Official Don't Read Bleacher Report Unless You Like the Onion Thread (NBA Top 50 Players Edition)
- Thread starter Archie Moses
- Start date
Hornets with Deron get to the playoffs. Hornets with Wade get to the playoffs. Hornets with Lebron are competing for a championship.
Hornets with Paul (after teams showed up to play)? Snuck into the playoffs and got their salads tossed by Denver in '09, just weren't good in '10.
And none of what you mentioned changes that Paul is a whiny bitch and a loser.
anonymous832
Member
I'm not refuting that Chris Paul is a whiny bitch. I'm refuting your baseless assertions about his apparent lack of elite-ness, for lack of a better word.
Case in point, your latest post, in which you make baseless statements like "Hornets with LeBron are competing for a championship." That's a thoroughly ludicrous statement, since even the Cavs with LeBron - and that is a much, much, MUCH stronger roster than that of New Orleans, despite all its obvious flaws - lost in the second round last year, and came within one miracle shot of getting swept in the conference finals the year before. Hornets with Wade get into the playoffs? Again, a baseless assertion. You're basing that on nothing. Maybe you're right, maybe you're not, but Wade had a tough enough time making a dent in a cupcake Eastern Conference the last two seasons. I agree that the Hornets' supporting cast is a bit better than Miami's (though not dramatically so), but - again - Wade would be competing against MUCH better competition, and fighting for playoff spots against a lot more teams.
Your argument that Paul is somehow not an elite player just because his team didn't make the playoffs in a year in which he missed almost half the season, and the team went through a coaching change, is ludicrous logic at best. I won't argue that he's better than Deron, because he's not. Nor is he better than Wade. But anyone who knows anything about basketball knows he's an elite player, and an elite point guard. It's not even worth arguing about, really.
Also, your characterization of the 2009-10 Hornets as "just not good" is incorrect. As I mentioned before, they were above .500 before he got hurt, despite a brutal conference and a change in their system and style of play. Fire Jerry Sloan after nine games and change the system the Jazz run, and tell me how well they do. (Now imagine their talent level is depleted to the level of the Hornets. I mean, Okafor and Posey are disasters - and they're two of the talented guys. And Peja is a poor man's Korver at this point.)
As for their 2008-09 performance...uh, need I remind you that the Hornets finished AHEAD of the Jazz that year? And that they lost to an awesome Nuggets team that gave the Lakers a hell of a series in the conference finals? (Until Game 6, at least.)
Nevermind. This is like arguing with a child.
Talent:
Lebwan
Kobe
Wade
Lebron doesn't have the killer instinct, which keeps him from performing well in the playoffs/not teaming up with D-wade. He'll probably go down as a Ralph Sampson of sorts.
Can anyone think of any other example in sports where the most talented player in the league was unwilling under his own mental fortitude, to fulfill his potential.
Ricky Williams?
Archie Moses
Well-Known Member
ARod up until he won the World Series maybe. Michael Vick too. Also, maybe Tiger Woods can be added to that list, especially if he doesn't win more majors than Jack Nicklaus.
anonymous832
Member
Vick's a poor example. At least, I don't think it's the same "mental fortitude" issue that we're talking about here. Vick was just never that good of a quarterback. Ever. Some of could be described as "mental" - in that he was a poor reader of defenses - but it wasn't like he was world-class in every way except for the fact that he didn't come through in the clutch, or wasn't a champion, or didn't have a killer instinct, or couldn't handle expectations. He had severe flaws as a player that prevented him from even being in this discussion. We're talking about true greats who, for one reason or another, didn't have that one mental ingredient to put them over the top. Like LeBron eschewing any chance of being in Jordan's class, opting instead to be Magic/Pippen. (Still a pretty great thing, but no Jordan.)
At least that's how I interpreted the question.
ncoloradojazz
Banned
cp3 and dwight above dwill is a joke. Dwight can rebound and play d but has no offensive game other then the dunk. Cp3 has never advanced further in the playoffs then dwill.What a joke
ncoloradojazz
Banned
lakers dont want cp3.Just cuz he might wanna go ride kobes jock doesnt mean kobe or phil want him. cp3 dont have no weakness my butt. He canty shoot it, is injury prone, But makes the highlight reel cuz all he knows how to do is live off the lil lob feed. So cp3 is pissed what he going to do start nut punching people again.Dwill 3 times the player he is
Gyp Rosetti
Banned
And yet Dwight has made an NBA Finals.