Say hello to your #1 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft....

[SSUBluesman]

I don't think people question his potential. They question his ability to reach his potential.

I think a good comparison his is AI or even Shaq. Iverson is an amazing physical speciman and talen. But he was so intent on doing things his way that he never listened to anyone. Did he accomplish some nice things in his career yes, but I'll be damned if he actually reached his potential. If you throw his final fluke appearance out you have the resume of guy who missed the playoffs an awful lot of times. I think thats what people see in Beasley and why I even suggest a guy like Lopez or Love should go ahead of him.

So do I think others will be the offensive talent that Beasley is, no but I do think they would be able to bring their positives without bringing the same negatives. Just go look back at the 1996 draft, there are a lot of guys whose careers you would take over Iverson's.

Well, if you throw out those MVP's what has Nash done? It's indicative of how silly this all is when you have to throw out major accomplishments like a "fluke finals appearance". This is further enhanced by trying to fault him for missing the playoffs a lot (with some pretty nondescript players) while not giving him any credit for making the playoffs and the finals with a similar (although more well built) cast of characters.

The idea that he never reached his potential, especially because he "didn't listen to others" demonstrates an amazing level of ignorance and stupidity. He became a franchise player, MVP, took his team to the finals, and all of this while cementing himself as one of the most unique players in the history of the NBA. You're seriously going to claim this while you have guys like Kwame Brown playing, and you're going to claim this on the basis that if he would have played differently (I'm guessing a more traditional pass first pg) he would have "reached his potential"?


As far as Rose goes it's great to see a large-scale improvement in his play from the beginning of the year to the championship. Most importantly of all he seems to really have an important grasp on what to do and when to do it. Obviously things will need to be worked on like a better, more consistent perimeter shot, and some things may not be able to develop (I still have questions about his defensive instincts) but I'm a lot more comfortable with him as a player and as someone likely to reach his potential than I was at the beginning of the season.

[Paydro70]

SSUBluesman: Fantastic post, I agree with every point. I too was skeptical of Rose at the beginning of the season, and have been very impressed to see his development. However, I concur with some of the other posters who have said that he will probably need a few years to become an effective player on the NBA level; his athleticism will be less significant, and his weaker shooting and distributing abilities will be much more of an issue.

Amare Stoudemire is the best offensive big man in the league, and this point cannot be debated. He is probably a top-5 offensive player in the league, period. He is not, however, even an 'average' defender... he's better at PF than he was at C, but he was legitimately terrible for much of this season. As for top 5 PFs, I would have to say Duncan and KG over him, but he might be third, I would say he's roughly equal to Dirk and Bosh. Boozer would be a very close 6th, and that would be the extent of "elite PFs" in the NBA in my view. I would also say that all six of these players are better than their point guards, with the exception of Deron.

Beasley could in my opinion most certainly become as good as Dirk/Amare/Bosh/Boozer. That could mean top 3 PF, it could also mean MVP, it could also mean best player on a championship roster. This is not his most PROBABLE result, because it never is... of those 6 guys, for instance, only two were top 5 (Duncan/Bosh), and one was a 2nd rounder. I will, however, say that borderline-allstar (as always it depends more on your team's success than your own, but that's another discussion) is very likely. I will be surprised if he does not become as good as, say, David West. His absolute floor, in my opinion, is SARS or Zach Randolph, which is to say very good.

Rose in my opinion has a much lower floor, but an equally high ceiling. Rose will not totally bust, but it is at least conceivable that becomes only an average PG (who everyone complains "just can't put it all together!"). This is not likely, in my opinion he's MOST likely to become a very good PG (Devin Harris) and has a solid chance (moderately lower than Beasley's) of becoming an elite PG. (Just for fun, I would say there's a clear-cut level of elite PGs including Nash, Paul, Deron, BD, and Billups).

On a related note, all of this talk of position importance is silly... teams have won the championship in the past 20 or so years with their best player at PG (Isiah, Billups, Magic), SG (MJ, Wade), SF (Bird), PF (Duncan), and C (Shaq, Hakeem). The best teams in the NBA right now don't all have great PGs (Celtics, Lakers, Magic), though they pretty much all do have a great PF or C except the Pistons. The question is which guy will be the better player, not whether his position makes up for his inferior talent/potential combo.

[mandurugo]

Amare Stoudemire is the best offensive big man in the league, and this point cannot be debated. He is probably a top-5 offensive player in the league, period. He is not, however, even an 'average' defender... he's better at PF than he was at C, but he was legitimately terrible for much of this season. As for top 5 PFs, I would have to say Duncan and KG over him, but he might be third, I would say he's roughly equal to Dirk and Bosh. Boozer would be a very close 6th, and that would be the extent of "elite PFs" in the NBA in my view. I would also say that all six of these players are better than their point guards, with the exception of Deron.

