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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: Top 20 By Position

Posted by on Mar 2, 2012 8 comments

All-Star weekend is in the books and now all eyes turn to the March 15th Trade Deadline.  Why not put together a list of the Top 20 Players By Position?  All “Rankings” are always very debatable, and this is certainly no different.  What makes one player better than another?  A lot of it comes down to individual opinion.  Also these rankings are based on what I expect for the rest of THIS season.  Age, contracts, etc. have no value here.  Simply I would want the guy ranked #1 over the guy slotted #2 and so on for the rest of the year.  And for the “tweeners” I made the executive decision and placed the player in just one position.

Point Guards: 

  1. Derrick Rose, Bulls
  2. Chris Paul, Clippers
  3. Deron Williams, Nets
  4. Russell Westbrook, Thunder
  5. Rajon Rondo, Celtics
  6. Tony Parker, Spurs
  7. Steve Nash, Suns
  8. Stephen Curry, Warriors
  9. Kyle Lowry, Rockets
  10. Brandon Jennings, Bucks
  11. Ricky Rubio, Timberwolves
  12. Tyreke Evans, Kings
  13. John Wall, Wizards
  14. Kyrie Irving, Cavaliers
  15. Jeremy Lin, Knicks
  16. Ty Lawson, Nuggets
  17. Lou Williams, 76ers
  18. Jeff Teague, Hawks
  19. Mike Conley, Grizzlies
  20. Raymond Felton, Trail Blazers

Right out of the gate you can see how difficult this task really is.  The Top 3 is pretty much a lock, but after that?  I’m not even that confident in Westbrook, although he has played extremely well as of late.  I don’t like his shot selection or when he takes the game over and forgets he has Durant on his team.  I have John Wall real low on my list knowing he could storm up the rankings at any time.  He needs to not turn the ball over, plus he’s leading a terrible team.  Lin?  I think he is ranked just fine at 15… for now.

Shooting Guards: 

  1. Kobe Bryant, Lakers
  2. Dwyane Wade, Heat
  3. Joe Johnson, Hawks
  4. Manu Ginobili, Spurs (injured)
  5. Monta Ellis, Warriors
  6. James Harden, Thunder
  7. Eric Gordon, Hornets
  8. Wesley Matthews, Trail Blazers
  9. Kevin Martin, Rockets
  10. Jason Terry, Mavericks
  11. Jamal Crawford, Trail Blazers
  12. Ray Allen, Celtics
  13. Rodney Stuckey, Pistons
  14. Paul George, Pacers
  15. Arron Afflalo, Nuggets
  16. DeMar DeRozan, Raptors
  17. O.J. Mayo, Grizzlies
  18. Tony Allen, Grizzlies
  19. Nick Young, Wizards
  20. Anthony Morrow, Nets

Not a power house group right here.  After the dominate Top 2 we see quite a drop off.  Don’t love Joe Johnson at 3.  Stuckey may be a point guard, but with Brandon Knight starting alongside him he’s been playing a lot of SG, and he actually lit up the C’s a couple weeks back.

Small Forward: 

  1. LeBron James, Heat
  2. Kevin Durant, Thunder
  3. Carmelo Anthony, Knicks
  4. Paul Pierce, Celtics
  5. Rudy Gay, Grizzlies
  6. Gerald Wallace, Trail Blazers
  7. Andre Iguodala, 76ers
  8. Luol Deng, Bulls
  9. Shawn Marion, Mavericks
  10. Danny Granger, Pacers
  11. Caron Butler, Clippers
  12. Danilo Gallinari, Nuggets
  13. Tayshaun Prince, Pistons
  14. Nicolas Batum, Trail Blazers
  15. Michael Beasley, Timberwolves
  16. Jared Dudley, Suns
  17. Carlos Delfino, Bucks
  18. Hedo Turkoglu, Magic
  19. Dorell Wright, Warriors
  20. Kawhi Leonard, Spurs

I know that our own Brian Robb is going to be disappointed with my ranking of Luol Deng (8th).  I understand his value, but I’ve just never been impressed by him.  He certainly helps the Bulls a great deal, and does a lot of different things well.  But he’s not elite.

Power Forward:

 

  1. Kevin Love, Timberwolves
  2. Blake Griffin, Clippers
  3. LaMarcus Aldridge, Trail Blazers
  4. Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks
  5. Zach Randolph, Grizzlies (injured)
  6. PauGasol, Lakers
  7. Amare Stoudemire, Knicks
  8. Chris Bosh, Heat
  9. DeMarcus Cousins, Kings
  10. Paul Millsap, Jazz
  11. Kevin Garnett, Celtics
  12. David Lee, Warriors
  13. Josh Smith, Hawks
  14. Luis Scola, Rockets
  15. Serge Ibaka, Thunder
  16. Greg Monroe, Pistons
  17. Ryan Anderson, Magic
  18. Carlos Boozer, Bulls
  19. Kris Humphries, Nets
  20. Antawn Jamison, Cavaliers

Real tough Top 20 right here.  Perhaps the deepest position in the league, PG has a lot of elite talent, but check out 1-20 here, plus I’m sure I forget/left out a few solid guys.  Most nights I believe Aldridge is better thanGriffin, but then when it came time to fill out the list, I just couldn’t do it. Randolphhasn’t played all season.  When he comes back, I expect him to be a Top 5 talent.  You may think Cousins is ranked a little generously.  I love this guy.  He may be an immature head case, but he can play!

Center: 

  1. Dwight Howard, Magic
  2. Marc Gasol, Grizzlies
  3. Andrew Bynum, Lakers
  4. Tim Duncan, Spurs
  5. Tyson Chandler, Knicks
  6. Al Horford, Hawks (injured)
  7. Andrew Bogut, Bucks (injured)
  8. Joakim Noah, Bulls
  9. Al Hibbert, Pacers
  10. Al Jefferson, Jazz
  11. DeAndre Jordan, Clippers
  12. Nene, Nuggets (injured)
  13. AndersonVarajao, Cavaliers
  14. Kendrick Perkins, Thunder
  15. Marcin Gortat, Suns
  16. Marcus Camby, Trail Blazers
  17. JaVale McGee, Wizards
  18. Samuel Dalembert, Rockets
  19. Brendan Haywood, Mavericks
  20. Tiago Splitter, Spurs

Definitely the league’s weakest position as these are the 20 best.  Not too many crunch time players on this list.  How many command a double team?  The days of Olajuwon, Shaq, Robinson,Ewing, Mourning, and Mutombo are long gone.  I know what you’re thinking, No Jermaine?  He was 21.

Rich Keefe is the Celtics Reporter for 98.5 The Sports Hub.  You can follow him on twitter: @Keefe21

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