most clutch players in NBA

[bullsnewdynasty]

The "Kobe is clutch" thing will never die. He was clutch like 5-6 years ago. Not anymore. People just remember the makes and forget the misses because he shoots it every time in the clutch.

Anyway, Dirk/Melo are clearly 1a/1b to me. A few others in the ballpark, but those two are clearly the best.

And for the life of me I've never figured out why LeBron fans are so affronted when people don't think he's that clutch. Sure he's had his moments in the clutch, but there are several guys I'd take over him in the final minutes if the game is close. That isn't really an indictment of him as a player though, because he's good enough to where the game often isn't close in the end.

[big_ticket]

kobe is just overrated...espn has the stats before

[mademan]

The "Kobe is clutch" thing will never die. He was clutch like 5-6 years ago. Not anymore. People just remember the makes and forget the misses because he shoots it every time in the clutch.

Anyway, Dirk/Melo are clearly 1a/1b to me. A few others in the ballpark, but those two are clearly the best.

And for the life of me I've never figured out why LeBron fans are so affronted when people don't think he's that clutch. Sure he's had his moments in the clutch, but there are several guys I'd take over him in the final minutes if the game is close. That isn't really an indictment of him as a player though, because he's good enough to where the game often isn't close in the end.

It's because all objective measures point to him being one of the top clutch performers in the league. People get uppity about it when people come in and say he's not clutch based on nothing but conjecture.

[Rasho_libre]

Melo no doubt. Then Kyrie, Lebron, Rose, Dirk, Pierce

Come on you're a Jordan fan you should know by now clutch is more than last second shot, plus anyone with that bad a playoff track record should be kept off the number 1 spot

[Paradise]

I would like to know the actual numbers and the actual context you are talking about with that Joe Johnson stat.

Is the game tied up then? I'd also like to see some sort of source that that's true because that sounds completely made up.

http://stats.nba.com/leaguePlayerClutch ... tOrder=DES

It shouldn't be a surprise though because Joe Johnson is a scorer, maybe the best scorer on the team, so he is given the opportunity to take these shots and he has made them. He is not taking over a game by making one shot. A top 10 player in his position is not a mediocre player either. He is probably at worst above average which is still good.

As I said, players who are clutch are already damn good in the first place especially as scorers and generally great.

If your down or in need to a closing basket and you consistently have someone that dominates that moment. That is taking over the game and sealing it. Especially when clutch stats are measured 5 minutes or less, so that's usually multiple possessions depending on situations.

And what numbers are these? Last second shots?

In terms of the difference between +/- 5 points, Kobe actually averaged better clutch numbers than Melo did. Kobe is a better player than Melo too but that's because Melo might not even be a top 10 player, at least if you value things beyond inefficient and volume scoring.

After checking, both seem to average around the same percentages in clutch shooting. So, there isn't a huge difference.

But not every great player in the league is consistently good at it which makes it a unique ability. Then, you have the role players that are consistently good at it like Robert Horry, Derrick Fisher.

[TheChosen618]

http://stats.nba.com/leaguePlayerClutch.html?ClutchTime=Last%201%20Minute&PointDiff=3&sortField=FGM&sortOrder=DES

9/10 was the sample size. You were correct about the stat but nonetheless the sample size is rather small. I doubt he has been doing this his entire career. It would be like saying a player shot 9/10 from the field one game and then saying he always shoots like this.

If your down or in need to a closing basket and you consistently have someone that dominates that moment. That is taking over the game and sealing it. Especially when clutch stats are measured 5 minutes or less, so that's usually multiple possessions depending on situations.

A player that dominates that moment is a good/great scorer in the first 3 quarters anyways.

But not every great player in the league is consistently good at it which makes it a unique ability. Then, you have the role players that are consistently good at it like Robert Horry, Derrick Fisher.

Can you name any average or below average player/scorer that all of a sudden turns it up and takes over at the end of games?

Joe Johnson was not a good example because he is a good player and a very good scorer. These players are already damn good in the first place.

Fisher and Horry made wide open shots in their careers and props for them for being able to make it at the right time. But do you think they would still be making these game winners and "clutch" shots if they had to create their own looks instead? As I said, people feared them making the shot because they were wide open. It's not like they were shooting a contested shot and they had to create for themselves. They never "took over" a game. They made key basket frequently but the shot was usually created by one of their superstar teammates anyways (Kobe, Duncan, Hakeem, etc.).

[anirx]

The "Kobe is clutch" thing will never die. He was clutch like 5-6 years ago.

