Yesterday I did a points system to determine who was the best player in the NBA, but that was unfair since it is harder for the smalls the rebound and harder for the bigs to shoot. I'm putting in shooting just to give Dirk a chance. The points go by how they compare to other bigs.
Inside Game - Post Game - Rebounding - Blocking - Shooting
Tim Duncan:10 - 10 - 9 - 7 - 5
Kevin Garnett: 9 - 10 - 9 - 6 - 6
Chris Bosh:10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 5
Yao Ming:10 - 9 - 7 - 6 - 6
Dwight Howard:10 - 10 - 10 - 7 - 3
Shaquille O'Neal: 8 - 8 - 7 - 5 - 3
Dirk Nowitzki: 6 - 6 - 6 - 4 - 10
Carlos Boozer:8 - 8 - 7 - 5 - 6
Andrew Bynum:9 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 4
Greg Oden: 7 - 7 - 8 - 7 - 4
Jermaine O'Neal:8 - 8 - 7 - 7 - 5
LaMarcus Aldridge:9 - 8 - 7 - 5 - 5
Pau Gasol: 9 - 7 - 7 - 6 - 5
Grand Totals:
1)Tim Duncan - 41 points
2)Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard - 40 points
3)Chris Bosh - 39 points
4)Yao Ming - 38 points
5)Andrew Bynum - 37 points
6)Jermaine O'Neal - 35 points
7)Pau Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge, Carlos Boozer - 34 points
8)Greg Oden - 33 points
9)Dirk Nowitzki - 32 points
10)Shaquille O'Neal - 31 points
Its a little unfair for Dirk since he plays more like a small forward.
I read a blog that ranked the NBA teams using a points system and now I am going to that, but instead I will be using a points system to find who is the best player in the NBA.
Inside Game (IG) Shooting (S) Passing (P) Defense (D) Clutch (C) Rebounding (R)
Kobe Bryant-
10 - 8 - 7 - 8 - 10 - 6
Lebron James-
10 - 6 - 7 - 7 - 8 - 7
Paul Pierce-
8 - 7 - 4 - 6 - 6 - 5
Chris Paul-
10 - 6 - 10 - 6 - 6 - 5
Tim Duncan-
10 - 3 - 5 - 10 - 8 - 10
Kevin Garnett-
10 - 4 - 10 - 5 - 10
Dwyane Wade-
10 - 6 - 7 - 7 - 8 - 6
Carmelo Anthony-
10 - 7 - 4 - 5 - 10 - 6
Allen Iverson-
10 - 7 - 7 - 5 - 10 - 4
Dwight Howard-
10 - 1 - 3 - 10 - 6 - 10
Grand Totals:
1) Kobe Bryant - 49 points
2) Tim Duncan - 46 points
3) Lebron James - 45 points
4) Dwyane Wade - 44 points
5) Chris Paul, Allen Iverson, Kevin Garnett - 43 points
In Part 1 of "How To Make Champions" I will give my ideas for trades and signings for some of the better playoff teams and champion contenders that could propel them to win the Championship. According to ESPN Trade Machine these trades work salary-wise and would probably be accepted by the GM's who want to win more.
LOS ANGELES LAKERS
The Lakers don't need to improve player-wise as much as they need to get tougher, stronger, better under pressure, better at defense, and a killer instinct. Kobe is the only one on the team that has all of those things, but if the others players get it then they will be championship favorites. But some trades could be done to make the Lakers a lot better. The best one would be to trade Lamar Odom and Joe Crawford to the Kings for Ron Artest and John Salmons. This would give the Lakers someone who would be perfect for the starting small forward position on their team. After the trade the Lakers could sign James Posey for the full 5.8 million mid-level exception and sign Theo Ratliff or Alonzo Mourning for a backup center. James Posey and Ron Artest can both shoot and drive on offense and are two of the best perimeter defenders in the league on defense. Having both of them on your team along with Kobe and Ariza would give you the best SG/SF guarding group in the league. The Lakers could also Lamar Odom and a 2nd round draft pick to the Pistons for Tayshaun Prince, a 1st round draft pick (or Arron Afflalo) and Theo Ratliff (sign and trade). If they did this trade they could then do the same signings as they did for the other trade. The Lakers should resign both Ronny Turiaf and Sasha Vujacic also.
