Hey HCP, don't ever stop posting, as I think you sorta intimated the other day, you are one of my favorite posters. This site isn't much good without the "good" poster like you.
Abso-fucking-lutely. Manu Ginobili at his peak was a top five player in the world, I shit you not. Watch the 2005 playoffs - Manu carried that team. And it's no accident that the Argies are the only team ever to beat the US team TWICE. Roy is not yet at the level Ginobili reached, but few people ever get there. (This is why it's very over-optimistic to compare Rudy to Ginobili.) I'd say he's already HALF the player... I doubt very much that he'll ever be Duncan's equal on offense. But then again, Duncan was a relatively late bloomer - he wasn't ranked in high school and claimed it took him ages to get coordinated enough to dunk. He still doesn't look graceful ever - he's certainly no Olajuwon. I think what Greg needs that Duncan has is a quiet iron confidence. If Greg really believed in himself, that would help a great deal. Of course, the other thing Greg needs that Duncan has is respect from the refs. So... who's our Tony Parker? (Minstrel: you are forbidden from answering this.)
Bayless. A scoring point who can slash and dish, shoot (not counting his sporadic playing time in his rookie season) and defend opposing point guards. I only saw this later. By then it was too late and I had already answered. And once you say something on the Internet, you can't take it out. You know how it gets transmitted from one place to another, one server to another. Soon, it's in signatures, avatars, YouTube videos. It's even being printed on t-shirts. Viral atmosphere, your modern day Internet. Yes, I'd say that ship has sailed. I'll be more alert next time, though.
He's not wrong. If this team is every going to get to the championship contender level it'll be because Oden has risen to the point of being compared to the likes of Duncan. Roy's a nice player, but I don't think he's good enough to be the unquestioned best player on a championship team.
I think that's a bit extreme - Duncan is the best player of the last decade! I see the Blazers as following the Pistons model, only through the draft, not through trades. We're shooting to have the best average talent. I dunno - I think he's easily going to be Chauncey-Billups-at-his-peak good, if he's not already.
