doughboy90650
Fisher for 3 ??? BANG
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2009
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30. michael beasley(notes), minnesota timberwolves (last year: Unranked)
beas certainly has the talent to vault into the top ten of this list, but for now he remains a sort of nonentity whilst on the court. Sure, he gets some points, some rebounds, but not a ton of either. And after two years i'm trying hard to remember a time that he really swayed the character of a particular game in any meaningful way. He'll get his chances in minnesota, bouncing between forward spots and possibly coming off the bench. Here's hoping for a turnaround, while the pressure focuses elsewhere.
(in case you're wondering, it's defense. Yes, he scores more than a lot of other people on this list, and he was part of a very good defensive team this year. But until he shows me more, he's 30.)
29. kenyon martin(notes), denver nuggets (last year: Unranked)
i still appreciate martin's defense, and this is a "if healthy" type of ranking. If he can play, martin's ability to finish off of a screen-and-roll, cover the same play on the other end and pin shots to the glass keeps him worth the minutes. Not worth the salary, mind you, but perhaps denver can find something to do with that $16.5 million expiring deal.
28. taj gibson(notes), chicago bulls (last year: Unranked)
at the bottom of this list, it really came down to, "who would i rather have on my team in 2010-11: Taj gibson, or [name redacted]?" and taj kept winning out. It's a giant mea culpa for me, because i didn't even think taj was the 26th-best player in last year's draft when he was taken at that slot, but his all-around game and defensive work have me on his side as we enter his second season.
27. thaddeus young(notes), philadelphia 76ers (last year: Unranked)
thaddeus' production has declined in the two years since his impressive rookie campaign, and though he's just 22, it is time for him to get it together. With an ultra-focused coach in doug collins and a defined role on offense, perhaps 2010-11 is his season to bounce back. He's certainly got the all-around skills to make it happen.
26. j.j. Hickson(notes), cleveland cavaliers: (last year: Unranked)
for all the talk of hickson working as some untradeable prospect for the cavaliers last season, it might surprise some to see him this low. I've got to admit that i think this might be too high, actually.
J.j. Is a good screen-and-roll partner, pretty good going in either direction to the hole. He finishes well, and though he doesn't often take a jumper, he has the form to put it together. His work on the other side of the ball is ok. He's a fringe starter, though. One you'd prefer to replace.
25. jeff green(notes), oklahoma city thunder (last year: 30th)
i just don't understand what i'm missing with green.
He's a below-average shooter from long range who shoots too much, he's not a great interior finisher. He's a poor rebounder, a good defender at either forward slot to the naked eye (if not to the stat ledger), and at 24 he's not some prospect worth taking your time on. He just appears to be a below-average forward to me. Why he's being counted on as the third tier in oklahoma city, or a potential member of team usa, i just don't get.
24. elton brand(notes), philadelphia 76ers (last year: 17th)
the slide continues for the too-proud power forward. Elton hurts himself because he over-thinks just about every possession he's part of offensively, though his defensive skills came in handy when his relatively short height isn't a huge deal. Brand missed only six games last year, and he gave his team 13 and 6 in just 30 minutes (along with 2.2 combined steals/blocks), so this might be too low a ranking for him. Then again, he'll turn 32 before this season ends.
23. tyrus thomas(notes), charlotte bobcats (last year: 29th)
it's yet another make-or-break season for tyrus in a career of them. Truly, it was his rookie campaign that was his make-or-break year. The bulls failed to get through to him, thinking that a veteran-heavy locker room would do the trick, and he's been flailing ever since.
Now we get to see how he responds to getting that second contract. Every bit of it is guaranteed, so it hardly matters if he goes in or out of larry brown's doghouse. For now, they're playing nice. One or 12 missed defensive assignments later, who knows?
22. rashard lewis(notes), orlando magic (last year: 16th)
if i'm honest, the only reason lewis is ranked this high is because the skill he's best known for contributing (sound shooting from behind the arc) is so hard to find at this position, and he can be a matchup nightmare.
