Author Topic: Thinking Basketball's Top 10 Players of 2020  (Read 4035 times)

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Thinking Basketball's Top 10 Players of 2020
« on: October 13, 2020, 01:11:11 AM »

Offline Somebody

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PT3_dkUGDA

List:
1. LeBron James
2. Anthony Davis
3. Giannis Antetokounmpo
4. Kawhi Leonard
5. James Harden
6. Luka Doncic
7. Nikola Jokic
8. Joel Embiid
9. Damian Lillard
10. Jimmy Butler
Health adjustments have Lillard dropping to 10, Doncic falling to 7 and Giannis falling behind Kawhi.

Honourable mentions:
Paul George
Rudy Gobert
Think he implied that wings like Middleton and Tatum were in the mix for 10 with the "there are a number of similar candidates" statement before going with Butler at 10.
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Re: Thinking Basketball's Top 10 Players of 2020
« Reply #1 on: October 13, 2020, 03:12:58 AM »

Offline Sophomore

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If they include playoff performance, George and Gobert shouldn’t be the next two names on that list...

Re: Thinking Basketball's Top 10 Players of 2020
« Reply #2 on: October 13, 2020, 05:31:57 AM »

Offline Somebody

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If they include playoff performance, George and Gobert shouldn’t be the next two names on that list...
Watch the video and you'll see that they were taken off the list because of that... ::)
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Re: Thinking Basketball's Top 10 Players of 2020
« Reply #3 on: October 13, 2020, 05:58:39 AM »

Offline gouki88

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Interesting that he has Giannis below AD. Can't watch the video at the moment, but for my mind Giannis was superior to AD as a scorer, rebounder, passer and defender. Davis with the edge in shooting alone for me
'23 Historical Draft: Orlando Magic.

PG: Terry Porter (90-91) / Steve Francis (00-01)
SG: Joe Dumars (92-93) / Jeff Hornacek (91-92) / Jerry Stackhouse (00-01)
SF: Brandon Roy (08-09) / Walter Davis (78-79)
PF: Terry Cummings (84-85) / Paul Millsap (15-16)
C: Chris Webber (00-01) / Ralph Sampson (83-84) / Andrew Bogut (09-10)

Re: Thinking Basketball's Top 10 Players of 2020
« Reply #4 on: October 13, 2020, 07:10:47 AM »

Offline Somebody

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Interesting that he has Giannis below AD. Can't watch the video at the moment, but for my mind Giannis was superior to AD as a scorer, rebounder, passer and defender. Davis with the edge in shooting alone for me
He rates AD as a better passer and defender. Think he noted that Giannis isn't that great at making reads other than the usual drive and kick (he has some passing ability as an interior/extra passer but Davis laps him in that regard) while Davis is very a well-rounded passer. He also rates Davis' Swiss army knife defence as a "cheat code" in the playoffs as he can provide massive value against different kinds of offences in the modern NBA, kind of like what Kevin Garnett was in the 2000s, but amplified relative to competing defensive giants in his era due to the changes in the modern game.

Add in better offensive portability/scalability (the former is how well a player's skillset fits next to on-ball talent while the latter is well a player holds his offensive impact on better and better teams) due to his incredibly on/off-ball hybrid skillset and Davis is just good enough on offence for his defence to more than make up for the difference on that end to leapfrog Giannis in his eyes overall.
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Re: Thinking Basketball's Top 10 Players of 2020
« Reply #5 on: October 13, 2020, 08:18:57 AM »

Offline Sophomore

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If they include playoff performance, George and Gobert shouldn’t be the next two names on that list...
Watch the video and you'll see that they were taken off the list because of that... ::)

I’m saying they’re not even honorable mentions. We can all think of plenty of players who should be mentioned ahead of them when you consider regular season plus playoffs.

