UK dominates SI's top 100 NBA players

[LineSkiCat14]

No. I can't stand Draymond. I think Green would wither on the vine if he were to leave GSW. More than any other player on that team he needs to be surrounded by other great players to be great himself. If you dropped him on the Brooklyn Nets team today he would be terrible. While you could drop Steph, Klay, or Durant in Brooklyn and they would still be great.

My disagreement is mostly with Curry. I think he is the one creating the space and making it easier for everyone else on GSW. His shooting ability creates gravity on opposing teams, and they have to always chase him around. I don't know that we will find out much if anything over the next few years. Curry's window of being transcendentally great is probably only 3-4 more years. GSW should probably be able to keep enough pieces around him to contend during that time span.

Curry has shown me a good amount in the last year or two. He did step up his defense. He seems to have gotten a bit tougher. But it's hard to look past the fact that his production kicked up a level (or two) once Klay came on board.

I remember watching Houston games. Harden would have to contain either Klay or Curry (in which he got burnt, badly), and then on the other end of the floor, he had all-star SG Klay, an excellent defender, guarding Harden. Just how much easier was life for Curry when Klay got there, a dead-eye who other teams still had to respect and would ALSO take on the hardest defensive assignment?

 

[LineSkiCat14]

They all make each other better, for sure. All great players. I just wonder how good would Curry be if he's on Washington, or Brooklyn, or New Orleans, with half the talent around him, therefore exerting himself more, not winning as many games, higher pressure situations.. Things become easier when you're on teams like Golden State or New England. There are definitely some intangible aspects at play.

 

[gossie21]

Curry has shown me a good amount in the last year or two. He did step up his defense. He seems to have gotten a bit tougher. But it's hard to look past the fact that his production kicked up a level (or two) once Klay came on board.

I remember watching Houston games. Harden would have to contain either Klay or Curry (in which he got burnt, badly), and then on the other end of the floor, he had all-star SG Klay, an excellent defender, guarding Harden. Just how much easier was life for Curry when Klay got there, a dead-eye who other teams still had to respect and would ALSO take on the hardest defensive assignment?

You may not find a bigger Klay Thompson fan than me. I think Klay and Steph end up as the 2 best 3-point shooters in NBA history when they are done. Maybe it's a chicken/egg deal but Steph has always been an other-worldly deep threat. He took Davidson to the Sweet-16. He shot 44.5% from 3 in three seasons prior to Klay coming on board. The two of them together create a mutually beneficial environment and raises their abilities even higher. It's too bad that Green is on that team, he's really the only thing that makes so I can't enjoy watching them.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Where did I read that Klay was slipping? Or maybe having a bad stretch this past season? Because when I looked his stats were almost identical to the season prior to Durant. Not sure where I heard he lost a step, but it was incorrect, whatever it was.

And that's kind of what I mean.. They all maker each other better. Klay is no slouch. What if Curry as in Wall's shoes and had to carry Washington this entire way (or until Beal got going, I guess).. What if Curry had to deal with McGee and Blatche instead of Iggy, Klay and Draymond?

(The irony here is that he DID get to play with McGee, but look at just how much better McGee was going from a dump like Washington to a winning organization like GSW)

 

[Lovebaskelball]

He took Davidson to the Sweet-16.

Elite Eight and almost beat Kansas for a trip to the Final Four

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I put a lot of emphasis on who your team is and the organization you play for. It's so much more of a factor than people think, which always makes these debates tough. Where is Wall in his career if you move him to each of the 30 NBA teams?

The biggest example of this, IMO, is Tom Brady. I'm not sure we even know who he is if he went to almost any other team.

 

[gossie21]

I put a lot of emphasis on who your team is and the organization you play for. It's so much more of a factor than people think, which always makes these debates tough. Where is Wall in his career if you move him to each of the 30 NBA teams?

The biggest example of this, IMO, is Tom Brady. I'm not sure we even know who he is if he went to almost any other team.

Or if Drew Bledsoe never gets hurt....

 

[UKcats1988]

Espn top 10

Lebron
Durant
Kawhi
Curry
Westbrook
Anthony Davis
Chris Paul
Harden
Giannis
Draymond

 

[GonzoCat90]

Espn top 10

Lebron
Durant
Kawhi
Curry
Westbrook
Anthony Davis
Chris Paul
Harden
Giannis
Draymond

Maybe we should let ESPN and Sports Illustrated and other NBA guys vote next year instead of leaving it to "they don't play no defense" Rafters posters?

 

[LineSkiCat14]

CP3 still in the top10? I'm not sure you can put him ahead of Harden for what he did last season. That was an MVP season in almost any other year..

 

[GonzoCat90]

CP3 still in the top10? I'm not sure you can put him ahead of Harden for what he did last season. That was an MVP season in almost any other year..

He's a net negative on defense and his numbers are volume inflated in D'Antoni's system. He's great but you're splitting hairs at the top and Paul is one of the best two way PGs of all time--maybe THE best.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I don't disagree, But this is a list in regards to next year, correct? I'm not sure Paul is a better player than Harden, at this point in time, inflated numbers or not. A few years ago, maybe even last year, sure. But man, Harden really kicked it up a notch moving over to PG.

