Top Tier = LeBron, Wade, Durant and Dwight
Second tier = the point guards. Melo. Maybe Harden.
Third tier = Rudy Gay, Tony Parker, Chris Bosh, LaMarcus Aldridge, most of the other high level bigs ... those types.
Ignoring the likes of Kobe and Dirk due to age.
I just don't think Wade belongs in the same conversation as the other ELITE players in the game anymore. I would laugh off a Wade for Rondo trade. He belongs somewhere in the mid-second tier after Rondo, Rose, and CP3.
To the OP, not a bad list, but I question your 17-21 selections, with the possible exception of Hibbert [Gortat??].
Lets not get carried away. A Wade for Rondo trade would instantly make the Celtics championship contenders and the favorite to win the title
Lets not get carried away. Rondo was clearly the second best player in the Miami series.
That is too funny
Wade is better than Rondo offensively and defensively, and is clutch which Rondo is no where near clutch status
Rondo is better at passing though
Take away the Celtic hate for Wade being a whiny punk, and injuring Rondo's elbow. And that the fact that fans are relishing that he's playing horribly in the Finals. Wade is by far the better player
Fans are relishing Wade playing horribly in the finals, just like they relished him being largely ineffective against the Celts and for about half the Pacers series.
Rondo's received significantly more votes for all-defense teams in each of the last three seasons.
Wade vs Celts, regular season: 20/4/5, .434 fg%, .000 3fg%
Wade vs Celts, playoffs: 21/6/4, .444 fg%, .250 3fg%
Rondo vs Heat, regular season: 19/8/14, .513 fg%, .500 3fg%
Rondo vs Heat, playoffs: 21/7/11, .488 fg%, .300 3fg%
Those are all face value stats
Kobe got more 1st place all-defensive team votes than Battier, Bruce Bowen, and Ron Artest. Does it mean Kobe is a better defender then those 3? Yeah right
Don't they vote for 2 guards, 2 forwards and a center? That means that Kobe wasn't really going head to head in voting with forwards, while Wade's been going head to head with Rondo (and losing handily).
First of all if you were watching the Heat-Celtics games, you would see the Celtics team doubling Wade on every possession. While Lebron roamed free with one on one coverage.
I watched the Celtics-Heat games. Wade got doubled a lot, not on every single possession. In fact Rondo did a pretty good job of covering Wade 1v1. I think your opinion of the series was somewhat affected by the hyperbole from the announcers.
And even better, Rondo wasn't even guarded haha.
Haha. In every playoff series the opposing coach talks about how important it is to contain Rondo on offense and how difficult that is to do. Clearly something's going on that you're missing.
And the opposite doesn't hold true saying if the Heat guard Rondo up close, he would burn them. Norris Cole who was just as quick as Rondo defended him up close and caused Rondo to be less effective. So Rondo had about 5 feet of space, of course had better stats than Wade
First of all, even when players give space to Rondo they're trying to limit his passing ability, and Rondo's passing is more of an offensive contribution than a lot of player's scoring is. Secondly, Cole didn't cover Rondo a ton and when he did Rondo was only a little less effective. He still got his assists, he shot worse but he took 5 times as many free throws per minute. Lastly, notice you're talking about a rookie pg doing well covering Rondo and not Wade, who frequently guarded Rondo when Rajon was *more* effective.
Wade is a better offensive player (which is obvious).
Wade is a better scorer which is obvious. When you add in all of the easy buckets that Rondo gets his teammates with his passing and how he runs the offense, which one contributes more to an offense is up for debate.
And Wade is hands down a better defender, paint and perimeter. Gambling a couple steals in the passing lane from Rondo doesn't count
Wade isn't hands down a better defender. Summarizing Rondo's contributions on defense with "Gambling a couple steals in the passing lane" is about as accurate as summarizing Wade's offense with "he drives to the hoop on occasion".
1. The defensive teams are just the 5 best defensive players
In 2005, the defensive 2nd team had Jason Kidd, Billups, and Wade.. all of them guards
And lets just look at the guards. You think Kobe is a better defender than Thabo Sefolosia and Kirk Hinrich? Thats funny
2. How is Wade being doubled everytime a hyperbole from the announcers? Celtics doubled Wade hard in the first half, which showed why Wade was usually ineffective in the first half. Why the Celtics veered away from that in the second half i'll never know.. my point is that Wade was doubled, Rondo had 5 foot of air space because of his lack of jumpshots. You can look at the stats all day if you want, but that effects how you're able to score, that is very obvious.
I think you're using the coaches' cliches when they said "how hard it was to contain Rondo" but yet they make their team guard him 5 feet away giving him all that airspace. Cliches dont matter if its not practiced on the court
3. You're right Cole did not guard Rondo a bulk of the series. But notice in game 6 when Lebron went off for 45 points. Cole guarded Rondo in the 2nd and 3rd quarter I believe and caused Rondo to commit alot of turnovers. Like I said before, Cole is just as quick as Rondo and guarded him real close (hmmm kinda like how the Celtics did on Wade eh?). Cole slowed Rondo's speed, which in turn slowed the Celtics' offense. The offense in game 5 became as slow as mud, no movement at all. And like I always say, when Rondo is in a slowed down half court offense he doesn't perform that well
4. Wade is a better scorer, which again is obvious. A better cutter, shooter, more athletic, one on one player, clutch shooter, etc... Rondo is not even in Wade's class on the offensive end
5. Wade does everything BETTER than Rondo at the defensive end. Not saying Rondo isn't an awesome defender
Wade block shots better, rebounding is about equal, passing lane steals are even, better post defender, better one on one defender. Please don't let the green tinted glasses block the Wade sunlight lol
Topic: Top players to build around. (Read 21042 times)