Ahhhh yes. Since you enjoyed nos. 1-30 so much, I wanted to make
sure 31-50 gets up ASAP. So, with brief statements as to why they are
ranked where they’re ranked, here are the remainder of the Top 50
ballers in the NBA.
31. Lamar Odom, LA Lakers: If LO has his health and
his sanity, he’s a top 15 player. If I have one wish for Odom it is
that everything goes well on and off the court this season.
32. Kevin Martin, Sacramento: Surprise! Thought I’d
forget about K-Mart II? He’s the 21st century Reggie Miller. Martin is
a better athlete than Miller who made his name on defense. Sure he
slipped on “D” last season, but says he’s committed to both ends of the
court this season ———- and he can shoot, really shoot.
33. Ben Gordon, Chicago:
At 6'2? The Commissioner guards taller shooting guards and does an
excellent job. Plus, who is The Man when it’s time to take a big shot
in Chi-town?
34. Kirk Hinrich, Chicago: Captain K is a baaaaad young man. Clutch, tough defensively, and a good decision-maker. Plus, he always seems to get under the opponents’ skin.
35. Marcus Camby, Denver: He does everything, but like Mary, there’s something about Marcus ———— that keeps him from being ranked higher.
36. Stephen Jackson, Golden State: He’s probably
nowhere on anyone’s list, but he shoots the rock and is a leader (yes,
he’s a captain of the Warriors this season). And defense? Ask Dirk.
37. Joe Johnson, Atlanta: He’s a lot like S-Jax right above him but can he carry a team?
38. Chris Paul, New Orleans: That’s right, behind
Hinrich. CPIII can do it all, but is he ready to take that next step to
that next level? We’ll find out this season.
39. Dwight Howard, Orlando: “The Big Christianity”
is on the move up. Howard is so young and has so much potential he
might be #27 by the All-Star break. Right now, though, he needs some
offense. One move, just one - two would be real nice.
40.Tayshaun Prince, Detroit: Tay-Tay is not quite proficient enough on offense to be ranked any higher.
41. Elton Brand, LA Clippers: EB is nice and on a lot of nights cannot be stopped. On other nights he looks lost.
42. David West, New Orleans: The silent assassin is
a sleeper pick - as in people sleep on D-Dub. At 18 and 8 in Byron
Scott’s defense wins games style of play, West must be doing many thing
right.
43. Raja Bell, Phoenix: Think about it. Who else is
his team’s lockdown defender every night - and can actually bother Kobe
Bryant, provides all the toughness for his team, has no play run for
him but gets 14.7 a game, and never rests on his laurels? Ray-Jay,
that’s who.
44. Gerald Wallace, Charlotte: One more year like last year and G-Wall vaults into the top 25.
46. Vince Carter, New Jersey: Did you know that VC
is a vampire? You didn’t know? Every time the light shines on Carter he
runs for the shadows. Plus, there’s knees and defense, defense and
knees - and Carter has neither.
47. Andrea Bargnani, Toronto: Wha-?! Who? The dude
who is 6'10?, 6'11? shoots like Dirk but can take threes off the
dribble, plus plays defense and is a better athlete, that’s who.
48. Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia: The “other” AI is set to do some thangs this season.
49. Al Jefferson, Minnesota: I’m sticking my neck
out a bit on Big Al. He was a quiet monster for Boston last season.
Playing in the West will either expose him, or make everyone including
me understand just how good he is. I hope it’s the latter.
50. T.J. Ford, Jose Calderon, Toronto: They aren’t
one point guard split into two? T.J.-Jose Calderford averages 22.7 ppg,
4.8 boards, and 12.9 assists a game. They, uhh, he is/are the engine(s)
that make the Raps flow like Jay-Z way back on Reasonable Doubt. With stats like those shouldn’t this-these guy(s) actually be ranked higher?
No. 1 - Virtually: With this year’s cover, with
heated areas on every inch of the offensive end and unlimited range,
and plus because he was reading The Best Damn Sports Blog while conducting an interview that
would be published nationally, the EA Sports version of Gilberto Gil,
aka Hibachi, aka Agent Zero, aka Gilbert Arenas is the Virtual Numero
Uno in my basketball heart.
Well, that’s it peeps. That’s my Fiddy. Now it’s time for you to tell me what you think.
Oh, and the Arenas mention, read this:
Gilberto Gil, aka, Agent Zero, aka Hibachi, aka, Gilbert Arenas, Washington Wizards point guard was looking at The NBA's Projected Top 50 Players for 2007-08: Numbers 11-20 while talking to an Associated Press reporter:
Stop him for a few questions after a training camp practice, and
out slides a mention of how that very morning he was reading one
person’s preseason ranking of top NBA players and was shocked —
shocked! — to find himself down at No. 20.
“Duncan’s No. 1, Kobe’s No. 2. Then they’ve got all them bums in
front of me,” Arenas said this week, a can-you-believe-it? tone in his
voice and mischief in his eyes. “I’m 20; I feel I’m in the top five.
There’s motivation right there.”
I got big love for ya Gil! Do your thing this season, be that team leader and you’ll be in the top 10 by the All-star break!
Odom is right where he should be. If he was ranked way too high (according to RICKO), then why have all the trade rumors circulating around Odom involved top tier players like KG, Jermaine O'Neal, and Shawn Marion? Because Lamar Odom is considered top-tier among NBA circles.
Dwight "Howard The Dunk" should be in the top 15 right now, no question.
I would replace Kevin Martin with Tayshaun Prince. Martin still has a lot to prove in this league as far as consistency year in and year out, something which the Fresh Prince of Compton has done over the last 5+ years.
DIZZLE - most of those trade rumors also included Andrew Bynum, and unhappy superstars such as the ones you mentioned are almost always traded for way less than their actual value. In no way is Odom a top-tier player.
