Who is the better player, Nate or Delonte? (Poll)

[Bahku]

Pretty even as to what they can contribute on the floor, though a lot will depend on how De can meld with this new Celtics team ... but as far as personal opinion goes, I love Nate's feistiness and his explosiveness ... this is one little guy who'll back down from no one, and I love that. We'll see ... I need to defer judgement, cuz this new combination of players makes for a chemistry that's very hard to predict right now.

[bucknersrevenge]

Nate.  The guy can be very explosive.  I think he could be a very important offensive player for the C's this season. And from what I saw in the playoffs, his defense was pretty good too.

As usual, couldn't agree more with Bank here. The reason Nate is he better player is because while both are flawed combo guards, the one above average skill Nate has, which is scoring the ball in bunches, he does better than any one skill Delonte does well. Delonte is a pretty good shooter but Nate can light up a scoreboard at any moment and that makes him the better overall player in my book.

[xmuscularghandix]

When you weigh them out it’s pretty even:

                                Nate                     Delonte

Passing            1.82 AST/TO       2.24 AST/TO

Scoring              12 PPG                   10 PPG

3PT range             .357                      .373                       

rebounding        6.7 TRB%             6.5 TRB%

defense                111 DRT              107 DRT

steals                    2.0 STL%              2.0STL%



So i’d say that Delonte is the better PG, Nate the better scorer, Despite the better percentage Nate has made more threes, rebounding is a wash, and Delonte is the better defender.

IMO this could be the better version of that Marbury/House combo almost worked for a little.

[CelticHooligan3]

Nate.  The guy can be very explosive.  I think he could be a very important offensive player for the C's this season. And from what I saw in the playoffs, his defense was pretty good too.

As usual, couldn't agree more with Bank here. The reason Nate is he better player is because while both are flawed combo guards, the one above average skill Nate has, which is scoring the ball in bunches, he does better than any one skill Delonte does well. Delonte is a pretty good shooter but Nate can light up a scoreboard at any moment and that makes him the better overall player in my book.

Couldn't agree more as for those saying Delonte is a better shooter and scorer... What games have you been watching? It's time to jump off that Cavaliers bandwagon guys. You know who you are. Clearly you are mistaken if you think Delonte is better. I don't deny the fact Delontes strength is he can guard the 1 and 2 more effectively than Nate. But he's no where near Nate when it comes to explosivness in the open court and pure shooting ability.

To hope this kid is gonna be trade bait midseason is comical. He's the perfect backup to Rondo. He could start on a lot of other teams. Mind you not as effectively but the point is he could. I beleive he now more than any other time in his career is in the perfect role for who he is as a player. Come off the bench, wreek havoc, light up the backup ones, energize the crowd. He's our version of Vinny "microwave" Johnson. The real trade bait should be wafer delonte and sad to say Baby. Only  because Baby is on his final year and will demand more money than we can afford.

Sorry Edgar I know you love Delonte but I have the same support for Nate. Kept my eye on his stat lines and highlights thru his dark days in New York. I know what this kid can bring to the table so I suggest the doubters keep their eyes peeled and talk to me right after the all star break when his Celtic jersey starts flying off shelves. And no not just due to his participation in the dunk contest. I don't even wanna see him participate in that garbage this year.

One thing that's stuck out to me about Nate over the years us the support and respect he gets around the league. I've read and heard a lot of stories about players from other teams singing his praises. That sticks out in my mind because the guys on the floor who play the game against one another are usually the best judges of talent. Not in every case obviously. But I tend to respect the players opinions of one another.  

[moiso]

Nate is a defensive liability in about 95% of matchups. You pretty much have to side with Delonte when you consider their offensive production is fairly similar.

This just wasn't the case in Nate's time with the C's, and he got better as time went on.  Not only is Nate super athletic, but he played physical and aggresive defense for us.  He was great at guarding pick and roles.  He sparked the whole team at times with his hustle.  I simply did not see Nate getting torched 95% of the time. 
Sure Nate can be shot over, but so what?  How many point guards are going to beat us that way?  It seems like all the real short point guards are portrayed as defensive liabilities but in reality that's not always the case. 
Quickness, strength, and desire are far more important than height, and Nate has an abundance of these.
When I see point guards getting punished on defense, it's almost always because they are too slow like Steve Nash, too weak like TJ Ford, or have no desire for defense like Allen Iverson.  Nate actually makes a postitive impact on defense in my opinion.

[CelticHooligan3]

Very good point Moiso. I agree wholeheartedly. I do see Nate having some trouble guarding 2s but that's not really his position anyways. I think your spot on with your assesment of point guard defense and their liabilities. The quickness tenacity and scrapiness is far more important than height at that position because after all if you can't get over half court easily or into your sets effectively the entire offensive production plummets. That's the kind of defense and attitude Nate brings.

Furthermore any 5'8" guy unwilling to back down to 6'11" Mr. Kardashian gets my vote as fan favorite Celtic. In the Finals too I might add lol. The kid is feisty. Just ask J.R. Smith. Or check out his FOOTBALL highlights at Washington.

