Since it is the All-Star Break... which current players would you put in each "irrational confidence" level as defined by Bill Simmons? http://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story/_/page/simmons/part1/110503/sportCat/nba The best "irrational confidence" moment of "The Wire" goes to the best "irrational confidence" guy of Round 1: Atlanta's Jamal Crawford, who really does think that he's one of the league's 10 best players and played like it against the Magic. There are six levels for "irrational confidence" guys. The Toney Douglas Level: Mediocre supporting guys who catch fire once every five or six games, but the team isn't deep enough to pick its spots with them. I'm always terrified of these guys -- if they suck, they're supposed to suck. They have nothing to lose. The key here: you don't want them playing key roles if there's something at stake that they can single-handedly screw up, which is why Doc Rivers buried Nate Robinson in Game 7 of the 2010 Finals and why Miami can't figure out what to do with Mario Chalmers this spring (and why the Heat have been experimenting with LeBron and Wade as the guards lately). The Eddie House Level: Proven irrational confidence guys who are fishing poles, basically -- you throw their "line" into the water, see if you get a nibble, and if you don't, you pull the line right out. These guys are assets on good teams -- they can carry your offense for a quarter at a time, but they're luxuries in that you aren't ever leaning on them. James Jones tossed out a total Eddie House performance against Boston on Sunday, by the way. The Tony Allen Level: Role players (usually defensive stoppers) who have a tendency to forget to "stay their lane" -- to borrow a Jeffrey Ross phrase -- and suddenly they're careening through traffic and trying a double-clutch reverse layup on your biggest possession of the game. That's where you apply the Table Test: As long as these guys are bringing more stuff to the table than taking stuff off the table, you learn to live with their irrational confidence moments. The Sam Cassell Level: Aging veterans who play with such staggering confidence that, actually, it's counterproductive ... especially if there's a better teammate who should be taking those shots. Welcome to Chauncey Billups' last four years. (Cut to Nuggets fans, Pistons fans and Knicks fans nodding wistfully.) The Vernon Maxwell Level: It's not fair to call Crawford this generation's Mad Max, not when Maxwell helped the '94 Rockets win the title and was so irrationally confident that, more than once, he tried to start fights with Michael Jordan because he really, truly believed that they were on the same level . Crawford has never even played in the Conference Finals. Baby steps. The Robert Horry Level: Will another role player ever consistently become the scariest guy on the court just because there are 30 seconds left in a tight playoff game? No.
My take -- The Toney Douglas Level: Mediocre supporting guys who catch fire once every five or six games, but the team isn't deep enough to pick its spots with them. Jeremy Lin The Eddie House Level: Proven irrational confidence guys who are fishing poles, basically -- you throw their "line" into the water, see if you get a nibble, and if you don't, you pull the line right out. Gerald Green, JR Smith, Vince Carter, Kyle Kuzma The Tony Allen Level: Role players (usually defensive stoppers) who have a tendency to forget to "stay their lane" -- to borrow a Jeffrey Ross phrase -- and suddenly they're careening through traffic and trying a double-clutch reverse layup on your biggest possession of the game. PBev The Sam Cassell Level: Aging veterans who play with such staggering confidence that, actually, it's counterproductive. Dwight Howard, Dewayne Wade The Vernon Maxwell Level: Self-explanatory Draymond Green, Lou Williams, Russell Westbrick The Robert Horry Level: Self-explanatory N/A
I don't know about Simmons' list, but I do know, for cfnet's Irrational Confidence Levels, the top tier has got to be the basketballholic Level. The bottom role poster level (Tony Douglas class) is the SirIvyLeague Level.
Eh... I'll put @tinman and @DaDakota ahead of @basketballholic because the former two are at least right on occasion.
Hell, I’m not even confident you know what the initials in your Avatar mean, at least not as confident as I am in the meaning of HP in mine
here’s mine the Toney Douglas level: Nick Young...he’ll have an occasional outburst offensively, but u can’t trust him in high stakes games due to his flaws and low BBIQ the Eddie House level: Gerald Green...he’s more of a luxury on our team when the roster is fully healthy...he probably won’t get regular PT once Ariza is back, but D’antoni could throw him out there at any time and he could provide a spark...if his jumper is off and he’s not scoring, then D’antoni can yank him out of the game no problem the Tony Allen level: Marcus Smart...great defensively, but sometimes he tries to do too much on offense the Sam Cassell level: Dwight...sorry dude, you’re not a post-up threat...cut it out the Vernon Maxwell level: Dion Waiters...this dude acts like he’s up there with some of the best in the game...when the Kyrie trade rumors were going on during the summer, these were his thoughts on Kyrie potentially being traded to Miami “It would help. I’m not against that. Just know there’s an alpha male over there too in myself.” the Robert Horry level: no current role player can do it like Horry
Toney Douglas: Corey Brewer, Jeff Green, Jamal Crawford, Dion Waiters, Marqueese Chriss, Shabazz Muhammad Eddie House: Gerald Green, Ryan Anderson, JR Smith, Nick Young Tony Allen: Marcus Smart, Draymond Green, Dwight, Jusuf Nurkic Sam Cassell: D-Wade, IT, Iggy, Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph, Jason Terry Vernon Maxwell: Nene, Avery Bradley, Andre Roberson, Delly Robert Horry: N/A
Chandsome is pissed that there isn’t a separate Chandler Parsons level. Or would it be called the Mark Cuban level for paying Chandsome max money?
