Most pleasing development(s) this season?

Chris Paul is far better than Anthony. And Dwight Howard is also much more valuable than Anthony.

As far as I'm concerned, the "tier 1" players are James, Paul, Wade, Howard and Kobe, and Kobe is slowly slipping to "tier 2."

Anthony, like Roy and players like Tony Parker and Deron Williams, is "tier 2."

 

This team has won its games previously because we were deeper, more talented and more versatile than the opposition. This year, we had to fight bad chemistry and injuries. We've discovered we have heart and guts. That discovery will serve us well in the future.

 

When you add pace and usage% - the numbers are nowhere near as big. The Heat are a little faster than the Blazers (not much) - but Wade's usage% is much much higher than Roy - he is used at 36% of the possessions of the team when he is on the court, where Brandon is at 27% only.

I would still agree that Wade is a better player than Roy - but the difference is much smaller than you think it is, and it mostly comes on the defensive end, not the offensive end.

If you look at their PER-36, adjust for pace (* 0.75 because 36 minutes is 0.75 of the game's 48 minutes) and divide by their usage% - you see that Roy's scoring per possession he is used is 1.15 points, where D-Wade is only at 1.08 points.

So - Roy is actually a more efficient scorer within the possessions used (something we could tell directly by looking at his TS% - which is a bit higher than Wade's).

Roy is an elite scorer. People need to remember he plays on a very slow team and is not used as much as most super-stars do...

 

I love Roy but even I admit he isn't a Tier 1 guy yet.

His defense is way to poor to be in that category.

I think he can become a Tier 1 guy if he makes a concerted effort to add defense to his overall game.

 

Unless you have "stats" to back any of this up you are fucked dude.

 

He has a definite argument as a Tier 1 player. I generally place him in the Carmelo Anthony/Brandon Roy class because his production is borderline superstar but his defense is only average or so. The players I consider "Tier 1" either have high 20's PER (Paul, Wade) or around mid-20's PER with a lot of defensive value (Howard) or both (James).

Bryant is actually my most questionable...I was including him due to past performance and giving him a pass on this year's production due to injury. But, actually, looking at his numbers...he hasn't been high-20s in PER for quite a while.

Brandon Roy was almost as productive, last year, as Durant is this year, but I didn't consider him a Tier 1 player. I'm not sure if I'm right to not consider Durant one, but at least I'm consistent!

if Durant raises his production next year, or becomes a lock-down defender, I'd definitely say he's "Tier 1." And I'm sure that'll make his day.

 

I liked Oden when he was healthy.

The team keep on keeping on even with all the injures.

Like the contributions by the rookies especially Cunningham.

Really like how Miller has turned out.

 

Mello is a top 3 player in the L.

 

Top 3 player or top 3 scorer?