According to HoopsAvenue, Kobe is the #3 ranked player in the league. What do you think, and why? http://www.hoopsavenue.com/nba/top50-list.php EDIT: Just in case the site is loading spyware and/or pop-ups when you use the link...here's the list. :thumbsup: <font size="1">50. Antoine Walker 49. Antawn Jamison 48. Andre Miller 47. Corey Maggette 46. Dwyane Wade 45. Jason Richardson 44. Rasheed Wallace 43. Latrell Sprewell 42. Mike Bibby 41. Eddie Jones 40. Chauncey Billups 39. Richard Jefferson 38. Gilbert Arenas 37. Rashard Lewis 36. Andrei Kirilenko 35. Tony Parker 34. Michael Finley 33. Michael Redd 32. Sam Cassell 31. Ron Artest 30. Lamar Odom 29. Steve Nash 28. Zach Randolph 27. Kenyon Martin 26. Carmelo Anthony 25. Pau Gasol 24. Amare Stoudemire 23. Yao Ming 22. Ray Allen 21. Chris Webber 20. Stephon Marbury 19. Steve Francis 18. Shawn Marion 17. Lebron James 16. Baron Davis 15. Elton Brand 14. Ben Wallace 13. Paul Pierce 12. Vince Carter 11. Richard Hamilton 10. Dirk Nowitzki 9. Allen Iverson 8. Peja Stojakovic 7. Jason Kidd 6. Jermaine O'Neal 5. Tracy Mcgrady 4. Shaquille O'Neal 3. Kobe Bryant 2. Kevin Garnett 1. (not listed yet, but it's obviously Tim Duncan)</font>
Well number 1 is gonna be Duncan. I guess that's about right because just reading the thread I knew KG would be in front of him because of his MVP status and Tim is a former MVP and the undisputed number 1 man this year. If Kobe can find away to win it all someday then he'll get the number 1 spot sooner or later.
shaq should see this one i'm sure he'll whine and complain that he should be ahead of kobe. i can't believe carter is #12, this guy is an injury prone and doesn't even belong in top 20 right now, in my opinion. kobe's getting close and for sure will be number as soon as the team play together and win. kobe is #3 already and he's only 25? scary but he's still improving.
6. Jermaine O'Neal 5. Tracy McGrady 4. Shaquille O'Neal 3. Kobe Bryant 2. Kevin Garnett 1. Tim Duncan Does anyone find it funny that 4 of the top 6 are players that made the jump straight out of high school? Also, the top 4 are all from the West (considering that Shaq just now moved out East, his best years are with the Lakers).
Very interesting list. As it relates to Kobe, I think it can be said that it is a fair list. I would put #1 Shaq, #2 Duncan, #3 Garnett, then Kobe, but I can understand their list because they are anticipating a drop in Shaq's performance because he is older, also, it is hard to figure out how a guy like Kobe ranks compared to a group of seven footers, since their game is different. I suspect Kobe's stats will go up next year, and he'll be an MVP candidate. But my man Dirk got screwed a little. Iverson, Kidd, Peja ahead of him? Hmmm, I'd have put him about seventh (or higher based on playoff performance). I'm just saying Kidd is hurt, Iversons is still good, but Dirk is more dominant, Peja can shoot, but Dirk is still better. Andre Kirilinko at #36? That's whack! Statistically, he's probably a top ten player. Who would you rather have AK or #21 Chris Webber? Give me AK. I also thing Mike Bibby at #42 is harsh. I see about 10 point guards on the list, and I'd put Bibby ahead of at least six of them. But I guess these Hoopshype guys are a lot more impressed with the games of guys like Francis and Marbury than I am. They are rated ahead of Nash, Parker, Cassell, Billups and Bibby. I guess stats are more important than winning to these guys. As for number #1, obviously, since he isn't listed on the list anywhere else, they must be giving it to my man, D. J. Mbenga! (that was a joke)
I think Kobe should be ranked number #2. Kobe is my favorite player but I think KG is the best player in the NBA right now. I would rank Duncan #3, Jermaine O'neal #4, and Iverson #5.
