TEAMS:
Houston Rockets,
Miami Heat,
San Antonio Spurs
PLAYERS: Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady, Shane Battier, Dwyane Wade, Robert Horry, Shawn Marion, Carlos Boozer, Ime Udoka, Luke Walton
PLAYERS: Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady, Shane Battier, Dwyane Wade, Robert Horry, Shawn Marion, Carlos Boozer, Ime Udoka, Luke Walton
All it takes is one good playoff series, a single spectacular game, even one buzzer-beater for a player to boost his status among the NBA's elite. Before long, he is being praised with the game's all-time greats and all but guaranteeing his spot in Springfield. A reputation can sometimes be a tough thing to gain, but is usually an even tougher thing to lose. Reputations, right or wrong, lead to the notion that a player is either underrated or overrated.
Both sides of the coin are o...
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eaglesfan893 said August 15, 2008
tedhill replied August 15, 2008
Justwannawinna replied August 15, 2008
WaltonsWisdom replied August 15, 2008
FlyMaster replied August 15, 2008
WaltonsWisdom replied August 15, 2008
DreadsSwayin replied August 15, 2008
WaltonsWisdom replied August 15, 2008
Wade's performance in the Finals was remarkable, and you're right --- I should have made mention of this.
DreadsSwayin replied August 15, 2008
Tenebrous replied August 16, 2008
hatepaste said August 15, 2008
rcs360 said August 15, 2008
WaltonsWisdom replied August 15, 2008
Yao, while unstoppable at the offensive end, is a liability on defense. His team played better after he got injured last year, when Dikembe Mutombo was starting. And with the amount of hype that he had coming over here, the only way he wouldn't be overrated is if he were about 3 MVP's deep.
Horry is definitely clutch -- but this gets overplayed. He has hit some big ones, but people mention him as a potential hall of famer, which I disagree with.
Battier is a great role player, but there are about 25 of those in the league. He gets the most accolades of any of them, so I find that to be overrated. Plus, I wanted to have a mix of all stars and non-all stars on the list.
rcs360 replied August 15, 2008
bjj714 replied August 26, 2008
yelloke replied August 18, 2008
WaltonWisdom is way out of hand by listing Dwyane Wade was one of the "MOST" overrated players. The guy was injured last season playing with crybaby no-longer-can-dunk Shaq and his team got Ricky friggin Davis. Walton is one of the guys that cannot see past the statistics and make fundamental evaluations.
I agree with Shane Battier being overrated, because at best he's no better than Bruce Bowen, yet everyone touts him as the perfect player. Yeah, he's awesome and I appreciate Battier, but I'd take Artest with his head screwed on straight ANYDAY over Battier.
As for WaltonWisdom claiming that Rockets played their best ball without Yao, that's BS. They already won 12 games with Yao and then went on a hot streak to win 22. That's like saying the Knicks were better without Ewing or when the Knicks won the championship, they were better without Willis Reed. That is absolutely absurd. Yao has one of the best PER/minute stats in the game. It's Rafer Alston, Battier, and Chuck Hayes that can't seem to do anything on the offensive end to contribute.
woodsey44 said August 15, 2008
WaltonsWisdom replied August 15, 2008
Zabriskie said August 15, 2008
WaltonsWisdom replied August 15, 2008
Marinman said August 15, 2008
WaltonsWisdom replied August 15, 2008
Marinman replied August 15, 2008
WaltonsWisdom replied August 15, 2008
Good point, though.
theoneandonly said August 15, 2008
phillybirds536 said August 15, 2008
WaltonsWisdom replied August 15, 2008
ShakespeareD said August 15, 2008
1. Jason Kidd- Devin Harris was a much better fit for Dallas than Kidd. Obviously he is a legendary passer, but is one of the worst shooters in the NBA, plays terrible defense and has lost 3 or 4 steps.
2. Carmelo Anthony- An incredible scorer. Gives little else. A smattering of rebounds, poor passer, no defense. Most importantly, hasn't made it out of the first round with a talented nucleus.
