This topic contains 24 replies, has 17 voices, and was last updated by 
mikeyvthedon 12 years, 6 months ago.
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- Posted on: Fri, 10/14/2011 - 2:07pm #33401
inukawaii8Participantso the NBA rank is down to its last 10 players: kobe, lebron, durant, wade, paul, williams, rose, howard, dirk, and BLAKE GRIFFIN?
no offense to blake.. im a huge fan but top 10 already? he probably will be a top 10 player in the future but not now…
if he develops a jumper out to 17 – 20 ft, .750+ on free throw, a better go to post move, be a much better post defender, and lead his team a winning seaosn, i will then consider him as a top 10 player today.. but wow.. i mean he is most likely number 10.. but still top 10 already.. and he has only played 1 season.. i dont know about that..
0 - Posted on: Fri, 10/14/2011 - 2:25pm #603804
simonkildayParticipantI didn’t post Blake in my original top 10, but I wouldn’t have him any lower than 12, with Amare possibly being 11. I thought espn was wrong to rank Gasol so high. He has had no more success as a leading man than either Carmelo or Amare, and piggy backed his way to two titles with Kobe and the Lakers. Obviously, he was an integral part of those teams, but individually he is not better than some of the guys he is ranked ahead of.
With that out of the way, although Blake being ranked in the top 10 may be a little bit of a stretch, it is not too far fetched. He gets a lot of attention because of his dunks, but people who watch him play consistently know he has way more than that. His face up game is already impressive. He can shoot the bank shot from either side, beat defenders off the dribble, and use an array of spins and fakes to get his shot off. His ball handling is way above average for a PF, his passing is very underrated, and he has a non stop motor and plays hard every minute. Free throw shooting is an area for improvement, but other than that he pretty much brings everything to the table you want from a four. My favorite thing about Blake is his demeanor on the court. Even after humiliating a helpless defender with a poster slam, he never attempts to show them up or make them look bad, he just puts his head down and runs back on defense. Not often do you see rookies that talented act like such professionals. In my opinion, he had the most impressive rookie season since Tim Duncan. Averaging a 22-12 as a rookie is no small feat, and to top it off he was near 4 assists per game. I would go so far as to say right now, he is better than Pau Gasol, and in the company of Amare. The dunks are just the icing on the cake, but man, it is some sweet icing. Right now, there are eight true franchise players in the league: LeBron, Kobe, Wade, Paul, Howard, Dirk, Rose, and Durant. Blake Griffin is not just knocking, he is slamming on the door saying let me in. It won’t be too long before he’s in there.
0 - Posted on: Fri, 10/14/2011 - 3:28pm #603819
MJ FOR LIFE 23ParticipantThe thing about Blake is that he actually made a Clippers team relevant and turn them into one of the most exciting and watchable team in the league even though they still had a losing record. He still needs to work on his defense and develop a devastating jumpshot but with his non-stop work ethic (He never seems to get that tired on the floor even when playing almost the entire game at 110%), I don’t see why he can’t be on the top 10. Based on potential and relevance I would definitely rank him in the top 10 as of right now, but based on his skill level right now, I would probably have him in my top 15 or even at 11. The sky’s the limit for him… literally XD
0 - Posted on: Fri, 10/14/2011 - 3:44pm #603822
omphalosParticipantOne of the best games I saw Blake and the Clippers play was against the Heat last season, and Blake was checking Lebron on a few plays down the stretch. The Clippers only lack consistency, but they have the talent to beat arguably any team in the NBA on a good day, and that all comes down to Griffin.
Top 10 might be a bit of a stretch, but honestly I’d have no hesitation putting him above Gasol RIGHT NOW. He plays harder, and while not as skilled, is still able to impact the game in a variety of ways with his physicality that Gasol simply can’t.
0 - Posted on: Fri, 10/14/2011 - 4:49pm #603829
raybeasParticipanthis (horrible) FT%, he can not be in the top 10. Shaq could, because he has 3+ inches and, ummm 60+ lbs (maybe 100?) on Blake. If Blake can shoot 70%+ from the line, he will make the top 10, not untill then.
