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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Northern VA

    Top-100 NBA Players Today - includes a handful of Dukies

    I thought that this discussion might be a little fun: CNN/SI has posted a (ranked) list of the top-100 NBA players today. I don't have any huge gripes, but could quibble here or there. But a top 5 of James, Howard, Wade, Dirk and Kobe seems reasonable to me.

    http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/?xid=cnnnav

    We've got, by my count, three Dukies in the top-50, but none in the top-40. The best former Duke player in the NBA today? --- They have Carlos Boozer, then Luol Deng and Elton Brand. I was glad to see Battier make the top-100, if only barely, but thought we'd see a couple others, such as Magette. Grant Hill at 76 was good to see too. One thing for certain, this certainly shows how much better Duke has been in recent years in sending good players to The League, versus NC.

    I clipped the top 21 just b/c no. 21 is someone who reportedly was interested in Duke about five years ago. I expect to see Kyrie up there next year!


    21. Kevin Love PF, Minnesota Timberwolves
    20. Carmelo Anthony SF, New York Knicks
    19. Amar’e Stoudemire PF, New York Knicks
    18. Steve Nash PG, Phoenix Suns
    17. Kevin Garnett PF, Boston Celtics
    16. Manu Ginobili SG, San Antonio Spurs
    15. Paul Pierce SF, Boston Celtics
    14. Blake Griffin PF, Los Angeles Clippers
    13. Zach Randolph PF, Memphis Grizzlies
    12. Russell Westbrook PG, Oklahoma City Thunder
    11. LaMarcus Aldridge PF, Portland Trail Blazers
    10. Pau Gasol PF, Los Angeles Lakers
    9. Derrick Rose PG, Chicago Bulls
    8. Kevin Durant SF, Oklahoma City Thunder
    7. Deron Williams PG, New Jersey Nets
    6. Chris Paul PG, New Orleans Hornets
    5. Kobe Bryant SG, Los Angeles Lakers
    4. Dirk Nowitzki PF, Dallas Mavericks
    3. Dwyane Wade SG, Miami Heat
    2. Dwight Howard C, Orlando Magic
    1. LeBron James SF, Miami Heat

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    I moved. Now 12 miles from Heaven, 13 from Hell
    Quote Originally Posted by -bdbd View Post
    I thought that this discussion might be a little fun: CNN/SI has posted a (ranked) list of the top-100 NBA players today. I don't have any huge gripes, but could quibble here or there. But a top 5 of James, Howard, Wade, Dirk and Kobe seems reasonable to me.

    http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/?xid=cnnnav

    We've got, by my count, three Dukies in the top-50, but none in the top-40. The best former Duke player in the NBA today? --- They have Carlos Boozer, then Luol Deng and Elton Brand. I was glad to see Battier make the top-100, if only barely, but thought we'd see a couple others, such as Magette. Grant Hill at 76 was good to see too. One thing for certain, this certainly shows how much better Duke has been in recent years in sending good players to The League, versus NC.
    Did I miss somebody, or does UNC only have two players, Felton and Lawson, at 89 and 93? Guess Ol' Roy's a better coach than we thought!

  3. #3
    I'm not sure when the fallacy of Duke doesn't produce pros will finally end. I love how UNC fans hang on to MJ, VC, Sheed, and Jamison b/c after that its pretty bleak. Yes, they will always have MJ and nobody can take that away but I never heard a Tennessee fan bring up Peyton Manning in every discussion granted I don't talk to many UT fans but I think the point is pretty valid nonetheless. Between Hill, Battier, Brand, Boozer, Shelden, G, JJ, Dunleavy, Jones, Maggette, Duhon, McBob, and Deng, there aren't many if any schools who can produce a list that is better.

    The only school that really can compete with both the depth and quality would probably be the team with more pros in UCLA. Between Ariza, Collison, Westbrook, Holiday, Farmar, Afflalo, Barnes, Luc Richard, and Love, the case could probably be made but even then, I'm sure you could argue Duke has a better crop when you consider Ryan Hollins, Kapono, Gadzuric, and Earl Watson.

    UK doesn't have the depth after Wall, Rondo, Prince, Cousins, Chuck Hayes, and Bledsoe. UNC is UNC. Uconn only has Rip, Rudy, Ray Allen, Gordon, Caron Butler, and Okafor. Arizona actually has some good depth with Arenas, Bayless, Bibby, Budinger, Frye, Hill, Igoudala, Richard Jefferson, Jason Terry, and Luke Walton. So perhaps you could compare them with Duke but again, you could probably argue either way.

    Kansas actually has a worse track record in the past few years of producing any NBA players who have lived up to potential. After Paul Pierce, you have what Mario Chalmers who barely played over Bibby or Nick Collison/Drew Gooden. Texas has some nice stars with Durant and Aldridge but after that you get Augustin and Daniel Gibson.