3. Mike Dunleavy- Can any player not match his 07-08 stats being the number one option for a terrible team?
4. TJ Ford- Held back Toronto the last two years getting minutes over the superior Jose Calderon. The fact that he gets traded for Jermaine O'Neal rather than a bag of balls is mind blowing.
5. Pau Gasol- The 2008 playoffs showed what he really is. An extremely soft stat compiler.
tcbailey24 replied August 15, 2008
rcs360 replied August 15, 2008
WaltonsWisdom replied August 15, 2008
Anthony is generally not regarded as highly as the others in his class, and rightfully so.
Dunleavy isn't talked about at all, so how is he overrated?
Ford was overrated by his coaching staff, but he's rarely mentioned by fans. Almost anyone who writes about sports (media, bloggers, etc.) knows Calderon is better than Ford.
Unfortunately, I agree about Gasol. But let's rephrase your statement: The 2008 FINALS showed what he really is. He played decent in the rest of the playoffs.
This is a very subjective task, especially to narrow it down to a top 5...
GSWgirl replied August 15, 2008
whitejordan32 replied August 15, 2008
mindfeck replied August 17, 2008
Dunleavy was the best player on a team that nearly made the playoffs. Does that mean Wade's numbers are meaningless since his team was terrible? Brandon Roy's numbers are also meaningless? No, Dunleavy finally had a good season.
TJ Ford played nearly as well as Calderon, and they both played starters' minutes.
Pau Gasol improved the Lakers immensely and helped them reach the finals. Once in the finals, he was not a good matchup against the Celtics, and other Lakers did worse too. That does not make him a bad player.
WaltonsWisdom replied August 17, 2008
DreadsSwayin said August 15, 2008
WaltonsWisdom replied August 15, 2008
Wade wasn't overrated when he dominated the NBA finals 3 years ago, but he's been living off that reputation ever since. As I've said numerous times on this discussion, Wade will be off this list next year if he proves his injuries are curbed and his team plays well. I'm expecting that to happen.
DreadsSwayin said August 15, 2008
WaltonsWisdom replied August 15, 2008
DreadsSwayin replied August 15, 2008
WaltonsWisdom replied August 15, 2008
Raja is an idiot at times, but it's always been directed at the opponent in my understanding. I have never heard any complaints from the Suns about him being a poor teammate. His hot headedness is seen in his tripping of Kobe or his technical fouls. I don't know if that really messes with team chemistry, but I could be wrong.
Haha, Udoka was kind of a random name but relevant nonetheless. Just ask Spurs fans. I know of Udoka because he came out of Portland (where I live). The Spurs signed him last year -- he's a younger version of Bowen with more offensive upside.
tcbailey24 replied August 15, 2008
tcbailey24 replied August 15, 2008
KBfan4lyfe said August 15, 2008
It seems like every year he gets dunked on
whitejordan32 replied August 15, 2008
rcs360 replied August 16, 2008
sixersfan234 said August 15, 2008
WaltonsWisdom replied August 15, 2008
simplyhiredguy said August 15, 2008
bpika113 said August 15, 2008
Vince Carter
Ben Gordon
Zach Randolph
Pau Gasol
Ron Artest
Thoughts?
WaltonsWisdom replied August 15, 2008
Could possibly be part of a "most overpaid" list.
sixersfan234 said August 15, 2008
WaltonsWisdom replied August 15, 2008
2. Can we really take a lot away from players' performances in the Olympics? If we are honest with ourselves, every player on that roster would put up close to 30 ppg in the Olympics if they played for any team other than the stacked U.S. squad. The foreign teams are better suited for the international rules, but EVERY player on the U.S. would be a star on the other teams. Do you also think that Kobe Bryant is overrated because he had a few statistically bad games in the Olympics?
