Rank these players..

[HarlemHeat37]

If you needed to win a title this season alone, without thinking long-term..rank these players..

Deron Williams, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Dirk Nowitzki..

This has nothing to do with other players, so stick to these 4..

[cobbler]

None of the above

[sefant77]

Robert Horry

[DPG21920]

Dirk, Durant, Deron, Melo

[NRHector]

Durant

[ElNono]

Durant, Melo, Dirk, Deron

[ElNono]

That said, if I needed to win a title, then it's only Durant...

[LkrFan]

I see some haters in this thread. :lol

Dwill
Melo
KD
_irk

[BRHornet45]

Durant
Melo
Dirk
Williams

[Cane]

Dirk
Deron
Durant
Melo

[SomeCallMeTim]

Thought provoking question. Interesting mix of young, old, and "middle age" players... not to mention the mix of positions. That would be 80% of a killer starting lineup right there actually.

Melo would definitely be my #4 guy. The other three you could make arguments a bunch of different ways, but my first instinct is:

Durant
Williams
Dirk
Melo

[Ditty]

Durant,Dirk,Melo,Will

last 2 could change depends on the melo you get

[kamikazi_player]

Durant, Dirk, Melo, D-Will

[crc21209]

Durant, Dirk, Melo, D-Will.

[ALVAREZ6]

Well you definitely need a scorer, so Durant or Melo should be first. I think they are pretty interchangeable, I would be satisfied with either, I have trouble ranking one above the other. Both have proven they are consistent scorers, Durant hasn't had as many chances to show off his post-season clutch yet.

Shit, I really don't know who I'd take if I wanted a championship. To be honest, Dirk is another great option because he's so damn hard to cover, his shot is perfect for his size and when he's on, no one is stopping him from knocking them down. But that can really be said about Melo and Durant. Melo and Durant are more versatile though.

And Deron...this guy is a stud, he does a lot for a team. So if the team already has a passable or above average point guard, I wouldn't choose Williams but if not, which I believe this is the question being posed, who you take first no matter who else is on the team/starting from scratch, D-Will is a good choice.


Conclusion: I have no idea. Durant is the obvious choice with his height and length and scoring ability, but he also hasn't proven much of a killer instinct clutch playoff performer role either yet.

[dirk4mvp]

I see some haters in this thread. :lol

Dwill
Melo
KD
_irk

:lmao
:lmao
:lmao


Have you heard Metallica's brand new album St. Anger? shit sucks.

[mystargtr34]

1. Dirk Nowitzki
2. Carmelo Anthony
3. Kevin Durant
4. Deron Williams

Dirk is number 1 quite comfortably for me... didnt really have to think twice... the other three were tough choices though

[TD 21]

Call me a Nowitzki hater if you must, but doesn't he have to be last? Think about it...he's the only one of the four that's had a team around him that was a true contender and he's had it more than once. We saw him in the biggest of moments choke. For all the relatively meaningless regular season points Nowitzki's piled up, he's proven unequivocally that he can't be the number one option on a championship caliber team.

We haven't yet seen that out of the other three at this juncture. Durant struggling, in his first playoffs, against the defending champions and one of the best defenders of his generation, doesn't quality as "the biggest of moments".

I'd go 1) Williams, 2) Anthony, 3) Durant, 4) Nowitzki

I fully expect Spurs fans to come running to Nowitzki's defense, as always.

[SomeCallMeTim]

Call me a Nowitzki hater if you must, but doesn't he have to be last? Think about it...he's the only one of the four that's had a team around him that was a true contender and he's had it more than once. We saw him in the biggest of moments choke. For all the relatively meaningless regular season points Nowitzki's piled up, he's proven unequivocally that he can't be the number one option on a championship caliber team.

We haven't yet seen that out of the other three at this juncture. Durant struggling, in his first playoffs, against the defending champions and one of the best defenders of his generation, doesn't quality as "the biggest of moments".

I'd go 1) Williams, 2) Anthony, 3) Durant, 4) Nowitzki

I fully expect Spurs fans to come running to Nowitzki's defense, as always.

Dirk's by far been the most successful of the four players WRT how far he's led his team... not even close. So your argument makes no sense.

[Ghazi]

lol @ TD 21's faggy blind hate

[#2!]

Call me a Nowitzki hater if you must, but doesn't he have to be last? Think about it...he's the only one of the four that's had a team around him that was a true contender and he's had it more than once. We saw him in the biggest of moments choke. For all the relatively meaningless regular season points Nowitzki's piled up, he's proven unequivocally that he can't be the number one option on a championship caliber team.

We haven't yet seen that out of the other three at this juncture. Durant struggling, in his first playoffs, against the defending champions and one of the best defenders of his generation, doesn't quality as "the biggest of moments".

I'd go 1) Williams, 2) Anthony, 3) Durant, 4) Nowitzki

I fully expect Spurs fans to come running to Nowitzki's defense, as always.

My list: Durant, Anthony, Williams, Dirk

I agree that if the goal is to win a championship and our choices to start a team are these 4 then Dirk should be counted out b/c we've seen him fail to accomplish this with great teams, one that was historically great (67 win season).

But Melo's teams with Billups, Kmart, Nene, and JR Smith were plenty talented as well so where does the line get drawn to call him incapable as the number 1 option? I only put him above Williams because I don't see DWill as a championship centerpiece. PGs in general rarely are, and the most recent one to compare Williams to was Jason Kidd, who lost in the finals twice to dominant low post players.

[TD 21]

Dirk's by far been the most successful of the four players WRT how far he's led his team... not even close. So your argument makes no sense.

It does if you comprehend it properly.

[ALVAREZ6]

Dirk's by far been the most successful of the four players WRT how far he's led his team... not even close. So your argument makes no sense.

