"Honestly, it sounds diplomatic, but I have a hard time putting any of the Big 4 above the rest. Some are less consistent than others (*cough*Rondo!*cough*) but they each play such a huge, distinct role in making our team what it is that it's hard to identify a clear #1."
fairweather, I agree with this. I live out in chicago so I hear over and over about rondo, they hate and love rondo out here, I hear about kg, mostly how old he is, while they over-estimate his offense and still underestimate his defense (they think noah is as good, and I love noah, and he is probably second best at what they do but he is still no kg, just doesnt have that crazy length), and I hear about ray allen, who they all think is our best offensive player. PP is slow and old and fat. They honestly aren't afraid of pp
Cue yoda voice - you will be, you will be.
Rondo is a freak, never seen a pg do the things he does off the ball, reminds me of scottie pippin in the way he can change games with his physical presence without the ball, and that is coming from the pg, who, like it or not, is generally a defensive/physical liability position.
Allen is our best shooter, he opens our offense, he manages, defensively, but every once in awhile he starts thinking he is a pg, dribbles around in circles and throws the ball to the other team. drives me nuts, isn't this obvious to everyone on the team? he just shouldn't be allowed to do that if there is any choice at all, shoot, dribble shoot, or get to the hole, no circle dribbbling, please.
KG might be our best player, what he does on D makes us who we are and nobody else in the league does what he does, its possible nobody else can, but his offense is way over rated, we have to beg him to work his man down low, and we can count on what 3,4,5, shoulda shot but pass and turned it over moments.
KG is only our best player if you are stubborn and old, and insist on defense (and doesn't it feel good to feel tough and old school hard nosed) because in the end, the guy that can create his own shot and force the opposing team to double, still score, pass, and not turn the ball over, those guys are rare, guys with the inside outside game of pp are rare, guys with the low post game of pp are rare, and remember all those weird seal plays off inbounds passes and when he seems alone or with his man on his back right by the basket, that is low post play too, he just did the work before the ball got there and to our eye, watching the ball, all of the sudden he is open underneath.
Now, to me (and jeff van gundy), to me, there are only two guys in the game with that game (and he is a really good defender right now), and the list is Kobe, and Melo, and Pierce, and that is it. LeBron still has no post game as great as much of the other stuff he does is, and Dwade is too small, even when he does post up it is too easy to give him hide-the-sky double teams. Pierce is our best player because what he can do is so valuable and so rare. I mean I didn't even mention the other stuff, the size (for years when he played the 2 I called him the barkley of gaurds), the making plays for others, the willingness to sit back and let the other guys go nuts, the shooting touch (ray is better, but not by much), etc...