Kobe isn't clutch. Don't confuse clutch with taking a lot of shots and bricking them in the last few seconds of a game.

2009-2010:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8smvd4UUuzw

These are some samples as to why KOBE is considered clutch.

/thread.

[TheOUTLAW]

The problem is that these don't show all of the misses

[NBA4EVA2010]

The "Kobe is clutch" thing will never die. He was clutch like 5-6 years ago.

Kobe isn't clutch. Don't confuse clutch with taking a lot of shots and bricking them in the last few seconds of a game.

2009-2010:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8smvd4UUuzw

These are some samples as to why KOBE is considered clutch.

/thread.

It's not that KObe hasn't hit game winners, thing things is, his ratio of makes to misses is down right terrible. Read

The Truth About Kobe in the Clutch (march 28 2013 )




http://swishnba.wordpress.com/tag/the-t ... he-clutch/

[DrVanNostrand]

In before Scalabrine

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 4

[FANOFNBA]

He's definitely clutch! You d

[FANOFNBA]

sorry I read it wrong I thought we were comparing them in their primes in today's game it's Lebron and its not even close

[Andi Obst]

Joe Johnson should be on more of these lists. Dirk is probably the most clutch though.

I thought about Joe Johnson, too. Always hits the clutch shots.

[og15]

One of the NBA's biggest faults has been the hero ball mentality of ending games. The most clutch players are the ones who make the best basketball play that leads to the highest percentage shot.

I really don't understand where this idea of taking extra difficult shots when it isn't necessary because you have to be the hero started being looked at as a good thing. For example, Kobe isn't a worse shooter down the stretch than other guys, he's better than a lot of guys, but Kobe plays a lot of hero ball down the stretch, and in addition to the normal shots, takes some terrible ones. As spectacular as the difficult shots look when they go in, those are not high percentage shots and will miss a TON more than they go in.

The ability to take and make extra difficult shots is sparingly useful for super short clock situations, things like under 2 seconds left or something, but that is not the general situation in most games. If a majority of your games are coming down to that, that is a problem in itself.

The most clutch teams are teams that can defend down the stretch and have both an individual or multiple that can create shots in case things break down, but also have play options to get open shots. I don't want my 33% 3PT shooting superstar to take a three over my 41% shooting role player.

I remember some Heat games in the past before Lebron where Wade would iso with time left on the clock with them needing a three and take one off the dribble himself. Playing into the hero ball mentality, and I'm just thinking, I'm sorry, you're not a magically better shooter because you really want it to go in. If the team is looking for a three, James Jones or whomever else they had is still a much better option.

[No Offense]

1) Kobe- Forget the stats, unlike Lebron EVERYONE knows Kobe is gonna take the shot and he still makes it
Sometimes. When facing Miami wade, ray Allen are all players you have to
Check so lebron doesn't have as much coverage as Kobe.

2) Dirk
3) Melo
4)Pierce
5)Lebron

Kobe is the most clutch player as long as we disregard the facts. Got it.

[Deus]

Saying Lebron isn't clutch was legit 2 years ago after Dallas embarrassed him. But he's proven himself as clutch in the last 2 Finals. Especially against the Spurs when he hit that 3 pointer even after missing the first two shots he took.

[TheOUTLAW]

it wasn't even legit then

[BenoUdrihFTL]

And for the life of me I've never figured out why LeBron fans are so affronted when people don't think he's that clutch. Sure he's had his moments in the clutch, but there are several guys I'd take over him in the final minutes if the game is close. That isn't really an indictment of him as a player though, because he's good enough to where the game often isn't close in the end.

No one in NBA history scores more in game 7s and elimination playoff games than LeBron. If that's not clutch, then you need to change your definition of clutch.

[42uptop]

Saying Lebron isn't clutch was legit 2 years ago after Dallas embarrassed him. But he's proven himself as clutch in the last 2 Finals. Especially against the Spurs when he hit that 3 pointer even after missing the first two shots he took.

So Lebron is clutch for making a 3 against the Spurs despite the fact that he led up to that point by missing two shots and turning the ball over twice? Then he missed the game tying three and got bailed out by Ray Allen, a player ho actually is clutch. By that logic a clutch player is one who just jacks up enough shots and eventually one goes in. I guess Kobe is clutch then

[theforumblue]

he's been lot less effective as he got older and his legs bother him more and more, but some people in here act as if their sphincters never got a little tighter when kobe was taking that last shot against their team.