Re: Thinking Basketball's Top 10 Players of 2020
« Reply #6 on: October 13, 2020, 09:05:35 AM »

Offline jambr380

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Interesting that he has Giannis below AD. Can't watch the video at the moment, but for my mind Giannis was superior to AD as a scorer, rebounder, passer and defender. Davis with the edge in shooting alone for me

AD definitely gets the edge in forcing his way to LA in order to play with Lebron. Giannis' best teammate is Middleton so he definitely loses the '***** until you get your way' competition  ;)

Re: Thinking Basketball's Top 10 Players of 2020
« Reply #7 on: October 13, 2020, 09:42:38 AM »

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If they include playoff performance, George and Gobert shouldn’t be the next two names on that list...
Watch the video and you'll see that they were taken off the list because of that... ::)
I’m saying they’re not even honorable mentions. We can all think of plenty of players who should be mentioned ahead of them when you consider regular season plus playoffs.
By reading the basic slash line and taking small sample sizes in the playoffs + narratives as gospel? Absolutely :laugh:
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Re: Thinking Basketball's Top 10 Players of 2020
« Reply #8 on: October 13, 2020, 09:44:10 AM »

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Interesting that he has Giannis below AD. Can't watch the video at the moment, but for my mind Giannis was superior to AD as a scorer, rebounder, passer and defender. Davis with the edge in shooting alone for me
AD definitely gets the edge in forcing his way to LA in order to play with Lebron. Giannis' best teammate is Middleton so he definitely loses the '***** until you get your way' competition  ;)
The very same Middleton who was a contender for the 10th spot in his list? Sounds like a bum to me :laugh:
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Re: Thinking Basketball's Top 10 Players of 2020
« Reply #9 on: October 13, 2020, 10:40:10 AM »

Offline KGs Knee

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There is no way Davis is the 2nd best player in the NBA. Maybe he is the best 'robin' but he has proven he isn't so great when asked to be 'batman'. If you can't be 'batman' you can't be a top 5 player.

Re: Thinking Basketball's Top 10 Players of 2020
« Reply #10 on: October 13, 2020, 12:06:25 PM »

Offline PhoSita

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Where the heck is Steph Curry in this list?  Is this just from this season?


I wouldn't put Embiid in the top 10 until he proves he can actually have the stamina to be dominant in a playoff series other than the beginning of the 1st and 3rd quarters.


Davis is in the 6-10 range for me until he does something to make me think that him on a team of average players is anything other than an also-ran.  We've seen what AD looks like when he's the clear cut best player on a team.  Super productive, tough to guard, but not a guy who by himself makes a team really hard to handle.


LeBron, Giannis, Curry, Kawhi, Doncic, Jokic -- that's the top tier for me.
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Re: Thinking Basketball's Top 10 Players of 2020
« Reply #11 on: October 13, 2020, 01:09:49 PM »

Offline slamtheking

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Where the heck is Steph Curry in this list?  Is this just from this season?


I wouldn't put Embiid in the top 10 until he proves he can actually have the stamina to be dominant in a playoff series other than the beginning of the 1st and 3rd quarters.


Davis is in the 6-10 range for me until he does something to make me think that him on a team of average players is anything other than an also-ran.  We've seen what AD looks like when he's the clear cut best player on a team.  Super productive, tough to guard, but not a guy who by himself makes a team really hard to handle.

LeBron, Giannis, Curry, Kawhi, Doncic, Jokic -- that's the top tier for me.
to be honest, this past postseason has me thinking it's a shorter list: Lebron, Durant and maybe Doncic.  Bucks and Clips failing to get to the respective conference finals took the luster off Giannis and Kawhi for me.  Curry doesn't get to that level for me -- take away Klay and/or Green and GSW isn't at the top of the west with just Curry carrying them.  Jokic is a terrific player but he's not playing a position that allows him to dominate with the ball nor provide tough D on what's typically the other team's best player.

Re: Thinking Basketball's Top 10 Players of 2020
« Reply #12 on: October 13, 2020, 02:39:29 PM »

Offline PhoSita

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Where the heck is Steph Curry in this list?  Is this just from this season?


I wouldn't put Embiid in the top 10 until he proves he can actually have the stamina to be dominant in a playoff series other than the beginning of the 1st and 3rd quarters.


Davis is in the 6-10 range for me until he does something to make me think that him on a team of average players is anything other than an also-ran.  We've seen what AD looks like when he's the clear cut best player on a team.  Super productive, tough to guard, but not a guy who by himself makes a team really hard to handle.

