their big 3 are overrated. pierce and ray allen were ghosts for basically the first 2 series. then KG was basicaly a ghost in the finals. their role players REALLY stepped up. offensively, their big 3 were as overrated as they come. but defensively, their team was ridiculously phenomenal.
yao won't play more htan 25 mins v. utah b/c of the problems he face v. boozer. we can go small and shut them down. on offense, with artest, there'll be a post presence even if yao sits. utah isn't a problem anymore. remember, had alston stayed healthy, we would have 1 of the 2 games at home. and well, things would have been different even without yao.
Your right Utah is a problem anymore....We've become there's. Forget how we match ups with teams, now they have to worry about how they are gonna match up with us. We just have to run our sets and play that CLUTCH D that the squads known for.
lol @ three hall of famers being overrated. give me a break. their offense wasn't always great in the playoffs because doc only preached defense. he felt the offense would take care of itself...and he was right. when you have 3 career 20+ pgg scorers in your lineup you don't have to worry about how you're going to score. how do you think their role players were able to step up ??? because they played next to 3 hall of famers....duh as far as utah, yes things would have been different if rafer were healthy throughout, but against utah, i think sometimes yao hurts more than he helps. his lack of mobility is a huge problem when they have an all-star PF and C who stands out at the 3 pt line. with yao being out we were able to guard them better. so IMO, utah will still be a problem, though they are a lot more beatable now with a 3rd guy.
Not sure the Celtics big 3 are HOFers. That is an overstatement. They are very good and definitely the team to beat next season. None of these guys got it done on their own, not even close. KG - how many first round and outs, Allen - nothing to speak of, and Pierce led his team to a terrible record in a crappy conference. They do fit together very well though.
i think boston's big 3 is pretty darn good ... overrated? hmm, you can make points for both ways but fact is they won it all. i still think thibodeaux helped them accomplish that way more than i would like but w/e. they're the champs and to think we can just walk in and take the crown this early would be ... ya. so after watching a few highlights of the USA men's basketball team, i've noticed that cp3 was feeding dwight pretty much exactly the same as he was feeding chandler ... now i'm thinking "all cp3 needs is a big center who can finish alleyoops. doesn't really help chandler's credibility" ... as for say a member of a "big three." cp3 and david west are legit but though chandler plays solid d and finishes a lot of alleys, it's just obvious that those are all cp3's work. i think chandler could potentially have a solid back to the basket game ... but for now they dont have a real big 3.
Im surprised the article didnt rank Butler+Jamison+Arenas high, I thought they would at least be top 5, I dont see how Chandler can be considered part of a NO "big 3" which is nonexistant
I think it's cause Arenas missed practically the whole season and while Butler and Jamison are good solid players I'd hardly consider them "big" time players. Especially Butler... as much as I love his game.
There is no doubt we are definitely top 3 before we even get on the court. Our big 3 before, Yao-Tmac-Shane (or Rafer), in my opinion, is top 10 just simply because Yao and Tmac are that good when on the court. When you add in a guy like Artest, the possibilities are endless. No one should discount, or not give, these other teams. Garnett, Allen, and Pierce are as good as it gets and we are NOW very comparable. Defensive Juggernaut: Garnett = Artest Playmaker: Pierce = McGrady Other: Allen < Yao Thats how I see it. I would much rather have that dependable low post game rather than an outside shot that could be off some nights. Granted Allen does a little more than settle on the outside but my base remains the same. Just like people mentioned before, it comes down to the role players. We have some pretty damn good ones... Rafer: I will never understand the hate on this guy by most here. He could shoot a little less and make a little more in the past but he does a lot more things that this team needs... which is very good ball handling, sets the offense up, plays good defense and brings an edge to the team on some nights. Shane: Old mister reliable. Everyone knows about the guy... great defense against most positions and a 3-pt shooter in the corner. His shot was pretty inconsistent at times but I expect that to be turned around this year with the help of Artest. Our PFs: Versatile. Scola brings the most talent with the most overall game at the position. Some offensive game, enough defense, heart and hustle. Landry (if resigned) brings energy and athleticism with an outside shot. And then dont forget, like most of you do, about Hayes. Many discounted him last year and it was a mistake. He earns his playing time and again plays very good defense against most positions. That is a lot more than almost any time out there. We have the potential, more than any other team, to increase leads when going to the bench. Im starting to ramble with the excitement but top trios are as follows... 1 - Rockets (potential is too great at both ends of the court) 2 - Celtics (proven) 3 - Spurs (see above) These top teams have the luxury that if 1 of the 3 goes down, they can keep it going. The next 3 teams get very strong play from one guy and the rest benefits from it. Without that 1 guy the team will surely struggle. 4 - Jazz 5 - Lakers 6 - Hornets
How about going with top 4 or top 5? Now how do you rank them? Yao/McGrady/Artest/Scola/Battier Duncan/Manu/Parker/Bowen/????? Kobe/Pao/Bynum/Odom/Fish Billups/RIP/Wallace/Prince/Maxiell Nash/Amare/Shaq/Barbosa/whatever DWill/Boozer/AK-47/whatever When you look at top 4 players...Yao/McGrady/Artest/Scola is going to be very difficult to top. Lakers possibly have an equal 4. But I don't think so. And after their top 4, we are definitely better. Spurs outside of top 3 are pedestrian. Detroit has a good core but they are breaking up and getting old. Phoenix in disarray with an old Shaq weighing them down. Utah??? I don't see a top 4 to top 6 that are better than us.