BOSTON CELTICS
The Celtics won it all last year and all they need to do to get back to the Finals is to sign the players that are free agents and add a good role player power forward to take P.J. Brown's spot. The Celtics don't need to make any trades unless they wanted to do something stupid like trading Ray Allen and a pick for Rip Hamilton??? Even though Rip is a better defender and more consistent they don't want to ruin chemistry. They need to get a backup point guard and a backup center as well.
DETROIT PISTONS
The Pistons are the championshp contender that will probably be involved in the most trade rumors this offseason because of Joe Dumar's statements about trading his stars. The Pistons should keep Billups or Hamilton and Prince. They should trade Rasheed if they can get equal value for him. They should trade Rasheed Wallace, Arron Afflalo, Amir Johnson, a 2nd round draft pick, and Antonio McDyess to the Bulls for Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Tyrus Thomas, and Andres Nocioni. If they were to trade Billups they shoud trade him and some other players to the Nuggets for Allen Iverson. If they were to trade Hamilton then they should trade him and Amir Johnson to the Cavaliers for Wally Sczerbiak (expiring contract), three 1st round draft picks, and another good, young, and cheap player.
NEW ORLEANS HORNETS
The New Orleans Hornets didn't end last season in disappointment in themselves like other teams did, because they had done far more than anyone expected and had brought basketball back to New Orleans. Hornets don't need to improve on anything except for their bench, defense, and point guard play. The Hornets don't need to make any major trades unless someone offers them one they can't refuse. That is all I have to say about the Hornets. Just kidding about needing to improve the point guard play for all those people who don't know what a joke is.
SAN ANTONIO SPURS
The Spurs aren't getting any younger and that is why their chance at another championship is getting smaller. The Spurs should try and sign Corey Maggette if he is interested. Since he probably isn't since the Celtics want to sign him they should just throw their name out there to James Posey who won't be returning to the Celtics if Maggette is signed. Their big 3 is fine but they need to get younger and more energetic role players. They could just let their free agents go and sign some younger players to make their bench.
PG: Derek Fisher SG: Kobe Bryant SF: Ron Artest PF: Tim Duncan C: Andrew Bynum
San Antonio Spurs
PG: Tony Parker SG: Manu Ginobili SF: Bruce Bowen PF: Pau Gasol C: Joel Przybilla
Portland Trailblazers
PG: Steve Blake SG: Brandon Roy SF: James Jones PF: LaMarcus Aldridge C: Brad Miller
Sacramento Kings
PG: Beno Udrih SG: Kevin Martin SF: Lamar Odom PF: Spencer Hawes C: Mikki Moore
This trade would make the Lakers a much better team, because they would have good defenders and mentally tough players on the frontline. The Kings would get a playmaker in Lamar along with a good shooter and some other role players. The Blazers would get Brad Miller's contract which, when it expires in 3 years and Raef's in 2 years they would have 22 million dollars to spend. The Spurs would make their team younger so they can build for the future with Ginobili and Parker.
This is my 2008 NBA Playoffs edition of power rankings. I will only include the 4 teams that made it to the conference finals.
1. Los Angeles Lakers (12-3)
The Lakers have the best home and road record in the playoffs, which also means they have the best overall playoff record. They have been consistent all playoffs and even blew out the defending champs by 30 in game 2 of the western conference finals and surprisingly beat them in 5 games. Now they have the Boston Celtics in the Finals.
2. Boston Celtics (12-8)
They had the best regular season record at 66-16, but that hasn't translated into a dominating postseason. They made the Finals but it took them 20 out of a possible 21 games to get there. Now they have the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals.
3. Detroit Pistons (10-7)
They made it to the conference finals relatively easy, but then they just stopped playing good except for the Rodney Stuckey, Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Antonio McDyess, and Jason Maxiell. They were eliminated in 6 games because of some underperformers in game 6.
4. San Antonio Spurs (9-8)
The defending champs were eliminated in 5 games by the Lakers, including being blown out by 30 in game 2. They were just too old and too tired after the 7-games series with the Hornets. They had big leads on the Lakers in games 1 and 5, but weren't able to hold them.
This was my last version of Power Rankings for the playoffs. My next version of power rankings and the MVP race will be the week before the preseason.
This is the finals of my player rankings in the NBA according to position. In my first post I had Dwight Howard beating Amare Stoudemire and Yao Ming for best center, Tim Duncan beating Kevin Garnett for best power forward, Carmelo Anthony narrowly beating Lebron James for best small forward, Kobe Bryant easily winning best shooting guard and Chris Paul winning a very close contest for best point guard against Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, Deron Williams, Baron Davis and Jason Kidd. I will give an analysis for each player in this final round.
