In his last post, Kevin nearly brought down the DBB servers by unintentionally antagonizing every Jason Kidd fan, family member and booster who’s ever logged onto the internet. Hopefully all the nice things he says in this post will restore the internet’s karmic balance.
by Kevin Sawyer
This should make fewer people angry…
- First Team
SF – Gerald Wallace
Those who follow the NBA are aware that Wallace is an underrated player. But if you take away the games he spent in the throes of delirium at the beginning of last season, he was an absolute stud, averaging 22 and 9 and leading the Bobcats to a respectable (by expansion standards) season. He’s athletic enough to play the 4 at 6’7 in the EC. With Richardson coming to town, the Bobcats should make some playoff noise. If this happens, expect Wallace to become a “sexy” member of the MVP discussion.
PF – Pau Gasol
A prolific, efficient producer who has had trouble getting the all-star recognition he deserves, especially since he has led a couple pretty mediocre teams to the playoffs in the competitive West. Part of the problem is that he plays in a small market, and he has failed to reach the double-digit RPG plateau that mentally (and mythically) separates the great from the good.
C – Yao Ming
For being the international face of basketball, Yao does not quite get the respect one might ordinarily accord the best center in the NBA. Yao’s player efficiency rating was third in the league, and he has lived up to every expectation placed upon his giant frame. Health is an issue, and the Rockets have yet to crack the armor of the “big three” in the Western Conference, but he a is a bona fide superstar who can’t seem to shake his reputation as a disappointment.
SG – Corey Maggette
Weird season for Maggette. The Clippers were desperate to trade him for Ron Artest for some reason, and the Kings refused for some reason. He had a poor relationship with his coach, who benched him for no good reason in spite of the fact that they were chasing a playoff spot. Maturity is not his strong suit, but he is a very talented scorer. If the Clippers don’t want him, we’ll take him.
PG – Chris Paul
An injury delayed his first all-star appearance, and his outside shot needs refinement, but Paul is set to take the reigns as the best PG of the next decade. A true point who shoots well and rebounds well, Paul has nearly led two injury-ravaged teams to the playoffs almost single-handedly. If he stays healthy, the Hornets are likely to make the playoffs, and that will place Paul firmly in the midst of MVP discussions.
- Second Team
PF – Paul Millsap
If Carlos Boozer goes down with another big injury, everyone will know why he is on this list, but Millsap is a phenomenal rebounder, and a more than adequate scorer. Of course, as it presently stands, nobody has heard of him. The Jazz are looking to move Kirilenko, and a smart GM will make them toss in Millsap in order to make a deal.
SF – Josh Smith
Gets lumped in with Childress and Marvin Williams, which isn’t at all fair. Smith actually took a legitimate step toward stardom, averaging 20-10 over the last half of the season. Given that he is 21, there is every reason to expect him to improve significantly over the next two seasons. Add Horford into the mix, and the Hawks are starting to look stacked.
C – Nazr Mohammed
The dude isn’t even respected by some of his own fans, but Mohammed performed quite well as a starter for the Pistons this past season. The problem is that he does the two things that coaches hate, turning the ball over and earning fouls. Those are very real problems, of course, but they also have the effect of making him look much less effective than he really is. If Mohammed does have to start, the Pistons will be fine. That he dropped out of the rotation was a bit ridiculous.
SG – Jason Terry
It would be easy to look at the Mavericks roster and wonder how this team won 67 games. Terry was a huge part of the Maverick’s success, and consistently shoots the lights out. If he played for the Bucks, he’d be making the all-star game, but apparently the Mavericks have decided not to start him. Why you bench a guy who shoots 44% from three point range (and 48% overall) in favor of Eddie Jones (!) is beyond me.
PG – Jose Calderon
If the Raptors are smart, they sell high on TJ Ford. They have a starting caliber PG in Calderon. He is an outstanding playmaker, who is all the more dangerous due to his deadly midrange accuracy, and was a major factor in the Raptor’s unexpected success despite limited minutes.
I disagree with everything about this list so violently it made my head explode. I had prepared a 200 word disseration on each player detailing exactly why this Kevin S guy should be committed to a mental hospital with no internet connection… however when my brain exploded all over the monitor I found I could no longer transcribe it. Suffice to say I think this list needed WAY more Ben Gordon.
That is all
*winks*
Ok, great, but where’s Jason Kidd? He never gets the respect he deserves!
First problem I have with the list is: where’s perhaps the best shooter in the history of the NBA, J.J. Redick? People knock his absolute lack of D, but, seriously, haven’t you seen that Better Basketball DVD?
There are some underrated players on this list but there are way more heavily-underrated players in the league than this list. And how is Yao Ming underrated!?! The dude has made 4 straight all-star appearances as a STARTER! And he lead the ENTIRE NBA in votes two of those 4 times. What is your definition of underrated, Kevin?
And Nazr Mohammed? Cmon, the list has to contain half-decent players to at least be labeled underrated. I guess I’ll let that one slide since this is a Piston’s blog…but still.
I can’t speak for Kevin, but to me the All-Star votes mean nothing given all the votes from China. I think the point he’s trying to make (and I agree with) is that he’s treated like one of the top five centers in the game when he’s actually the best.
Right. Yao is not underrated in China, and I think he took knocks for making the all-star team when he wasn’t really worthy. As such, he has garnered the reputation for being famous but not that good. He is very good.
If Nazr played starters minutes, he would have averaged about 13 and 10 with 2 blocks. That’s better than decent, even with the fouls and turnovers.
Ben Gordon? Are you serious?
Hahah, come on, I even winked damnit.
Weird list. Jose Calderon? Really?
