ESPN player rankings: Nets players

[therealbig3]

My biggest gripes with this list so far are easily where Kirilenko and Pierce are ranked. There is no way in the world that Kirilenko is not a top 100 player. He's probably top 50-60, and better than Joe Johnson, who is overrated on this list.

Pierce at 48? And not a single guy that has been ranked over him so far is even debatable...Holiday, West, Sanders, Deng, and Faried? Seriously? I stand by Pierce getting voted in the top 25 in our list, he's still a really good player, and one dimensional players like Deng and Sanders, or a rich man's Reggie Evans (Faried), aren't better than him. West is a very good player, but he's not better than Pierce either. And Holiday is pretty insanely overrated...jeff is spot on with his post, the guy is very inefficient and really is probably worse than Brandon Jennings offensively. He's a solid defender, but he's practically one of those one dimensional players that I'm talking about, since he's pretty bad offensively.

And add to that, Garnett is probably going to come in at 41 or 42, since ESPN is showing a picture of him for 41-50. That'll be another major gripe I have...Garnett is still a top 20 player. His impact is insane, even at his age.

[vincecarter4pres]

Jrue Holiday is waaaay too high. He isn't a top 50 player. I find it hilarious that he had a breakout year while Deron had a down year yet had a VASTLY superior offensive season in comparison.

Some people look at the raw ppg average and assumed he had an outstanding year. Truth is he was horribly inefficient (Brandon Jennings was more efficient which says a lot) all the while having a huge usage rate which in turn contributed to his teams awful offensive rating.

Plus one my man.

Well, maybe I'd have him top 50, but right at that point, probably lower though, he doesn't even make my top 10 point guards.

Where'd they have him?

[DrazenForThree]

My biggest gripes with this list so far are easily where Kirilenko and Pierce are ranked. There is no way in the world that Kirilenko is not a top 100 player. He's probably top 50-60, and better than Joe Johnson, who is overrated on this list.

Pierce at 48? And not a single guy that has been ranked over him so far is even debatable...Holiday, West, Sanders, Deng, and Faried? Seriously? I stand by Pierce getting voted in the top 25 in our list, he's still a really good player, and one dimensional players like Deng and Sanders, or a rich man's Reggie Evans (Faried), aren't better than him. West is a very good player, but he's not better than Pierce either. And Holiday is pretty insanely overrated...jeff is spot on with his post, the guy is very inefficient and really is probably worse than Brandon Jennings offensively. He's a solid defender, but he's practically one of those one dimensional players that I'm talking about, since he's pretty bad offensively.

And add to that, Garnett is probably going to come in at 41 or 42, since ESPN is showing a picture of him for 41-50. That'll be another major gripe I have...Garnett is still a top 20 player. His impact is insane, even at his age.

Joe johnson was rated properly. maybe 1 or 2 guys lower are better then him, but he is clearly better then 99% of the players below him, and maybe 1 or 2 above or yet to be mentioned.

the hate the dude gets is crazy. in an awful injury plagued year he was still an above avg shooting gaurd who played solid D and was the most clutch player in the league.

[therealbig3]

Jrue Holiday is waaaay too high. He isn't a top 50 player. I find it hilarious that he had a breakout year while Deron had a down year yet had a VASTLY superior offensive season in comparison.

Some people look at the raw ppg average and assumed he had an outstanding year. Truth is he was horribly inefficient (Brandon Jennings was more efficient which says a lot) all the while having a huge usage rate which in turn contributed to his teams awful offensive rating.

Plus one my man.

Well, maybe I'd have him top 50, but right at that point, probably lower though, he doesn't even make my top 10 point guards.

Where'd they have him?

43.

[jeff1624]

Honest question:

What makes Tyson Chandler, Pau Gasol and Roy Hibbert more productive than KG right now?

[Ronito]

I really don't read anything on ESPN outside a few people. NBA Rank is stupid, honestly, and I'd say that even if the Nets players were ranked properly (or improperly, but feeding my bias instead of against it )

[DrazenForThree]

Honest question:

What makes Tyson Chandler, Pau Gasol and Roy Hibbert more productive than KG right now?

nothing. And he usually eats chandlers lunch. Hibbert and George are gonna be hyped cause they took the heat to game 7. they should enjoy it, cause they are going to be hated on hardcore in the offseason both making the max and indy failing to reach the unrealistic expectations

KG officially at #41

[therealbig3]

To me, this is ESPN not wanting to admit that the Nets are loaded with great players, and are thus underrating the hell out of guys like KG, Pierce, and Kirilenko. They're skeptical of our team, and they don't want to give the players their proper due. Because look at how these guys ranked last year, when ESPN either didn't care about their team either way (Timberwolves) or actually liked their team (Celtics):

Kevin Garnett - #21
Paul Pierce - #29
Andrei Kirilenko - #79

Kirilenko made the top 80, while Pierce and Garnett were top 30. And mind you, this was before Kirilenko proved he still had what it takes to play well in the NBA (he had been playing in Russia before last season). But somehow, he drops 22 spots AFTER a great season.