    So it appears that only a few schools, most notably UCLA and Arizona can even enter the discussion about having the best pros. I know this was discussed ad nauseam but I just wanted to actually look it all up.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Nanjing, China
    Quote Originally Posted by sporthenry View Post
    I'm not sure when the fallacy of Duke doesn't produce pros will finally end.
    I honestly haven't heard an intelligent person say that in a really long time. Looks like it may be over at last.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Hot'Lanta... home of the Falcons!
    Quote Originally Posted by -bdbd View Post
    21. Kevin Love PF, Minnesota Timberwolves
    20. Carmelo Anthony SF, New York Knicks
    19. Amar’e Stoudemire PF, New York Knicks
    18. Steve Nash PG, Phoenix Suns
    17. Kevin Garnett PF, Boston Celtics
    16. Manu Ginobili SG, San Antonio Spurs
    15. Paul Pierce SF, Boston Celtics
    14. Blake Griffin PF, Los Angeles Clippers
    13. Zach Randolph PF, Memphis Grizzlies
    12. Russell Westbrook PG, Oklahoma City Thunder
    11. LaMarcus Aldridge PF, Portland Trail Blazers
    10. Pau Gasol PF, Los Angeles Lakers
    9. Derrick Rose PG, Chicago Bulls
    8. Kevin Durant SF, Oklahoma City Thunder
    7. Deron Williams PG, New Jersey Nets
    6. Chris Paul PG, New Orleans Hornets
    5. Kobe Bryant SG, Los Angeles Lakers
    4. Dirk Nowitzki PF, Dallas Mavericks
    3. Dwyane Wade SG, Miami Heat
    2. Dwight Howard C, Orlando Magic
    1. LeBron James SF, Miami Heat
    Pau Gasol is too high, IMO. I'd take Blake Griffin over him every day of the week and twice on Sundays. I think Deron Williams is too high too. I would have Derek Rose higher up on that list.

    Give me CPaul, DRose, Durant, Griffin, and Amare (or maybe KLove) and I'll take on your Bron-Bron, DWade, Dwight, Dirk, and Kobe starting five. The real matchup problem is Howard -- not sure anyone in the league can guard him one-on-one.

    -Jason "fun list, thanks for posting" Evans
    Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    NC
    Quote Originally Posted by JasonEvans View Post
    Pau Gasol is too high, IMO. I'd take Blake Griffin over him every day of the week and twice on Sundays. I think Deron Williams is too high too. I would have Derek Rose higher up on that list.

    Give me CPaul, DRose, Durant, Griffin, and Amare (or maybe KLove) and I'll take on your Bron-Bron, DWade, Dwight, Dirk, and Kobe starting five. The real matchup problem is Howard -- not sure anyone in the league can guard him one-on-one.

    -Jason "fun list, thanks for posting" Evans
    I'd also take Deng ahead of Boozer at this point. I fear that Boozer is headed for a decline due to injuries and being undersized (height-wise). Deng seems to be carving out a nice role for himself as a second/third scorer and perimeter defender.

    Boozer in his prime was definitely better than Deng has been. But if it's a "where are we right now" situation, I'd take Deng.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by JasonEvans View Post
    Pau Gasol is too high, IMO. I'd take Blake Griffin over him every day of the week and twice on Sundays. I think Deron Williams is too high too. I would have Derek Rose higher up on that list.

    Give me CPaul, DRose, Durant, Griffin, and Amare (or maybe KLove) and I'll take on your Bron-Bron, DWade, Dwight, Dirk, and Kobe starting five. The real matchup problem is Howard -- not sure anyone in the league can guard him one-on-one.

    -Jason "fun list, thanks for posting" Evans
    I'd take Durant over any of them. Not only is he incredibly talented, he works harder than anyone else.

    I'm sure that Griffin is going to leave the Clippers the second he has a chance. If he finds his way to OKC, they will win championship after championship.

  8. #8
    glad to see deron williams get the credit he deserves

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    NC
    Quote Originally Posted by JasonEvans View Post
    Pau Gasol is too high, IMO. I'd take Blake Griffin over him every day of the week and twice on Sundays. I think Deron Williams is too high too. I would have Derek Rose higher up on that list.

    Give me CPaul, DRose, Durant, Griffin, and Amare (or maybe KLove) and I'll take on your Bron-Bron, DWade, Dwight, Dirk, and Kobe starting five. The real matchup problem is Howard -- not sure anyone in the league can guard him one-on-one.

    -Jason "fun list, thanks for posting" Evans
    There'd be two really bad mismatches: Howard would destroy Love/Amare/Griffin at C, and either James or Bryant would have a huge size advantage against Rose at SG (see Miami vs Chicago, 2011). I'd also take Wade over Paul, again for size/athleticism reasons. Nowitzki would give anyone fits at PF too, but like Howard that's true of anyone.

    If you swap Rose or Paul with one of Wade/James/Bryant, you'd have an interesting game. But I think the Paul/Rose/Durant/Griffin/C combination is just too small.

  10. #10
    I love Garnett, but as we look into the 2012 season there's no way he belongs in the top 20.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Quote Originally Posted by Richard Berg View Post
    I love Garnett, but as we look into the 2012 season there's no way he belongs in the top 20.
    He was rated that highly because of his defense. But I wonder if he provides any more of an impact at that end than Duncan does, though both are slowing down. I am just hoping there is a full 2012 season.

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