Can be.
Because, too often, lewis doesn't take advantage of his own gifts. And when he passes on being aggressive offensively, his terrible defense and position-worst rebounding tend to bring out the worst in him.
21. andray blatche(notes), washington wizards (last year: Unranked)
this is a glass-half-full ranking.
If blatche really gets into flip saunders' offense, plays hard and keeps his attitude in the right place? He'll have a great year, possibly better (i'm not going to get too optimistic, considering his defense) than a few of the players ranked ahead of him.
It's not likely to go that way. He'll have good stretches and bad. Which is unfortunate, because he remains a tantalizing talent.
20. udonis haslem(notes), miami heat (last year: Unranked)
i'm still shaking my head at udonis' defensive work from last season. I'm sure my co-workers here at y! Are sick of hearing about it, but the guy was just everywhere last season, and that's while taking into consideration his already-staunch career-long history of defensive work. Haslem's return to miami gives this team so, so much versatility, as he can defend two positions expertly while covering for the mistakes of guys named chris bosh(notes).
19. lamar odom(notes), los angeles lakers (last year: 12th)
l.o. Was rightfully ranked that high last season because he set so much up within the confines of los angeles' offense that didn't show up in the box score, alongside some pretty happenin' help defense. The defense was there last year, but he didn't seem to have as much of an impact offensively, and i was more than dismayed by his slight-but-still-annoying uptick in 3-point attempts, without an uptick in 3-point percentages (31.9 percent on the year, right in line with his career averages).
Still, there are few players in this league i enjoy watching more.
18. blake griffin(notes), los angeles clippers (last year: 20th)
there are nights where blake will act the part of a top five player at his position, even in his official rookie year. His hands, explosiveness, touch and timing will do well, and he'll be a terror coming down the lane and coming through with the last play we saw him make just before he destroyed his kneecap.
There's still a long way to go, though, before we'll see the real blake. And baron davis(notes) is his point guard. So, your patience is appreciated.
17. paul millsap(notes), utah jazz (last year: 13th)
why does paul drop four spots despite the absence of carlos boozer(notes) in the utah lineup?
Well, though he has the talent for it, paul's not going to just step in and start handing out 20 and 10s. andrei kirilenko(notes) will eat up some power forward minutes, and al jefferson(notes) will jump between the center and power forward slot at times, and his game more closely resembles millsap's than it does the departed boozer's. Big paul, as he's usually done, will take it all in stride.
Also, this guy catches passes that have no business being thrown, and still turns them into buckets. Fantastic player.
16. antawn jamison(notes), cleveland cavaliers (last year: Sixth)
with lebron james(notes) gone and the cavaliers hurting for scoring, one would think that antawn would be the guy to step up and step in with what could be his finest scoring season in years.
that might happen, but efficiency and defense matter here, and it's worth noting that the 34-year-old jamison was dropping off in production even before his trade to cleveland. Appreciate the heck out of the guy, i'd just want some more well-rounded big men on my team before him at this point.
15. carl landry(notes), sacramento kings (last year: 19th)
landry is an uncanny scorer who scores at a very efficient rate, and he gives the kings the sort of interior presence offensively they've lacked since chris webber(notes) fell apart.
but he also falls short on the glass and on defense, and his minutes could be leveled with demarcus cousins(notes) trying to find a position in this league and jason thompson's(notes) presence. This leaves him just a step behind the sort of starting-quality studs that rank ahead of him.
14. luis scola(notes), houston rockets (last year: 25th)
in 16 games spread in the month of march last season, luis scola averaged 20.5 points on 52 percent shooting and 10.5 rebounds. He also played 39 minutes a contest. And if he just approximates that run for most of 2010-11, than this 14th ranking will be a joke.
the problem is, i don't know if he will. I don't know if he'll get the ball enough or play enough minutes. I'd like to see him get the ball more -- and with trevor ariza(notes) gone, he'll certainly have his chances -- but i just can't be too confident. Here's hoping he turns this middle-of-the-road rating into a joke, instead of leaving it as merely a potential joke.
