Youth on the rise.

As well as an abundance of injuries this season, there has been an intense increase in the youth performance, filling in or just simply stepping up to the occasion here are some projections. Darren Collison, after showing himself a consistent point guard who can help keep the Hornets afloat should be great for the next 1-2 weeks before Chris Paul's return. After the return, look for Collison to be Chris Paul's crutch, helping him rest the ailing knee for at least a couple games. He may even start along side Paul and take the ball up the court to rest Chris just a little bit during games. Marcus Thorton should not be hindered at all in the final stretch of the season unless he hits the rookie wall. Many people believe Chris Paul's return will actually hinder Thorton, but having a better point guard who is more of a three point threat who can also draw multiple guard defenders should pose Thorton for more open threes and offensive opportunities. He's earned his playing time at the shooting guard position and should hold his minutes. Andray Blatche has blown the minds of Washington fans and basketball fans around the world. Averaging 25.5 points a game over the past 8 games, and 11.4 rebounds he has literally become a monster and not to forget that the Wizards are actually .500 over those 8 games. A Major achievement for them. The questions on every ones minds right now are will it last? Is he that talented or is he just stepping into the roll do to player vacancies? And finally, what can we expect from him through the rest of the season. Will it last? For at least a while. He's shown that he can sustain it, so now the only concern is will teams figure out how to cover him? That's a possibility but not one to count on for at least another week. Yes he is a talented player, but he is not a star. Not a present one or a future one. Rudy Gay is still a better player, so is Troy Murphy, Andrew Bynum and a large cast of other players that people are considering equal to him. Let's not forget that Stucky on the Detroit Pistons was player of the week earlier in the season and what has he done since?