Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

List your top five by position (as many or as few as you want). You can include performances in the regular season and the playoffs (factor this in heavily, if you wish). Justifications are welcome. I'll start with the most fun category, PURE Point Guards (Wade will be considered as 2 guards):

1. Steve Nash: Obv. Should be no argument here.
2. Baron Davis: He has to go at 2. He's younger than Kidd, has owned Kidd in the past, and is downright frightening on both ends of the floor when healthy. What he has done night in and night out in the playoffs is the stuff of NBA contemporary classic - he's a 35 ppg threat every night, he gets his teammates involved in a fast and complex offense, and he put the LOCK on Dallas' respectable guards during the greatest first round upset ever. In the regular season, when healthy, he's about 23ppg and 8 apg. A beast.
3. JKidd: It's tough to be in love with JKidd; I have a big problem with guards who can't shoot the rock, no matter how glorious they are in every other aspect. Kidd is a better defensive player than Nash and ARGUABLY runs the fast break better. But, he struggles on the half court from time to time, and a big reason for that is that when it comes down to it, the guy can't shoot the rock for [censored]. Imagine if Kidd could score 21 or 22 a game. He'd be in "Magic Johnson" territory and the Nets would have rings.
4. Deron Williams: The next Baron Davis, except, I don't see him scoring 23 ppg. His basketball IQ, though, is probably higher than Davis, and I see him controlling the tempo a little better. His game tying shot against GS last night .
5. Tony Parker: Yes, over Chauncey Billups, it's a tough call. But, what you have here is a point guard who, while not dishing the ball out 9 to 10 apg a game (it's not SA's style), runs the half-court fluidly, which includes playing with chaos personified Manu Ginobli. That doesn't really separate Parker from other very competent point guards, like a younger Mike Bibby or even Chauncey, but what is so special is that Parker shoots above 50% from the field alongside with his highly proficient point guard play. No other starting guard, I don't think, shoots as high a percentage as Parker. And HOW does he get those baskets? Because he's faster than almost anyone who is guarding him, and anytime he touches that ball, he can slash to the hoop, open up the floor, make easy layups, or pull up for a jumper. Or, open things up for Ginobli, wherever the [censored] he is on the court (eating a banana, hopping over someone's head, driving to the hoop). He presents another form of organized chaos; he's a poor man's Steve Nash.

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

dude don't list Nash, people here don't think he's good. Apparantly he's crap.

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

PF-
TD
Dirk
Amare
KG
Brand

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

SF-
LBJ
Melo
Howard
Deng
Tracy

SG-
Kobe
Wade
AI?
VC?
JJ

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

Chris Paul/Chauncey Billups > TP and Deron, LDO and i'm pretty sure the gang will agree with me.

SF:
LeBron
Marion
Melo
TMac
Artest

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

Chris Paul is still better than Deron Williams.

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

Quit being wusses and let's talk centers:

1. Duncan
2. Yao
3. Dwight
4. ... [censored] I can't think of any more.

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

haha

Okafor ?

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

How bout Camby? And then probally Shaq.

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

Oh hot Okafor I love him.

I give Shaq no love. I thought about Camby. I just don't think he's that great.

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

Sorry kid Yao > Duncan if you're talking about center.

C-
Yao
Duncan
Brand
Camby
Bosh/Dwight/Amare/Okafor

*edit*
No love for Camby? You must not value defense very much

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

[ QUOTE ]
Quit being wusses and let's talk centers:

1. Duncan
2. Yao
3. Dwight
4. ... [censored] I can't think of any more.

[/ QUOTE ]

Uh - Chris, Effin', Kaman, FTW!

Homer,
-Al

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

[ QUOTE ]
Oh hot Okafor I love him.

I give Shaq no love. I thought about Camby. I just don't think he's that great.

