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8 days ago

Painful Reminders (Part I): The Celtics Drafted JaJuan Johnson Instead of Jimmy Butler

On June 23rd, 2011, Brian Robb and I stood around a high top bar table in Tommy Doyle’s in Kendall Square.  Before us lay one of the biggest mounds of buffalo chicken wings I had ever endeavor to make disappear.  These 25 cent flappers- one of the few indulgences afforded to the participants of our [...]

19
9 days ago

Chris Wilcox: 2012-13 Final Grade

There are a number of contextually-appropriate ways to craft this post. One would be to forgo words entirely, and represent Chris Wilcox’s entire season with a series of videos. That would involve one part of this: For every eight parts of this: Note the headline on that second clip. Someone was so amused/enraged by Wilcox’s [...]

12
10 days ago

Rajon Rondo’s 2012-13 Final Grade

Here’s a sweeping general statement involving super specific statistics that may or may not mean anything: In the 1423 minutes Rajon Rondo played this season, the Boston Celtics were outscored by 1.3 points per 100 possessions. When he sat (including all contests after he tore his ACL), Boston was better than their opponents by 1.8 [...]

94
10 days ago

Avery Bradley Elected to NBA All-Defense Second Team

Avery Bradley has been a standout defender for the past couple seasons…in the regular season anyway. Now he has a trophy to prove it. The NBA announced this afternoon that the third-year guard has been elected by coaches around the league to the second-team all-NBA defensive team for the first time in his career. Bradley [...]

13
13 days ago

Paul Pierce’s Contract: Dispelling The Myths and Stating The Facts

The first domino to fall this offseason is Paul Pierce’s contract. Until Danny Ainge figures out what he’s doing there, little else matters. As we wait for this decision, we also must face the rest of the offseason, which means it is also rumor season. With that time of year, comes plenty of information floating [...]

42
14 days ago

Final Grade: Avery Bradley (C+)

In his third year in the league, in which promising players often make brash leaps from benchwarmer to starter, from starter to star, Avery Bradley took a big step back. But his regression might be deceptive. When he returned to the Celtics’ lineup on January the 2nd after two in-season months recovering from offseason shoulder [...]

9
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Around the NBA: Position Rankings

This week on Around on the NBA, I have put together a positional ranking of all the players left in the playoffs.  (Yes that is everyone minus the recently swept Knicks, so no Carmelo or Amare below.)  This is not a “Player Rater,” “Hollinger Rater,” or anything based off of stats.  It is a far more simple, yet debatable system, where I look at the players and slot them 1-10 on which player I would rather have on my team.   These rankings combine both the regular season and early playoff performances.

Point Guards:

  1. Derrick Rose, Bulls
  2. Chris Paul, Hornets
  3. Rajon Rondo, Celtics
  4. Russell Westbrook, Thunder
  5. Tony Parker, Spurs
  6. Jason Kidd, Mavericks
  7. Andre Miller, Trail Blazers
  8. Ty Lawson, Nuggets
  9. Brandon Roy, Trail Blazers
  10. Jameer Nelson, Magic

Chris Paul is fresh of a triple-double and a second win over the highly favored Lakers.  You might be able to make an argument that he is the best point guard in basketball once again, but there is no way I’m ignoring the entire season Derrick Rose put together.  Brandon Roy was a tough guy to rank.  He’s typically a shooting guard, but his new role in Portland has been back up point guard, and after Game 2 were he barely played, he has been a huge spark for the Blazers.  Young guys like Jrue Holiday and Mike Conley just missed the cut as did Kirk Hinrich.

Shooting Guards:

  1. Dwyane Wade, Heat
  2. Kobe Bryant, Lakers
  3. Manu Ginobili, Spurs
  4. Ray Allen, Celtics
  5. Joe Johnson, Hawks
  6. Jason Terry, Mavericks
  7. Wes Mathews, Trail Blazers
  8. Jamal Crawford, Hawks
  9. Jason Richardson, Magic
  10. James Harden, Thunder

The top 4 SGs on this list have combined for 10 titles.  I think Wade has passed Bryant, but it is still close.  Neither Kobe nor Manu are playing at 100%, but they are still better options than almost everyone else in the league.  Interesting to note that 3 of the Top 10 shooting guards don’t start for their teams (Terry, Crawford, and Harden) all provide scoring punch off the bench.  

Small Forwards:

  1. LeBron James, Heat
  2. Kevin Durant, Thunder
  3. Paul Pierce, Celtics
  4. Gerald Wallace, Trail Blazers
  5. Luol Deng, Bulls
  6. Danny Granger, Pacers
  7. Andre Iguodala, 76ers
  8. Shawn Marion, Mavericks
  9. Richard Jefferson, Spurs
  10. Trevor Ariza, Hornets

Call me crazy, but I still think Shawn Marion has something left in the tank.  He just had 12 points 11 rebounds in Dallas’ last game.  I know he’s not the 20-10 Matrix from the Suns, but compared to the rest of the Small Forwards still in the playoffs, he’s in my Top 10.

Power Forwards:

  1. Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks
  2. Pau Gasol, Lakers
  3. Kevin Garnett, Celtics
  4. LaMarcus Aldridge, Trail Blazers
  5. Tim Duncan, Spurs
  6. Carlos Boozer, Bulls
  7. Zach Randolph, Grizzlies
  8. Chris Bosh, Heat
  9. Lamar Odom, Lakers
  10. Josh Smith, Hawks

Lots of talent at the Power Forward position, it seems as though every team has an All-Star at the position.  I know Pau, KG, and Duncan (who is a border line Center) have the Championship Rings but I think Dirk is still the best, he just has the least to work with.

Centers:

  1. Dwight Howard, Magic
  2. Al Horford, Hawks
  3. Marcus Camby, Trail Blazers
  4. Andrew Bynum, Lakers
  5. Tyson Chandler, Mavericks
  6. Joakim Noah, Bulls
  7. Nene, Nuggets
  8. Marc Gasol, Grizzlies
  9. Kendrick Perkins, Thunder
  10. Roy Hibbert, Pacers

Ten big nasty guys right here.  Dwight Howard is head and shoulder above the competition at the Center spot.  The rest of the them are not exactly scorers, their job is more to irritate (Noah), and head the defense (Camby, Chandler, Perk).

Team Count:

Trail Blazers: 6 (wow)

Mavericks: 5

Celtics: 4

Lakers: 4

Bulls: 4

Spurs: 4

Hawks: 4

Thunder: 4

Magic: 3

Heat: 3

Grizzlies: 2 (Conley was close, and Rudy Gay would have been in)

Pacers: 2

Hornets: 2

Nuggets: 2

76ers: 1

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