[xmuscularghandix]

Nate is a defensive liability in about 95% of matchups. You pretty much have to side with Delonte when you consider their offensive production is fairly similar.

This just wasn't the case in Nate's time with the C's, and he got better as time went on.  Not only is Nate super athletic, but he played physical and aggresive defense for us.  He was great at guarding pick and roles.  He sparked the whole team at times with his hustle.  I simply did not see Nate getting torched 95% of the time. 
Sure Nate can be shot over, but so what?  How many point guards are going to beat us that way?  It seems like all the real short point guards are portrayed as defensive liabilities but in reality that's not always the case. 
Quickness, strength, and desire are far more important than height, and Nate has an abundance of these.
When I see point guards getting punished on defense, it's almost always because they are too slow like Steve Nash, too weak like TJ Ford, or have no desire for defense like Allen Iverson.  Nate actually makes a postitive impact on defense in my opinion.

Nate’s pick and roll defense against Orlando was what won us that game. The Magic were successful against us in games 4 and 5 because of the Nelson-Howard Pick and roll, in game 6 Nate’s defense was better than Rondo’s.

[Vermont Green]

I voted Delonte.  I like the reliability and consistency for the second unit over the more highs and lows you tend to get with Nate.  It will be interesting to see how Nate does based a full camp but I expect the 2nd team back court to be the two W's (double double u's) West and Wafer.  (Like the many that feel Nate will surprise this year, I am expecting Wafer to surprise).

[makaveli]

I'll take Nate over Delonte any day. A few players in this league have something that Nate does.
Delonte will have a tough time fighting Nate for minutes

[Brendan]

Better player, I will assume means the player who can contribute the most. Making an assumption - that both players play at their established levels and integrate into the team, I'd say that's Delonte on this specific team. Additionally I'd say not knowing the team, Delonte would tend to be the better fit. However if you put Delonte in the best situation for him (which is arguably a situation like BOS) and Nate in the best situation possible for him - Nate would have more value.

The problem with Nate is there aren't many situations where he can be more than a 10-15 minute spark plug off the bench. This is mostly a factor of him not being a great candidate to start at PG and being a bad fit at SG. He would have been a great backup behind Kidd in Kidd's heyday controlling the ball when Kidd was out as a change of pace and cross matching with Kidd in the back court. On this team he's not a great choice at SG with Rondo at PG, because it leaves Rondo on SGs on D and because Rondo and he both need the ball and occupy the same space on the floor. He's a fine backup for Rondo, I just think a shorter rotation is more effective.

[xmuscularghandix]

I'll take Nate over Delonte any day. A few players in this league have something that Nate does.
Delonte will have a tough time fighting Nate for minutes

I think you’ll see them out there together for a bit.

But I think this hurts Bradley’s chance at getting a fair assessment, It’s gonna be tough for this kid to really show what he’s got.

[Jon]

I'd probably say Delonte by a nose, given his height.  However, I've also always contended that if Nate was 6-6 he'd be a perennial All Star.  And given that Delonte isn't too much shorter than that (a few inches) and isn't a perennial All Star, I've gotta at least entertain the notion that Nate is the superior player. 

Overall, if the OP's intention is to use this to shift to the argument that Delonte should be getting all the backup 1/2 minutes, I'd disagree.  While Delonte may be better than Nate, Nate and Delonte are both probably better than Marquis and Wafer.  Thus, I'd rather see Delonte with Nate and one of those guys than Delonte with both of those guys. 

[Bankshot]

I voted Delonte.  I like the reliability and consistency for the second unit over the more highs and lows you tend to get with Nate.  It will be interesting to see how Nate does based a full camp but I expect the 2nd team back court to be the two W's (double double u's) West and Wafer.  (Like the many that feel Nate will surprise this year, I am expecting Wafer to surprise).

Delonte West and "reliability and consistency" don't belong in the same sentence.

[hwangjini_1]

In a vacuum Nate Robinson is a better player, but he requires the right situation to do the most good.  Delonte West is a more conventional combo guard who you can plug into almost any team to fill a standard role, while there are some places that Robinson just won't work out.

West and Robinson are both much better than Von Wafer.

Agreed. Good points on Nate and delonte. This is also why I am glad the celtics have both players on their team.

I can see both of them being on the court at the same time and providing offense for the second unit.

Ainge has done an amazing job of putting together a very good bench. On lesser teams ante, delonte, Shaq, and maybe Davis are all starters.

[GreenFaith1819]

Well, I didn't vote, because I think the difference is minimal, at best. Nate does in fact give us maybe our best backup PG since Sam Casell, IMO.

TP to xmuscular for the statistical comparison, and TP to CH for the comment about Nate's height - if Nate Rob was in fact 6'4" or 6'5", he'd be an All-Star, no doubt.

Delonte will help us at the 1 and 2, especially against teams with taller PGs or shooting guards. He is an above average defender, as well as Nate.

Nate is awesome, even though he is 5'8". I've yet to see an opponent take advantage of him due to his height.

The more and more I look at this squad, we will either steamroll the league this year or coast for a portion of the regular season then do another Apr-Jun2010 (Except this time we bring home the trophy .

Nate and Delonte makes us very deep. Glad to have both of them here.