Author Topic: Pierce: Top 5? Top 10?  (Read 8556 times)

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Re: Pierce: Top 5? Top 10?
« Reply #15 on: November 25, 2008, 12:55:47 AM »

Offline KG Living Legend

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This is my strong point. So let me clear this up.

Pierce is a top 3 wing player in the Nba No matter how you slice it.

Like Magic said the other day He's a top 3 or 4 player in the league. And you can't Go wrong who you take. Lebron Pierce Or Bryant Followed closely By Wade.

So that's it Right now he's top 5. No question.

Re: Pierce: Top 5? Top 10?
« Reply #16 on: November 25, 2008, 01:23:15 AM »

Offline Fafnir

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This is my strong point. So let me clear this up.

Pierce is a top 3 wing player in the Nba No matter how you slice it.

Like Magic said the other day He's a top 3 or 4 player in the league. And you can't Go wrong who you take. Lebron Pierce Or Bryant Followed closely By Wade.

So that's it Right now he's top 5. No question.
I think he's a top 4 wing player. For 2/3s in my mind it is:

1. LBJ
2. Wade
3. Pierce
4. Kobe

However big man as a general rule are more valuable than wings. So I think that pushes Pierce out of the top 5 and into the top 10. I'd put LBJ, CP3, Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan, and KG all above Pierce. So he can't crack my top 5 players.

Re: Pierce: Top 5? Top 10?
« Reply #17 on: November 25, 2008, 01:45:00 AM »

Offline davemonsterband

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They're all equal, Kobe's the better scorer, Lebron's the most versatile, Paul's the most cunning, Wade's the smaller hybrid of all 3, I don't get why people feel the need to compare players at this level. Like Paul says himself, they all think they're best, it's because they all are. Put any of them on LA or Bos or with Shaq back in Mia or on Cle and you'd still have the same amazing teams, and Finals appearances/rings. They do different things, it's like comparing KG to Duncan to Karl Malone or Larry to Magic or Blount to Raef, 50/50, and different, as well as a waste of time (IMHO).
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Re: Pierce: Top 5? Top 10?
« Reply #18 on: November 25, 2008, 06:20:50 AM »

Offline celticmaestro

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This list always gets debated. Pierce is a top 5 player right now it's that simple. At the end of the season, maybe not. If he beats Kobe in the Finals again, maybe #1.

Re: Pierce: Top 5? Top 10?
« Reply #19 on: November 25, 2008, 08:35:32 AM »

Offline moiso

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Here are my Top 10 players...

1)Lebron
2)Pierce
3)David West
4)Kobe
5)Garnett
6)Joe Johnson
7)Duncan
8)Tony Parker
9)Amare S.
10)CP3

David West above CP3?  Seriously?  I wouldn't have him on that list at all, much less above the reason he's an All-Star in the first place.

Vermont, if McGrady can't be on your list, then neither can Wade - they carry the same health risk tag.  And McGrady is definitely not healthy right now - the TMac that Ray scorched wasn't anywhere near 100%. 
The difference is is that Wade is healthy and McGrady is not, and may never be.  By the way they are playing this year, Wade is a top 3 player and McGrady doesn't belong on the list.

Re: Pierce: Top 5? Top 10?
« Reply #20 on: November 25, 2008, 09:43:32 AM »

Offline Amir

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1. Lebron
2. CP3
3. Wade
4. Kobe
5. Pierce
6. Bosh
7. Garnett
8. Duncan
9. Howard
10. Nash

Re: Pierce: Top 5? Top 10?
« Reply #21 on: November 25, 2008, 09:49:10 AM »

Offline davemonsterband

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If you're going to make a list with guys like Bosh, Boozer, Joe Johnson and David West I think you have to include Deron Williams...who'd I'd rather have than any of them personally.
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Re: Pierce: Top 5? Top 10?
« Reply #22 on: November 25, 2008, 10:13:36 AM »

Offline Atzar

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See, Vermont Green stated in the first post that his list was based on ability - which I took to exclude health (or lack thereof).  That's why I've been arguing for McGrady with Wade or neither.  I'm trying to keep the list consistent.  If you're just talking about right now with health taken into account, then yes, Wade should be on the list and McGrady shouldn't.  I'm not going to try to argue that TMac is a comparable player this year thus far.

How is Wade top 3?  That means one of LeBron, Kobe and CP3 has to be demoted, and they're all playing too well right now.  I'm nitpicking, I know, but even so I'd put Wade at 4 behind them. 

There's no way Bosh is ahead of Garnett.  Have you watched what Garnett does to Bosh in their head-to-head matchups?  Right now, Garnett needs to be the #1 PF on that list. 

Re: Pierce: Top 5? Top 10?
« Reply #23 on: November 25, 2008, 11:21:41 AM »

Offline bostonfan23

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I think these are the truly elite players in the league:

Duncan
Garnett
LeBron
Kobe
Wade
Paul
Pierce

(in no order)

After that, it gets fuzzy.

