The definitive ranking of the NBA’s best players.
by Khalid Salaam
So now what? That’s the question right? I mean in regards to Andre Iguodala. What happens now? Is there another level in him? Or is this it? When I say “this” I mean averages of 18, 6 and 5 and better-than-average (though not elite) defense. If this is it, that’s cool, but Sixers fans ne
ed a definitive answer this season.
Last year would have been nice too but Elton Brand’s injury put a pain on the whole team and guys played out of position. Except Iguodala doesn’t really have a position. On NBA.com he listed as a “guard-forward” which seems cool and versatile but is quietly suspect. He’s not a shooting guard, not with a 30 percent three-point average and a 72 percent average from the charity stripe. Not with a shaky handle, he’s not. And when I say shaky, I don’t mean he gets ripped on the regular. And I don’t mean he can’t blow past players… because he can. He just can’t dribble and execute plays at the same time. If he dribbles and has to look up for too long, a bad play usually ensues. But his handle is strong enough for his own needs.
When he doesn’t have to initiate any offensive sets, he’s athletic enough that his first step gets him past his defender and his second step gets him over whoever is guarding the basket. Once there, he’s dunking. And nobody outside of Wade has his dunk arsenal. He’s an intimidating, nasty dunker. But damn these dunks man. Damn them. When defenses collapse on him, he can’t shoot over them consistently enough. So he’s not a shooting guard. And the Sixers need a great shooting guard to get to the next level.
He’s a small forward. Except that the Sixers have one of those in Thad Young. Though Young can’t defend like Dre, he’s a solid rebounder and has a much cleaner offensive game. Because his offensive ceiling is higher, you’d like to keep Young at that spot. Last year out of injury desperation Thad played power forward and played respectably, but when Elton Brand comes back, Thad has to move back to his natural position (and no, Brand cannot play center. Seriously. The answer is no). Where does that leave Iguodala?
Only the Sixers brass knows and, honestly, who knows if they know. With the hiring and firing of yet another coach this offseason, you can’t trust that they have any understanding of what the heck is going on in the real world. It’s like Glenn Beck is running the team (I digress…).
The thing is keeping Iguodala isn’t a bad option. I gave the cons first because, well, I wanted to, but here are the pros… He’s brilliant on the break and finishes with authority damn near every time he can. He’s an effective defender. Strong enough to body most wing players, quick enough to stay in front of all of them and willing to take on the other team’s star player each and every night. He never misses a game. Last year he played in all 82 games, the year before the same thing. He’s willing to take the last and the tough shots. He has great anticipation, so he’s vicious in the passing lanes.
It’s the lack of a varied offensive repertoire that holds him back. If he had a real half court move, he’d break the top 20. But alas, he doesn’t, and that hole in his game hasn’t closed at all during his career.
Last season the team was exposed because of its half-court deficiency and though the team tried to address it over the summer (Kapono), it remains not just an Achilles heel but, in fact, a stress fracture. The Sixer roster is essentially full of specialists and the two guys who have more than one skill play the same position (I’m not counting Brand in this equation. Gotta see him play first…). It seems this is crossroads year for Iguodala, one that determines whether his career plays out in Philly or somewhere else.
Notes
• Rankings are based solely on projected ’09-10 performance.
• Contributors to this list include: Jake Appleman, Brett Ballantini, Russ Bengtson, Toney Blare, Shannon Booher, Myles Brown, Franklyn Calle, Gregory Dole, Emry DowningHall, Jonathan Evans, Adam Fleischer, Jeff Fox, Sherman Johnson, Aaron Kaplowitz, John Krolik, Holly MacKenzie, Ryne Nelson, Chris O’Leary, Ben Osborne, Alan Paul, Susan Price, Sam Rubenstein, Khalid Salaam, Kye Stephenson, Adam Sweeney, Vincent Thomas, Tzvi Twersky, Justin Walsh, Joey Whelan, Eric Woodyard, and Nima Zarrabi.
• Want more of the SLAMonline Top 50? Check out the archive.
