Section126's Top 50 Current NBA Players.

Where is Ray Allen?

 

Section, I highly respect your opinion when it comes to basketball (you did an outstanding job with these lists in the old days of FH). However, Pierce has elevated himself to a top 20 player in the league.

 

Baron Davis?

 

Good call. 17 is about right for him.

However, I wouldn't put Ray Allen in the top 50 or even knocking on the door. He redeemed himself in the Finals, but it's becoming apparent that his game is on the road to nowhere. He's 33 next year, and his PER absolutely fell off a cliff in 2008: from 21.6 in 2007 to 16.4 this year.

Going forward, at a whopping $37M due the next two years, Allen is doing the Celtics more harm than good.

 

looking at that list, i think one can make the assesment that the NBA is lacking in quality talent overall.

 

Really? I completely disagree. The NBA had a tremendous resurgence this year, and has benefitted tremendously from an influx of young talent over the last several years, all of which is coming to fruition right now.

On another point, I'm looking at this list and wondering where Jose Calderon is.

 

Great list bro. Ive always like Shaq but sadly I do not believe he is a top 50 player anymore.

 

29. Andre Iguodala (PHI)

 

Good list Section. I agree with it. Thanks.

 

Good to see my top three Wizards getting a little love although I think Jamison should be higher, I'd take over a lot of guys that you have higher. Yea I'm a bit of a homer but Jamison is capable of carrying our team when Arenas and Butler are out, which happened a lot recently. He doesn't need the ball to be effective and I think that makes him very valuable. Yea he's never going to be confused with the best of the best defensively but he's a great player.
I wouldn't put Wade at three anymore but I could see the argument. Most of the players are hovering around where I would have them.

 

b rooooooooooooooooooy

 

Nice list, just a few minor comments:

1. Dirk Nowitzki is way too high. Amare, Duncan, & KG are better bigs.
2. How is Monta Ellis better than Baron Davis right now?
3. David West is about 10-15 spots too high, although he is underrated.
4. Kevin Martin is way too high. 50-60% of the players behind him should be ahead.
5. Shawn Marion over Pau Gasol?
6. Iggy over Al Jefferson? I even value Rudy Gay higher than Iggy.
7. Jason Richardson probably shouldn't even be on the list.
8. Bynum will be on there, but not yet. He's only played 1/2 season of solid ball.
9. Manu Ginobili #50? I dislike Manu as much as you do, lol, but come on. How is Kevin Martin better?
10. Josh Smith & Ray Allen should definitely be up there.

EDIT: & Shaquille O'Neal shouldn't be on there.

 

Really Amare ahead of KG? lol sorry I thought that was funny. And Dwade 3?

I like the list thanks for putting together just disagree on some of the spots/choices.

 

I don't get that comparison, though. Calderon put up 11 & 8 on 30 minutes per game, and he only turned it over 1.5 per. Not to mention an extremely efficient 51% shooting from the field, and 43% from three point land. Jose Calderon in 2007-2008 was the definition of efficiency.

 

I dont know about that he is better then Rudy Gay

 

The only major objection I have is Tmac at 8. Thats pretty bad. Id take Deron Williams at 15 or Paul pierce over him in less then a heartbeat. hell id take Vince Carter over him at 40-whatever. Hes good, but hes wildly inconsistent and injury prone.

The rest looks pretty good though.

Minor tweaks:
id flip wade and paul. Not because of injuries but because Paul does more to get his teammates involved and has many less TO's.

id flip Amare and KG as KG is vastly superior defensive player.

Arenas belongs somewhere in the top 10. hes an elite player when hes on the court.

Flip melo and Bosh. Melo's my favorite player but he has lazy tendencies teh last year or two...Hes begun to think defense = kryptonite.

Flip Yao and David West. west is good but hes not a dominant player like Yao is.

Flip Al jefferson and Joe Johnson. Jefferson has emerged as a premier big even on a bad team. You can compare his stats last year and come up with the conclusion hes almost as good as Howard was last year.

Id flip Ellis and Rudy Gay.

Id knock Sheed off for Danny Granger. Granger is Shawn Marion trapped in a different body. He averaged 20 ppg with J O neal out and was one of only a couple players to average over 1.5 3's 1 steal 1 block, so he contributes across the board. Hes every bit as inconsistant as Sheed is when jermaine O Neal was in the lineup with Granger but that will no longer be the case.