Actually, I think this could be debated. Amare doesn't have great post-up skills, a great mid-range jump shot, or a great first step and drive. However, he is one of the most perfectly paired players in the league. His incredible strength, speed, hand-to-eye coordination and jumping ability makes him the ultimate combination with Nash. But if he was in the wrong system or paired with the wrong point guard he wouldn't be able to use his skills to their full potential. His defense remains quite mediocre.

And I still take Beasley over Rose, though gladly either on the Timberwolves.

[NO-KG-AI]

Umm Amare is really explosive on the drive, and has a sweet jumper, dunno where that came from.

[hard49]

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Amare doesn't have great post-up skills, a great mid-range jump shot, or a great first step and drive.

Have you even watched the Suns this season?

[DanTown8587]

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Actually, I think this could be debated. Amare doesn't have great post-up skills, a great mid-range jump shot, or a great first step and drive. However, he is one of the most perfectly paired players in the league. His incredible strength, speed, hand-to-eye coordination and jumping ability makes him the ultimate combination with Nash. But if he was in the wrong system or paired with the wrong point guard he wouldn't be able to use his skills to their full potential. His defense remains quite mediocre.

That could have been said about Amare like four years ago, but thats just stupid since he came back from Micro fracture surgery and definitely doesn't play that way since Shaq came on board. I mean, do you watch basketball at all or just make idiotic statements.

[_BBIB_]

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That could have been said about Amare like four years ago, but thats just stupid since he came back from Micro fracture surgery and definitely doesn't play that way since Shaq came on board. I mean, do you watch basketball at all or just make idiotic statements.

I honestly don't think people have watched him this year.

To say that he's not only not a superstar but not even an upper echelon PF is beyond ignorance.

The fantasy that Steve Nash makes him who he is is a joke.

Steve Nash is the worst MVP of all-time. He was the 3rd most efficient player and had the 3rd most win shares on his OWN TEAM.

Steve Nash doesn't make Amare rebound, he hasn't improved Amare's ability to block shots, and it's not him that makes Amare blow by defenders or adjust in mid air to a hook/jumper.


You can't be the 2nd most efficient player in the league and not a superstar IMO.



Scary thing is Beasley has more range, post skills, and slashing ability than a player like Amare.

I can only imagine the type of headaches he could cause if he gained strength like him.


I think we could be seeing a player reach stardom in just their 2nd season like was the case for Lebron.

[richboy]

Nash lost Amare and still had them in the WCF. Marion done squat to help the Heat start winning. Not to mention Amare and Marion weren't actually on there way to greatness before Nash.

Effiency is not a very good stat. NOt really sure why you continue to use it. PFs and Cs should be more efficient than a PG. Guards have the ball a lot more. They often have the ball when the shot clock goes down. They don't get easy hoops off rebounds. They don't get as many easy rebounds. Its relatively a stat made for big players.

[Texas Longhorns]

Michael Beasley if Heat pick first.

[Paydro70]

....really? So when Amare won rookie of the year, or averaged 21-9 as a 19-year old without Nash, he wasn't on his way to greatness?

Nash was definitely an undeserving MVP, if for no other reason than he's a poor defender.

[miamiballer]

Michael Beasley if Heat pick first.

[bill curley II]

Michael Beasley if an NBA team pick first.

Fixed

[Cruel_Ruin]

Michael Beasley if Houston Texans pick first.

Double Fixed.

[richboy]

....really? So when Amare won rookie of the year, or averaged 21-9 as a 19-year old without Nash, he wasn't on his way to greatness?

Nash was definitely an undeserving MVP, if for no other reason than he's a poor defender.

A case can be made for Nash two MVP years as having the best offensive impact ever. Nash's ability in pick-n-roll opened up the outside like he was a dominate center. Him not being a good defender is not enough reason to not give him the MVP.

When Amare doesn't play with Nash he can put up numbers but the game becomes much harder for him. He suddenly becomes a guy trying to post up all the time or drive past players one on one.

[bill curley II]

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Double Fixed.

What does that mean?

[Cammo101]

I think it means passing on Reggie Bush (aka. Derrick Rose) was a very dumb pick. At least that is what I took from it.

[bill curley II]

I think it means passing on Reggie Bush (aka. Derrick Rose) was a very dumb pick. At least that is what I took from it.

Ah I see. That means he thinks passing on Reggie Bush was a bad pick?

[Cammo101]

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Ah I see. That means he thinks passing on Reggie Bush was a bad pick?

Hard to believe he could think so with that vaunted Houston rushing attack.

[bill curley II]

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Hard to believe he could think so with that vaunted Houston rushing attack.

And Bush's 3.7 avg would help and career 40 yards a game would help?

[Cammo101]

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And Bush's 3.7 avg would help and career 40 yards a game would help?

He is not an every down back. But, you are convientely forgetting his sick recieving numbers out of the backfield. Something a Texans team with one good reciver could have used. Bush is a huge upgrade over Ahman Green, and Bush has not even scratched the surface.