0 - Posted on: Fri, 10/14/2011 - 6:33pm #603846
fastdanParticipantTen is high for last season, but everyone should anticipate him averaging 25/14/4 next year and the Clips will battle for a playoff spot. At that point he’ll easily be in the top ten, probably higher, and no sports writer wants to look like the guy who underrated a superstar. They all want to be able to say ‘I told you so’ when he wins an MVP in a few years.
0 - Posted on: Fri, 10/14/2011 - 9:44pm #603860
tuck243ParticipantI guess Melo isn’t better than Amare? D. Rose? Howard? Durant? D. Will? And you can throw Dirk in there… (Until I see that play from Dirk for a WHOLE year, I’m not jumping on that bandwagon) Blake isn’t better than Chris Bosh at this point… All his points come from just running the floor… How many of you actually watched Blakes game this season? He was TERRIBLE in half court… He’s not better than Aldridge either… SMH at all…
0 - Posted on: Sat, 10/15/2011 - 3:21am #603868
sammybuckeye13ParticipantI don’t think it’s unfair. The fact that he’s only played 1 year doesn’t matter; they’re evaluating the "current quality of each player." Blake averaged 22 and 12 – the first rookie to do that since Shaq, 18 years ago – and he led his team in total assists. He’s a superstar and I would have no qualms about taking him over Pau or Amare right now, he’s that good.
0 - Posted on: Sat, 10/15/2011 - 7:56am #603896
IndianaBasketballParticipantSmh @ you… Stop lying lmao. I watched EVERY LAC game and it’s CLEAR you didn’t watch him enough if you think most of his points came running the floor.He’s very good in the half court and got better every game. His skill level is significantly underrated. He’s patient in the half court. Sees the floor well. Makes the right passes. He just needs to keep working on his mid-range shot and his free-throws. Adding a few more back to the basket moves won’t hurt.His defense needs work, but other than that, he’s phenomenal.0 - Posted on: Sat, 10/15/2011 - 9:05am #603899
BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipantYeah, when a network thinks that Kevin Love is the 16th best player in the league, it really doesn’t matter if it wants to overrank Blake Griffin as well. It doesn’t really come as a shock that ESPN likes dunks, and somehow thinks they carry far more value than the 2 points that go up on the scoreboard. The people who made that list have to be some of the dumbest basketball minds in the country. I want to wage Basketball Jihad on the fools who think Kevin Love is a better player than Tim Duncan, LaMarcus Aldridge, Zach Randolph, Al Jefferson, Al Horford, Lamar Odom, and Kevin Garnett. There is no greater NBA fact than a superstar does not lose three out of four games for three straight years. An NBA superstar doesn’t get bum numbers on bum teams, and that above all else is the problem with the NBA pay structure. It is stupid people who don’t know what they are watching overvaluing numbers produced absent of context. You want further proof, those people think Golden State has three of the top 54 players in the league, and they can’t sniff the playoffs. If you think Kevin Love is the 16th best player in the game, then I need an explanation why LaMarcus Aldridge turns into Wilt Chamberlain when he plays Minnesota. I need an explanation for why San Antonio and the Lakers can sleepwalk for three quarters and still beat his butt with one quarter of effort. You can’t sleepwalk on stars. Congrats, some team is going to drop franchise player money for those losing numbers, and the team will be lottery bound til they luck into a real star who then places their overpayed mistake into a more proper role.
I also need some throat slitting for the three people who voted JaVale McGee second or third for Defensive Player of the Year. In terms of capital offenses against basketball, I think that qualifies.The misdemeanors are crimes like thinking Joakim Noah is better than Andrew Bogut when there is not one thing on basketball court he does better than Bogut. Same for Chuck Hayes and Udonis Haslem over Greg Monroe. That or overvaluing Tony Allen’s defensive presence when the best perimeter defender in the game is 80 slots behind him (Luc Richard Mbah a Moute). The whole list they created has probably causes more cases of chronic traumatic encephalopathy than football.Just mind-numbingly stupid.
0 - Posted on: Sat, 10/15/2011 - 11:33am #603915
Charlie SheenParticipantThis was a good idea at the beginning now its just bull sh#t. Blake is not a top 10 player skill wise his athleticsm is off the charts but still thats it. Carmelo at #12 is pure bull sh#t he’s a top 7 at least player and if people say oh he plays no D then when the hell has Dirk ever been a shut down defender on top of that Melo has a better offensive arsenal than Dirk, not taking anything away from Dirk he has a ring and a finals MVP but Melo is better than him.