[/ QUOTE ]

11.7 RPG in 33.9 MPG. 3.3 BPG.

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

15+ points for oka also if I'm not mistaken

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TD is a PF not a C

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

Duncan gets penciled at the 4 but he does everything a 5 does. He plays the low block, he defends the opposing center, he's the tallest Spur out there, he takes the jump.. he's a center.

As for Yao > Duncan, I don't care what position you pencil Duncan in as, I'm always, always taking Duncan over Yao. He's really one of the best players ever, period.

Put it this way: swap Duncan for Yao and I'm pretty sure HOU doesn't fall to Utah.

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

I put in Camby's stats. DPOY as well. I know he's not great but neither is his competition.

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Yeah you're probably right. I think his D is a little overrated, but he is a presence down there. I still like Okafor more, so that's who I'm taking.

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

Duncan > Yao for now.
Camby has got to be top 5, only problem is his health.

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

PG
1. Steve Nash
2. Chauncey Billups
3. Chris Paul
4. Baron Davis
5. Deron Williams

SG
1. Kobe
2. Wade
3. AI
4. Joe Johnson
5. Redd

SF
1. Lebron
2. Carmelo
3. McGrady
4. Marion
5. Vince Carter

PF
1. Dirk
2. KG
3. Bosh
4. Amare
5. Boozer

C
1. Duncan
2. Yao
3. Howard
4. Brand
5. Okafor

that was just off the top of my head though so i'm probably overlooking somebody obvious

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MEbenhoe - No JKidd? He's top 5 for sure IMO.
I also wouldn't classify Brand as a C, but that's just me.

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

[ QUOTE ]
MEbenhoe - No JKidd? He's top 5 for sure IMO.
I also wouldn't classify Brand as a C, but that's just me.

[/ QUOTE ]

i would list him 6, but that group of PGs after nash and billups is pretty much all about the same skill level anyways.

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

[ QUOTE ]
Oh hot Okafor I love him.

I give Shaq no love. I thought about Camby. I just don't think he's that great.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed. Camby isn't that great. If you're a DPOY, then at the very least, you're team should have some kind of defensive presence.

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

Meb,

I got beef with your 2s and 3s.

for the 2s:

I can handle the Redd homerism. JJ is arguable. Not a big fan of the AI pick. I was a big AI supporter for a long time, but I'm starting to think he's just overrated.

And you have a huge glaring omission: Arenas.

For the 3s: if you consider TMac and Vince as 3s, then so is Pierce, and Pierce is better than Vince. Vince will go down as one of the biggest talent wasters of all time.

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Not much love for Jermaine [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

Are we factoring in age/salary/health?
If it is only for one season
PG
Nash
Paul
Baron
Billups
Deron

SG
Kobe
Wade
Agent Zero
Micheal Redd
Manu

SF
LeBron
T-Mac
Melo
Marion
Paul Pierce

PF
Dirk
Garnett
Bosh
Brand
Boozer


C
Duncan
Yao
Dwight Howard
Gasol
Okafor

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

[ QUOTE ]
Not much love for Jermaine [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

cuz he's not that good. But if he can count as a 5 then yeah, he makes it. Get him on the right team and he can do some damage, but he's so injury prone and just not a great 1st option guy. I'll cry if the C's trade for him.

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

I like Pudge's list the most so far, even with the questionable Manu decision.

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

Seriously guys, Baron has one good year without a multitude of injuries, gets past one round in the playoffs, and we are already crowning him better than Jason Kidd? Puh-leeze, give him 2-3 more years of consistent work and then we'll talk. Granted, he has had a sick year and has had some good years in his career but they have been interspersed with injuries/off years. And yes Kidd is not a good shooter but a point guard is mostly about running your team, and right now Kidd is second best to Nash in that particular aspect at most. Right now I rate it:

1. Nash
2. Chauncy Billups
3. Chris Paul
4. J Kidd
5. Tony Parker


This is their overall career + this year, NOT just this year although I weighted it towards that. For this year Baron would be in it but you can't just crown people from year to year, they need to back it up with some consistency.

