Top 10 Players in Each Series

[BwareDWare94]

Post your rankings and discuss! Please keep in mind that people will had brain farts and not have some obvious players now and then. Let them find the edit button before you tear them apart.
 
Atlanta/Washington
 
1. Millsap
2. Wall
3. Horford
4. Pierce
5. Gortat
6. Teague
7. Beal
8. Carroll
9. Nene
10. Korver
 
If Wall had a jumpshot, he'd be the best player and it'd be no contest. I love Millsap's overall game and had to put him number 1. Horford is also a great player, even if he's invisible on some nights. Paul Pierce has to be up there right now, considering the way he's playing. I put Gortat above Teague because of Teague's consistency issues, and it's a toss-up after that. I feel that DeMarre Carroll's offensive development has been overlooked.
 
Cleveland/Chicago
 
1. LeBron
2. Butler
3. Kyrie
4. Gasol
5. Noah
6. Rose
7. Mozgov
8. Gibson
9. JR
10. Thompson
 
This list was pretty obvious. There's clear drop off between each ranking. This list flowed pretty easily.
 
GSW/Memphis
 
1. Curry
2. Gasol
3. Draymond
4. Klay
5. Bogut
6. Conley (if he was playing)
7. ZBo
8. JGreen
9. Barnes
10. Lee
 
This list was remarkably difficult, especially at 3/4 but as Draymond is Golden State's spark plug and has taken them over the top defensively, I had to go with him. You'd think Klay's offense would put him at 3, but Draymond can guard almost anybody in the league, and that has to be taken into consideration. Spots 7 and on were a complete crapshoot. I'm interested to see where people put each player.
 
Houston/LAC
 
1. Harden
2. Griffin
3. Paul
4. Dwight
5. Jordan
6. Crawford
7. Ariza
8. Redick
9. Jones
10. Brewer
 
This list was also very difficult, and had a clear toss up at 1 and 2, but Harden has a more versatile offensive attack, so I had to pick him. If James hadn't upped his assist numbers recently, Blake's surprising ability to distribute from the 4 position would have carried him over the top. CP3 is ahead of Dwight because Paul has been consistent over the past couple of years. Yes, Dwight has been injured, but who's been playing better doesn't take injuries into account. Jordan was the clear number 5 considering the way he can swing momentum, and Jamal Crawford is the last game changer on this list. He can drop 3s from anywhere and is known for his deadly shots and tendency to draw 4 point plays. Ariza and Redick are a toss up because Ariza's a better defender and Redick is a better shooter. I put Terrence Jones at 9 as I feel he's been criminally underrated in the playoffs so far simply because Josh Smith had one good game. I put Corey Brewer ahead of Smith because of the way Brewer has perfected his role with the Rockets. Matt Barnes is 10b ahead of Josh Smith, by the way.

 

[elusive]

There's a big dropoff between Kyrie Irving and Jimmy Butler?

 

[Hurricane Season]

I'm not sure if Noah is even top ten right now with the way he's been playing.

 

[elcheato]

Noah ahead of Rose is fairly comical

 

[elcheato]

Conley is vastly superior to Bogut as well

Wall is the best player in his series, and I'd have Horford above Millsap

And Pierce above Teague, Gortat, and Beal? I take issue with all of that

 

[jonathanlambert33]

Noah ahead of Rose is fairly comical

I don't think it is at all. Rose is fairly unreliable, yes he has games like Game 1 where he goes for 23 and 7 on 56% shooting, or Game 3 where he goes for 34 and 8 on 52% shooting, but he will also have outings like Game 5 where he shoots 38% and turns the ball over 8 times. He had 4 games where he failed to give you more than 15 points, 3 games where he shoots sub 40% (2 shooting sub 30%), 2 games where he recordered more turns than assists, and so on. He's inconsistent and really feels like he could miss a game at anytime.

Where as Noah, he's more of a steady force. He's going to give you real good defense every night, he will give you double digits on the boards, he will give you 4-5 assists in all likelihood. Anytime he puts the ball through the hoop is just lagniappe.

I'm not saying I would take Noah over Rose, id have to really dig in and think that one over. But I don't think it's the least bit comical.

 

[elcheato]

I know you believe defense is more important than offense, and I think it's the opposite, so I don't think either of us is going to budge on that.

 

I think Rose is straight up better than Noah anyway, but it's just more magnified when specifically looking at this series, because Noah is probably going to find himself on the bench in most 4th quarters.  

