NBA's Ten Most Underrated List

[closg00]

6. Brendan Haywood (Ranks 33rd in 2007-08 Composite Score)

The Big Three in Washington should probably be switched to the Big Four, because Haywood is a great center and has been for a while. He actually finished second on the Wizards in Composite Score this past season, beating out Caron Butler. His Composite Score ranks since 2004: 22nd, 15th, 64th, 77th, and 33rd. Yes, I'm still talking about Haywood. He plays well on both ends of the floor, thanks in part to his good size. It may not always seem like he's playing hard and he certainly has his faults, but he's effective. The Wizards got good value for him when they selected him 20th overall in the 2001 draft.

Unfortunately for the Wiz, Haywood suffered from a wrist injury during the preseason and could miss the entire season after having surgery to repair it.

That does it for today. Look out for part two, which will go over players ranked 1-5 and reveal the player I feel is the most underrated in the NBA. Comment and let me know what you think below.

Big ups to BTH
http://www.nbadraft.net/node/3328

[MJG]

Nice to see someone who isn't a Wizards fan recognize Haywood as the shadow fourth member of the "Big Three".

As an added bonus, I actually agree with all the other names on the list. That's got to be a first for a topic that lends itself so well to using stock names like Battier and Marion.

[nate33]

6. Brendan Haywood (Ranks 33rd in 2007-08 Composite Score)

The Big Three in Washington should probably be switched to the Big Four, because Haywood is a great center and has been for a while. He actually finished second on the Wizards in Composite Score this past season, beating out Caron Butler. His Composite Score ranks since 2004: 22nd, 15th, 64th, 77th, and 33rd. Yes, I'm still talking about Haywood. He plays well on both ends of the floor, thanks in part to his good size. It may not always seem like he's playing hard and he certainly has his faults, but he's effective. The Wizards got good value for him when they selected him 20th overall in the 2001 draft.

Unfortunately for the Wiz, Haywood suffered from a wrist injury during the preseason and could miss the entire season after having surgery to repair it.

That does it for today. Look out for part two, which will go over players ranked 1-5 and reveal the player I feel is the most underrated in the NBA. Comment and let me know what you think below.

Big ups to BTH
http://www.nbadraft.net/node/3328

[Dat2U]

By Jon Nichols

Today I'm going to present the first of a two-part look at ten players who I consider to be the most underrated in the NBA. They could be underrated for all sorts of reasons. Some of them don't put up gaudy numbers in the traditional statistics many people look at. Others are overshadowed by other superstars on their team. Perhaps most common on this list, some of them make incredible defensive contributions that go unnoticed. And because playing defense is half the game of basketball, these players contribute significantly to their teams winning games.

This is a damn good article and he's so on the money about defense. The media & most fans really underrate the importance of a player's impact on the defensive end of the floor.

I'd say that even goes the same for our coach and GM.

Jamison might average 20/10 but his impact on the game is often muted b/c he can't defend or body up in the low post and all 29 other NBA teams can gameplan for that.

Caron is a legit all-star offensively but his impact in terms of wins & losses is also muted b/c he's only an average defender at best.

We wax can wax poetic about Darius Songalia's contributions offensively for this team. His ability to hit the jumper and create spacing offensively, his hard-nosed attitude and willingness to bang and his positioning and effort defensively. But none of that makes a damn bit a difference no matter how good he is in those apsects because he's a poor defender in general and an absolutely horrific defender/rebounder whenever he's forced to play the C position.