ESPN: Q: Top players under 23? A: No love for Big Al

Krapinsky · Post #1 » by **Krapinsky** » Tue Apr 1, 2008 7:48 pm

http://proxy.espn.go.com/nba/news/story ... er23-Intro

All the writers voted. Al was in none of their top 5's. Roy was. Even Deng got a vote.

I agree that he's probably not in the top 5. But Deng over Big Al? C'mon.

mwithers · Post #2 » by **mwithers** » Tue Apr 1, 2008 7:54 pm

Dr.Krapinsky wrote:http://proxy.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=Under23-Intro

All the writers voted. Al was in none of their top 5's. Roy was. Even Deng got a vote.

I agree that he's probably not in the top 5. But Deng over Big Al? C'mon.

Funny how Greg Oden is on there and has yet to play a minute of NBA regular season basketball. He could end up being a bust and having problems with his knees his entire career. Who knows.

mrmossy84 · Post #3 » by **mrmossy84** » Tue Apr 1, 2008 8:23 pm

wow thats remarkable he didn't even get a vote.

B Calrissian · Post #4 » by **B Calrissian** » Tue Apr 1, 2008 8:40 pm

Noah, Rondo, and Young all got wildcard votes. Al didn't even get one of those. Is it possible that we are all homers and Al is not as good as we think..? (twilight zone music)

Devilzsidewalk · Post #5 » by **Devilzsidewalk** » Tue Apr 1, 2008 9:04 pm

each writer looks like they only pick a top 6, so on that basis I could see Al getting forgotten, kinda weird that Rondo and Noah get wildcard votes. weirdos.

Plus I don't think any of these guys outside of Stein and Sheridan know the entire NBA. And both of those guys had good lists.

kandiking · Post #6 » by **kandiking** » Tue Apr 1, 2008 9:07 pm

how did LMA not get a vote too? wtf rondo???????????

B Calrissian · Post #7 » by **B Calrissian** » Tue Apr 1, 2008 9:20 pm

Thorpe must be a huge Bulls fan or has not watched much nba this season. He has Deng at 5 and Noah as the wc

A comment that someone left..

rumbler911 (1 hour ago)
you're an absolute moron to put luol deng over someone like al jefferson. thats so stupid.

*How would guys have listed them?
1-Lebron
2-Howard
3-Paul
4-Williams
5-Jefferson
wc- Durant

dunkonu21 · Post #8 » by **dunkonu21** » Tue Apr 1, 2008 9:48 pm

Al just turned 23.

Blame Rasho · Post #9 » by **Blame Rasho** » Tue Apr 1, 2008 9:54 pm

Devilzsidewalk wrote:each writer looks like they only pick a top 6, so on that basis I could see Al getting forgotten, kinda weird that Rondo and Noah get wildcard votes. weirdos.

Plus I don't think any of these guys outside of Stein and Sheridan know the entire NBA. And both of those guys had good lists.

Rondo?... Honestly... Rondo?

I am boycotting ESPN.com...

Jaxbeast · Post #10 » by **Jaxbeast** » Tue Apr 1, 2008 9:55 pm

One problem I see, is that Al can at least somewhat take over an NBA game, while they have Micheal Beasley and Derrick Rose on there. Don't think it's fair to use college players

... · Post #11 » by **...** » Tue Apr 1, 2008 10:16 pm

mwithers wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Funny how Greg Oden is on there and has yet to play a minute of NBA regular season basketball. He could end up being a bust and having problems with his knees his entire career. Who knows.

+1

deeney0 · Post #12 » by **deeney0** » Tue Apr 1, 2008 10:17 pm

dunkonu21 wrote:Al just turned 23.

The title of this post is misleading, it caught me too. But the ESPN article is clearly 23 AND under, not under 23.

Krapinsky · Post #13 » by **Krapinsky** » Tue Apr 1, 2008 11:05 pm

deeney0 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

The title of this post is misleading, it caught me too. But the ESPN article is clearly 23 AND under, not under 23.

my mistake. The title should have said 23 and under.

My list probably goes:

James
Howard
Paul
Melo
Jefferson/Williams/Ellis (tie)

prefuse73 · Post #14 » by **prefuse73** » Wed Apr 2, 2008 1:10 am

If was going to come up with a 12 man team I would say:

Howard - Oden - Noah
Jefferson - Aldridge
James - Melo
Wade - Roy - Monta
Paul - Williams

I may be a homer, but its ridiculous that Jefferson not even mentioned.

AQuintus · Post #15 » by **AQuintus** » Wed Apr 2, 2008 1:16 am

Wade is 26.

MN Die Hard · Post #16 » by **MN Die Hard** » Wed Apr 2, 2008 12:52 pm

Devilzsidewalk wrote:each writer looks like they only pick a top 6, so on that basis I could see Al getting forgotten, kinda weird that Rondo and Noah get wildcard votes. weirdos.

I'm with ya on this. Its misleading cause they list all the vote getters, but when you just look at the top five I think they came up with a pretty solid list - LBJ, Howard, Paul, Williams, Melo. I dont think Al should crack that list. Its not like they all voted a top-ten and Al was excluded from all their top ten lists.

The surprising part is seeing some of the other guys that made the list (e.g. Deng, Noah, etc). Beasley and Rose shouldnt even have been included.

mandurugo · Post #17 » by **mandurugo** » Wed Apr 2, 2008 2:12 pm

The actual question in the article was: Which 23-or-under player would you want as the foundation of your team?

Al is a very good player, but how good are the wolves if he is ultimately the best player on the team? I think they are still looking for their foundational player...

john2jer · Post #18 » by **john2jer** » Fri Apr 4, 2008 12:07 am

Monta Ellis is a foundational player, though? He's nothing without Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson, and that system.

mandurugo · Post #19 » by **mandurugo** » Fri Apr 4, 2008 10:05 pm

Yeah, I definately prefer Jefferson to Ellis as a foundational player... Jefferson is definately a good piece to have on a team, it just seems like the wolves are so far away right now it's hard to be too excited.

horaceworthy · Post #20 » by **horaceworthy** » Fri Apr 4, 2008 11:53 pm

I don't really look at it in terms of "foundation player." You really need 3 players to form the foundation of a team. Kareem/Magic/Worthy, Bird/McHale/Parish (or Dennis Johnson), Zeke/Dumars/Aguirre, Jordan/Pippen/Grant (or Rodman), Duncan/Parker/Manu, etc. The only real exception is if you're like the Shaq/Kobe Lakers and have two top 7 players on your team.

I think Al's good enough to be considered one of those 3 players we can build around. I don't think we have another player that's proven good enough to be put in that class, but if this is considered to be the first year of our rebuild, we're fairly lucky to have one.