Have you been asleep since summer 2007? Are you aware that Duncan and the Spurs are NOT the defending champions? That means someone did stop him in the playoffs.
Uh...anybody who doesn't have Duncan in his top 5 need to have their head examined. Remember how Spurs beat us without Manu and Parker? Spurs relied on Duncan to carry them through the first part of the season, and he delivered. Top 5 PLayers (current-if career then Duncan and Shaq take all 5 slots): 1. LBJ 2. Duncan/Kobe 4. Chris Paul 5. Wade
Anybody who doesn't have Lebron at #1 isn't using or doesn't have a Noggin. After that I can see debate, but I think slots 2-4 in some order are solid. 1. Lebron 2. Wade 3. Kobe 4. Paul (could convince me over Kobe by winning in the playoffs) 5. Dwight Howard (though Duncan would be fine here too) BTW here are Hollinger ratings... Hollinger Stats: Player Efficiency Rating - All Positions 1 LeBron James, 33.32 2 Chris Paul, 30.53 3 Dwyane Wade, 29.72 4 Dwight Howard, 27.45 5 Tim Duncan, 25.76 6 Devin Harris, 25.67 7 Carlos Boozer, 24.96 8 Tony Parker, 24.54 9 Brandon Roy, 24.17 10 Kobe Bryant, 23.90 11 Dirk Nowitzki, 23.72 12 Zydrunas Ilgauskas, 23.55 13 Manu Ginobili,23.36 14 Yao Ming, HOU 23.31 15 Chris Bosh, 23.26 16 Shaquille O'Neal, 22.96 17 Pau Gasol, LAL 22.89 18 Amare Stoudemire, 22.42 19 Al Jefferson, 22.38 20 Andris Biedrins, 22.15 21 Vince Carter, 21.87 22 Caron Butler, 21.82 23 Kevin Garnett, 21.44 24 Antawn Jamison, 21.42 25 Chauncey Billups, 21.39 26 Marcus Camby, 21.17 27 Joe Johnson, 20.57 28 Brandan Wright, 920.52 29 Jason Terry, 20.43 30 Andrew Bynum, 19.97
based on this year's performance: 1) lebron james (easily best player bar none this year, it's not even close) 2) dwayne wade (despite the 3 game struggle) 3) kobe bryant (he's not as dominant this year. when he has shot 20+, the team is only 4-3). 4) chris paul 5) chris bosh (despite the slowdown the past 3-4 games) at their "best" 1) lebron james (dude is now officially the best player, even ESPN thinks so now, along with in game broadcasters) 2) kobe bryant 3) dwayne wade 4) chris paul 5) tim duncan i'd put tracy and yao at the 7-10 mark if they are both healthy.
Deron Williams would probably make my list if he wasn't struggling so far this year. 1. LeBron James(What he is doing and has done is amazing) 2. Kobe 3. Chris Paul 4. Paul Pierce (Had to put a Celtic, and after what he did in the playoffs, he is the best on that team) 5. Billups(Look at how good the Nuggets have been with him) Wade can't be on my list when Miami sucked last year even when he was playing, and is only playing .500 ball so far this season. 2006 playoffs were great, but I'm waiting for the playoffs this year to see if he earns his top 5 position back.
Jason Kidd? Have you heard of Chris Paul? Jason Kidd can't shoot (although his percentages are great for him so far this season) and he's become a defensive liability.
Player ratings such as PER would be more valid if the players rated have played comparable minutes per game. Take for instance BigZ's stats and Yao's stats, tell me you would rather have BigZ on your team because his PER is higher than Yao?
absolutely. PER is designed to balance numbers between the stars. But it only works within 5 mpg range, imo. It just simply rewards less minutes way too much. You can see it in the results. The NBA's Eff rating historically is much better.
http://www.nba.com/statistics/playe...AME&qualified=N&yearsExp=-1&splitDD=All Teams Paul, James, Howard and Wade are top 5 in both PER and Eff. The order in Eff was just that. The rankings below are an interesting composite as well. I believe it is own PER- opponents PER averaged with on/off court. Nothing is perfect and will always be subject to things such as how good or bad your substitute is or if you have a teammate who take the opponents best player on D even if it is your normal position. James, Paul & Wade lead this by a wide margin....kind of weird Howard is weighted down by a nearly a zero with on/off court, maybe Orlando has had some success going small, but I suspect that will change over the season. http://www.82games.com/0809/ROLRTG8.HTM