3. This list is about being "overrated" -- it is not a list of bad players. Every player on the list is good, and Wade is the best that I have listed. I'm saying that he shouldn't be compared to Kobe & Lebron due to his injury problems, high turnover rate, and how badly his team played this season. Lebron & Kobe will NEVER play for an 11-54 team, no matter how "dinged up" they are.
bpika113 said August 15, 2008
I think in order to determine who's the most overrated we first need to define what overrated means. By my estimation it means overpaid for what they give/offer. Thus, my list of Vince Carter, Ben Gordon, Zach Randolph, Pau Gasol, and Ron Artest.....:
Vince Carter - offers nothing other than volume shooting and a highlight reel every now and then (although even that's fading). He's a player who's publicly stated that he wasn't trying when he finished out in Toronto. He offers no veteran leadership, is not a good mentor to rookies/young guys, and doesn't make his teammates better. He made 13+M last season.
Ben Gordon - shooting is his best asset and he hasn't shot better than 42% from the field in over 2 years, nor has he ever eclipsed .435% from beyond the arc. He made almost 5M last season.
Zach Randolph - for a man who has faced double-teams his entire career, he's never averaged more than 2.2 assists per game. No doubt he's got skill, but since 03-04 he hasn't pulled in more than 4.5 rebounds per game. Couple his lack of ability to pass and his minute rebounding prowess with his poor attitude, troubles with the law, and his ultimate trend of declining and you have a very overrated player. There's a reason Portland shipped him off for next to nothing. Oh yeah, Ze-Bo made more than 13M last season.
Pau Gasol - please see: NBA Finals (any game)
Ron Artest - the guy just straight up is not a winner. He doesn't seem to have ever cared about winning and has put his rap career (or lack there of) ahead of his team. Any guy getting paid more than 7M/season who doesn't think before he acts (see: The Brawl) is overrated. Not to mention he's never averaged more than 0.9 blocks per game and shoots a terrible percentage from the field.
WaltonsWisdom replied August 15, 2008
You made a great point about defining what "overrated" means. If it is just "overpaid," then my list would make no sense (outside of Marion). You'd have to adjust your list to include players like Brian Cardinal and Kwame Brown, though. I took fans' and media's impressions & opinions of players into consideration, along with salaries. Very few of my above points speak at all to the salaries of these players, because using that as the only criteria would qualify about half of the players in the league.
Appreciate your feedback.
BrendanC said August 15, 2008
Shane Battier is a premiere defender and doesn't get enough credit for it, he's still one of the only players outside of Lebron & Paul Pierce that shut him down in a game.
Have you been watching the Olympics? Wade was injured all last season, obviously his use of a billion & 1 pads on every joint shows that he's been hurting. In the olympics he's been stellar and shows his 2006 form, I don't think anyone can discredit that.
WaltonsWisdom replied August 15, 2008
Jaelyn said August 15, 2008
WaltonsWisdom replied August 15, 2008
UnderScored said August 15, 2008
WaltonsWisdom replied August 15, 2008
JASONMAJIC said August 15, 2008
lsutigerfan19 said August 15, 2008
WaltonsWisdom replied August 15, 2008
deadred988 said August 16, 2008
5. D-Wade-been injured but im sorry but has anyone noticed that he just charges through the lane falls and gets to the line? EVeyrone gives him a break for being on the worst team in the league but when it happened to T-mac a couple years back everyone wanted his head.
4.Dirk-Softey, i was their to witness the warriors destroy him and though a great player his career will be defined by that series until he wins a championship
3.Yao-I know he has nice numbers but never gone anywhere in the playoffs and when you watch him in person he's not as dominant as a 7'6 guy should be.
2.Pau-Makes Dirk look like titanium. SOFT SOFT SOFT
1.J-Kidd- people are figuring this out and i love j-kidd but he's past his prime like sour milk. That trade was a HUGE disappointment and Rod Thorn stole one from Cuban
1b-The Knicks- people dont think there bad enough
DreadsSwayin replied August 16, 2008
ChrisHumpherys said August 16, 2008
WaltonsWisdom said August 16, 2008
Jaelyn replied August 18, 2008
justinvavala said August 18, 2008
LA53005 said August 19, 2008
YardbarkerPro said August 23, 2008
YardbarkerPro said August 23, 2008
WaltonsWisdom replied August 27, 2008
YardbarkerPro replied August 28, 2008
DRoss88 said September 05, 2008
WaltonsWisdom replied September 05, 2008
How did the Heat end up with the worst record in the worst conference last year?