As I've maintained all along, I don't consider McGrady a clutch playoff performer b/c he never got out of the first round. I'm not saying that getting out of the first round automatically makes you clutch, but failure to do so does preclude you from getting that label. During Pau Gasol's Grizzlies years, I don't remember anyone saying he was clutch in the playoffs....do you? Again, at that time, who was calling them "clutch" playoff performers? "Clutchness" takes into account a player's entire body of work. Kobe was a clutch playoff performer when he played with Shaq. After that, he really wasn't, but he coasted on the reputation that he was. I'm sorry you feel that way, but in some cases (like this one), that's the reality. For instance, championships are also a team accomplishment, but they're used to judge individual players. Barkley and Malone's failure to win a championship automatically precludes them from a top 10 GOAT list. And remember when people were saying that Lebron wouldn't be on the GOAT list until he won a championship?
Rose won the MVP that year b/c he was the best player on the best team, not b/c he was the best PG in the league. I think Lebron deserved it, but there was no way he was going to win it one year after leaving Cleveland. When I think about which player I'd rather have on my team, I don't look at accolades....I look at what each player brings to the table. Right now, Rose hasn't proven himself to have a consistent perimeter jumper whereas Irving/Curry have. If Rose can develop a reliable jumper, then I'd put him over Irving, but not Curry.
Irving hasn't proved he can stay healthy enough in my opinion to even be in this discussion. Until last year, Rose's fewest games played were 78. (excluding the shortened season) Last year Irving played 59 games and lets not forget he missed most of his college career too. He's better then no one if he can't stay healthy to get his team to the playoffs. I also haven't seen enough of Curry in the playoffs to argue that one either way. We can say that Lebron shut Rose down but I bet he could do it to Curry as well despite the outside jumper. They playoff sample size needs to be larger for those two first. Irving though, shouldn't be part of this discussion until he can get to the playoffs and stay healthy.
This doesn't make any sense. So Kobe became unclutch without a good team mate and then is clutch again with Gasol what.. Harden wasn't clutch last season cuz we lost in the first round, but was clutch when he played with Durant and Westbrook and made the finals?
IMO, it seems like Kobe was a clutch player when the offense ran around Shaq. However, after Kobe became top dog, I have trouble remembering many clutch playoff moments that resulted in the Lakers advancing. At the end of playoff games, it seemed like Kobe would generally miss the crucial shots. The big shots were made by guys like Artest, Gasol, and Fisher.
I'm talking about overall talent and skill. I figure health is a moot point since Rose just missed almost a season and a half. That makes no sense whatsoever. Lebron guarded Rose by giving him tons of space, taking away his driving lanes, and daring Rose to make outside jumpers. You really think that strategy would work against Curry? Last year, Curry had arguably the greatest perimeter shooting year in NBA history.
Obviously, it is a different guard, but I think the person you responded to tried to acknowledge that Curry has a better perimeter shot than Rose. Do you truly believe Lebron couldn't stop Curry with the game on the line?
Yep, that poster acknowledged Curry's jumper, but then dismissed it by saying Lebron could still stop him without explaining how. One on one? No, I don't think Lebron could stop Curry. It's very difficult for SG/SF's to stop PG's b/c they are inherently slower than PG's. Out of respect for Curry's jumper, Lebron would have to guard Curry closely, and since Curry is smaller and faster, he could easily find ways to create space.
But this is exactly my point, how can a player like say Kobe fluctuate between clutch and unclutch? If you take his entire body of work then you should be able to come up with a conclusion of him being clutch or not. And in Tmac's case, the fact that his individual stats actually went up in playoffs tells me he rose to the occasion, it just wasn't enough for whatever reason (lack of work ethic, lack of health, lack of heart etc) to get over the first round. The guy did this for crying out loud, and he's unclutch? <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ceLlz7dOOvY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Your point about rings is pretty much the same, last year if Ray Allen missed his 3 pt shot the Spurs would've won the title and LBJ will have one less ring. His performance was the same though, and yet whether he had a ring or not depended not on him but on another player. Same thing with Pau Gasol and KG, their teams were getting swept in the playoffs but it was already out of their control so blaming the team's lack of success to just one guy doesn't make sense to me.
Bulls looked good early on today. So did Rose. But something happened. Fire caught on the the Heat was turned on extra hot and the Rose was burned to ashes. Yikes.
Wekko is fighting a losing battle. Back to the subject though, can't fairly assess Rose against the Heat. I'm expecting something big next game.
Back on topic, so much for the new D Rose...still the same old D Rose. I still don't understand how he got an MVP, if they didn't want LBJ to get it why not DHoward or Duncan? Until he fixes his jumper he'll never take the next step.