I will start with Frontcourt Players.
Dwight Howard: He is a super-physical center who is one of the best dunkers in the league even though he is 6-11. He is a great shot blocker with an average of 2.2 per game. He can also rebound better than any one else with his league leading average of 14.40 per game. On the offensive end he is a force with an average of 21.0 points per game and the most dunks by a player in the NBA this season. He is only 22 and is already the most dominant big man in the game.
Tim Duncan: He is a veteran with a lot of playoff and finals experience. Tim Duncan has an extremely high basketball I.Q. and know how to lead a team to the next level. He has never been a Shaq-like dominant player but he has done everything to get his team a chamionship. This season he is averaging 19.6 points per game and 11.40 rebounds per game. One of his signatures moves is his bank shot which is very hard to guard. His career is nearing the final years but he is still one of the best in the league. Some people consider him a center and some consider him a power foward, but for this post I'm calling him a power forward.
Carmelo Anthony: As a young player with a lot of potential and skill, Carmelo is averaging 26.1 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per game. He has a nice turn-around jumpshot which it seems not many people can guard. He is a very good all around player who really excels on the offensive end of the court. He is not known for his defense but is good at knocking the ball away from people when they are trying to score. He was the leading scorer for a USA team that had Kobe Bryant and Lebron James on it. He is 4th in the NBA in scoring and has really improved his rebounding this year over his past years in the NBA.
Now I am going to do the Backcourt Players.
Kobe Bryant: He is the second leading scorer in the NBA with an average of 28.5 per game after leading the NBA the past to seasons. This year is the year he made major improvement in being a better team player and leader. He has made Bynum, Farmar, Sasha and even Pau Gasol better this season. Pau Gasol was already an all-star but he has improved since arriving in L.A. Kobe is averaging 6.30 rebounds per game and 5.4 assist per game this season which is tied for 4th best in his career. Considered by many to be the MVP this season after not getting it ever before in his 12 year career. One of the best 3-point shooters and clutch shooters in the NBA, Kobe has had an MVP-worthy season.
Chris Paul: This is by the far the best season of his short NBA career. He is leading the league in assists with an average of 11.5 per game. He also leads the league in steals with 2.7 per game. One of the frontrunners for the MVP award Chris Paul was named to his first all-star game this year and has lead his team to first in the West. This season he has established hiimself as one of the premier players in the league. He is also has an average of 21.2 points per game which is one of the highest in the NBA. He never disappoints fantasy owners or Hornets fans with his spectacular play on the court.
It is a close battle for the title of best player in the league, but one choice has stood out among all the rest.
1) KOBE BRYANT
WHY: Kobe has been the best player in the league for a couple years now and has has a really good season. Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony are close behind in my opinion but Kobe Bryant is still the best player in the league with his great play every game. He doesn't need to score 50 a game to make his team excel but he still leads them in points, assists, and steals.
2) CHRIS PAUL
WHY: He is really good but doesn't have quite as good as a jumpshot as Kobe. Kobe is also better at defense and has a better inside game.
3) CARMELO ANTHONY
WHY: He has a good jumpshot and inside game. He is a really good offensive player but not as good as Kobe yet. Kobe's defense is a lot better and Kobe can pass better.
4) TIM DUNCAN
WHY: He is older now and isn't as good as he used to be. If these rankings were a couple years ago they would be a lot different. He is still a really good defensive and offensive player. He is one of the best team leaders ever.
5) DWIGHT HOWARD
WHY: He is a a super good center but doesn't have the pure 'skills' as the other players because he is a big man. He doesn't have a jumpshot but has a really good inside game and is the biggest part of the Magic's defense.
Those are my rankings for the best players in the league at each position and how they compare to each other.
NOTE: The stats are accurate as of April 11, 2008. Some other people in the league are better than some of the people at the bottom of this ranking but they aren't the best at their position.
I like the Lakers and I hate the Celtics. I have been a Lakers fan since the 2007 playoffs. I am not a bandwagoner though, because I stayed a fan through Kobe's trade demands and watched every game this season even though people thought they were going to be bad. I hate the Celitcs because of the players attitudes and they are always favored by the refs. My favorite players are Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, and Kyle Weaver.
