Know Thy Self - A Look at Jeff Teague

Jeff Demarco Teague

Twitter: Teague0

Nickname: None

Born: 6/10/1988 in Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis has the nickname the crossroads of America because of the roads leading to major midwestern cities in all directions. I've always thought Indianapolis was similar to Atlanta and Los Angeles as the lack of natural barriers allow it to sprawl uncontrollably. Recently a survey by University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee concluded that Indianapolis is the least segregated city in the country with 25% of the population living on a city block with at least one black and white neighbor. The city is obviously known for racing with the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400. Eli Lilly and HH Gregg are companies headquartered there. Famous people from Indianapolis include Steve McQueen, David Letterman, Jane Pauley, John Dillinger and author Kurt Vonnegut. I wouldn't call music a strength of Indianapolis, but Babyface was born there. In terms of athletes, Indianapolis has become a hot bed for basketball players like Mike Conley Jr, Eric Gordon, George Hill, Courtney Lee, and the unlucky Greg Oden. The greatest athlete from Indianapolis has to be the Big O, Oscar Robertson, but the most famous might be the legendary coach of UCLA John Wooden, who's in the basketball hall of fame as both a player and a coach.

College: Wake Forest

Wake Forest is the smallest of the Atlantic Coast Conference schools in enrollment and the 3rd oldest (behind UNC and Virginia). Originally it was the Wake Forest Manual Labor Institute. The Demon Deacons count many famous people among their alumni like long time North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms, Carroll O'Connor (probably most recognized as Archie Bunker), and David Chase, the creator of the Sopranos. In sports Wake Forest is really known for two things, golf and basketball. In basketball, everyone knows Tim Duncan and Chris Paul, but basketball announcer and curmudgeon Billy Packer was a star at Wake about 50 years ago. In golf, Wake Forest counts among its alumni Curtis Strange, Lanny Watkins, and Jay Haas. But the real jewel of the golf program and the most famous athlete from Wake Forest has to be Arnold Palmer. Tim Duncan's great, but tell me when he has a drink named for him.

Personal Notes: Jeff Teague majored in religion while at Wake Forest. Jeff's dad, Shawn, played for Rick Pitino in college at Boston University. His brother Marquis is a rookie with Chicago. This is a potentially rough time of the year for Jeff as he says he is afraid of haunted houses. In college Jeff scored exactly 1000 points in just 2 years.

ESPN Top 500 rank: 109 just behind Shane Battier (107) and Devin Harris (108) but tied with Wes Matthews (109) just ahead of Chauncey Billups (110).

Wingspan: 79.5"

basketball-reference.com sponsorship price: $45 - think of this as a Q-rating for basketball. Better known players have hiring rates because in theory their stat page will get visited more often.

Horoscope: As a Gemini I found this free sports horoscope for the year: Certain professional concern arrives in the long term, this year. Indeed, here that solution arrives thanks to outside assistances, proposals, etc…. You begin the year with a beautiful note of jupiterian optimism, which brings a promising relational chance to you. You will collect the fruits in November of them, for the hour, this is the moment to launch useful preparations. It is up to you to keep a minimum of opening and especially of flexibility.

Chinese Zodiac: Born in the year of the Dragon. People under the sign of the dragon are lively, intellectual, energetic and excitable. They often can be leaders and try to go for perfection. When they meet with difficulties, they are not discouraged. They are a little arrogant and impatient. They have a nature ardent to excess and couldn't withstand setbacks which make them flee away. If they overcome these defects, they can have a brighter future.

It is the turn of them to encounter their birth year, a year to offend 'Taisui’, the god in charge of people’s fortune. To ensure their own safety, they should be tolerant and low-keyed. Good and bad luck are coming fifty-fifty.

Workplace Compatibility:
Work best with roosters (Kyle Korver and DeShawn Stevenson) and pigs (Devin Harris).
Not so good with rats (Zaza Pachulia and Ivan Johnson), monkeys and dogs (none on the roster).

Stats: This block is a combination of data from basketball-reference.com and 82games.com to give an idea of the playing style and effectiveness of a player.

Quick Analysis: Solid stats for a player essentially getting playing time for the first time in his career. Turnovers are a bit high and one would assume that his assist numbers should go up this year without an iso heavy half court system. Teague draws fouls at a much lower rate than one would expect considering the percentage of inside shots he takes. I chalk that up to not getting any respect from the officials. If he gets his fair share of calls this year he should see a boost in his offensive efficiency. The stats don't show his biggest asset which is his quickness with the ball. The rankings are out of 478 players listed on basket-reference.com for last season with no qualifying minimums to provide some context for the numbers.

Hopefully, you feel you know a little more about Jeff Teague than before. Let me know what you think in your comments. Do you think Jeff can play consistently with confidence to break out this year? Or does Jeff lose playing time to more consistent veteran options?