div align = "center" MASON REDD VAN EXEL KIRILENKO WILLIAMSON PPG - SEASON 13.7 15.4 12.2 13.2 11.8 RPG 6.8 4.8 3.0 5.4 4.2 APG 1.3 1.5 4.8 2.0 1.3 MPG 33.1 29.6 27.0 26.9 24.1 FG % .437 .465 .394 .523 .422 PPG - WEEK 23.0 13.0 8.7 13.3 14.5 RPG 8.0 4.8 2.7 4.3 4.0 APG 1.0 1.3 3.7 2.7 2.5

Andrei Kirilenko has improved the Utah bench. Kent Horner/NBAE

THE SKINNY
A change on the list. With San Antonio’s Stephen Jackson firmly entrenched in the starting lineup (he’s started the team’s last eight games), he can no longer be considered a Sixth Man Award candidate. In his place, Utah forward Andrei Kirilenko has been added. Kirilenko was certainly not absent from the list because he wasn’t playing well, but only now is it becoming apparent that he will stay on the bench. Utah Coach Jerry Sloan seems content to use less-productive Calbert Cheaney as a starter instead of pairing Matt Harpring and Kirilenko, both small forwards by trade. The lanky Russian capped his first week being tracked with 20 points against Toronto on Monday. Not showing up in the stats above, he also blocked 13 shots in three games and now ranks 10th in the NBA in this category.

Sonics swingman Desmond Mason got a chance to rest this week, playing only one game. In that one, starting in the place of an ailing Rashard Lewis, Mason posted 23 points and eight rebounds to shake off a recent slump. With shooting guard Brent Barry also hampered by patella tendinitis in his left knee, Mason may get more chances to start in the near future, but when the team is healthy he’ll return to the bench.

Detroit’s Corliss Williamson continues his charge. A slow start to this season can surely be considered the fluke, not his award-winning 2001-02 season. Williamson put up 14.5 points over two games and continues to improve his numbers across the board. Going the other way is Nick Van Exel, in the midst of a major slump. Van Exel’s field goal percentage has fallen below 40%. On Thursday against the Clippers, Van Exel had just five points and one assist. Holding steady is Milwaukee’s Michael Redd. Redd started in place of an injured Ray Allen on Tuesday but scored just two points on 1-for-7 shooting. He did have 21 against New Jersey earlier in a four-game week.

Who will replace great sixth men like Dell Curry? Ron Turenne/NBAE

WHERE HAVE ALL THE SIXTH MEN GONE?
One thing that rapidly becomes apparent tracking Sixth Man Award candidates is that, frankly, there aren’t all that many of them. A statistical analysis makes this clearer. There are only 12 regular reserves (defined as starting less than half their games played and playing at least half their games) scoring at least double-figures this season. In addition to the five tracked above, they include Earl Boykins (Warriors), Marcus Fizer (Bulls), Lucious Harris (Nets), Lindsey Hunter (Raptors), Jackson, Toni Kukoc (Bucks) and Vladimir Radmanovic (SuperSonics). Not even all of these players are truly “sixth men”; Harris and Jackson have bolstered their stats as starters, while Kukoc and Radmanovic get second billing on their own benches behind Redd and Mason. 12 players is significantly down from last season, when 23 regular reserves scored double-figures. 18 players were in the group during the 2000-01 season, and 16 during 1999-00.

Part of the reason for the lack of high-scoring sixth men, to be sure, is the general decline in scoring this season. The Denver Nuggets, to cite an extreme example, can’t even find more than one starter to score double-figures, let alone a reserve. Injuries have also thinned the ranks of sixth men, with players like Sacramento’s Bobby Jackson forced into the starting lineup. Additionally, scoring is not the definitive measure of a player; Atlanta’s Alan Henderson may not score much, but his 6.2 rebounds per game make him a valuable reserve.

That all said, few amongst even today’s top sixth men seem able to compare to greats of the past like Dale Ellis, Eddie Johnson, Ricky Pierce, and Dell Curry. While not playing their entire careers as reserves, each spent a lengthy period as their team’s scoring option off the bench (and each, save for Ellis, won the Sixth Man Award). Those were players that could be counted on for instant offense as reserves year after year. Williamson might fall into that category of player and has carved himself a niche on the bench, but the other four top candidates this season are players who are not starting primarily because of their teams’ depth at the position. As young players, Mason, Redd and Kirilenko will surely get their shots as starters in the near future, while Van Exel started his entire career before being traded to Dallas last February. And with all due respect to Boykins, nobody is mentioning him and Ellis in the same breath.

Perhaps the next great career sixth man is already in the NBA, waiting to be discovered (Phoenix’s Casey Jacobsen is a strong candidate) or perhaps one of these players will surprise by carving out his own niche. For the time being, however, it looks like the NBA’s golden age of sixth men has passed.

ABOUT THE SIXTH MAN AWARD
Most recent winner: Corliss Williamson, Detroit (complete list of winners)

No Sonic has ever won the Sixth Man Award, though several honorees have played for the Sonics (Eddie Johnson, Ricky Pierce, and Detlef Schrempf). The best Sonic finish was by current Coach Nate McMillan, who placed second during the 1993-94 season to Charlotte’s Dell Curry.

Eligibility: In order to be eligible for Sixth Man voting, a player must come off the bench for more games than he starts in.

PAST SIXTH MAN CENTRALS