Post#86 » by Joao Saraiva » Today 2:39 pm
Time to vote. Let's go.
Vote 1: Shaq 2001
The offensive machine. The unstopable man in the paint. I think he's the best offensive player left, even tough we still have lots of talent to discuss.
Shaq was unguardable in the post, and the only way to slow him down was fouling him. Teams were making room for 3 bigs (didn't even matter if they were any good) just to foul Shaq. That is some crazy imapct on the league and quite honestly I haven't seen anyone having the same type of effect.
The flaws on defense are there. He refused to come out to defend in the perimeter, even if the big he was going against could shoot the ball. Well, that could be problematic if Porziginis or other unicorns were playing back then. But they were not, it was a different game. So despite some of it hurting the team it was not an issue, so it's a problem I don't think is worth much of a downgrade on what we think about Shaq.
The rim protection was fine, man to man defense too, specially when it mattered the most.
Given his A+++ offesnive imapct I think it makes sense Shaq goes top 5 in the list.
Vote 2: Kevin Garnett 2004
Can't say I'm low on Kevin Garnett but after people almost killing me for not having him I did read some of the coments, so I'm giving him the vote. So please bother me less this time (and thanks for sharing the info).
Kevin is the modern PF on offense without the 3 point shooting. Well again not his fault, PFs were not encouraged to shoot them back then. But he still was very good from midrange, so spacing wise he was still ideal.
Less potent scorer than some names, but definitely had the handles and playmaking skills at superb level for a PF. Still good with his scoring, even tough I have some question marks on that.
Elite on defense with his ability to switch and hang out with guys from every position: I'd say in today's game he would translate even better. Less of a rim protector than Tim Duncan, but he was still very good in that regard as well.
I'm going 04 for team success also, as the Wolves didn't have the correct roster to make a championship run, but making the WCF was still a hell of an accomplishment.
Vote 3: Giannis 2021
As close to KG as we can get. Worse on playmaking and handles I guess. Much better as scorer and in my eyes Giannis is a better rim protector than KG. I believe KG however has the edge on man to man defense, range and ability to space making his fit easier with other players on offense.
The ultimate roll player, a tremendous finisher at the rim, and one of the best players we've seen in the league lately.
2021 is the year again, cause of team success and being available when it counted the most.
I know BKN had injuries. Well, you gotta have some luck to get a ring with Middleton as a 2nd fiddle.
Vote 4: Kobe 2006
Sorry in advance guys. I'm still high on Kobe, and while I considered these two (Giannis and KG) ahead I'm still very impressed with Kobe that season for reasons I stated previously, such as offensive explosion, low TOV% and a carry job that very few players (in my eyes) could have replicated.
“These guys have been criticized the last few years for not getting to where we’re going, but I’ve always said that the most important thing in sports is to keep trying. Let this be an example of what it means to say it’s never over.” - Jerry Sloan