Now it's about time for my opinion. Kobe being ranked at #3 is pretty much where he should be...maybe the second best though. Tim Duncan has a pretty good starting five to play alongside, especially with Parker being the point guard. I think that helps his game alot. Shaq was with Kobe, and that's true...but the Lakers didn't have much more than that. One-on-one, Kobe is the best in the league...I don't think anyone can dispute that...or at least he's the best perimeter player (nearly the same thing if you think about it). Kevin Garnett's spot is well-deserved, but probably should be #1. I think this list, however, will have to change by the end of the year, especially with the rankings from 6-20. Webber is fairly high...Ben Wallace is getting underrated a bit...Hamilton is overrated. We'll see how this list does...but Kobe is well-deserving of a #1-3 spot. :thumbsup:
Pretty good list, I would agree with all but Paja at #8 and Hamilton at #11... I would not rank them that high, especially Hamilton. He did have a very good playoffs and carried his team on offense throughout, but better than Pierce? Don't think so... As for the #1-3 I would have ranked them the same. I could even consider sliding Shaq to #2, but in the end I'd probably have the same list. TD is definitely the best player in the league.. We'll see if that changes any time soon.
Other than <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">11. Richard Hamilton 36. Andrei Kirilenko</div> I'd say this is a fairly good list, and Kobe is ranked where he should be. But this list will change by the end of the season, and he may move up or down the list, we will soon see.
ranking...based on last year .....and overall..... 1 garnett 2 duncan 3 shaq 4 mcgrady 5 o'neal 6 yao 7 kobe I think kobe will rise to number 3 or 2 this year.I know he is already at 3 on this list. BUt come on we are talking value to his team.He shared it with the diesel.... while mcgrady's stock will lower being alongside yao.... As for perimeter players; c'mon kobe the best? wow ....um, michael redd, ray allen, even brent barry have better outside game. Now talking clutch shooter. He is one of the best. But then again so was van exel..... i just think you guys are over rating kobe before he actually performs on his own. He has always had Shaq to take the pressure off of him. We shall see what happens this season....but i have a feeling it will be a frustrating season. He will face double and triple teams without shaq to take some of the brunt of that. I dont know that they have improved their outside shooting much. d-fish, horry, fox, etc gone replaced by basically odom. Yeah butler has potential. But as for proven shooting, it is still shakey.... Over all kobe has the green light to do what he wants and i am sure will put up tremendous numbers despite shooting a high volume of shots. Will it translate into wins. In year one, probably a sub .500 team. But i think eventually, 3 years from now, if the right second banana is brought in and the team is built with solid role players a championship run won't be that far off.
Haha...some of you guys are going to get a huge surprise. I don't know how many times I told everyone that the Lakers were going to be the best team in the West last year (at the Playstation Sports forums, before I came here)...and I was right. Then, I told them that the Pistons were going to cause the Lakers the most trouble...and I'll admit that I even thought the Lakers would win, but I did know that it would be a bad situation. Last year, Shaq wasn't great. He didn't look like the best center in the league, or in the West. I don't care what stats say...I don't base my opinions on stats, or how many rings are on someone's fingers when I determine who's good and who's great. Kobe proved that he's better than Shaq. He may not have been for the first four or five years of his career, but by the second and third championship, Kobe was catching up fast. Age plays a factor. Weight, attitude, skills, determination...all of these do, also. Kobe is younger, quicker, a better shooter, better ball handling, better defender...he's got more determination than Shaq, who wanted to give up on the Lakers (and eventually did by not losing weight until he gets to Miami) and that also ties in with his attitude. The only reason Shaq is making more money is because he was a #1 pick in 1992, and he used to be the best center in the league. Now, if Duncan was a true center, he would be the best, along with Jermaine O'Neal and possibly even Ben Wallace. Scoring isn't everything, Shaq...especially when you were winning your MVP awards by playing Todd MacCulloch and Rik Smits in two NBA Finals series. Oh yeah...actually...some of you are overrating Shaq. If anyone is overrated, it's him. Kobe deserves his rating...sometimes, I'm not sure if Shaq is good enough to be ranked that high.