You know, this list was pretty bad before, but lost every shred of credibility when Elton Brand clocked in at #41. That's absolutely and completely indefensible. He either has to be completely off the list as he's injured for the whole season, or he needs to be in the top 25. I'm not even going to mention all the other inaccuracies on this list because it's just not worth wasting my time.
"Because Lamar Odom is considered top-tier among NBA circles." Sure he is. That's why they were all rumors rather than fact. And why the rumors always included another player.
Nice to see J-Dizz is still delusional as we head in to another season.
GO LAKERS!!!!!!!!!! (And take the Clippers with you).
I'm supposed to be impressed by 20-13 in 3 games against the third fastest team in the league with the 14th best defense and near the bottom of the league in rebounding?
Despite his talent, Odom has been a mediocre player for his entire career, and there's no reason to think that this year will be any different.
XPPHOENIX: Mediocre ONLY in the regular season. That's the Lakers fans' biggest complaint.
But if you compare his regular season stats versus his playoff career stats with LA, you will see that his numbers go up substantially.
This is what the Lakers like about Odom. He is not Alex Rodriguez. He steps it up when it counts and the regular season inconsistency can easily be corrected just like when Scottie Pippen blossomed into the player he was after struggling for most of the beginning of his career. Do you remember when Pip was subject to so many trade rumors early in his career 'cause of his Odom-like inconsistency? I bet Krause is happy he never moved him.
And yes you are supposed to be impressed with those numbers against Phoenix because it shows he takes it to another level in the postseason. And it doesn't matter who you play against. In the playoffs it's all intensity 100% so all players are playing at the top of their game.
The fact that Odom does it against Phoenix is even more impressive because he does it against perennial defensive player of the year candidate Shawn Marion.
Last edited by J-DIZZLE on October 11th at 5:50 PM.
"But if you compare his regular season stats versus his playoff career stats with LA, you will see that his numbers go up substantially."
That all depends on what numbers you're looking at. Sure, his points and rebounds went up (I'm not sure where ricko got that 18.3, Odom's actual RPG against Phoenix in the playoffs is 11.8), that's great. His FG% even goes up by two points in the playoffs. However, his three-point shooting declines precipitously (over 10 points below his regular season average), his A/T ratio drops to right around 1, and his free throw percentage drops off drastically.
If we look at just his playoff statistics with the Lakers (he actually played worse in the playoffs with the Heat by most any statistical measure), it absolutely matters who he was playing against. Those two Phoenix teams were the fastest and 3rd fastest teams in the league, meaning PPG and RPG will go up simply by virtue of more possessions. They also ranked #14 and #16 in defense. As far as rebounding goes, the 05-06 Suns were last in the league in offensive rebounding and 19th in defensive rebounding while last year's version was
29th and 20th in those categories.
Odom is debateably better in the postseason, and if so, it's only slightly better.
You can't compare Pippen and Odom. Pippen was absolutely brilliant on both ends of the court from his 4th year on until he left Chicago. Odom has shown nothing near Pippen's level of play over his 8 season career, not on offense and especially not on defense.
XPPhOENIX: The argument as to how much better Odom is in the playoffs is indeed debateable to onlookers from the outside. But to those who watch the Lakers every game, there is absolutely no question that ODOM is 10 times better in the playoffs. Ask any Lakers fan out there.
I watch every game of every single season including preseason and practice film and if you saw as much Odom as I have you will see his value to the Lakers is similar to that of Marion's value to the Suns.
And those statistics you pointed out regarding his FT% and three-point shooting are irrelevant to the argument because the Lakers don't look to Odom for threes and free throws therefore you don't expect Odom to focus on that in the playoffs. His primary role is to score, grab rebounds, play solid D, and be a facilitator. The bottom line is that his overall production increases in the playoffs.
Robert Horry, for example, has poor numbers in the regular season but why does everyone talk about him in the playoffs? Which GM wouldn't want Horry on their team in the playoffs?
And if you look at my comment regarding Pip and Odom, I was not comparing their level of play but rather the evolution of their game, going from an inconsistent performer to becoming a perennial All-Star.
Odom has not yet proven that he is All-Star caliber because all-stars do it night in and night out and Odom has not shown he can do it. But there is still time for Odom to make progress and prove that he belongs and I am hoping that he will come into his own this season and finally realize his potential.
Last edited by J-DIZZLE on October 11th at 9:28 PM.
In what universe is FT% not relevant in the playoffs? Seriously, you don't think Odom shooting just over 60% from the line is a factor? Also, Odom shoots nearly 3 three-pointers a game in the playoffs, so I'm pretty sure the percentage he shoots them at is relevant.
The bottom line is actually that Odom's overall production doesn't significantly increase in the postseason, I'm pretty sure I just explained that.
Horry actually doesn't have poor numbers in the regular season. He doesn't get lots of points or rebounds because he's a complementary player, which is exactly what he is in the postseason. He has always, playoffs or not, been an excellent defender and very efficient scorer as a support player. Horry's penchant for hitting big shots in the playoffs just makes his playoff performances stand out more.
The comparison between Pip and Odom doesn't make sense because Pippen evolved very quickly into an elite player. Odom has had 8 years to prove that he can play at a high level, and he hasn't ever lived up to his promise.
Wow, Dizz. I guess all I can say is keep pumping up your guy Odom. Too bad we'll have to wait until next year to see him improve on his playoff numbers, 'cause it ain't gonna happen this year.
Sports is a reflection of our society and this is the perspective from which I write. I'm going to tell you the truth as I see it; nothing more, nothing less. If you agree, that's great. If you don't agree, that's cool, too. Either way, just let me know. That's what I'm here for.