People mentioning that McGrady should be on -healthy or not- is ridiculous.

Re: Pierce: Top 5? Top 10?
« Reply #24 on: November 25, 2008, 11:43:14 AM »

Offline moiso

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I would put Wade and Lebron a tiny tiny hair over Kobe at this point, although they are all pretty equivalent. Wade and Lebron have have equal skills as Kobe but they both have more spring in their step at this point.

Re: Pierce: Top 5? Top 10?
« Reply #25 on: November 25, 2008, 01:11:22 PM »

Offline Atzar

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I think these are the truly elite players in the league:

Duncan
Garnett
LeBron
Kobe
Wade
Paul
Pierce

(in no order)

After that, it gets fuzzy.

People mentioning that McGrady should be on -healthy or not- is ridiculous.

When my team is up by single digits in the fourth quarter, there are only a few players that I'm worried about on the other team.  Kobe is one.  Lebron is one.  Wade is one.  Pierce would be one, if he wasn't on my team - and I'm sure any Raptors and Hawks fans that happen to read this would support this statement. 

McGrady, whether you agree or not, is another one.  He's hurt this year, so he's clearly not playing anywhere near the level that he's capable of.  But a healthy McGrady is slightly above average on defense, to go along with being one of the most explosive players in the NBA in terms of scoring ability.  When the Rockets are down late - even now - they don't go to Yao or Artest for points.  They go to TMac.  Now, I've already said that his performance this year doesn't warrant top 10 talk.  But if he was healthy - and that's definitely a big 'if' - I think things would be a little different.

And you missed Dwight Howard on your list.  21 points and 13 rebounds to go with 4 blocks a game is pretty elite to me. 


Re: Pierce: Top 5? Top 10?
« Reply #26 on: November 25, 2008, 01:15:22 PM »

Offline LB3533

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My list....

1. Lebron - too strong, skilled, and at such a young age...(he brought his team to the NBA Finals with no clear cut #2...who else in the league's history has done that? Maybe Hakeem?)

2. CP3 - what this guy lacks in size and strength is made up with quickness, genius decision making and superb court vision and adept passing skills. CP3 is just about as unstoppable as Lebron James.

3. Paul Pierce - he has the total package...he is strong and quick (not as Lebron is, but no one else is really), can drive, shoot the long range and the deadly midrange...and get to the line regularly. Paul is also one of the better rebounders in the league as well as one of the better wing passers. Paul's durability and his continued toughness and willingness to sacrifice his body to get to the line puts him above Wade. Paul's clutchness and increased defensive focus has elevated him passed Kobe Bryant in my book.

4. Wade - *when healthy, this guy is the best at taking over a game (yes, even better than Kobe)

5. Kobe - he is certainly one of the best players in the game, and to ever play, but to me his game is very shakey, cause he takes too many perimeter shots and at not a very high percentage.

Re: Pierce: Top 5? Top 10?
« Reply #27 on: November 25, 2008, 01:30:23 PM »

Offline rondilla

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1. LeBron - no one is even close to him, IMO. Far and away the best player in the game. Had nowhere near the talent around him that Kobe did, and took us to game 7, and a close game 7 at that. Just needs to iron out his 3 point shot now that he has his FT's in order.

2. CP3 - Tremendous all around player and floor general.

3. Kobe - Yeah,  I hate him too, but he's a stud.

4. Garnett - The best defensive player in the league and our best player all around player.

5. Wade - Does everything so well

6. Duncan - Isn't what he used to be, but is still a great all around player. The Spurs lost Manu and Parker and struggled. If they had lost Timmy, alone, it would have been even worse.

7. Dwight Howard - A freak of nature who keeps getting better. Still has holes in his game.

8. Amare - Ditto

9. Pierce - An assassin who does everything well, and plays both ends of the court.

10. Dirk - A unique player who can score at will and is much tougher than he used to be

Re: Pierce: Top 5? Top 10?
« Reply #28 on: November 25, 2008, 01:50:15 PM »

Offline Levis107

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Pierce is better than a healthy McGrady anyway.  Pierce has the better career numbers and he actually plays defense.  Also, Pierce has taken his team out of the first round.

Re: Pierce: Top 5? Top 10?
« Reply #29 on: November 25, 2008, 02:32:31 PM »

Offline Fafnir

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Also, Pierce has taken his team out of the first round.
Thats a silly thing to hold against a player. Was/is Pierce a better player than KG when KG and the Wolves had 7 straight first round exits? Was Carmelo a better player than LeBron when he made the playoffs and Lebron didn't?

Team success isn't a good judge of how good a single player is, especially when the talent around him isn't very good. Tracy McGrady was a great player before his back started on him. After that he lost some of his game, and just as importantly misses too many games every year with something new.

Boston fans should be sympathetic to back injuries and a star player not having much talent around him. He's not an elite player anymore, but injuries and age do that to a lot players.