 

[Hurricane Season]

I've only been able to watch one Bulls game so far this postseason, but I'm willing to bet that Noah's defense has not been that good recently.  He's been playing hurt all year.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

I know you believe defense is more important than offense, and I think it's the opposite, so I don't think either of us is going to budge on that.
 
I think Rose is straight up better than Noah anyway, but it's just more magnified when specifically looking at this series, because Noah is probably going to find himself on the bench in most 4th quarters.  

The whole defense vs offense thing is kind of overblown. It's a whole lot easier to generate defense than offense. If I had to choose between two polar opposite players one who is an A offensively and a C defensively and vice versa, I would take the offensive guy everytime.

My argument has always been defense is a whole lot more important than people believe and if I had to choose between a guy that could give you 20 a night but played no defense or a guy who could give you 15 a night and good defense I would take the better all around player, that's another argument though.

My argument is consistency, you have to mark down Rose for some goose eggs every few nights, he's just not there yet where he can contribute positively on every night. Where as Noah will give you the same each and every night. Like I said though, I don't know who I would take.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

Another interesting little exercise, say you take a team full of average NBA players and put the best player on each team on one of these teams.

So for example, you have 14 average players and James Harden on one team, and 14 average players and Blake Griffin on another team. Who wins?

 

[bosoxlover12]

1. Curry
2a. Gasol
2b. Klay
4. Conley
5. Draymond
6. Randolph
7. Bogut
8. Green
9. Iggy
10. Barnes
 
1. Harden
2. Blake
3. Paul
4. Dwight
5. Crawford
6. Deandre
7. Redick
8. Ariza
9. Jones
10. Brewer
 
 
1. LeBron
2. Kyrie
3. Butler
4. Rose
5. Gasol
6. Noah
7. Taj
8. JR
9. Mirotic
10. Thompson
 
1. Wall
2. Horford
3. Milsap
4. Beal
5. Teague
6. Pierce
7. Carroll
8. Korver
9. Gortat
10. Porter

 

[bosoxlover12]

Another interesting little exercise, say you take a team full of average NBA players and put the best player on each team on one of these teams.

So for example, you have 14 average players and James Harden on one team, and 14 average players and Blake Griffin on another team. Who wins?

It so depends on who the players are lol
 
 
If by average you mean they can't create their own shot, then clearly Harden lol.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

I don't think it's clearly Harden, you put a bunch of "so-so" players around him and the things he does become so much harder to accomplish. He wouldn't be the same player.

 

[elcheato]

Is this based purely on talent or are we weighing impact this series? Because Mirotic appears to be out of the Bulls rotation currently (presumably for health reasons) 

 

[bosoxlover12]

Talent 

 

[CameronCrazy06]

I could nitpick but overall I like bosox list.

Since I will nitpick, DeAndre has to be over Crawford

 

[bosoxlover12]

The main reason I did that was because Deandre averages 39% from the line, and shoots 37% outside 3 feet from the hoop. His offensive game is so extremely limited, where 73% of his points this year came from either FTs or dunks.

I didn't realize he averaged 15rpg tho damn

 

[jonathanlambert33]

DeAndre is an interesting case. He doesn't give you much of anything offensively outside of dunks, and his defense is a little overrated. But the guy does pull down a ton of boards, block a lot of shots, and effect even more.

 

[CameronCrazy06]

The argument that his defense is overrated is coming from people who just look at individual numbers but can't understand what his impact truly means.

He's their anchor. Not only in rebounding and blocking shots. He erases mistakes. His presence alone allows Paul to gamble more on defense. He alters many shots that he doesn't block, he causes teams to think twice about going up in the paint just because he's in there, etc.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

The argument that his defense is overrated is coming from people who just look at individual numbers but can't understand what his impact truly means.

He's their anchor. Not only in rebounding and blocking shots. He erases mistakes. His presence alone allows Paul to gamble more on defense. He alters many shots that he doesn't block, he causes teams to think twice about going up in the paint just because he's in there, etc.

I don't think that's even remotely the case. Yes he's their anchor, yes he allows their perimeter guys to gamble, etc etc. To many people think just because someone is overrated means they aren't good or even great at something. There are people who think he should have won DPOY over guys like Kawhi and Draymond Green, that would mean he's an elite defender. Atleast IMO. In that sense, he is overrated.