Atlanta's starting lineup including Josh Smith, Joe Johnson, and Al Horford is a lot better than any of the other teams in my lower tiers. Jamal Crawford gives them some depth, 6th man of the year. They need another PF so Smith could play SF, or they need a stronger SF. IMO.
Rose/Deng/Boozer is every bit as good as Johnson/Smith/Horford, plus the bulls starting five matches up better. And the Celtics were a .500 team for 2/3's of the season, they won't get out to a 20-5 start again. And while the C's play good defense, Lebron quit. Lebron beat the Pistons all by himself and he went from draining 3's and winning by 30 points to playing hot potato with the ball.
That's just silly. Rose is not as good as Johnson right now. Deng is nowhere near as good as Horford (an all-star). Boozer and Smith may be about equal, but even that's debatable. Maybe Garnett's injury (he missed the 1st round playoff series against us, remember?) had something to do with their slow start. I'd be more inclined to look at how Boston finished.
Denny, you are so star struck all of the time. JJ last year 21.3/4.6/4.9 on .458 shooting. Rose was 20.8/3.9/6.0 on .489 shooting. There TS% were basically the same. Johnson has a lower tov%, which is surprising, but that's about the only difference. Assuming Rose continues to improve, Rose is going to be a better player for the rest of Joe Johnson's career. And Horford being an all star was a joke, especially considering Smith should have been the guy to go. And what slow start are you talking about?
So now that Kirk is gone, Derrick Rose is the greatest player in the history of the franchise? Johnson had a higher PER, higher WS/48, hit 37% from 3pt on 4.4 attempts per game, which is why his eFG% is quite superior to Rose's. Johnson played in 4 straight all-star games through last year, and was named all-nba 3rd team. 3 out of the last 5 seasons (2 of the last 3, too), he's averaged as many assists as Rose, but from the SG position. But yeah, in some universe, Rose is the best player on the planet. And the slow start was the Celtics (you said sub .500 for 2/3 of the season). Yet I actually can't find a single month they played .500 ball.
The last two thirds, Denny.... The C's started 23-5 (18 games over .500) and finished 50-32 (you guessed it, exactly 18 games over .500). That means for the final 54 games they played exactly .500 ball. I'm really curious why you have a hard time figuring this kind of stuff out. I'm also curious why you can't understand how good Rose is already, or why he is at least as good as Joe Johnson.
Johnson is a top 10 player in the league. Rose is a top 30 player, maybe top 20. Top 20 for a 2nd year player is quite good. But that doesn't mean I have to see him through rose colored glasses or put my nose so far up Reinsdorf's ass that my nose is brown.
I _HOPE_ he turns out better and soon. I think the reviews for Rose should be somewhat mixed at this point. He's clearly a dynamic and talented player. He doesn't rack up a lot of assists like a top PG, and he is pretty close to 1 point for every FGA, which is not particularly efficient (playoffs he scored 27 PPG on 25 FGA, yikes!). To be more efficient, he has to draw 2x more fouls and take/make a lot more 3pt shots. Minus Gordon, but plus much more healthy games from Hinrich, Deng, etc., and Rose being The Man, we were still a .500 team, had a 10 game losing streak, got blown out of too many games, etc. So he has to be The Man on a 50 win team, IMO. As for breaking top 20, how about this: top 20 have PER over 20.5, and top 10 have PER over 22.5. Elite players are close to 30.
Would the fact that rose got to the line more than Johnson did last year undercut your position at all? And if Johnson is only 3rd team all-nba it would seem to point to him not being a top ten player, wouldn't it?
3rd team all-nba makes him 5th best guard in the league. If the top ten players in the league are all guards, then he's 5th best, now isn't he?
That's some sound logic Denny. Too bad it isn't close to being realistic, but it's a much better effort.
Here are ten forwards. Gasol, Bosh, Boozer, Amare, Nowitzki, Randolph, Lebron, Melo, Durant, and Granger.
Gosh, you hate Amare, and LOL at your list. Gasol, Lebron, Melo, Nowitzki, and Durant are top 10. Maybe Amare, too. Using your own logic, which of those players on your list made the all-nba 1st or 2nd or 3rd teams?
I know I'm late, but the same guy calling denny star struck is massaging LeBron's back and making excuses for him? I don't get that.
When did I make excuses for him? I said he quit on his team. You're the one making excuses for him by saying that it was the C's great defense. And you don't think LBJ is better than Joe Johnson? And there's five right there Denny, thow in Dwight Howard and if by your own admission Johnson is the fifth best guard, then he's not top ten.
Johnson in an off year got 118 votes/points for all-nba team. Rose got 15 votes/points. Not voted on by the fans, but by sportswriters and broadcasters.
Keep grasping Denny. That says more about how shitty the rest of the league is right now at SG than it does about Joe Johnson, especially since he's on the decline. Wade, Bryant, and maybe Ginobili and Roy are the only "star" SG's out there right now. There's a huge dropoff after them. Joe Johnson is more "least mediocre" than "all-nba".
