2013-14 Player of the Year Discussion Thread

[CBA]

1. Lebron James
2. Kevin Durant
3. Paul George
4. Blake Griffin
5. Dwight Howard

I'm fine with RWB consideration but I don't think he should be in the top 4. He's putting up eye popping stats but I'm not sure he's even been more valuable in the PS than guys like George and Griffin who space the floor instead of dominating the ball and are a smoother fit in an offensive system instead of becoming it, while also putting up very good numbers. PG's the worst of him, Blake and RWB, but also in the most difficult situation coverage wise.

For #5 it's between Howard, RWB, Curry, Harden, Aldridge, Paul for me. Howard had more impressive 1st round than Curry or Harden so I'll go his way over them. CP is difficult because I still he's the 3rd best player in the league. But looking at his missed games and less than dominant overall playoff stats and it's hard to make a case

Kevin Love doesn't get any consideration?

[SideshowBob]

And we've got our Final Four, 75% identical to 2012. Potential for 2012 or 2013 Finals rematch is high.

[sp6r=underrated]

It needs to be said but it is an absolute shame about the Clippers-Pacers. The Clippers were one of the top teams all year. The Pacers played as if they were one for 1/2 the season before playing as if they were a lottery club. The Clippers reward for playing great all year is the Warriors and Thunder. The Pacers get the Hawks and Wiz.

I don't support going to the top 16 but the fate of the Clippers blows.

[GSP]

After all the crap that went down w/ Indiana after all the bs we still get that Ecf
and after how wide open the Wc playoff was we still get Spurs/Okc

the 1st and 2nd seeds of both conferences

[HeartBreakKid]

Roy Hibbert usually goes Super Saiyan mode against the Heat, I wouldn't count Indiana out against Miami, especially since George has become a better player since last year while most of the Heat seems to be showing age.


Great playoffs, surprisingly the 1-2 seeds made it through, based on how competitive a lot of these series were it didn't seem particularly likely.

[ceiling raiser]

So who, realistically, on the remaining teams can make your top 5? Presumably LeBron and KD are locks, with George and maybe a few others (I think I've seen Parker, Westbrook, Duncan in this thread? Apologies if I missed anyone...) having an outside shot depending on the poster. What do you need to see from these "other guys" for them to make it into your top 5 (if it's possible)?

[ardee]

So who, realistically, on the remaining teams can make your top 5? Presumably LeBron and KD are locks, with George and maybe a few others (I think I've seen Parker, Westbrook, Duncan in this thread? Apologies if I missed anyone...) having an outside shot depending on the poster. What do you need to see from these "other guys" for them to make it into your top 5 (if it's possible)?

I think three of my top five are locks in KD, LeBron and Chris Paul. I'm heavily leaning Blake for the fourth spot. 5th will be between Love, Curry and Westbrook, if he maintains this play.

Parker, Tim and PG don't have a case for me at least. Especially the Spurs guys, if I gave an accolade to anyone on that team it'd be Popovich.

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[bondom34]

Lebron and KD are a lock at 1/2. Paul is still comfy in 3rd, and 4/5 were Griffin/Noah to start, but now I lean Griffin/PG. Harden's poor playoffs knocked him out for me, Noah was probably too early an exit to have a ton of impact for me as well, and Curry likely as well. I'd toss in Westbrook for an outside chance at 5, and Noah/Curry as well, depending on where OKC ends up.

[Texas Chuck]

Blake Griffin really needs to be a lock especially for anyone championing Chris Paul. I see absolutely no reasonable argument for Paul over Blake if we are talking about their play this year. I have never been high on Blake Griffin, but I have to eat some crow. He was brilliant this year and took major steps forward with his game.

He was undoubtedly ahead of Paul for the RS and Paul did nothign in the PS to pass him. I get everyone loves Chris Paul, but he hasnt earned the love he's getting.

And Love put up big numbers, but I dont like rewarding guys whose teams don't win. Yes I understand its a team game and that many of you like to completely separate the two things, but for me that just doesnt work.

Currently I have Lebron and Durant at the top with Lebron looking to take the top spot. Blake a near lock at 3. Beyond that its a tossup where a number of guys deserve consideration.

[bondom34]

Blake Griffin really needs to be a lock especially for anyone championing Chris Paul. I see absolutely no reasonable argument for Paul over Blake if we are talking about their play this year. I have never been high on Blake Griffin, but I have to eat some crow. He was brilliant this year and took major steps forward with his game.

He was undoubtedly ahead of Paul for the RS and Paul did nothign in the PS to pass him. I get everyone loves Chris Paul, but he hasnt earned the love he's getting.

And Love put up big numbers, but I dont like rewarding guys whose teams don't win. Yes I understand its a team game and that many of you like to completely separate the two things, but for me that just doesnt work.

Currently I have Lebron and Durant at the top with Lebron looking to take the top spot. Blake a near lock at 3. Beyond that its a tossup where a number of guys deserve consideration.

Yeah, I can definitely see the arguement for BG at 3. I am kind of debating switching him back up to 3, he was there for my RS anyway. I feel the same about Love, even though I know all the stats say the opposite.