Top 10
Kobe/LeBron-any order
Wade/Melo/D12/CP3-any order
KD/D.Rose/D-Will/Dirk-any order
those are the top 10 players in the league
0 - Posted on: Sat, 10/15/2011 - 12:08pm #603916
tuck243ParticipantAs a Clippers Season ticket holder I think I know what I’m talking about… Secondly, his only move in the post is the left shoulder run you over or a quick spin move… He’s not a Top 10 player at this moment… Will he be? Yes!!! His offense is a tad bit better than D. Howard’s and that’s only because he has that nasty a$$ spin move… Am I the only one who thinks putting a player with a less than average post game, no jumper, no defense, and unable to hit a freethrow, playing on a less than .500 team in the Top 10 is ridiculous? Like this is the same ish that happened with LeBron… Let this man come into his own before you leap frog him above better/complete players… I’m not saying he won’t be the best PF in the game… He’s just not there right now… Sorry…
I’m with you…BothTeams and Charlie Sheen… Especially Charlie- MF’s act like Melo hasn’t been to the conference Championship too… Look how he CARRIED that Knick’s team when Amare punk a$$ couldn’t score in the half court vs. Boston… D. Rose is Great don’t get me wrong, but he doesn’t play D either, his jumper still needs work, and he needs to be a better PG… With a MVP (that doesn’t mean ish for real- See Steve Nash)… Let these players become THAT guy… NO ONE is saying they don’t have the tools to be, just not right now… You can’t skip levels!!! Jordan said this, LeBron is going thru this… And STILL fans don’t see this… SMH @ yall… LMAO
0 - Posted on: Sat, 10/15/2011 - 12:21pm #603918
tuck243ParticipantWhen the Knicks start winning and yall see Melo killing LeBron (He always do) then we going to see soooooooooooo many threads on how great Melo is… The ish is sickening… The same ish with Dirk… NOBODY was questioning the fact that Dirk NEVER averaged 10+ Rebounds in his life and his lack of defense… Or how he actually didn’t play that well in the Finals… How he drifts in and out of games all the time… But since Dirk won, do you know how many people actually think Dirk is the best in the league right now? He’s not… Dirk needs to do this next year (if there is a next year) to be considered Top 5 in the league still with a ring and finals MVP… Bandwagon/Fairweather fans kills me… This f’ing "Whatever HOT right now" generation needs to stop it 5…
0 - Posted on: Sat, 10/15/2011 - 3:51pm #603941
apb540ParticipantYou need to see a whole year out of Dirk playing like he did in the playoffs to "jump on the bandwagon?" The dude has been doing it for over a decade. Where u been? Negative Nancy.
And no one gets 22 PPG while not being a good half-court player. U see Iguodala getting 22 ppg? nahhh. David Lee? nahhh. Make rational arguments.
0 - Posted on: Sat, 10/15/2011 - 3:55pm #603944
M-DYMESParticipantHe had 2 seasons where he avg. 9.9 reb and 1 season of 9.7. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on never having avg. 10 rpg for a season.
