Randolph started the week with a 17-point and 12 rebound performance, as the Grizzlies just edged past the Raptors with a 100-98 win. The sizzling forward followed that with another
monumental effort, notching up 20 points and 16 rebounds against the New Jersey Nets. His efforts proved futile on the night though, as the Grizzlies lost steam down the stretch to choke up at 93-88.
The setback didn’t affect the 10-year veteran though, as he was back in his groove against the Philadelphia 76ers in the very next game. Z-Bo not only pounded 22 points and 12 rebounds in the 31 minutes he was on court, but also reached a personal milestone
of surpassing 11,000 career points. At the end of the game, Randolph had more career points (11,005) than the rest of the entire Grizzlies team (10,763) aside from Rudy g*y and O.J. Mayo.
The 6ft 9in, 255-pounder however, reserved his best for the last game against the Washington Wizards. He mustered up impressive figures of 24 points and 20 rebounds, which marked the fifth game this season in which he has posted at least 20 points and 20
rebounds. Before the 2010-11 season, Randolph had just managed that feat four times in his first nine NBA seasons.
The 29-year-old forward isn’t just making the Grizzlies proud on the court; he has also been their lucky charm off it. In addition to the two ‘Player of the week’ awards this month, Randolph also won the NBA Cares Community Assist Award in December 2010.
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