 

This is just my opinion but the top 10 should be

1. Kobe Bryant (LAL)
2. Lebron James (CLE)
3. Chris Paul (NO)
4. Dwyane Wade (MIA)
5. Tim Duncan (SAS)
6. Kevin Garnett (BOS)
7. Dirk Nowitzki (DAL)
8. Amare Stoudemire (PHX)
9. Tracy McGrady (HOU)
10. Dwight Howard (ORL)

 

McGrady can't stay healthy. He should be outside of the ten imo.

 

Say what you will about Carter McGrady is just as soft and even more fragile. I mean at least Carter has won a playoff series. TMAC is just whack.

 

In the present day, he's not better than Gay. Gay puts up 20 a night and is a very young player.

 

If Chris Paul is better than Dwyane Wade, then it's the closest race I've ever seen. I love Chris Paul. Let's not overrate him now. I don't think he can carry a team on his back through the Finals like Dwyane Wade did. He's not a Kobe, LeBron, or Wade. He's right there after, though.

 

First off, Section, I've got to commend you for even going through with such a list. It's got to take a major effort to come up with a "top 50"

I'm only picking at your list for some discussion.

Actually, the knock on Monta Ellis is his poor basketball IQ. As of right now, I'd have to say that Baron Davis is the superior player. The future may tell a different story, but definitely not on July 5, 2008.

I'd also have to say that B. Diddy's reputation for a poor shot selection is somewhat overstated. That entire Golden State team has a poor shot selection, and it's because of the system they run. "Nellie Ball" rarely aims to set an offense. If Baron Davis had the opportunity to play with a legit big man, then I think his reputation would change quite a bit. Beidrins certainly has the potential to be, but Nellie is probably the dumbest coach in the league. Looks like he'll finally get such an opportunity in 2008-2009.

There's quite a few more complete players than Pau Gasol, but it doesn't exactly make them better overall. He's a big time post presence who you can actually run the offense through. Gasol can be a first or second option on a Playoff team, Marion, IMO, is a third option at best. While he is the better defender, rebounder, and transition player (he's much smaller and far more athletic), overall, I can't give him the edge over Gasol.

One of the top 15 scorers who cannot be guarded when he's on, but what else does he do? J-Rich has been overrated since he came into the league, and he's never done anything for me aside from being a streaky scorer. Michael Jordan is an idiot.

I can't give Al Jefferson negative points for putting up numbers on a bad team. It's not the guy's fault that he's on a crappy team; he has no control over that. However, Al Jefferson is a beast. He's a stud. Take Iggy off that Philly team and replace him with Jefferson, and they become far better. The guy put up 21/11 and a block & a half in the Western Conference on a terrible basketball team. He was the opposing team's defensive focus every night, and he delivered consistently.

The above statement contradicts the below:

Also, Ray Allen came up big in the NBA Finals. Manu has done the same over the last few years. Both players should be above the 2008 Shaquille O'Neal who did absolutely nothing to help his basketball team(s).

Not better than Manu, Ray Allen, or Josh Smith.

He's another guy who does nothing but score....

23-years old and already one of the best defenders in basketball. To go along with that, he added 17/8/3 and 3 blocks per game to help the Atlanta Hawks shock the world by pushing the soon-to-be NBA Champions to 7 games in the first round. He'd definitely be somewhere on my top 50.......

 

I disagree. Dwyane Wade when healthy is a top player in this league. I'm not saying Paul isn't, but hes not better than Wade. Like KiNG mentioned, Wade is one of few players who are capable of taking a team to the top as he showed us in their championship run.

 

Marion and Gasol are very similar statistically for their career (Gasol - 19 and 9; Marion - 18 and 10). The problem I have with Gasol is that he's so soft. I put Marion over him because of the similar numbers Marion puts up to Gasol despite being four inches shorter.

 

Right now, are you talking Shawn Marion over Pau Gasol? We've finally gotten the chance to see what Gasol is capable of doing on a great team, although he did flop in the Finals. They're comparable statistically, but one is a SF/PF and the other is a PF/C. That means the world to me. You can't run an offense through Shawn Marion, and that's my only problem with his game.

Marion is a third option to me.....an amazing third option, but a third option, nonetheless.

 

Right now I take Pau. Yeah you can't run an offense through Marion but I believe he can be a number two on a team.

 

brandon roy>>andre iguodola and joe johnson

 

Fixed.

 

nah...joe johnson only does one thing better than roy, and thats 3 point shooting...brandon roy got him on every other aspect

edit: and thats debatle if he's better than broy at 3 pointers

 

I will give you Igguodola, but Joe Johnson is still better than Roy. Better scorer, better shooter. Roy will most likely be better but Johnson played very, very well last year, I will give him the nod till Roy has a better year and makes it to the playoffs. Neither has happened yet.