I was watching the Cavs-Nuggets last night, or perhaps more specifically, the LeBron-Carmelo match-up that two years ago many thought would be the Bird-Magic battle for a new millennium. At the time they were drafted, I thought Carmelo would have the faster start of the two highly-heralded hoops prodigies. He had let Syracuse to a National Title in his only year on campus, a mighty fine achievement, and while LeBron obviously had an NBA body, I didn't think anyone was good enough to carry the weight of that much hype. 

Two-plus years later, it turns out that LeBron is that good. Additionally, Dwyane Wade and Amare Stoudemire both appear to be a few steps ahead of Carmelo in the race to prove themselves championship ready. Nevertheless, Carmelo v. LeBron is still a primetime match-up in the NBA, so I settled down for what I hoped would be a long winter's highlight reel. 

But by the time Steve Kerr tossed it to Ernie and the boys back in the TNT studios at halftime, I was nearly drowning in no-look passes and Magic Johnson comparisons. There was LeBron, again and again, looking one way but passing the other and I had to ask myself: Really, how effective is the no-look pass? 

I practiced college basketball for the better part of three years. (Much different than playing mind you, but you still learn a lot.) I'm not saying I was great or even good, and I'm not trying to imply that I'm an expert, just noting that I did play the game for the better part of 20 years. I guess I was what you would call a "student of the game," which generally equates to an undersized white-guy with a jump shot who slapped the floor a lot before getting torched on a cross-over dribble and eventually became an assistant coach at Duke. The difference being I didn't have a wicked jump shot and I'm not an assistant at Duke. 

Nevertheless, all the LeBron-Magic comparisons got me thinking, what other plays in the NBA are drastically overrated? I'm not some Rick Barry worshipping fundamentalist, I like the glitz and glamour of SportsCenter highlights, but still, it's tough not to wonder how much Jordan and his jaw-dropping ability have influenced the game in the past 20 years. 

So let's roll out the list of the 3 Most Overrated Plays in the post-Jordan era, and its foil, the 3 Most Underrated: 

Most Overrated Plays in the NBA: 

3) The Alley-Oop: I like this play, its "WOW factor" ratings are off the charts, but how often is it really the most effective means for putting the ball in the hoop? Almost never. Unless you're running a back screen at the elbow for Richard Jefferson, the alley-oop is often the result of a 3-on-1 fastbreak that could have just as easily been completed with a simple drop to the trailer. Getting excited about this sort of alley-oop is like rubbing it in your buddies face when you block yet another extra-point with Lawrence Taylor in Tecmo Bowl. Both are fantastic athletic achievements, bordering on the superhuman, but we all knew it was coming. 

2) The Reverse Lay-Up: Jordan ruined it for all of us, pulling off unbelievable contortions with disgusting ease. (The reverse against the Nets, back when they were wearing the tie-dyed/stonewashed look, is still perhaps the best basketball highlight I've ever seen.) But the problem is two-fold: a) Jordan made it look easy, and b) the athleticism of NBA players has risen to such a level, that it's more remarkable to see someone who can't pull it off. I liken this to the fact that in 1994 Isaiah Rider won the Slam Dunk Contest with his between the legs, East Bay Funk Dunk, but now you see it once a year and it's worth no more than 46 points at best. 

1) The No-Look Pass: A long, long time ago, on a court far, far away, somebody realized that it was within human nature, when defending the tin, to look where an opponent looks to be passing it. As a result, said opponents began looking one way and passing the other. I think this was effective for a time, but at this point haven't people started to figure it out? The NLP's fate is not aided by the "oh-my-God-I-can't-believe-you-thought-I-was-throwing-it-THAT-way" face, generally encompassing wide eyes and an open mouth. If the method were that effective, why haven't we seen it elsewhere? I don't think anyone no-look check-raised at the final table of the World Series of Poker last year, and that's because it's become a needless embellishment, sort of like a camera on a cell phone. Sure it's flashy, but why would I ever need that? 

Most Underrated Plays in the NBA: 

3) The Pull-Up Jumper off the Pick-and-Roll: This is the play that won Steve Nash the MVP last year. You never see it on SportsCenter unless it's a clutch basket, but the play represents both athleticism and fundamentals. To be able to brush a defender off on a screener, determine how many dribbles you have before help closes on you, and still shoot an on-balance jumper has to be one of the least-recognized athletic feats on the court. (Right behind being able to talk on your cell phone AND wave like an idiot all whilst sitting courtside.) If you can shoot off the pick-and-roll, you will average 25 points a game, it's that simple. 

2) The Behind the Back Pass: This play gets mislabeled as showmanship, and it certainly can be, but when used effectively it is a brutal tool. In essence it is the opposite of the alley-oop. Sure, when you're on a 3-on-1 break, you can get the ball to the man behind you by any means necessary, but there are a lot of times when a penetrating guard takes the ball so far into the paint that the only option is to wrap it around. Back when the NBA was highlight-free, Bob Cousy was executing the wraparound, what more evidence do you need? (On a side note, Charles Barkley added another application to the behind the back with the post entry feed. As my college coach said, "Take the ball away, then bring it back, move the defense!" He was also known as the Bobby Knight of small college basketball, and he probably made us run until we threw up directly after that.) 

1) The Fade Away Jumper: Again, all signs point to Jordan as the culprit for turning this ill-advised tactic into a common part of today's game. It's amazing when you think about the transition Jordan made, from one of the most exciting players to watch, to the most effective player in the game. He went from supplying the most awe-inspiring moves in the game to relying on one of the most pedestrian tools to dominate. Simply put, the fadeaway cannot be stopped. (Or spelled according to my spell-checker.) 

Because the offensive player is jumping away from the defender, unless there is a distinct height advantage, the shot can't be blocked. If you shoot a decent percentage with the fadeaway, you can essentially score at will. By definition, the off-balance fadeaway should be a low-percentage shot, but with practice you can perfect it. Even Patrick Ewing did it! Kobe's got it, and two years ago the Jordan parallels were unmistakable. Then the altitude got to him in Colorado and he started wearing tights, basically pawning the crown for the scariest player in crunch time for fifteen dollars and a copy of "Bulls vs. Blazers" on SNES. 

So I guess the race between LeBron and Carmelo is not about who can make the most highlight reels, and subsequently make the most All-Star teams, but rather who can be the first to develop an effective fadeaway jumper. Add that to your game boys, and you'll be crying champagne tears before you can add another alternate uniform again.