 

[GonzoCat90]

That's true. But he likely won't be a PG again this year with CP3 on the team. If Paul gets the same D'Antoni boost that other PGs have gotten, we may see 22/15/6/3 numbers, and I think Harden's stats come back to Earth a bit as he shares duties with another elite player.

I also think he's taking some unfair heat for laying an egg in that final playoff loss. That, and people continually disrespect James Harden. If Kyrie had put up those numbers last year, even being awful on D like Harden, he's probably the MVP. That peception and Westbrook's historic year cost him.

Again, in the top 10, we're splitting hairs. I think he's firmly in that second tier, and you can really order those however you want.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Yeah, I'm really not sure about that situation, and I'm a Rockets fan, so I'm certainly hoping CP3 can continue being an elite players.

Harden's problem is is well-documented effort on defense. It's hard to defend his literal apathy towards that side of the game. HOWEVER, he does seem to have gone from one of NBA's worst defenders, to just poor. So he's improving, at least.

 

[Lovebaskelball]

Harden is one of the most boring players to watch play a wonderful game.

 

[BourbonBalz]

So Davis and KAT are tied for #1?

Works for me.

 

[Mojocat]

I put a lot of emphasis on who your team is and the organization you play for. It's so much more of a factor than people think, which always makes these debates tough. Where is Wall in his career if you move him to each of the 30 NBA teams?

The biggest example of this, IMO, is Tom Brady. I'm not sure we even know who he is if he went to almost any other team.

Agree completely (and great Exhibit A in Brady by the way).

Are we already seeing this in Anthony Davis' career? He was The Next Big Thing only a couple of years ago, and now is on the verge of yesterday's news, it seems. I can't help think if he played in San Antonio, or Boston, or a few other places - maybe that wouldn't be the case.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I think everyone is just enamored with GSW and just how absurdly good they are.. No single player can overcome that.. Heck.. Not even three stars can beat them. I think GSW has taken the wind and buzz out from the other franchises. Hard to to be a Pellys/AD fan knowing that it really doesn't matter.

 

[JoeBeeHall]

There is basketball being played somewhere besides Ky I don't think so.

 

[Ryan Lemonds Diary]

Based on what though? He was the same player, plus a better scorer, in college, and everyone doubted him then. Naming an example of something happening to Jared Prickett of all people doesn't mean it would apply to any other case, particularly when we've seen the Warriors lose a huge game because Draymond was suspended. They aren't the same team without him.

Now, is Michael Jordan still Michael Jordan without Pippen and Rodman and Kukoc and Kerr and Phil and the supporting cast? We saw what Kobe did with Smush Parker and company alongside him. No great player or coach does anything alone, so yeah, it's fair to say it might be ugly at times if he played for the Nets, but what if he played for an average or above average team? Maybe he's what makes them elite.

All we can say, is that he's the second most important piece for the Warriors system, he's the best defender on what is a growing dynasty, he's the emotional leader of every team he's been on, he stuffs the stat sheet, and he's forcing the rest of the league to adjust from him being "too small" to be a 4 to everyone else trying to find a guy like him.

No one who averages 12/8/8/1.5/1.5 with a three per game from the PF spot while winning defensive player of the year is a bad player, even if their personality rubs a lot of fans the wrong way.

So you have went from comparing him to Boogie to now putting him with Jordan and Kobe? Wow you really have a Draymond man crush going on there.

 

[GonzoCat90]

So you have went from comparing him to Boogie to now putting him with Jordan and Kobe? Wow you really have a Draymond man crush going on there.

That's not at all what was said. We're done here if that's what you bring to the table. Have a good one.

 

[Big_Blue79]

He seems to have gotten a bit tougher. But it's hard to look past the fact that his production kicked up a level (or two) once Klay came on board.

Once he got healthy. He changed how he lands on jump shots to protect his ankles, and he's been ridiculous ever since. Having Klay helps, but having working ankles helps more.

 

[Jmeeks54thebest]

No. I can't stand Draymond. I think Green would wither on the vine if he were to leave GSW. More than any other player on that team he needs to be surrounded by other great players to be great himself. If you dropped him on the Brooklyn Nets team today he would be terrible. While you could drop Steph, Klay, or Durant in Brooklyn and they would still be great.

My disagreement is mostly with Curry. I think he is the one creating the space and making it easier for everyone else on GSW. His shooting ability creates gravity on opposing teams, and they have to always chase him around. I don't know that we will find out much if anything over the next few years. Curry's window of being transcendentally great is probably only 3-4 more years. GSW should probably be able to keep enough pieces around him to contend during that time span.

What exactly is Curry transcending with his ability to put a ball through a net?

I get that this term is trending right now when describing prolific athletes, but it doesn't make sense. They aren't transcending. They are still on earth, they are still human, and they are still in our plane of existence. No matter how many times they get the ball through the net