I kind of agree. Well, I'd say Deron is up there with Dirk in terms of going far but not far enough...and he's younger. Melo can't be overlooked either, he's been in close western conference finals battles, at least that memorable one against the Lakers a couple of years ago.

But back to Dirk, I think it's more of the Mavs franchise culture to choke than some tendency for Dirk to choke himself. As a team, including ownership, they love to choke and make no attempt to hide that choking is actually a franchise goal.

[LkrFan]

Call me a Nowitzki hater if you must, but doesn't he have to be last? Think about it...he's the only one of the four that's had a team around him that was a true contender and he's had it more than once. We saw him in the biggest of moments choke. For all the relatively meaningless regular season points Nowitzki's piled up, he's proven unequivocally that he can't be the number one option on a championship caliber team.

We haven't yet seen that out of the other three at this juncture. Durant struggling, in his first playoffs, against the defending champions and one of the best defenders of his generation, doesn't quality as "the biggest of moments".

I'd go 1) Williams, 2) Anthony, 3) Durant, 4) Nowitzki

I fully expect Spurs fans to come running to Nowitzki's defense, as always.
You know what, I'm going to co-sign this post. _irk is the most overrated "PF" in the history of the game. He does amazing things in the regular season and when he is needed to ball (playoffs) he just can't get it done. He was the alpha dog on a team that choked away a 2-0 lead in the Finals and on the #1 seed in the West that got dismantled by an 8th seed. Durant just so happened to lead his team to the playoffs at the tender age of 21 so when he struggled against Artest and the Thunder succumbed to the eventual champion Lakers, it's hard to fault him. He will be the top dog in the league in about 3 more years (yes, over LeHype). Melo is a stud scorer whose team had the misfortune of being in the same bracket of the champs for a few years. For me, it's DWill all the way. The two most critical positions in basketball to me are Center and PG. Right now DWill is on the top of his game. He can score, rebound, pass, play defense, kick CP's ass head to head, and more.

Out of these 4 players it's DWill hands down.

[LkrFan]

I kind of agree. Well, I'd say Deron is up there with Dirk in terms of going far but not far enough...and he's younger. Melo can't be overlooked either, he's been in close western conference finals battles, at least that memorable one against the Lakers a couple of years ago.

But back to Dirk, I think it's more of the Mavs franchise culture to choke than some tendency for Dirk to choke himself. As a team, including ownership, they love to choke and make no attempt to hide that choking is actually a franchise goal.
:lmao

[SomeCallMeTim]

It does if you comprehend it properly.

If you want to narrow your goalposts to base Dirk's "fitness" based on 6 games played in the Finals, hey, go nuts. And his Finals numbers were not bad, hardly "chokeworthy."

So not only are you using a tiny sample, your conclusion is dubious anyway.

Me, I'd look at a player's playoff numbers since the road to a championship requires success at all those levels. He's consistently great in the playoffs and we have a sample of 103 games to judge that.

Your way of looking at things is how we get the silly Spurfan argument "4 for 4 is better than 5 for 7!!!1!!1!!!"

[TD 21]

If you want to narrow your goalposts to base Dirk's "fitness" based on 6 games played in the Finals, hey, go nuts. And his Finals numbers were not bad, hardly "chokeworthy."

So not only are you using a tiny sample, your conclusion is dubious anyway.

Me, I'd look at a player's playoff numbers since the road to a championship requires success at all those levels. He's consistently great in the playoffs and we have a sample of 103 games to judge that.

Your way of looking at things is how we get the silly Spurfan argument "4 for 4 is better than 5 for 7!!!1!!1!!!"

It's not always about numbers. Sometimes it's about when, as opposed to how many. You play almost entire games and take as many shots as you please (as well as get awarded a boatload of free throws), inevitably, you're going to pile up numbers.

Face it, he choked in the Finals. I don't mean to hijack this thread, but it's true. No way Duncan, O'Neal, Bryant, etc. allow that to happen. Not when they have a superior team and what should have been an insurmountable lead. Then he follows it up by letting an eighth seed put 6-6 - 6-8 guys on him and get away with it.

Why is McGrady, who has excellent post season numbers, referred to as a choke artist, but Nowitzki isn't? I get that he's won a lot more in the playoffs, but he's also had much better teams around him. They've both never "won the big one", though.

No, you'll look at the same thing you always do: The fact that he's white.

[ALVAREZ6]

If you want to narrow your goalposts to base Dirk's "fitness" based on 6 games played in the Finals, hey, go nuts. And his Finals numbers were not bad, hardly "chokeworthy."

So not only are you using a tiny sample, your conclusion is dubious anyway.

Me, I'd look at a player's playoff numbers since the road to a championship requires success at all those levels. He's consistently great in the playoffs and we have a sample of 103 games to judge that.

Your way of looking at things is how we get the silly Spurfan argument "4 for 4 is better than 5 for 7!!!1!!1!!!"

This is why I stated that it's more of the Dallas Maverick franchise culture to choke rather than Dirk himself. Dirk is a great player and usually comes to play in the playoffs. His shot is so hard to defend, so when he's on, which is pretty common in the playoffs, he's hard to stop.

Really though, it comes down to the Mavs playing style in my opinion. They have great players usually, but it's often a heavy attack from range. It's not as balanced as the Spurs' attack, which has Tim inside who can do all of the dirty work and scoring down low, several players that can slash, and several that can shoot.

If your team relies more on outside shooting, you can be hot for stretches, but it's not as a sustainable attack that some other championship teams put on for display.

[MI21]

1) Dirk
2) Durant
3) Melo
4) Williams

[xellos88330]

Durant. I think he is the most versatile of the bunch.