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[ QUOTE ]
TD is a PF not a C

[/ QUOTE ]

not really

he insists on being listed as one, but he plays as a center

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

[ QUOTE ]
Seriously guys, Baron has one good year without a multitude of injuries, gets past one round in the playoffs, and we are already crowning him better than Jason Kidd? Puh-leeze, give him 2-3 more years of consistent work and then we'll talk. Granted, he has had a sick year and has had some good years in his career but they have been interspersed with injuries/off years. And yes Kidd is not a good shooter but a point guard is mostly about running your team, and right now Kidd is second best to Nash in that particular aspect at most. Right now I rate it:

1. Nash
2. Chauncy Billups
3. Chris Paul
4. J Kidd
5. Tony Parker


This is their overall career + this year, NOT just this year although I weighted it towards that. For this year Baron would be in it but you can't just crown people from year to year, they need to back it up with some consistency.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think the problem stems from Baron looking much better than the MVP this season in the playoffs.

His current playoff stats are rediculous compared to his regular season stats. If he were to average 26 ppg, 5 rpg, 2 spg, 6 apg but shooing 54% from the field and 44% from the 3 point land and 78% from the line he might be the 2nd best pg.

Too bad he usually shoots 44% from the field and 30% from 3 point land. If he could stay injury free, he might be the most talented PG. He isn't a defensive liability at the point which is also a huge plus and is actually pretty solid.

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

Nash
Kidd
Baron
Chauncey
Parker

then it would be somewhat like...
Paul
Deron
andre miller

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PF:
1. KG
2. Dirk
3. Boozer
4. Amare
5. Brand

*Obv I feel TD is a center etc.

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why is shaq being left off the center's list?

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I have a real problem with putting a 1 year wonder so far in Boozer over the likes of Amare or Brand.

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Like Pudge said, assuming just for 1 season.

PG:
1) Nash
2) Chauncey
3) Kidd
4) Parker
5) Deron

SG:
1) Kobe
2) T-mac (thats right he plays the 2 for HOU)
3) Arenas
4) Wade
5) Joe Johnson

SF:
1) LeBron
2) Melo
3) Marion
4) Josh Howard
5) VC

PF:
1) Duncan
2) KG
3) Dirk
4) Amare
5) Bosh

C:
1) Yao
2) Howard
3) Camby
4) Okafor
5) random stiff off of the street (must be >6 ft tall)

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

Nash
Kidd
Billups
Davis
Parker

I think people are rating davis too highly based on the six games he played against the Mavs.

Kidd's D is often underappreciated. He guards James, Kobe, Wade, or whoever the other team's best offensive player is. It does piss me off when he can't hit an open jumper, but I'd take him over Davis.

An important characteristic of pg is leadership. Nash, Kidd, and Billups are the leaders on their teams. I'm not sure if Davis has control over his team the same way the others do.

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

Isn't Arenas listed as a PG? Healthy starting 5: Arenas, Stevenson, Butler, Jamison, Haywood... then when Arenas went down Daniels stepped into the PG role.

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I will never understand why everyone has Billups so high up on the list. Yes, he's a beast. I would love to have him on my team. He's definitely not top 3. We're talking about just this year, right? I feel the same way about Tony Parker. I would much rather have Chris Paul or Deron Williams than Parker.

1. Nash
2. Healthy, Motivated Baron Davis
2a. Kidd
3. Paul
4. Billups
5. Williams

Re: Top Five Players by position in the NBA
 

[ QUOTE ]
I will never understand why everyone has Billups so high up on the list. Yes, he's a beast. I would love to have him on my team. He's definitely not top 3. We're talking about just this year, right? I feel the same way about Tony Parker. I would much rather have Chris Paul or Deron Williams than Parker.

1. Nash
2. Healthy, Motivated Baron Davis
2a. Kidd
3. Paul
4. Billups
5. Williams

[/ QUOTE ]

because some people watch the games instead of look at the box scores