Post by bballfan72031 on Dec 30, 2005 14:42:38 GMT -5
The regular season's almost done, so who have been the top players this season?
ALL FIRST TEAM
FLASH (Guard)
NBA Comparison -- Allen Iverson
Flash is leading the league in points per game, while doing a solid job of distributing the ball and getting assists. It's tough to know where to place him, because currently we do not have access to statistics like shooting percentage and turnovers. All in all, the fact that any player could put up this many points while maintaining assists is awesome, and although he’s a fairly weak defensive player, he’s very good at stealing the rock. This placement is arguable—he could be second team or off, but I’m sticking him at first team for now.
EXILE (Guard)
NBA Comparison -- Tracy McGrady
Exile's the perfect player to have on your team. He's a star on offense and defense, but a team player, as shown by his willingness to come off the bench last season. This season he's among the league leaders in points per game and is also grabbing a good amount of rebounds. He's putting up a fair amount of assists, but the big thing is that he very rarely turns the ball over. Recently traded to AND1, we'll see how he does as the main option.
THE CHOKER (Forward)
NBA Comparison -- Lebron James
Half of Reebok's "dynamic duo", The Choker normally plays point guard, but was originally a small forward and so I’m sticking him there to fit in some guards. He’s been filling up the stat sheet with his all-around play. He is currently AVERAGING a triple-double for the season. His only weakness is defense, but his athleticism and anticipation allow him to get lots of blocks and steals.
THE HULK (Forward)
NBA Comparison – Amare Stoudemire
Since he entered the league, The Hulk has been a force on offense. His defense has improved, too, and he’s really become a dominant player on Converse. Based on current statistics, it is believed that The Hulk is second in the league in points per game, and among the league leaders in rebounds and blocks per game. Not the best defender overall, but not bad, and his offense makes it very difficult to argue this selection.
THE MACHINE (Center)
NBA Comparison – Kevin Garnett
The Machine’s a tough player to compare anyone to because of one simple reason – he’s just really, really good. Last season’s MVP and most likely the best player in the CSSL, The Machine is always among the league leaders in ppg, rpg, and bpg, while also putting up solid numbers all around. Because no other real big guy is like him, I compared him to KG because of their overall play. This guy will probably be All-First Team the rest of his career.
ALL SECOND TEAM
BONAFIDE (Guard)
NBA Comparison – Jason Kidd
Bonafide’s had an interesting year. On the one hand, he’s one of the tops in assists per game and ast/to ratio, and he’s grabbing a ton of boards for a point guard; on the other hand, he’s suspiciously having a terrible shooting season. Still, he’s a good all around player offensively and defensively, and he’s clutch. As always, Bonafide will be dangerous come playoff time.
AFRO THUNDER (Guard)
NBA Comparison – Kobe Bryant
A 6’4” combo guard who can do it all, Afro’s one of the league’s top players. Unfortunately, based on limited statistics for the full season, he’s another tough player to place, who could easily be first team or could be off. He’s also unique—an NBA Comparison is kind of tough to make, as players like Dwyane Wade, Gilbert Arenas, Paul Pierce, Manu Ginobili, and Vince Carter all came to mind. Anyway, he’s been scoring, passing, rebounding, and playing defense with the best at his position, and he always makes Puma scary in the playoffs.
HURRICANE (Forward)
NBA Comparison – Dirk Nowitzki
Similar to Dirk, Hurricane is a big guy who likes to play on the wing. Still, although Dirk has improved on defense, he’s certainly not at Hurricane’s level. He can pretty much play any position, one through five, but is a natural small forward. Hurricane is often considered to be one of the best in the game (many have argued top-2), but with the lack of statistics for him this season, and the way others have been playing, I couldn’t put him at the first team. But it was impossible to keep him off the second team, so Hurricane goes here.
CHAMILLIONAIRE (Forward)
NBA Comparison – Marcus Camby
Chamillionaire is kind of a confusing case. On the one hand, he’s usually a center. On the other hand, he’s been placed at guard. Beginning as a defensive star and improving his offense, I didn’t know what current player to compare him to, so I did another big man who scores, rebounds, blocks shots, and plays good defense – Camby (many other names came to mind, but the way Camby’s been playing this year made him seem like a good enough fit). We have limited stats on him, which makes it tough. However, midway through the season, it is believed that he was putting up 24, 15, and 4, and he has won a good amount of game MVPs. Chamillionaire’s a fairly easy choice to make it on here somewhere.
SHOW STOPPA (Center)
NBA Comparison – Tim Duncan
I don’t know what to do with this guy. He’s consistently one of the best in the game and wins year after year. Though we don’t have current statistics on him, Stoppa seems like a very good choice for 2nd team center. He’s comparable to Duncan because of his Scoring, Rebounding, Defense, and improving outside shot.
KEY NOTES:[/u] Players Jazz (Nike) and Fresh Skillz (AND1) were left off the teams based on the writers’ bias towards them. Both players are considered to be prime candidates for all-CSSL teams this year.