[GSP]

This is really crazy.............Jesus Shuttlesworth

[HeartBreakKid]

I was skeptical of Griffin coming into the post season, but it's hard to really think of many guys who are better than him.

My top 5 is probably James, Durant, Paul, Love, Griffin


I need to reflect more at the end of the season because Curry and Howard might have a case to crack my top 5, objectively speaking I'm not sure if Love really gives you more than what Howard does, Howard is just not a very fashionable guy to give credit too these days.



George is like a #9 or #10 guy to me, he's top ten, but no way he makes top 5. Westbrook and Parker can make my top ten based on post season play, but their RS' were too weak for me to take them seriously for a top 5 ranking.

[Quotatious]

Durant
LeBron
Griffin
CP3
George
Dwight
Curry
Love
LMA
Westbrook


I think that would be my top 10, based on the regular season plus the playoffs. I think CP3 is still a better player than Griffin, but the 20 missed games (18 more than Griffin), puts Blake over Chris.

George, Howard and even Aldridge gained a bit based on their playoff performance. Obviously LMA really struggled against the Spurs, but his overall playoff numbers in the 11 games are almost the same as his RS numbers (more PPG on the same efficiency against tougher, playoffs defenses has to be seen as an improvement, and he's just slightly worse in other areas, like rebounding and making plays). Basically I've thrown Nowitzki out of the top 10, and inserted Aldridge. It was almost a wash to me based on the RS, so LMA's superior playoffs put him higher. I had Harden and Dirk in the top 10 after the RS, but their underwhelming playoff performance forced me to throw them out of it.

I generally like two-way players more than those with great offense, but bad defense, and that's why I have George and Howard over Curry and Love. Didn't want to punish Love for not making the playoffs too much, as it's clearly not his fault, so he's still solidly in the top 10 (I had him at number 5 or 6 after the RS).

I have to say that I've given a lot of credit to Westbrook by putting him on the list, because I generally think it'd be unfair to the guys who played 70-80 games in the RS, but Russell's playoff performance has been really impressive so far, and I think it's very likely that his RS numbers would've been very similar in 80 games played as in 46.

My number 11 would probably be Noah, although I'm not very confident about it. Possibly Melo, if I gave him the benefit of the doubt and assumed that he'd play at, or close to, his RS level in the postseason.

[SideshowBob]

It needs to be said but it is an absolute shame about the Clippers-Pacers. The Clippers were one of the top teams all year. The Pacers played as if they were one for 1/2 the season before playing as if they were a lottery club. The Clippers reward for playing great all year is the Warriors and Thunder. The Pacers get the Hawks and Wiz.

I don't support going to the top 16 but the fate of the Clippers blows.

And now in the aftermath of this we're going to see Paul destroyed by the media and fans, generalizations on the order of point guards not being suited for championship teams, not enough PPG, etc. etc.

[HeartBreakKid]

The Clips did catch a break that they didn't have to face Bogut though, and the Wizards are a pretty tough ball club.

[Colbinii]

The Clips did catch a break that they didn't have to face Bogut though, and the Wizards are a pretty tough ball club.

I mean you didn't actually expect Bogut to be able to play in the playoffs

Would a healthy GSW have matched up better vs OKC?

[HeartBreakKid]

The Clips did catch a break that they didn't have to face Bogut though, and the Wizards are a pretty tough ball club.

I mean you didn't actually expect Bogut to be able to play in the playoffs

Would a healthy GSW have matched up better vs OKC?

At the start of the season it's like a 40% chance, but didn't he last most of this RS? 67 Games isn't bad, I think that's more than what Paul played.

I think I like GSW more than the Thunder. GSW healthy is a championship team, their biggest Achilles heel was Mark Jackson (and Bogut's health).

[SideshowBob]

Final Four Playoff Performance

Code: Select all

Team        |    GP    Pace    |    Offense    Defense   Net    |   SRS

Oklahoma    |    13    91.6    |    6.1       -1.7       7.8    |   7.8
San Antonio |    12    93.3    |    4.9       -5.5       10.4   |   9.8

Indiana     |    13    89.4    |   -3.3       -5.4       2.1    |   1.1
Miami       |    9     85.5    |    10.5       2.5       7.9    |   5.7

[bondom34]

It needs to be said but it is an absolute shame about the Clippers-Pacers. The Clippers were one of the top teams all year. The Pacers played as if they were one for 1/2 the season before playing as if they were a lottery club. The Clippers reward for playing great all year is the Warriors and Thunder. The Pacers get the Hawks and Wiz.

I don't support going to the top 16 but the fate of the Clippers blows.

And now in the aftermath of this we're going to see Paul destroyed by the media and fans, generalizations on the order of point guards not being suited for championship teams, not enough PPG, etc. etc.

Nobody is a winner, until they are.

[Texas Chuck]

And now in the aftermath of this we're going to see Paul destroyed by the media and fans, generalizations on the order of point guards not being suited for championship teams, not enough PPG, etc. etc.

Do you not think Paul rightfully deserves some criticism for how he played? Especially in some crucial situations?