Which Players are going to have a huge year?

wade at 23 per game? that's worse than last season. i think he'll be back in the 27 range where he was pre injury.

but yeah i'd agree that lebron has the scoring title locked down. i don't really list him as a guy to have a huge year though, because really isn't every year of his huge?

 

I totally agree with that, I just don't think Wade has "it" like Jordan did. Wade is an amazing talent, but he just doesn't have that killer attitude like Jordan or sometimes Kobe have.

 

I totally question this mythical killer attitude. I mean Kobe was below average for Kobe in the NBA's biggest stage this year. He was settling for jumpshots most of the time.

He also F***ed up the 2004 Finals for the Lakers.

I don't think Wade will average 30 ppg, but I mean he played pretty hard and aggressive during the 06 Finals, and for that matter during the regular season he plays pretty hard.

I'm not saying Kobe isn't a great scorer, just I don't get how people attribute stuff like "killer attitude". lol

 

Kobe was also being swarmed by 2 or 3 defenders almost every time and being FORCED to shoot jump shots in the Finals. It was the same story in the '04 Finals against the Pistons. Also, the Lakers weren't helped by injuries in those Finals either - Malone was basically useless because of his knee. Oh yea, Payton was also pure trash in those Finals too, which I'm sure didn't help Kobe out at all.

And I do agree with you JFizz, I don't know if he's got the killer instinct of a Jordan or Kobe, but you don't need one to score 30ppg, at least I don't think. I think you need the killer instinct to close a game out for your team, but to score 30ppg, I don't see why you need that.

Hell, look at some of the 30ppg scorers we've seen in recent memory. TMac, Jerry Stackhouse, 'Melo, etc. I don't think any of those three have (or had in the case of Stack) the killer instinct of a Jordan or Kobe, yet they've all cracked the 30ppg mark (or at least came damn close since I'm not sure about 'Melo) for a season at some point in their respective careers.

 

Did you not watch the 2006 Finals? He was a one-man wrecking crew. The Mavs could do nothing but whine about the officiating.

And Wade in the clutch has as much of a killer attitude as anyone in the league.

 

I disagree with that, but to each their own.

 

you say that like they were whining about good or even decent officiating. but really they were whining about terrible officiating. that makes a bit of a difference to me.

 

Yeah, I remember those Finals, Wade got every call for no particular reason for some of them.

 

For most of his shots, he wasn't swarmed when he took them, he wasn't even looking to drive a lot of the time. I counted one game, and he only attempted to drive a handful of times, and usually it was Pierce or Allen just doing a good defensive job and not letting him blow by.

The 04 Finals, yes the Laker team were affected by injuries and Payton wasn't very good. But Kobe didn't want another Finals MVP to go to Shaq, and he was forcing shots when doubled, and there would be times where Shaq would be deep in the paint (and the Pistons were focusing on doing single coverage on Shaq), and so just Shaq and Ben down low, and instead of getting the ball to an open Shaq, Kobe would take a clunker. It sucked that Malone was hobbled and could only take open Js, but they still had George, Fox, and Fisher who can run the triangle and work as a team to get good shots, and knock down 3s, when Kobe would get doubled.

Well, I think the 2006 Finals he played hard throughout, the Mavs were double teaming Shaq and no one else on the Heat really could create, so he stepped it up.

 

The refs were picked from the same pool of officials that officiate all the playoff series. It's ridiculous that some observers suggest that the staggering turnaround in that series was mostly attributable to the officials, and not the quality of play by the Mavs and Heat. That type of excuse making just aggravates me to no end.

I'm not saying that Wade didn't benefit from some iffy calls. But here's the thing. Any star player who plays aggressively will benefit from their share of iffy calls. I give full credit to Wade in that series for putting his team on his back and forcing the issue in a way no other player has done at that stage. He was remarkable.

 

It still represents everything that is wrong with the NBA, so there really is no good retort. I sure as hell know I don't want to win a game like that. To rely on that to such a large degree in order to win a title, certainly dilutes it.

The Heat had 24 more FTs than the Mavs in Game 5 (way outside the regular +8 homecourt advantage for the playoffs IIRC), 82games.com did an analysis of Game 5 as well.

Source: 82games.com

 

Ref calls aside, I'd have to say tha Wade is one of the best clutch players right now. In the before mentioned Finals...how many people watching could honestly say that everytime he had the ball in his hand he wasn't going to do something special? He wasn't just driving to the basket getting calls but pulling up with jumpers and hitting them in traffic and open when he was supposed to. That man was damn near beating the spirts of the Mavs by himself...they had no awnser for him. And just recenty the way he pretty much dominated the floor during the Olympics...I'd say he's primed for a break out season. And does everyone seem to forget that teams won't be able to concentrate on just stopping him...last time I checked Miami has Marion who is good for 20+ ppg and Beasley who is a legit scorer in the making...Beasley can realisticaly get close to 20ppg and 8 rpg this year.


But as for my personal addition to the "Break-out player" list. Mike Miller. With teams having to Double up on Big Al and the passing of Love...Miller will get alotta looks on a team that needs an outside scoring presence. Think the sweet shooter could be good for 25+ ppg with Minny

 

The reason I'm not in love with his comeback is because he did have a pretty long time to heal up before going into the Olympics. Once we're in the middle of the season, I expect a little dip in production.

 

I don't know if Miller can really have a "break-out" year, per se. He's a relatively well known commodity, hell, he won Rookie of the Year back in '00-'01 if I'm correct. He's always been solid, averaging anywhere from 11 to 19 points per game.

And as much as I do like Miller, 25 ppg seems out of reach. We all know Jefferson is going to be a 20+ppg scorer, Foye and McCants also each have the ability to put up 15+ppg if they can stay healthy, and I think Corey Brewer is likely to average somewhere close to that 15ppg mark this year too.

 

I have Miller pegged for 18ppg next season, from open shots that he'll get from Jefferson and whatnot. Sounds okay?

 

I would say 18ppg is a pretty fair guess, especially considering he's still likely to be the #2 option on that team, despite the aforementioned McCants and Foye on the team.

 

I think Wade will have a monster year, and then I think Randy Foye will emerge this year as i big time player.

 

Excuse me for bumping an old thread to toot my own horn.

Wade is now leading the league in scoring, and more importantly leading a group of guys that have no business even sniffing the playoffs to potentially home court advantage in the first round. He's averaging 30 ppg, 8 apg, 5 rpg, 2 spg, and 1.4 bpg, he's shooting 50% from the field, and he hasn't yet missed a single game this season.

Where does he stand right now in the MVP race? He has to be at least top 3.

 

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