Ok guys, we are basically going to pick the best current players in the NBA at every position. So, just like a complete all-star team. Not going to have whole chemistry vs best players argument. Just simply going to pick the best individual players at their positions, ok? I'm going to put forward my argument for these players. All-NBA Starting Lineup: Center: Dwight Howard vs Andrew Bynum vs Al Jefferson vs Nene Winner: Dwight Howard Breakdown: This really is the easiest pick of them all, D12 is a far better player than Bynum, Nene and Jefferson. Even last year, I would have still picked Dwight. And Dwight has made a ton of improvements to his game over the course of the season. Anyone who watches a good bit of the NBA should agree with this pick. Power Forward: Carlos Boozer vs Danny Granger vs Blake Griffin vs Chris Bosh vs Josh Smith vs Amare Stoudemire vs Dirk Nowitzki vs David West vs Zach Randolph vs LaMarcus Aldridge vs Dorell Wright vs Pau Gasol Winner: Amare Stoudemire Breakdown: Wow, this position is STACKED. I say we just have a 5 on 5 of the NBA's best power forwards someday Instead of breaking down the statistics, I'm just going to give the drawbacks of each player and why Amare's lack of 3 pt shot is no big deal. Boozer; no 3 pt shot and ineffective in the playoffs this year. Granger; low fg %, inconsistent defense. Griffin; no 3 pt shot, extremely low ft %. Bosh; no 3 pt shot, gets bullied, poor rebounder. Smith; inconsistent, no 3 pt shot, gets worse in playoffs. West; no 3 pt shot, low rpg. Randolph; no 3 pt shot. Aldridge; no 3 pt shot, low rpg. Dorell Wright; low fg % and not aggressive enough. Gasol; soft, disappears, inconsistent, no 3 pt shot. Nowitzki: weak defender, low rpg. Amare is that dominating force inside that will consistently wear down the defenders inside and get his points. He is also a willing and excellent passer and is excellent in pick-and-roll situations. He is also a tireless defender inside. Although he cannot spread the floor on an opposing PF, he has the interior passing and finishing down well enough that it rarely seems to matter. ...to be continued
I'm just trying to give almost everyone a opportunity. Some of these guys don't have quite what Dirk has either. Aldridge and Z-Bo deserve some love man.
D-Will - Kinda a wash between him & CP3, but he is a better man to man defender and can take smaller guards in the post so I went with Deron. Wade - Easily the best SG in the league. I don't know how anyone can make a case for Kobe over Wade this year. LeBron - Best player in the game, nuff said. Amar'e - Had a hard time choosing between him & Dirk but I went with STAT because he has a more polished offensive game and although he is not a great defender, he is better than Dirk. Dwight - This man alone made the Magic one of the best defensive teams in the league. Seriously look at their roster, none of those guys are good defenders. He has also improved his post game tremendously this year after working with Hakeem. Best big man in the league.
Not with the bum elbow But yeah, hardest position to pick by far next to SF between LeBron and KD. Depends on what you want from your PG. Pass first or score first is the main difference between Rose/Rondo.
PG: Chris Paul - when healthy a 25 and 12 guy who shoots 50% FG and gets 2-3 steals a game along with 4-5 rebounds. Incredible, no one runs the fast break like him or can find guys by maneuvering under the basket (Rondo is a close 2nd in that). If you factor in health, I'll take Derrick Rose in that case. SG: Dwyane Wade - again health is a factor, but lately he's been healthy and putting up 25, 7, and 7 pretty much while getting steals and blocks. I guess Kobe is a close 2nd. SF: LeBron James - yes KD is a better pure scorer but you aren't going to pick KD over LeBron unless you're just a hater lol. He's 6'8" 270 or so and is one of the fastest, strongest, quickest, most agile, etc etc players in the NBA. Carmelo is in the discussion as well and I'd probably take him over KD but not LeBron. PF: Dirk Nowitzki - No one can spread the floor like him while also having a dominant low post game. Amare is a close 2nd and you can talk me into Pau Gasol being in the discussion if you just ignore this most recent series against the Mavs. C: Dwight Howard - No one is even close. I'm not trying to sound like a douche bag, but I feel like all of those positions are pretty easy. You can make arguments at PG if you use health as a deterrent but other than that I think its pretty obvious who the best of the best are.
Also by the way, Dorrell Wright is a SF and shouldn't even be considered as a top player and Granger is also a SF but again shouldn't be considered when you have KD, Carmelo and LeBron already....he's not even close to those 3.
ya was thinkin the same thing. Dorrell Wright was the most shocking though. Granger is a good player don't get me wrong... but not elite at all.
Yea people seem to forget Carmelo was getting 30 a game last year too and was in the running for scoring title the whole way. He finished with 28.2 points per game, which is great but I still think he could have gotten 30 at least if he didn't get a few unfortunate injuries and have horrible chemistry with Chauncey. He's gotten 28.9 before too. For Rose...the OP said best players and not to pay attention to chemistry or building an actual team, so I'll take him 2nd over Deron for now. If the players we picked were for an actual team like team USA I'd take Deron and Rondo (as well as CP3) over Rose and I'd also rather play LeBron at point and Carmelo at the 3 than have Rose at point, but as an individual player he's definitely a top 3 PG.