13. troy murphy(notes), new jersey nets (last year: 26th)
talk about a hiring straight out of central casting. You weren't? Oh.
murphy's shooting gifts and rebounding acumen (10.2 caroms a game last year in just 32 minutes a contest) will act as a perfect fit in new jersey this season. His defense? Not so much, but he's also a massive expiring contract and a jersey native. Acquiring him was the best move for all involved.
the worry with murphy is that he turned 30 last may, and that his production could fall off. That said, i turned 30 last may. And despite all the carpal tunnel and crying and grey hair and growing obsession with the temperature dial in my house, i feel as if i'm chugging along with the gusto of a man many weeks younger than i. Like, three weeks.
12. david west(notes), new orleans hornets (last year: Ninth)
you hate to predict a fall-off for a guy who doesn't turn 30 until next week -- and someone who has been remarkable in his year-to-year consistency following an injury-plagued rookie campaign. With chris paul(notes) hopefully back for a full season, west's step-back jumpers and solid-enough rebounding will likely carry over to yet another season spent on the fringe of the all-star rankings.
11. lamarcus aldridge(notes), portland trail blazers (last year: Seventh)
factoring in minutes and pace and efficiency and all that, and lma has more or less been the same player since his rookie year. That might disappoint some who see the potential for stardom in him (people like me, who see those gifts and that length and wonder why he can't do more with it), but if you're going to get stuck in a rut, 18 points and a little under eight boards a game isn't all that bad a rut to find yourself in.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ba...t=Aoeapx8U7UtqMoQ78LVoUle8vLYF?urn=nba-26481510. kevin love(notes), minnesota timberwolves (last year: 15th)
this man was sixth in rebound rate last year. Sixth. Two of the players ahead of him combined to play just 51 games (clearly, they played for the trail blazers), and all the men ahead of him played the center position. If i'm starting a team from scratch tomorrow, there might not be another player on this list - 1 through 30 - that i'd rather have starting at power forward.
As it is now, the guy averaged 14 points and 11 rebounds in just 28 minutes a game last season. At age 21. And i'm feeling pretty ridiculous for ranking him this low.
9. zach randolph(notes), memphis grizzlies (last year: 14th)
randolph didn't really change the way he looked just before he tossed in another lefty hook or pulled in another defensive rebound last season, but the way he went about setting up those hooks changed completely.
Or, "sped up quite a bit."
zach didn't hold the ball last season. He got the pill, made a move and didn't muck about. Either passed it back out or put it up. Didn't wait for everyone to leave his side of the court. And helped, kind of, defensively. So, though his statistics didn't change much, his impact did. More of the same in 2010-11, please.
8. kevin garnett(notes), boston celtics (last year: Third)
kevin garnett is just about the best power forward i've ever seen, so it hurts to rank him this low. But when he fell off last season -- and you saw it -- the man fell hard. At his peak? No doubt, perhaps still the best in the game at times. But those were just times. They popped up enough to keep us around, but they were merely times. Pity.
I'd still trust him, above anyone else, to guard that screen-and-roll.
I'd still trust his voice above anyone else's to tell me where i went wrong. I mean, i know i went wrong, but i'd really like to hear it from a guy who has been paying expert attention since the fall of 1995 to tell me just how i went wrong. If he wouldn't mind.
I'd still trust him covering my guy and his somehow at the same time, especially after i predicted a zig, and my guy zagged.
I'd still trust him turning over that right shoulder, going baseline with the turnaround jumper.
I'd still trust him down there, guarding any name you want to throw out. Names 1-through-30 on this list. Go ahead.
I still know that he's the best all-around player of his generation. Better than duncan, better than kobe, better than shaq. In the era after bird and before lebron, nobody put it all together like k.g.
Enjoy him, please, in 2010-11.