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but granted, his handle is mediocre and for someone who gets fouled so often his charity % needs to be at least .800+ iggy will be at 2 this season no doubt, thad too good to not be starting. the article completely ignores the fact that kapono has been brought in, specifically to assist young in consistently hitting treys whilst also spreading the court for iggys penetration. PLUS with an all star back in brand, iggys production will go past 20 points as the floor is even more open as he will able to drive to the lane more frequently, and ive never seen him miss an open J. all those doubters of iggy boohoo, although 26 is too high for now. probably around the 35mark more appropriate, but realistically this guy is future all star. i say that because i have faith in him to step up further
Ron Artest, Shane Battier, and Dwight Howard are the 3 best defenders in the league.
And my man IGGY makes 4 or 5 buzzer beater at 08-09 season. You’ll find out, if you guys watch 76ers game …
It was always the jumper and the handle. Always.
While I still question whether Iggy will have a better season than a healthy Manu, I can respect this ranking since he’s not in the top 25. I would have had a problem with that for real. 26th feels high, but I can’t think of too many players below him that I think are better.
What’s funny is that Iggy and Rudy Gay are damn near the same player with different attitudes.
That’s because you don’t want to give Lebron too much cushion and let him get a full head of steam on a drive. You want to make him move laterally more when he’s driving because if you back off and he works up his momentum, he kills you given the fouls rules today. Bodying up, particularly within the three point line, prevents him from living at the foul line.
Given that the “criteria” for the list was projected performance, I can see the logic for going with a young and hungry Igoudala over Caron. I can see someone assuming that Caron would be injured yet again while Igoudala would grow as a leader and player.
Klav
Rudy has a nicer stroke, but both of them are crazy streaky. Igoudala is just more willing to do the little things than Rudy and less likely to pout. I think that’s going to be a really interesting dynamic in Memphis next year because Rudy and Mayo had some serious problems sharing the ball. And now they’ve added Zack and Iverson? Crazy.
Nah, Clyde was way more fluid even if his handle was atrocious. Clyde had a finesse game, even while he was dunking on cat’s heads. Plus, he understood positioning better, and was decent from mid-range with the jumper. I mean, Clyde average around 25 a game if I’m not mistaken and he was up around 50 percent shooting a couple years. Iggy couldn’t do that in his dreams.
and the kid does have a J, its just not all star J, which is what he was tipped to be a few years ago. You could argue its average, but an avg J for a swing forward in the NBA is still a bloody good jump in all reality. He’s not a long range shooter, but if hes on a streak he can knock down deep treys and buzzer beaters without a blink of the eye. and to be honest, who needs an impeccable J when you can demolish people on your way to the basket like he can? just because he has a solid all round game doesnt make him weak in certain things solely because he doesnt excel like you notice other superstars. basically, most of u either need to watch him play or just stfu because u dont really know what ur talkin about. but still, even as philly fan, too high a ranking, but not bad enough of a rank to deserve all the slate its getting. hes better than Manu and Caron, and putting Shaqs indominatable play in the past to one side, hes better rank than shaq as hes nearly a decade younger.
and lets not forget, this list is for fun, so a few need to breathe
—-
As a philly fan though, i will defend this ranking against the doubters by saying 20/6/5/2 in the NBA is never to be sniffed at, and some of you are scoffing at it.
With LeBron its a little different because as you said, he’ll drive on you even/especially if you give him a cushion.
—— Also, Danny Abelson, I totally agree with you on the 18/ 5/ 5 bit, becuase its true. But such a statement ignores Lebron and Kobes far higher scoring rates, and the fact that iggy turns over too much for a star player, then again so did iverson so maybe thats not such an issue…
but still, 26 is too high for my main man. it hurts me say this because i genuinely think he could be top 15 if he put maximum effort in. 4th in the east is within our reach with thad/iggy/brand but only if brand gets his old game back, and if jrue/lou are smart with their play to maximise the efficiency of our best players… there is a few too many if’s for me there. i reckon 6th overall, although naturally hoping for much higher. ultimately, i cant envisage how jordan is going to fare as coach over 82 games season, so its hard to predict.
1. LeBron WILL play more PF this year. Will he be effective? Gee, I don’t know, every time he posted up in the playoffs it lead to an easy bucket for someone else. But I do see your point, it is largely uncharted territory for him but I wouldn’t bet against him.
2. Varejao is good enough on the Cavs to be a starter but he’s great off the bench as well. As someone who probably hasn’t seen more than 2 full Cavs games, I’m assuming you don’t know that AV plays great man-to-man defense against most PF’s in the league
7Chicago
6Orlando
5Atlanta
4Philadelphia
3Washington
2Boston
1Cleveland yes
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