I’m getting frustrated. Maybe it is because none of my sports teams are any good. Maybe it is because I haven’t been on a basketball court other than shooting with my 6 year old in our driveway in months. Maybe I’m just naturally impatient. But I have to get some things off my chest.
1. I’m sick of Barry Bonds. I held out longer than most and still think he’s the best hitter in the history of the game, but now I’m just tired of him and all the allegations and stories and accusations and slamming he and the Giants on talk radio and on and on. For once I would like to be able to read and hear about the Giants and not have to talk or think about Bonds at all. Just once. I can’t wait for the Bonds era to end. I’m hoping this is the last year and then the Giants can trade for A-Rod and rescue him from NY.
2. I’m tired of NBA players being praised for their skills when the skills they have do not win basketball games. The point of the game in the NBA is not to score or keep the other team from scoring. It is not to show off or to get yourself drafted high in a fantasy draft. It is to win. The NBA is filled with extremely skilled players, but only a few are able or willing to use those skills in a way that helps their team win. This has at least 2 key components. You have to be clutch and more importantly, you have to make your teammates better. This is even more true if you are a superstar making tons of money because you are the main reason your team doesn’t have better players around you, so you have even more responsibility to make them as good as they can be.
If a player doesn’t come through for his team down the stretch and doesn’t make his teammates better, and does not actually win, then let’s not talk about him for MVP or call him great. Let’s acknowledge that he may have great skills, but is not a great player. I’m not saying that a player has to win championships to be great, but a great player raises the level of play for everyone on his team. Magic, Bird and eventually even Jordan all did this and that, more than any other skill or stat is why they were great.
Today I read a headline declaring Gilbert Arenas the best “combo” guard in the NBA. I didn’t read the story. I couldn’t stomach it. Unless “combo” means a combination of most shot attempts and quirky, harmless behavior, I don’t want to read it. Arenas? The best point/shooting guard in the NBA? It makes me want to throw up. I have nothing against Arenas. He is truly one of the most skilled scorers in basketball and has all the skills needed to be one of the all time greats. But he’s not using those skills to consistently raise the play of his team and so I’m not calling him great. I do think, there is still hope for Arenas. I do note that he doesn’t have trouble playing with other scorers like AI, Kobe, VC and T-Mac do, but unless Wade and Nash, both of whom play the one and 2 retired last night and I didn’t hear about it, then there is no opening at the top of the “best combo guard” debate. It’s not even close.
Arenas isn’t even in the same tier as those guys. Not in the same universe. It is just perplexing.
I am sick and tired of all the praised heaped on guys who bring their teams down and stunt the growth of talented teammates with selfish play just because they score or put up good stats. Iverson is not one of the best players ever. Most skilled? Best scorers? Sure. Most competitive? Maybe so. I love Iverson’s heart and will and he’s exciting to watch, but he’s not a great player. He did nothing but ruin the early careers of talented young players in Philly and hold a good team down to mediocrity. I don’t think Arenas is that bad. I think he could still become a great player. But he’s not there yet and he certainly is not the best. The best player in the world right now is Steve Nash. I’m not even sure who else could be put in the conversation. He’s not the most skilled, or the best scorer or the most well rounded. But he makes loosers look like all-stars and his teams win as a result.
Guys like Kobe and Melo and even LBJ (whom I love) may be very good players and have the tools to be some of the best ever. But until they learn how to make the players around them better, let’s not put them in the same category as Nash or Shaq (past tense) or Duncan or guys like that.
3. In a related note, I’m tired of people who claim that Nash is not a worth MVP candidate. He’s so good right now (did you see his game last night? Amazing), that he’s officially reached the status Jordan held with the league a few years back when they started giving other people the MVP just because they got tired of giving it to Mike. Don’t get me wrong, Nash is no Jordan, but the way they differentiated themselves as consistently the league’s best player is becoming similar.
1. I’m sick of Barry Bonds. I held out longer than most and still think he’s the best hitter in the history of the game, but now I’m just tired of him and all the allegations and stories and accusations and slamming he and the Giants on talk radio and on and on. For once I would like to be able to read and hear about the Giants and not have to talk or think about Bonds at all. Just once. I can’t wait for the Bonds era to end. I’m hoping this is the last year and then the Giants can trade for A-Rod and rescue him from NY.