LeBron, Giannis, Curry, Kawhi, Doncic, Jokic -- that's the top tier for me.
to be honest, this past postseason has me thinking it's a shorter list: Lebron, Durant and maybe Doncic.  Bucks and Clips failing to get to the respective conference finals took the luster off Giannis and Kawhi for me.  Curry doesn't get to that level for me -- take away Klay and/or Green and GSW isn't at the top of the west with just Curry carrying them.  Jokic is a terrific player but he's not playing a position that allows him to dominate with the ball nor provide tough D on what's typically the other team's best player.



I think what Jokic did the last couple of post-seasons should have eliminated most of those doubts about his ability to carry a team.  He's awesome.

Sure, Curry has a good team around him but I don't think we're that far removed from what he did in 2016.  He's not washed up.  He basically had a year off.  Curry is still a force of nature that warps an opposing defense. He can't do it by himself but we don't have a single player in this league who can.  LeBron missed the playoffs last year, then he teams up with AD and wins a title.


Giannis still has a lot to prove but I'd like to see what he does with a coach who actually makes adjustments, and maybe a team with some more playmaking so it's not all on him to create everything.

I'm not gonna throw out Kawhi for one bad playoff collapse.  This time last year he was seen as the guy you'd want in the clutch bar none without question ... truth is somewhere in between.  He's a great closer, but he's not perfect.


Durant was certainly in that top group before his injury.  No idea what he looks like coming off it.
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Re: Thinking Basketball's Top 10 Players of 2020
« Reply #13 on: October 13, 2020, 02:41:20 PM »

Offline tazzmaniac

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Where the heck is Steph Curry in this list?  Is this just from this season?


I wouldn't put Embiid in the top 10 until he proves he can actually have the stamina to be dominant in a playoff series other than the beginning of the 1st and 3rd quarters.


Davis is in the 6-10 range for me until he does something to make me think that him on a team of average players is anything other than an also-ran.  We've seen what AD looks like when he's the clear cut best player on a team.  Super productive, tough to guard, but not a guy who by himself makes a team really hard to handle.

LeBron, Giannis, Curry, Kawhi, Doncic, Jokic -- that's the top tier for me.
to be honest, this past postseason has me thinking it's a shorter list: Lebron, Durant and maybe Doncic.  Bucks and Clips failing to get to the respective conference finals took the luster off Giannis and Kawhi for me.  Curry doesn't get to that level for me -- take away Klay and/or Green and GSW isn't at the top of the west with just Curry carrying them.  Jokic is a terrific player but he's not playing a position that allows him to dominate with the ball nor provide tough D on what's typically the other team's best player.
What has Durant done?  He had to jump to GSW and ride Curry's coattails to get a championship. 

Re: Thinking Basketball's Top 10 Players of 2020
« Reply #14 on: October 13, 2020, 03:07:55 PM »

Offline KGs Knee

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Where the heck is Steph Curry in this list?  Is this just from this season?


I wouldn't put Embiid in the top 10 until he proves he can actually have the stamina to be dominant in a playoff series other than the beginning of the 1st and 3rd quarters.


Davis is in the 6-10 range for me until he does something to make me think that him on a team of average players is anything other than an also-ran.  We've seen what AD looks like when he's the clear cut best player on a team.  Super productive, tough to guard, but not a guy who by himself makes a team really hard to handle.

LeBron, Giannis, Curry, Kawhi, Doncic, Jokic -- that's the top tier for me.
to be honest, this past postseason has me thinking it's a shorter list: Lebron, Durant and maybe Doncic.  Bucks and Clips failing to get to the respective conference finals took the luster off Giannis and Kawhi for me.  Curry doesn't get to that level for me -- take away Klay and/or Green and GSW isn't at the top of the west with just Curry carrying them.  Jokic is a terrific player but he's not playing a position that allows him to dominate with the ball nor provide tough D on what's typically the other team's best player.
What has Durant done?  He had to jump to GSW and ride Curry's coattails to get a championship.

Uh...KD was the best player on those Warriors title teams, without him they would only have the one title, and they only won that title because Kyrie and Love were injured that year.