That rings pretty true until you consider that there are 2 ends of the court and Webber is lacking in skills at one of them.
Has Michael Jordan retired yet? If not he should be on the list. He is not exactly chopped liver you know!
That was both considered and noted in my post. Skillwise, Duncan and Webber are very comparable. Duncan's far and away the better post player and defender, but Webber's passing ability, outside shot, and ball handling are quite superior to Duncan's. Duncan's the better player, no doubt, but it can be debated as to who's the more skilled player. Duncan's skills are more concentrated, where as Webber has more of an array of skills.
"Too bad about lacking that extra four inches and 120 pounds or so." I guarantee Webber will not be able to do the things he can if he had that extra 4 inches/120 lbs.
yeah, you are right, because he would wake up and be like "Oh my great lord! What has happened to me! I am a freaking giant! Before girls would run at the sight of my c*&k, now they will impale themselves on the bedposts rather than face my wrath!" Let's not get too into theoreticals that we will never know the answer too. That is a pointless game.
That's ridiculous...His skills include * Exceptional going to the hoop. ( End of story.) * Has developed intoi one of the better 3-point shooters, amongst starters, in the league...( was over 40 % for the two years before last, and was well over that mark before he started trying to play on one leg last year)..and even given that and his relatively weak % during his rookie year, his career 3pt % is still just under .400, at .392...as compared with, say, Kobe ( .314), Pierce ( .387 ), McGrady (.342), Iverson ( .318), Nowitzky (.377), Peja (.386), Bibby (.354), Francis ( .360), ...In fact, he is (mostly by far) a better shooter than everyone listed in this thread so far. So if that's 'decent', than who do you consider very good? And this shooting is from the guy generally considered to be the best dunker in the game. In terms of 'skills', that's a pretty lethal combination... * His handle is well above average...Despite being the focus of the offense, he commits fewer turnovers/game (2.28) than Pierce ( 2.79), Kobe (2.54), Iverson (3.59), McGrady (since starting- 2.38), Francis (3.70), etc...In fact, once again, he has the lowest turnover/game numbers of any perimeter player listed in this thread so far...And he even averages more assists (3.7) than every non pg listed here except Kobe (3.8), and unlike Kobe, he doesn't have a Shaq to pass to. So, again, if this is average handles (for a sg/sf), then who is above average? * And with regards to his defense, we're talking skills, not attitude, and nobody who has ever watched Carter play in college or pro questions his exceptional defensive ability...when he chooses to exert them. That's actually what makes his erratic defensive efforts more frustrating, he can be a shut-down guy when he wants... This is the kind of bandwagon opinionating that frustrates me...Guys hear that someone's X or Y, especially when that guy has a high profile, and they just buy it without either having watched him play much or looking at the numbers. Players around the league ALWAYS mention Carter when talking about the most skilled...
I agree, although Carter's handles, while above average, can't really be considered a strength of his. Two areas Carter could really improve in skillwise are defense (we've been hearing this one for awhile), and creating his own perimeter shot. While Carter possesses a tremendous ability to get into the lane, that doesn't do you much good if once you're in the lane, the entire defense collapses on you. He's got to get better at creating space for his jumpshot, which I agree is much much better than decent. By improving his ball handling to where it can be considered a strength of his, Carter can greatly enhance his ability to get off his terrific jumper. I've seen too many instances where he chooses to jack up threes, instead of (a)using that explosive first step to get to the basket, where he can either finish or get to the foul line, and once the defense collapses (b)maneuver his way closer to the basket to shoot a 10-15 foot jumper. Carter has the skills to be pretty much unstoppable. All in all, I agree with your analysis. Carter has all the ability to be one of the top 5 or so players in this league. What frustrates people is the mental facet of Carter's game. Along with his lack of desire to play defense, Carter doesn't have that "I'm going to take over this game whether you like it or not" mentality that the great ones possess. He's too much of a nice guy I guess. As Charles Oakley has said, the leadership quality doesn't seem to be there. From some of the quotes I've seen from Carter this summer, it looks like what transpired at the end of last season has lit a fire under him. I think he'll come back with a vengeance and become the player many have envisioned him to be.
1. Wallace 2. Kobe 3. T-mac 4. Pierce 5. Francis 6. Dirk 7. Davis (Baron) 8. Duncan 9. Webber 10. Ming
1.Kobe 2.Tmac 3.Duncan 4.KG 5.Francis 6.Pierce 7.Carter 8.Baron 9.Webber 10.Iverson Wallace, Payton, and Dirk are other possibilities. Shaq,Bibby,Kidd, Peja should not even be considered.
#1. Garnett 2. Duncan 3. Pierce 4. Bryant 5. Yao (presuming he plays) 6. Kidd 7. McGready 8. Jason Williams (ya said "skilled" didn't ya?) 9. Shaq (in his own way) 10. Francis
Garnett should top all the lists. He played friggin point guard at the Olympics, for cryin' out loud. He friggin defended point guards at the Olympics. Ask Rudy T what he thinks of KG.
