Seattle Payton Barry maxwell Phoenix Kidd Hardaway KJ Minn Brandon Sczcerbiak Avery Portland SS Stoud Anthony Bonzi Houston Francis Anderson Mobley Moochie Vancouver Bibby MD Who's the best? 1)Phoenix 2)Seattle 3)Rockets (I have houston tied at two, but that's probablt prejudice). 4)Portland 5)Minn 6)Van If Francis lives up to my expectations next year, the rockets will be the best backcourt in the west. My expectations 26 ppg,7 apg, 5.5 rpg, 1.8 steals per game ------------------ Moochie hear no evil Moochie speak no evil Moochie see no evil
CURRENT (ALL WEST TEAMS RATED) Pheonix (when healthy) Houston (Franics, SA and Mobes, outstanding!) Seattle (Payton factor) Lakers (Kobe factor) Vancouver (very good bookends, zero depth) Portland (only depth keeps it this high) Utah (starting to wear down, miss SA big) Minnesta (Brandon is good, the rest are bad) Sac (4 or 5 quality guys, none outstanding) Mavs (Finley plays some in the backcourt) Nuggets (Exel a little O, Wahad a little D) Spurs (its best guards are deterioting vets) GS (poor now, Hughes/Cummings could be OK) Clippers (no need to elaborate) TOP 5 IN FUTURE Hou: Francis, Mobes & SA, devestating!!! Phe: Penny, Rex, KJ on the decent, we pass Van: Nice pair, I doubt will be great though Lak: Kobe alone keeps them top 5 Min: Hard to call, if V. Cummings turns our better than W. Avery would put GS here. ------------------
1)Phoenix (no. 2 point guard and no. 2 shooting guard) 2)Seattle (no. 1 point guard and Mad Max Shammond Williams) 3)Houston (no. 3 (if not soon to be no. 1)point guard while Mobes and Anderson need a consistentjumper) 3)Portland (no. 5 point guard and lots of reliable backup at shooting guard... Greg Anthony is pretty good) 5)(Fisher and Harper? Ha ha... no. 1 shooting guard in Kobe) 6)Minnesota (no. 4 point guard in Terell and mediocre shooting guards) 7)Sacramento (Williams needs control could be no. 3 point guard... mob squad.. ) 8)Mavericks (Finley.. that's all they got) 9)Nuggets 10)Golden State 11)Spurs 12)Clippers 13)Jazz(dirty play don't deserve to be associated with talent in my book) ------------------
I left Utah off because they use a team effort to help the guards out on penetration. ------------------ Moochie hear no evil Moochie speak no evil Moochie see no evil
Insideout, Brent Barry plays 2-guard for Seattle (Maxwell backs him up), why no special attention to Steve Smith in Portland (I see a toss-up between Pheonix and Portland match-up wise). Other than that, your post sounds good to me. Don't forget that Francis needs to improve his ball-handling and passing to cut down on turnovers before we give him a throne and crown. Freak: Whatcha smokin', man? Barry has had a great season in Seattle. Check that out one more time, please. Also, we're just talkin' about the West's backcourt teams, though I see your point about eat tandems (and unfortunately the case case for the reliable duo in Utah).
I checked on Barry, and was a little surprised. Turns out he's putting up Shandon-like numbers this year on offense -- I expected much worse. Shandon at least brings great defense, though. I'm not a big Barry fan. ------------------
Insideout, you didn't put the Gizzard pair anywhere. Where do you put them?? On Portland--First, I think Stoudimire is below average in terms of starting PG's in the west. If we are talking contributing right now, I'd take Brandon, Stockton, Bibby, Williams in a heart beat over him (didn't even start with the elite guys), and maybe even Avery Johnson, Van Exel, D. Anderson, Blaylock, and Eric Strictland (yes, you heard me right) before I would take him. I am not the only one who thinks this, his coach is letting his back-up finishing at lot of games as well. Now Steve Smith is in the upper half of the west in terms being an overall contributer to his team. Still, we are not talking about the Steve Smith of a few years ago, Portland's Steve Smith can't guard anyone and is much more 1 dimensional now. He isn't on the same planet as say Kobe or Finley are from, and he isn't as good as Penny. Steve Smith, MD and SA in my mind are in a second teir class of good SGs in the West. Overall, I initially put Portland at 6th out of 14, a little better than average. They were as high as they were because they are deep, Anthony is a good back-up and Wells is a streaky but OK back-up 2. I guess I might be overrating Vancouver despite their starters being better than the Blazers, so maybe I should put the Blazers at 5 because of their far superior depth. Still, no way I put them any higher than 5th, as I wouldn't take the Blazers backcourt over Phoenix's, ours, Seattle's or the Lakers (Kobe + 3 CBA guys would be worth more than the Blazers group). ------------------
Vancouver will have top flite backcourt soon. I project Dickerson jumping into the range of almost allstar caliber. Bibby is solid. Erick Barkley will be a big factor if he gets onto one of the upper echelon backcourts. He is my sleeper ROY canidate for next year. ------------------ Moochie hear no evil Moochie speak no evil Moochie see no evil
I'd say: 1) Phoenix 2) Payton 3) Portland (tie) 3) Houston (tie) 5) Vancouver 6) Minnesota In two years: 1) Phoenix (Kidd is that good) 2) Houston 3) Vancouver 4) Seattle 5) Minnesota 6) Portland ------------------
You've left out some....off the top of my head, Cassell/Allen, Miller/Jackson and Stockton/Hornacek. Also, Malik Sealy's been starting for the Wolves. Payton's not enough to make up for Brent Barry's ineptitude. One great guard isn't enough to qualify, IMO. Otherwise you'd have to include Toronto and possibly the Lakers. Oops...just realized you said best backcourts in the West, not NBA. Utah's should still be up there. ------------------ [This message has been edited by TheFreak (edited April 11, 2000).]
I dont think Barry is all that bad. But i dont think Minnesota should be included. Except for Brandon, that backcourt sucks rite now. Utah blows. Houston will be the best. Future list. 1Hou 2Pho 3port 4Vancouver 5Seattle 6Minnesota at the bottom of the gutter ... Utah, cuz they blow. ------------------ And with the number one pick in the draft, the Rockets select ... Khalid Al Amin?
my bad... forgot the grizz. but with portland, i agree sir, their depth is what made me place them tied with houston. as for stoudamire, i think he has more quickness than terell brandon and more veteran decision making skills than jason williams, but he has a shaky jumpshot at best, and he loses ground to bigger guards like kidd and bibby. steve smith i think should be portland's second go-to guy after wallace--it seems like the guy never misses an open shot at the end of games. as for our guys, i think that with francis's learning curve and correct utilization of shandon anderson (backdoor cuts, screens that allow him to slash) and mobley's improved game knowledge (like not to jack up a three pointer when you have the lead with 20 seconds left on the shot clock at the end of games), the rockets will vie for the best backcourt with the suns next year. i even think that we have more of an edge because of francis' ability to break the defense down and create shots for his own.. whereas kidd is mainly an assist machine with susceptible range. i totally forgot about barry.. i was still thinking of mad max's years here--his clutch shots and shutdown of no. 23. ------------------