7. josh smith(notes), atlanta hawks (last year: 11th)
smith just got it together last season. And when you're a player of josh's considerable skill and athletic ability, getting it together leads to big things.
He's just an all-rounder, tossing in a relatively paltry 16 points and nine rebounds (and that's rounded up), but shooting over 50 percent while averaging 3.7 combined steals/blocks and 4.2 assists. My man, that works.
Famously, at least around these parts, he also gave up on 3-pointers last season. After averaging 112 3-point attempts between 2005 and 2009, josh attempted just seven last season, and to these eyes nearly all of them were last-second heaves from half court or beyond.
6. carlos boozer(notes), chicago bulls (last year: Eighth)
it was a weird run for carlos in utah. He stabbed a cba-cheating owner in the back by reneging on an illegal handshake agreement to sign with the jazz, and then ran injured for a while, drawing the ire of his new team's front office. Then paul millsap(notes) popped up, and while boozer's backup didn't exactly make him redundant, he did allow for the trade rumors that really escalated before boozer's 2009-10 player option, assumed-but-eventually-declined 2009 free agency and eventual split in 2010.
Yikes. So, it's as if he never was a member of the jazz. Now he's a bull, he sets screens, he gathers well and finishes expertly with either hand, and truly comes straight out of central casting for a team like chicago. Assuming he averages 65 games a season. Anything less, and chicago will continue to have jazz-like issues.
5. chris bosh(notes), miami heat (last year: Fourth)
given his own team, lots of possessions and plenty of space around him, there's a great chance bosh could average, oh, the 24 and 11 he managed last season on his own in toronto. But his numbers will go down in miami. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if bosh topped out at 15 or 16 points per game this season.
It also wouldn't surprise me if he shot about 97 percent from the field.
4. dirk nowitzki(notes), dallas mavericks (last year: Second)
nowitzki figures to come close to sustaining the 25 points and eight rebounds he came through with last season. He'll be 32 on opening night, but his shooting is as strong as ever and we could see an uptick in 3-point attempts during 2010-11.
But defense and the demands of a team that is far, far more talented than the squad amar'e stoudemire(notes) will be on this year, could play a part. But, really, i'd have no qualms with anyone switching his and amar'e's rankings.
3. Amar'e stoudemire, new york knicks (last year: Fifth)
free to fly in new york, stoudemire will miss the presence of steve nash(notes) in his backcourt ... Until he realizes that he's probably the best pure paint scorer this league has, and that he can drop 25 points with or without the expertly placed pass.
His defense can be crummy, and it's possible that he won't have as much all-around impact as several of the players ranked below him, but i'd like to see the knicks play for a while before i go half-empty with my assumptions.
2. tim duncan(notes), san antonio spurs (last year: Second, but ranked at center)
huh?
Weren't you the guy bleating on and on about how duncan was mischaracterized as a power forward for years?
Well, first off, thanks for calling me a guy. And, secondly, sure. Tim duncan played in the low post for years and guarded centers. His teammates at "center" played away from the low post and guarded power forwards or sometimes even small forwards. Duncan was a center.
This year, i don't think he's a center. I think tiago splitter(notes) is a center, and i think duncan moves to the high post more often in 2010-11. There's a good chance i'm wrong, but this is what i'm going with.
And i'm going with a guy who might only top out at 31 minutes per game as the spurs try to rest him. I'm going with the best big man of his generation, and i think (even considering defense) he'll have a slightly poorer year than pau gasol(notes) once everything wraps up.
1. Pau gasol, los angeles lakers (last year: First)
big men don't get more versatile than this guy. He's bad at absolutely nothing, and top gear in just about everything. Scores with either hand on either block. Dominates from the high post. Nails cutters, sets screens and finishes off the good or bad pass. He can play defense now, he's worked his way into becoming a fierce rebounder and his brain is bigger than our brains are.
Even with tim duncan's history, his smarts, his ability and his formidable all-around play, there isn't a power forward in this league that i think can help me win more than pau gasol. He just does things too excellently too often to overlook.
