Define "First option" for me please.

the biggest offensive threat on the team... the offensive engine.

for damn near every championship team its been pretty clear cut.

[QUOTE=Shogon]Today I learned that Bill Russell wasn't the man on the Celtics... :roll:

Your troll game on this account has fallen off so hard. The only thing you have going for you now is your obsessive relentlessness.[/QUOTE]



first option and the best player are two totally different things. first option is refering to offense.

KG was not the first option on the C's but he was the best player. Ben Wallace was not the first option on detroit (or even the 3rd) but he was the best player...

but that is rare. Most championship first options were the best players on their teams.

Kevin Garnett led the 2008 Celtics in shots in the regular season. He led them in scoring in three of the four rounds of playoffs and led them in shot attempts in the one round he didn’t. He led the team in fourth-quarter scoring in the playoffs as well. He did not win finals MVP and it has somewhat skewed perception. Pierce won finals MVP because of a 38 point game that they lost. Paul had moments to remember but didn’t play his usual level for much of those playoffs. Ray Allen probably played the better finals and Garnett was definitely the best player for them in the playoffs...but neither did much to remember in tv specials. Pierce had some dramatic moments and that game seven showdown with LeBron.

if KG was the first option it was barely... pierce was the leading scorer in the regular season and like half a point under garnett in the playoffs. need a bucket time it was paul's turn. Of course garnetts defensive impact blew everybodys away.

I can understand how you would think that(they wouldn’t give the ball to kg to go create big baskets) but it’s another thing people just remember incorrectly.

[url]https://youtu.be/B0LWM-vkq3Q[/url]


And it was like that often. They would straight ISO Kg for the needed basket. Vs the pistons they had Pierce take the ball out and find KG to get fouled. Step to the line and made two free throws with three seconds left to go from a two point lead to a four point lead. Pierce wasn’t even an option. He was throwing it in...to KG to go seal it. I have to assume Ray Allen was the first choice but Pierce certainly couldn’t be taking the ball out of bounds 94 feet from the basket. Kg took plenty of big shots with the big 3. He hit a game winner vs the hawks in the playoffs. He made big shots to hold off the pistons. Those teams did not just defer to Pierce. Id say ray Allen had more plays run for him off the top of my head.

A lot of it just gets lost in time and we fall back on perception.

Pierce was the best wind it down take the pull-up scorer. Ray was the best clutch shooter arguably in the NBA back then. He had a pretty insane clutch three highlight video at the time. Kg made huge shots one on one and spotting up.

That big three shared responsibility more than any has since.

:cheers:

First option isn't a qualification, it's a designation.

01 Stackhouse doing 30 a game on horrible efficiency, first option in any sense of the word but not leading a team anywhere.

[QUOTE=Haymaker]I have no idea, but Al Jefferson used to be a First Option. Let that sink in.[/QUOTE]

This post makes a great point, any player can be a first option if you group him with a bunch of lesser options.

I'm just going to geek out here and say first option is not a title you can earn and have forever, it's a comparative measure to say player x is a better scoring option than the rest of his team mates, or other players.

It's heavily subject to the team makeup or the players you are comparing and the most basic way to say it is that a "first option" is the the player that has the highest chance of scoring on any given play.

IMO you can only say someone is a first option when compared to player X, or "player x was/is the first option" on the team(s) he was/is on. This also brings up the player x vs player y taking the last shot scenario, the player you pick would be the first option when compared to the other.