2. I’m tired of NBA players being praised for their skills when the skills they have do not win basketball games. The point of the game in the NBA is not to score or keep the other team from scoring. It is not to show off or to get yourself drafted high in a fantasy draft. It is to win. The NBA is filled with extremely skilled players, but only a few are able or willing to use those skills in a way that helps their team win. This has at least 2 key components. You have to be clutch and more importantly, you have to make your teammates better. This is even more true if you are a superstar making tons of money because you are the main reason your team doesn’t have better players around you, so you have even more responsibility to make them as good as they can be.
If a player doesn’t come through for his team down the stretch and doesn’t make his teammates better, and does not actually win, then let’s not talk about him for MVP or call him great. Let’s acknowledge that he may have great skills, but is not a great player. I’m not saying that a player has to win championships to be great, but a great player raises the level of play for everyone on his team. Magic, Bird and eventually even Jordan all did this and that, more than any other skill or stat is why they were great.
Today I read a headline declaring Gilbert Arenas the best “combo” guard in the NBA. I didn’t read the story. I couldn’t stomach it. Unless “combo” means a combination of most shot attempts and quirky, harmless behavior, I don’t want to read it. Arenas? The best point/shooting guard in the NBA? It makes me want to throw up. I have nothing against Arenas. He is truly one of the most skilled scorers in basketball and has all the skills needed to be one of the all time greats. But he’s not using those skills to consistently raise the play of his team and so I’m not calling him great. I do think, there is still hope for Arenas. I do note that he doesn’t have trouble playing with other scorers like AI, Kobe, VC and T-Mac do, but unless Wade and Nash, both of whom play the one and 2 retired last night and I didn’t hear about it, then there is no opening at the top of the “best combo guard” debate. It’s not even close.
Arenas isn’t even in the same tier as those guys. Not in the same universe. It is just perplexing.
I am sick and tired of all the praised heaped on guys who bring their teams down and stunt the growth of talented teammates with selfish play just because they score or put up good stats. Iverson is not one of the best players ever. Most skilled? Best scorers? Sure. Most competitive? Maybe so. I love Iverson’s heart and will and he’s exciting to watch, but he’s not a great player. He did nothing but ruin the early careers of talented young players in Philly and hold a good team down to mediocrity. I don’t think Arenas is that bad. I think he could still become a great player. But he’s not there yet and he certainly is not the best. The best player in the world right now is Steve Nash. I’m not even sure who else could be put in the conversation. He’s not the most skilled, or the best scorer or the most well rounded. But he makes loosers look like all-stars and his teams win as a result.
Guys like Kobe and Melo and even LBJ (whom I love) may be very good players and have the tools to be some of the best ever. But until they learn how to make the players around them better, let’s not put them in the same category as Nash or Shaq (past tense) or Duncan or guys like that.
3. In a related note, I’m tired of people who claim that Nash is not a worth MVP candidate. He’s so good right now (did you see his game last night? Amazing), that he’s officially reached the status Jordan held with the league a few years back when they started giving other people the MVP just because they got tired of giving it to Mike. Don’t get me wrong, Nash is no Jordan, but the way they differentiated themselves as consistently the league’s best player is becoming similar.
Comments
1. Nash is awesome, and I think he's definitely the best player in the game today, BUT let's not put him in the same category as MJ, Magic, or The Legend yet. Until he wins some championships, he's not there. And don't tell me he doesn't have the talent to win around him (especially this year). He's got to take the team to the next level consistently.
2. Shaq should not be in the conversation at all. I don't like the theory that just because you're freakishly big, you are a great basketball player. All you are is a freak. And you can't include someone in a great "basketball player" discussion that has to be taken out of games in crunch time because he can't shoot free throws. How is that considered great basketball? He was great at taking up a ton of space, which by default made others better by giving them open looks, but let's not attribute that to skill. This goes for Chamberlain too. If you want to have a great big man discussion, my votes go to Kareem and Russell, with Duncan and Hakeem not to far behind.