And Pierce and Garnett drop 20 spots also AFTER having great seasons. IDK if people noticed, but they were just as good in the 2012-2013 season as they were in the 2011-2012 season. Leading that Celtics team to the playoffs, which really didn't have much talent, was frikin impressive.

[exculpatory]

To me, this is ESPN not wanting to admit that the Nets are loaded with great players, and are thus underrating the hell out of guys like KG, Pierce, and Kirilenko. They're skeptical of our team, and they don't want to give the players their proper due. Because look at how these guys ranked last year, when ESPN either didn't care about their team either way (Timberwolves) or actually liked their team (Celtics):

Kevin Garnett - #21
Paul Pierce - #29
Andrei Kirilenko - #79

Kirilenko made the top 80, while Pierce and Garnett were top 30. And mind you, this was before Kirilenko proved he still had what it takes to play well in the NBA (he had been playing in Russia before last season). But somehow, he drops 22 spots AFTER a great season.

And Pierce and Garnett drop 20 spots also AFTER having great seasons. IDK if people noticed, but they were just as good in the 2012-2013 season as they were in the 2011-2012 season. Leading that Celtics team to the playoffs, which really didn't have much talent, was frikin impressive.

You make a very astute point!

I watched 80% of Celtic games last year very very closely.

After Rondo went down in late January 2013 & until KG got hurt at the end of March 2013, Paul & KG were nothing less than spectacular & led the Celtics to one of the best records in the NBA during that 2 month period. KG EVEN at age 36 was otherworldly anchoring the D & Truth EVEN at age 35 put up All Pro/all around numbers exceeded ONLY by Bron & KD: 19-48.5%-42.5%-6.2RPG-5.6APG-THREE Trip Dubs-TS% 61%-eFG% 56%-PER outstanding! And these jizz-whistles drop them 20 spots?? Paul EVEN at age 36 is easily STILL Top 20-25 & STILL the fourth best SF in the NBA - and certainly not #48 as per ESPN & #36 as per SLAM. I guarantee you that Paul & Kevin will use this as further motivation to help lead the Nets to a banner!

[stepbackj34]

To me, this is ESPN not wanting to admit that the Nets are loaded with great players, and are thus underrating the hell out of guys like KG, Pierce, and Kirilenko. They're skeptical of our team, and they don't want to give the players their proper due. Because look at how these guys ranked last year, when ESPN either didn't care about their team either way (Timberwolves) or actually liked their team (Celtics):

Kevin Garnett - #21
Paul Pierce - #29
Andrei Kirilenko - #79

Kirilenko made the top 80, while Pierce and Garnett were top 30. And mind you, this was before Kirilenko proved he still had what it takes to play well in the NBA (he had been playing in Russia before last season). But somehow, he drops 22 spots AFTER a great season.

And Pierce and Garnett drop 20 spots also AFTER having great seasons. IDK if people noticed, but they were just as good in the 2012-2013 season as they were in the 2011-2012 season. Leading that Celtics team to the playoffs, which really didn't have much talent, was frikin impressive.

You make a very astute point!

I watched 80% of Celtic games last year very very closely.

After Rondo went down in late January 2013 & until KG got hurt at the end of March 2013, Paul & KG were nothing less than spectacular & led the Celtics to one of the best records in the NBA during that 2 month period. KG EVEN at age 36 was otherworldly anchoring the D & Truth EVEN at age 35 put up All Pro/all around numbers exceeded ONLY by Bron & KD: 19-48.5%-42.5%-6.2RPG-5.6APG-THREE Trip Dubs. And these jizz-whistles drop them 20 spots?? Paul EVEN at age 36 is easily STILL Top 20-25 & STILL the fourth best SF in the NBA - and certainly not #48 as per ESPN & #36 as per SLAM. I guarantee you that Paul & Kevin will use this as further motivation to help lead the Nets to a banner!

These ranking are outrageous. Pierce should be way higher. If they're ranking people low based off last season, why is Deng ahead of Pierce? WTF That kid has never does anything, yet he always gets respected. Deng has never took his game to the next level. I still can't believe he made the allstar team last year.