ALL FIRST TEAM
FLASH (Guard)
NBA Comparison -- Allen Iverson
Flash is leading the league in points per game, while doing a solid job of distributing the ball and getting assists. It's tough to know where to place him, because currently we do not have access to statistics like shooting percentage and turnovers. All in all, the fact that any player could put up this many points while maintaining assists is awesome, and although he’s a fairly weak defensive player, he’s very good at stealing the rock. This placement is arguable—he could be second team or off, but I’m sticking him at first team for now.
EXILE (Guard)
NBA Comparison -- Tracy McGrady
Exile's the perfect player to have on your team. He's a star on offense and defense, but a team player, as shown by his willingness to come off the bench last season. This season he's among the league leaders in points per game and is also grabbing a good amount of rebounds. He's putting up a fair amount of assists, but the big thing is that he very rarely turns the ball over. Recently traded to AND1, we'll see how he does as the main option.
THE CHOKER (Forward)
NBA Comparison -- Lebron James
Half of Reebok's "dynamic duo", The Choker normally plays point guard, but was originally a small forward and so I’m sticking him there to fit in some guards. He’s been filling up the stat sheet with his all-around play. He is currently AVERAGING a triple-double for the season. His only weakness is defense, but his athleticism and anticipation allow him to get lots of blocks and steals.
THE HULK (Forward)
NBA Comparison – Amare Stoudemire
Since he entered the league, The Hulk has been a force on offense. His defense has improved, too, and he’s really become a dominant player on Converse. Based on current statistics, it is believed that The Hulk is second in the league in points per game, and among the league leaders in rebounds and blocks per game. Not the best defender overall, but not bad, and his offense makes it very difficult to argue this selection.
THE MACHINE (Center)
NBA Comparison – Kevin Garnett
The Machine’s a tough player to compare anyone to because of one simple reason – he’s just really, really good. Last season’s MVP and most likely the best player in the CSSL, The Machine is always among the league leaders in ppg, rpg, and bpg, while also putting up solid numbers all around. Because no other real big guy is like him, I compared him to KG because of their overall play. This guy will probably be All-First Team the rest of his career.
ALL SECOND TEAM
BONAFIDE (Guard)
NBA Comparison – Jason Kidd
Bonafide’s had an interesting year. On the one hand, he’s one of the tops in assists per game and ast/to ratio, and he’s grabbing a ton of boards for a point guard; on the other hand, he’s suspiciously having a terrible shooting season. Still, he’s a good all around player offensively and defensively, and he’s clutch. As always, Bonafide will be dangerous come playoff time.
AFRO THUNDER (Guard)
NBA Comparison – Kobe Bryant
A 6’4” combo guard who can do it all, Afro’s one of the league’s top players. Unfortunately, based on limited statistics for the full season, he’s another tough player to place, who could easily be first team or could be off. He’s also unique—an NBA Comparison is kind of tough to make, as players like Dwyane Wade, Gilbert Arenas, Paul Pierce, Manu Ginobili, and Vince Carter all came to mind. Anyway, he’s been scoring, passing, rebounding, and playing defense with the best at his position, and he always makes Puma scary in the playoffs.
HURRICANE (Forward)
NBA Comparison – Dirk Nowitzki
Similar to Dirk, Hurricane is a big guy who likes to play on the wing. Still, although Dirk has improved on defense, he’s certainly not at Hurricane’s level. He can pretty much play any position, one through five, but is a natural small forward. Hurricane is often considered to be one of the best in the game (many have argued top-2), but with the lack of statistics for him this season, and the way others have been playing, I couldn’t put him at the first team. But it was impossible to keep him off the second team, so Hurricane goes here.
CHAMILLIONAIRE (Forward)
NBA Comparison – Marcus Camby
Chamillionaire is kind of a confusing case. On the one hand, he’s usually a center. On the other hand, he’s been placed at guard. Beginning as a defensive star and improving his offense, I didn’t know what current player to compare him to, so I did another big man who scores, rebounds, blocks shots, and plays good defense – Camby (many other names came to mind, but the way Camby’s been playing this year made him seem like a good enough fit). We have limited stats on him, which makes it tough. However, midway through the season, it is believed that he was putting up 24, 15, and 4, and he has won a good amount of game MVPs. Chamillionaire’s a fairly easy choice to make it on here somewhere.
SHOW STOPPA (Center)
NBA Comparison – Tim Duncan
I don’t know what to do with this guy. He’s consistently one of the best in the game and wins year after year. Though we don’t have current statistics on him, Stoppa seems like a very good choice for 2nd team center. He’s comparable to Duncan because of his Scoring, Rebounding, Defense, and improving outside shot.
KEY NOTES:[/u] Players Jazz (Nike) and Fresh Skillz (AND1) were left off the teams based on the writers’ bias towards them. Both players are considered to be prime candidates for all-CSSL teams this year.