I’ve never understood the whole underrated and overrated thing. It seems to me that the only way to do it even somewhat objectively would be to look at award voting (All-Star, All-NBA, Defensive Player of the Year, 6th Man of the Year, Most Improved, Rookie of the Year, MVP, and Hall of Fame) and decide who got snubbed and who got a gift. Apart from that, all anyone can do is claim that some vague “they” view players less than accurately.
For example, I think that Shawn Marion should have won Defensive Player of the Year instead of Marcus Camby. I think that Shaq should have been MVP the first year Nash won. I think that Duncan should have been MVP the second year Nash won. I think Nash should have been MVP this year.
I suppose you could also address all-time player rankings. For example, a lot of people would say that Shaq is the best center ever. Personally, I think he’s top 5 (give me Wilt, Kareem, and Russell, in that order).
This could be an internet first but I actually agree with you on every single award mentioned.
No sarcasm intended, imho he absolutely nailed all four.
As an aside however, how anyone can keep picking Wilt over Bill is beyond me. Sure Wilt was more physically gifted but just like we’ve been arguing in like 5 other threads atm it doesn’t MEAN anything if one doesn’t put it all together. Russell was the single greatest winner in the history of the NBA, forget position. That automatically makes him the best 5 in history.
Although he receives accolades, I think Josh Howard should be included on this list. Great defender and a great option on the Dallas offense.
My All-Underrated team -
PG - Delonte West SEA: more of a combo guard but strong and tough on D
SG - Damien Wilkins SEA: shoots a good 3-pt FG% and FT%, strong
SF - Trevor Ariza ORL: Magic tanked last year when he was hurt, great D
PF - David West NOH: steady 18 pts., 8 reb.
C - Brendan Haywood WAS: shot blocker, rebounder, good interior D
“This should make fewer people angry…”
Yes it does, where’s Jason Kidd? He has averaged less than 15 points a game for the last 4 seasons, come on now!
I love the inclusion of Nazr. I’m one of his staunchest defenders around these parts. He’s a solid player and everyone (especially Pistons fans) tend to come down so hard on him. My friends and I have been aware of Paul Millsap and Josh Smith for a minute, so I have a hard time reconciling the idea of them not getting any love, but I suppose they don’t in a general sense. I’m fairly apathetic about the rest of the list (questioning only maybe Maggette not on talent, but production/attitude) but guys that come to mind for me that seem underrated: Darius Songalia (barely even noticed at all by anyone, and I like how he plays solid off-the-bench ball), Hedo Turkoglu, Chucky Atkins (I think he does a solidly better than average job and hardly ever gets credit/attention for such), Linas Kleiza (works really hard and is finally at least starting to get some credit), and Jason Maxiell (not on DBB, I’m saying nationally speaking where he gets NO love). Those are just what come to mind for me.
I’m kind of flattered that PG4L agrees with the awards I mentioned.
Eh bai. Corey “Get Mine” Maggette? A tremendous scorer certainly but that’s about it. Known to break plays and is a bigger black hole than Eddie House. People have been hyping this guy up since he came out of Duke and what has he done besides get hurt? This list can’t be considered legit unless Mo Williams name is on it.
i’m going to agree with lawyer boy on jason maxiell (i’m saying this as a pistons hater). Outside of his poor free-throw shooting, the rest of his game is pretty solid, from defense to shooting. i think he could have bumped paul millsap from the list.
I’m a little hesitant to say Al Jefferson, with all the hype that came out during the kevin garnett trade, but i’m going to nominate him to bump nazr off the list. i think he’s in that top tier of big men that you can expect a 20-10-2 performance out of on a consistent basis.
Walter Herrmann for small forward. This guy struggled early during last season, but when he became more comfortable with the nba, and got more minutes he put up some pretty solid numbers with pretty high efficiency, averaging about 15ppg on over 55% shooting in the final two months and 50% shooting from downtown. you made a pretty strong case for gerald wallace and josh smith, both of whom i agree are underrated, so i’m unsure whether herrmann should crack the list.
lastly i’m going to say anthony parker for shooting guard. he isn’t a flashy guy that puts up huge numbers, but, along with calderon, i think he’s one of the unsung heroes of toronto’s success. he plays great defense, plays with great efficiency, with high percentages in shooting, 3 pointers, and free throw shooting, and rarely turns the ball over. on top of it all, nobody even mentions his name when talking about toronto.
I’m glad you put Nazr on the list. Most Pistons fans who hate him have no reason to, I think they just made him worse in their minds to help justify excitement over Webber’s broken down contributions. All I have to say is that Nazr won a championship as a starter, that’s something Webber will never get to say.
rheemansum, if you hate detroit why read this?
but other than that i think including anthony parker is correct. he’s a great defender and good shooter and the best thing about him is he is grateful for whatever he gets. i’m a little biased since i’ve loved seeing him play since he played for macabi tel aviv BUT he used to do it all here. he was the euroleague MVP and they turned him into a 3pt shooter and you don’t hear a word coming out of his mouth. he does the job and has nothing but good things to say about it. plus he plays like 40mins a game over there with hardly any injuries.
another guy i’d add is ray allen. i know he’s part of the ‘big three’ but people don’t get that he’s a solid 20pts a night player for over 8 years. same as parker he’s quiet and doesnät shoot his mouth off at anything
Nazr made my list as #1 here:
http://www.bullslive.com/2007/10/29/pre-season-player-adjusted-rankings/
The list rates (based on the pre-season) who is helping out their respective team the most, in a statistical way.
Nazr made my list as #1 here:
http://www.bullslive.com/2007/10/29/pre-season-player-adjusted-rankings/
The list rates (based on the pre-season) who is helping out their respective team the most, in a statistical way. Thus, I must retract my comment about Nazr making your underrated list.