0 - Posted on: Sun, 10/16/2011 - 1:12am #603996
tuck243ParticipantYou have ridiculous people coming at me… LOL…
First, apb540- Are you serious? Dirk has NOT been killing like he did in this years Finals for over a decade… This is the first time he actually averaged more than 10 rebounds… Secondly, that was the MAIN story of the playoffs how he wasn’t soft anymore… See I told yall about these bandwagon fans… They see something great and think its the greatest thing ever…
David Lee and Andre Igudaloa? You looked at people who can’t score in the half court stats and came up with them 2… LeBron couldn’t score in the half court for a good portion of his career and he gets 25+… D. Howard can’t and gets 22+… Russell Westbrook got 22 this year I believe… When a player is the GO TO option on his team numbers tend to rise… No one is taking anything from Blake… I applaud him, he’s not a good half court player and definitely Top 10… Chill out…
Dymes- Come on now… Almost doesn’t count… He never did and that’s one of the reasons that ring eluded him for so long… You win Championships in 2 ways… Protecting the basket and controlling the boards… 2 things Dirk or the Mavericks couldn’t do the first time versus the Heat… They did it against them the second time and Dirk averaged 10+ boards during the Finals… That’s the main reason Amare will never sniff a Final… He doesn’t understand by him being the best big man on his team he HAS to rebound… He doesn’t want to… And it will ALWAYS kill his team’s success…
People tend not to see the bigger picture… And only the one that is presented to them… 99% of the reason America is in a recession right now… Similar case with this lockout, you have alot of folks who truly think its the Players fault… Its because NO ONE want to actually take the time out and research whats really going on… People are just full of opinions/stats from Wikipedia/ESPN… Too damn lazy to actually watch whole games of players (or a good portion) instead yall watch highlights and stats from NBA.com, then depend on others opinions (on here or ESPN), finally yall construct a flawed a$$ argument…
0 - Posted on: Sun, 10/16/2011 - 4:04am #603997
WizardofOzParticipantLOL Kevin Love being as high as 16th. Those listmakers need to be fired on the spot.
0 - Posted on: Sun, 10/16/2011 - 6:10am #604009
iguapops420ParticipantSays the guy who consistently overrates Andray Blatche lol.. jk Wizard. But seriously, Blake isn’t top 10 YET, but that could easily change this upcoming year. He and Gordon are gonna make some serious noise this upcoming year. Similar to people laughing at Derrick Rose thinking he could be MVP before the season, I think if Blake brings it this year and puts his team in a surprising playoff position, he could actually see a similar fate.
0 - Posted on: Sun, 10/16/2011 - 8:32am #604024
BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipantThe Clippers don’t shoot 3s or free throws well and they turned it over second most in the league, and supposedly offense is their strength. Defensively, they were second in the league in fouls committed and for all extensive purposes were very Clipper-like on that end. Plus, Vinny Del Genius is the coach and Donald Sterling is the owner. You have to go in knowing that Sterling isn’t going to spend to improve that depth and Vinny isn’t going to make them any better than they ought to be. Those are the variables mostly outside the control of Griffin, though he is allowed to play defense as well. Now, the being below 33 percent shooting outside 10 feet is within his control. When the team stinks and the opponent is up 10 and on cruise control, it is more or less easy to get the alley oops and dump off dunks. Those plays don’t really exist on in the playoffs. It is why Josh Smith isn’t the same player offensively in the playoffs as he is in the regular season.
Blake Griffin and John Wall could be great. If they take the path of Rose, Durant, etc then they will keep growing as players. To be fair, though it cannot be assumed that Wall will be able to hit a shot in the halfcourt set anymore than I can assume Ricky Rubio will. The same goes for Griffin developing range on his shot. Not everyone is Amare.
0 - Posted on: Sun, 10/16/2011 - 9:02pm #604123
iguapops420ParticipantThe Clippers also had Baron for half a season jacking up 3’s too much at a lower clip, along with Gordon injured. Mo never managed to get his jumper under him in LA, but IMO, this season those 3pt% will be a lot better. Not to mention the team really began to jell as the season went on. IMO, Blake’s ability to create for others is his most underrated asset. They are young, all friends, and don’t allow personal tasks to get in the way. Gordon is going to have a huge year along with the rest of the cast(not sure who will play the 3), but it’s going to be Blake who gets the credit. Even if he doesn’t bring it as good come playoffs(I whole heartedly believe an 8th seed is within reach)
0 - Posted on: Mon, 10/17/2011 - 8:33am #604162
chevilicousParticipantTuck you’re dumb as shit, seriously don’t make a weak argument about "alls you people do is make arguments based on statistics, and what you see on espn" Then in the same thread piss and moan about melo being ranked too low mentioning players like D-will , Durant, Howard and D-rose. If you truely think he IMPACTS the game more than any 4 of these guys you obviously have not watched enough basketball, and you surely have to be going off of offensive statistics. I think Melo is a top 10 player, and even had him ranked at 10 on my list that we made in a previous thread, but you are goddamn stupid if you think he impacts the game more than these 4 guys, go watch the nuggets vs jazz series over the last decade and get back to me.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 10/17/2011 - 8:48am #604166
iguapops420ParticipantJust checked and I stand corrected. Mo Will it seems actually did end up getting his stroke back when he arrived in LAC.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 10/17/2011 - 9:20am #604168
chevilicousParticipantHowever even a bigger surprise in this assanine ranking system. Kobe at #7 Behind Durant, Dirk and CP3…. Thoughts?
