It's tough to completely separate what these players are capable of vs their entire seasons. Guys like Dirk and Melo are especially difficult to rank. Nobody has been better than Melo the last month, but he really struggled for a good amount of the season. Dirk also started off really slow, but has pretty much been himself the last 3 months averaging about 24-25 ppg. Rose is difficult as well, I do think he's a top 10 player, but missing 27 games, being in and out of the lineup and not really healthy when he did play late in the season makes it difficult because 27 games is getting borderline in an 82 game season, much less 66. He'll need to play well in the playoffs.
Wade is also difficult due to the 19 missed games in a shortened season, and the limited minutes, but I don't think he looked that far below his level the last 2 seasons when he did play. His post has really improved, and he's still athletic, he's been a mediocre shooter since '09 so that's no difference.
I always need the playoffs to finish rankings, and this is even more true with the lockout.
Howard has the off the court shit, but for all of the distractions. The Magic were 33-21 with Dwight and 4-8 without him.
Their only wins without Howard were vs Charlotte, Philadelphia(who finished the season terribly), Cleveland and Detroit.
Their losses without him were to the Nuggets(twice), Pistons, Wizards, Hawks, Celtics, Jazz and Grizzlies.
So he was still making a big difference on the court, led the league in rebounding and FG% and finished 3rd in blocks. Averages 21/15/2/2 with 1.5 spg(which would've tied him for 13th had he qualified).
Top 3 is easy to me, and I'm settled on Howard at 4th for now, but Wade could pass him if he plays well in the playoffs.
1.Lebron
2.Durant
3.Paul
4.Howard
Obviously Wade, Kobe, Melo, Dirk, Parker, Westbrook, Nash, Rose and I guess Love will be in consideration for the next 6 spots depending on what happens in the playoffs. Maybe I'm forgetting 1 or 2 players.
I love the Clippers, but Blake Griffin shouldn't sniff the top 10. There are heaps of better players at the moment: Steve Nash, Andrew Bynum, James Harden, Rajon Rondo, Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Ty Lawson, Paul Pierce, Paul Millsap, Al Jefferson to name a few. And for the love of God, Tony Parker is absolutely top 10 this season.
to the second guy: I have to ask how many Clipper games you've seen... I promise that if you followed them all season Chris Paul would be in your top 3 (unless you are REALLY high on Tony Parker)
The only players out of those you've mentioned that have been better than Griffin this year are Parker, Rondo, and Bynum.
One person with Rondo on their list. He leads the league in triple doubles by a significant margin, he won the assist title and he almost got a double triple double!!!! Ohh and his team led by his truly swept their rivals (heat) in the regular season with 2 of the top ten player being on that opposing rival team..
since no one is doing it here, I'll start a list for white guys (and i'm NOT white)
so lets begin:
there is a guy with 26/13 somewhere and another one who can shit on every defender on the league with only one leg on the ground.
And then there is my 100 years old countryman, who still carries his team while putting insane percentage.
Oh I forgot: they are not "athletic" enough to be even considered.
since no one is doing it here, I'll start a list for white guys (and i'm NOT white)
so lets begin:
there is a guy with 26/13 somewhere and another one who can shit on every defender on the league with only one leg on the ground.
And then there is my 100 years old countryman, who still carries his team while putting insane percentage.
Oh I forgot: they are not "athletic" enough to be even considered.
Oh I forgot: they are not "athletic" enough to be even considered.
I think I see what you're hinting at... people get so caught up in flash/athleticism that they lose sight of what really matters: the players overall contribution on the basketball court.
Re: NBA Top 10 Players: 2011-2012