[DrazenForThree]

To me, this is ESPN not wanting to admit that the Nets are loaded with great players, and are thus underrating the hell out of guys like KG, Pierce, and Kirilenko. They're skeptical of our team, and they don't want to give the players their proper due. Because look at how these guys ranked last year, when ESPN either didn't care about their team either way (Timberwolves) or actually liked their team (Celtics):

Kevin Garnett - #21
Paul Pierce - #29
Andrei Kirilenko - #79

Kirilenko made the top 80, while Pierce and Garnett were top 30. And mind you, this was before Kirilenko proved he still had what it takes to play well in the NBA (he had been playing in Russia before last season). But somehow, he drops 22 spots AFTER a great season.

And Pierce and Garnett drop 20 spots also AFTER having great seasons. IDK if people noticed, but they were just as good in the 2012-2013 season as they were in the 2011-2012 season. Leading that Celtics team to the playoffs, which really didn't have much talent, was frikin impressive.

you have to remeber espn is super reactionary. last year for their rankings KG/Pierce were coming off taking the heat to game 7 in the ECF and thus got the hibbert/george treatment. as good as they played last year, they were coming off a poor series losing to the knicks where pierce did not look great. like buffoons, of course they ignore the bigger picture.

as far as AK, yeah that doesnt make alot of sense. Dwill should crack the top 20.

[jeff1624]

Both Brook and Deron in the top 30. Players left:

EAST (14)

Brook Lopez
Deron Williams
Kyrie Irving
John Wall
Derrick Rose
Joakim Noah
Lebron James
Dwyane Wade
Chris Bosh
Paul George
Roy Hibbert
Rajon Rondo
Al Horford
Carmelo Anthony

WEST (16)

Tim Duncan
Tony Parker
Russell Westbrook
Kevin Durant
Dirk Nowitzki
James Harden
Dwight Howard
Marc Gasol
Damian Lillard
LaMarcus Aldridge
Kevin Love
Chris Paul
Blake Griffin
Kobe Bryant
Pau Gasol
Stephen Curry


Players Brook can realistic beat out: Lillard, P Gasol and Hibbert, but I have a feeling he'll top out at 30. Hibbert's heat domination is still fresh in peoples minds thus people will overrated him. Lillard just won ROY. Etc... Still, Top 30 is pretty good.

Other notes:

Teams with multiple players still left in the top 30: Nets (2), Lakers (2), Blazers (2), Clippers (2), Thunder (2), Rockets (2), Spurs (2), Bulls (2), Pacers (2), Heat (3)

Teams without a player in the top 30: Raptors, 76ers, Pistons, Bucks, Magic, Bobcats, Nuggets, Jazz, Kings, Pelicans (ughh), Suns.

Centers: 7 (I counted Duncan and Pau Gasol as Centers)
Power Forwards: 6 (I counted Horford as a PF)
Small Forwards: 4
Shooting Guards: 3
Point Guards: 10

[Ronito]

Lillard is top 30? Like, including every player in the league? Geez.

[therealbig3]

Demarcus Cousins at #40 might be the biggest WTF ranking so far.

[DrazenForThree]

Lillard is top 30? Like, including every player in the league? Geez.

how many guys already selected would you put over him?

[BrooklynTruth]

these rankings are fraught with subjectivity, especially in a team sport.

what matters most is the mixture of the talent assembled and then i suppose the talent level. nets did a great job here and they are going to be an impressive team this year. until i saw them play on saturday in person i was not convinced that joe johnson would buy in but he seems to have, and that is a big deal. we have weapons at every position. their passing game was most impressive.

kirilenko is also hugely important to this team.

[DrazenForThree]

For reference, here was our top 25 list from when we voted during the offseason:

Top 25 Players Pt.II
1) LBJ
2) KD
3) CP3
4) D12
5) TD
6) Harden
7) Curry
8) Melo
9) Kobe
10) TP
--------------------------------
11) D-Wade
12) D-Will
13) Dirk
14) Westbrook
15) D-Rose
16) M.Gasol
17) Love
18) LMA
19) Noah
20) Lopez (#28)
21) Griffin
22) KG (#41)
23) Kyrie
24) P.George
25) Pierce (#48)

[DrazenForThree]

Lopez officially at #28

8 spots lower then the board picked him. 3 spots lower then id have had him. not too far off. dwill all thats left for us, i assume he goes 18-20

[Paradise]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/MazzESPN/status/390191711525163009[/tweet]

Umm Yeah. Ok. Sure.

[jeff1624]

I knew Hibbert and Noah wer gonna be higher. Disgusting. I could accept Noah, but Hibbert isn't a better player and is only being treated as such because of his series against Miami.