Well, the list seems pretty fair. I think Kobe at #3 is right where he shoould be. I'm just glad as long as he's ahead of shaq
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting boogielew:</div><div class="quote_post">ranking...based on last year .....and overall..... 1 garnett 2 duncan 3 shaq 4 mcgrady 5 o'neal 6 yao 7 kobe I think kobe will rise to number 3 or 2 this year.I know he is already at 3 on this list. BUt come on we are talking value to his team.He shared it with the diesel.... while mcgrady's stock will lower being alongside yao.... As for perimeter players; c'mon kobe the best? wow ....um, michael redd, ray allen, even brent barry have better outside game. Now talking clutch shooter. He is one of the best. But then again so was van exel..... i just think you guys are over rating kobe before he actually performs on his own. He has always had Shaq to take the pressure off of him. We shall see what happens this season....but i have a feeling it will be a frustrating season. He will face double and triple teams without shaq to take some of the brunt of that. I dont know that they have improved their outside shooting much. d-fish, horry, fox, etc gone replaced by basically odom. Yeah butler has potential. But as for proven shooting, it is still shakey.... Over all kobe has the green light to do what he wants and i am sure will put up tremendous numbers despite shooting a high volume of shots. Will it translate into wins. In year one, probably a sub .500 team. But i think eventually, 3 years from now, if the right second banana is brought in and the team is built with solid role players a championship run won't be that far off.</div> are you serious you put yao and mcgrady over kobe and youre basing this on last year right how many games did the magic win?? Funny stuff lol
ACtually, you are right. Yao does not belong there yet, however, mcgrady is better than Kobe and deserves to be higher than him on the list, how can you dispute the numbers? mcgrady 28 ppg 6 rpg 5.5 ast kobe 24 ppg 5.5 rpg 5.1 ast mcgrady has better numbers last year than kobe.....and he experienced the double and triple teams that kobe will face this year..... he did not have a shaq to share the burden..... so yes MCgrady is a better player. The numbers don't lie!!!!! we shall see how many games kobe's lakers win vs how many the rockets win
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting boogielew:</div><div class="quote_post">ACtually, you are right. Yao does not belong there yet, however, mcgrady is better than Kobe and deserves to be higher than him on the list, how can you dispute the numbers? mcgrady 28 ppg 6 rpg 5.5 ast kobe 24 ppg 5.5 rpg 5.1 ast mcgrady has better numbers last year than kobe.....and he experienced the double and triple teams that kobe will face this year..... he did not have a shaq to share the burden..... so yes MCgrady is a better player. The numbers don't lie!!!!! we shall see how many games kobe's lakers win vs how many the rockets win</div> Okay, time to end this BS. Let me ask you something, since you base your opinions solely on stats. Two years ago, Kobe's average was 30 PPG, and McGrady BARELY edged him out for the scoring title...correct? How? Shaq's average was 27 PPG...nearly the same. Tell me this...based on those stats, how many points will Kobe pour in this season without Shaq? Come on...McGrady's stats are inflated because he's the only option on the Magic. In other words...put Shaq on McGrady's team in Orlando. McGrady's average would drop pretty far. He wouldn't average 30 PPG like Kobe did two years ago, with Shaq STILL on his team. Does McGrady have an All-Star MVP? Kobe has started in four consecutive All-Star games, been in 6 total...but McGrady didn't even start in 2002. Kobe...All-Defensive 1st Team in 2000, 2003 and 2004. All-Defensive 2nd Team in 2001 and 2002. All-NBA First Team in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Slam Dunk Contest winner in 1998. Tallied 31 points in the Rookie game. Gatorade National Player of the Year in 1996. Youngest to ever play in a game...youngest to reach 10,000 points...12 threes in a game (record) with nine consecutive (record). Has three championship rings. McGrady...scoring champ. All-Star game a few times. Most Improved Player award. A couple of All-NBA teams. A-mazing. So, now what's your argument? In fact... Kobe Bryant (24 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 5.1 APG) shot 44% from the field (a month with a re-injured shoulder, but still played), 85% from the line, 33% 3PT...with better stats also in steals and turnovers, in less minutes. Tracy McGrady (28 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 5.5 APG) shot 42% from the field, 80% from the line, 34% 3PT...with better stats also in blocks, but in more minutes. Now, this is Kobe with Shaq...rebounding better than anyone else on the Magic, and also sharing the point total with Malone AND Payton. Come on...what's McGrady's excuse? LOL...he's not even close to Kobe. EDIT: I might as well do this before someone else does.
In fact... Kobe Bryant (24 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 5.1 APG) shot 44% from the field (a month with a re-injured shoulder, but still played), 85% from the line, 33% 3PT...with better stats also in steals and turnovers, in less minutes. Tracy McGrady (28 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 5.5 APG) shot 42% from the field, 80% from the line, 34% 3PT...with better stats also in blocks, but in more minutes. Now, this is Kobe with Shaq...rebounding better than anyone else on the Magic, and also sharing the point total with Malone AND Payton. Come on...what's McGrady's excuse? LOL...he's not even close to Kobe.
Yes, finally! Elton Brand has gotten respect, these guys impressed me, Brand at number 15, that's how it should be. Now Rip Hamilton at #11 is just laughable, did then not know he was in Washington before he came to the Pistons. Also Peja at #8, huh? AK47 should be about where Amare is.... Anyways, Kobe's rating is good, that's where he should be, he's good, Tmac's good, KG and Duncan are good, everyone is good