0 - Posted on: Mon, 10/17/2011 - 10:12am #604173
simonkildayParticipantI am surprised espn had Kobe ranked where he was, considering Tim Duncan was ranked #19, ahead of Aldridge and Z-bo, who torched him in the playoffs. So you’d figure espn was keen to giving out lifetime acheivement awards in these rankings. In my original top 10, I had Kobe at 6, just ahead of Durant. But after reconsidering, espn may have gotten this one right. Kobe is obviously way more accomplished than Durant, but can you really say that he is better today than Durant is? Maybe, but probably not.
Although I believe most of their list is incredibly flawed, espn got the top eight guys right, as I believe those guys to be clearly the pantheon of current NBA stars. I’m even more impressed that they didn’t jump the gun on ranking Derrick Rose ahead of Chris Paul, because even though Rose had a wonderful season last year, he’s clearly not better than Paul at this point. We’ll see how the rest of the list shakes out, and then for sure we’ll have some interesting discussions, but I think they got the top five right.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 10/17/2011 - 10:27am #604174
mikeyvthedonParticipantWas bound to be a disaster. Their was absolutely no context for ranking players. What is the difference between a 1 and a 9? How could you rank Blake Griffin the same as a player you feel is better? Just hope that someone else ranks him an 8? I am glad you did not vote BTPH, because it would give me a head ache as well. A few months ago, I said I would take Noah over Bogut, basically due to injury concerns, but he really does nothing better than him besides perhaps having greater lateral agility. Noah’s utter lack of offensive ability, however, was incredibly present in the play-offs and got little to no publicity (that went to Carlos Boozer’s shortcomings instead).
I have tuned into this list with mild interest to see if they could get it right, but it is a colossal fail. Blake Griffin has an incredibly bright future, and he definitely could become a top 10 player, but I am not even sure people were rating Shaq that high after his more productive and dominant rookie year. I wish the ballots were not silent, so we would know who to blame. Remember Fred Hickman and Chuck Swirsky? I am fairly sure, or at least hopeful, that we could maybe have a few people called out for horrible voting.
Fred Hickman:
Voted for Allen Iverson over Shaq for the 1999-2000 MVP. No, you are thinking of the next year that Iverson lead his team to the Finals. Shaq lead the league in scoring, FG %, was second in rebounding, third in blocks and lead the Lakers to a 67-15 record, 8 games ahead of the next best team in the league. This being a time where the Western Conference was much better. The guy came up with some bogus excuse about Iverson’s team needing him more, but the fact was, everyone knew Shaq was MVP that year and I have never heard from this dude regarding basketball since):
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20000510&slug=4020148
Chuck Swirsky:
He was a bald, alien looking radio announcer with a deceptively deep voice. Think Ted Williams the homeless man with the golden voice saying "radio is theater of the mind". He works for the Bulls now, but at the time he was working for the Raptors. He was the only person in 2007 to vote for Andrea Bargnani to win ROY over Brandon Roy. He claimed it was due to his playing a significant role on a play-off team and that Bargnani even hit a game winning shot to beat Portland in OT. I was sitting court side at that game, saw the whole thing. Also saw that Brandon Roy had hit the shot to put the Blazers ahead and was the better player of the two. The Blazers improved dramatically with Roy playing the main role. He had missed time early in the year, when even I thought Bargnani might be the rightful ROY, but than Bargnani missed just about an equal amount of time at the end of the season. Roy scored more (not to mention outshooting Bargnani in every category) and provided his 4 and 4 in rebounds and assists. Big man Bargs averaged 3.9 rpg and the Raptors were 12-5 in the games he missed. With all of this being said, when your reason for voting for someone is "I knew the other guy was going to win", it does not exactly do wonders for ones credibility. Do not know if Chuck still gets a ROY vote, but my guess is that if they need another voter for an award, Chuck is pretty far down the list.
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2007/04/roy_will_not_be_unanimous_roy.html
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