The NBA season is nearly half-way through and there have been lots of big performances and events so far. So we (Abideen Jallow, Raymond (RJ) Brown, and Kellen Morris) are going to see where our opinions differ half-way through the nearly nine month long season.
1. Who’s The Best Point Guard in the NBA?
Kellen: Steph Curry is far and away the best point guard right now. He is currently averaging 29.4 points per game, with the next best (in terms of point guards) coming in at 26.4 per game from Damian Lillard. Curry is a two-time MVP, the best shooter to ever exist and is currently the most important player on one of the most talented teams to ever get assembled. And no, I don’t consider James Harden a point guard, he’s a shooting guard, not a point.
Abideen: The best guard in the nba is Russell Westbrook. Westbrook can literally do everything you could ask for in a basketball player. He has excellent scoring ability, passing ability, rebounding ability, steal ability, overall defensive efficiency, and tremendous athleticism. He is also averaging a triple double which is extremely impressive.
RJ: The best point guard in the NBA is Lonzo Ball. Lonzo Ball has a great feel for the game of basketball and great height. The average NBA point guard length is 6’3 and Lonzo is standing at 6’5. Lonzo’s height helps him a lot on defense as he can guard multiple positions and that is why he is being looked at, as an all defense candidate. Lonzo Ball is the best passer on his team, a team that consist of one of the greatest passers in NBA history Lebron James.
2.Best Team so far?
Kellen: The Denver Nuggets, they currently hold the first seed in the brutally competitive western conference with a 25-11 record. The Nuggets have had a hold on the one seed for most of the season and currently have two candidates for most improved in Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. There wasn’t a clear cut answer for this, but OKC started off bad, then put it together, Golden State is currently in it’s worst stretch since Steve Kerr took over, and Toronto has been more inconsistent than one would like. The only other team you could say for this question is Milwaukee, but I simply feel Denver has played better than them up to this point in the season.
Abideen: The best team in the NBA is the Toronto Raptors. Everyone on that team can score the basketball and their team defense is almost impenetrable. Kawhi Leonard is the best defender in the league, so him being surrounded by shooters excels his offensive game.
RJ: The best team in the league so far is the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors have four all stars in the lineup and the fifth set to make his season debut on January 18th. The warriors have won the past two finals and won three of the last four. They have scorers all around so if one of the stars are cold, another just picks up the slack. With Cousins in the lineup four of the five starters can explode for 50 at any given time.
3. Best Individual Performance?
Kellen: James Harden’s 50 point triple double against the Los Angeles Lakers was only the sixth in NBA history, and his second. He scored 50 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds, shooting 54% from the field, and 18-19 from the free throw line (95%). Not only that, but his team also convincingly beat the Lebron-led Lakers. This was hands down the best performance so far this year, considering it was only the sixth time in NBA history someone had done it.
Abideen: The best individual performance was by Jusuf Nurkic. He broke an NBA record by becoming the first player to ever record a 5×5 stat line. He racked up 24 points, 23 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 steals, and 5 blocks against the Sacramento Kings.
RJ: The best individual performance this season has been Klay Thompson making 14 three pointers on just five dribbles. Those 14 threes were the most in NBA history, he scored 52 points in all in that game in just 27 minutes.
4. Most Unguardable?
Kellen: James Harden is without a doubt the most unguardable player in the NBA. Don’t believe me, show me one time he was stopped in a one on one situation this year, I’ll be waiting for a while.
RJ: Kevin Durant is the most unguardable as he is 7’0 feet tall with a top jumper in the league, top dribble moves, and great athleticism.
Abideen: The most unguardable player is Giannis Antetokounmpo. He is 6’11, 242 pounds, and has a 7’3 wingspan. These are freakish character traits that are unstoppable on the court. Nobody can stop Giannis, everytime he drives to the paint, his long strides and physique allow him to bully his defender.
5. Most Underrated?
Kellen: Tobias Harris of the Los Angeles Clippers is the most underrated player in my opinion. Tobias is currently averaging 21 points and 8 rebounds per game and is leading the new-look Los Angeles Clippers to a surprising 23-16 and a 4th seed in the west. Tobias is a major under the radar all-star candidate for the west.
Abideen: The most underrated player is Andre Drummond. He has averaged the most rebounds in the league for consecutive years, but still gets snubbed when it comes time for all-star voting. He works hard to box out and get the board which ultimately leads to second chance points, changing the outcome of the game.
RJ: The most underrated player in the league is Kemba Walker. Kemba is 12th in the league in scoring as he is averaging 25.1 points a game but he is often being overlooked as he has been doing this for awhile but only has one all star appearance. To go along with his 25 points per game he is also averaging almost 6 assist a game.
6. Most Overrated?
Kellen: Russell Westbrook, I know he has all the stats and all the triple doubles, but I simply don’t think he’s as good as everybody thinks he is. I do think he is a top ten player, but he is in the bottom three of that list, and I think he is the third best point guard, but he is not any higher than that. Some people want to put Westbrook ahead of stars like Stephen Curry, James Harden, Giannis, or anyone not named Durant or James. Westbrook is great for getting stats, but I would much rather have Kyrie Irving when it comes time to win games. Westbrook’s shot selection, low field goal percentage and how he sometimes plays with reckless abandonment is what really gets me about him.
Abideen: The most overrated player is John Wall. Don’t get me wrong, John Wall is a good player, it’s just that he isn’t as consistent as other point guards are. His midrange and three ball aren’t falling frequently, but his athleticism makes up for it. His main threat to the defense is his paint penetration.
RJ: The most overrated player in the league is Kyle Lowry. People consider Lowry a franchise player but he has a great regular season but when the playoffs comes around he gets cold. For you to be a top 10 player in this league you have to have great playoff performances but it is almost as if Lowry is scared when he plays in the playoffs.
7. Team most likely to win the finals?
Kellen: The Golden State Warriors, I know they are on a bit of a cold-streak right now, but they’ll be able to flip the switch come playoff time in April. They learned the hard way not to exert too much effort into the regular season when they went 73-9 then failed to win the finals. I’ll be change my opinion once they go down in a playoff series after three or more games. Additionally, Golden State has four all-stars with a fifth healing from injury, this team is simply too talented not to win the finals.
Abideen: The team most likely to win the finals is the Houston Rockets. James Harden has been leading his team game-after-game without all-star point guard Chris Paul. He has been able to drop 40 points in consecutive games like it’s nothing. When Chris Paul returns from injury, the Rockets offense will be unstoppable.
RJ: They Took both the ones I had in mind. I have nothing more to add
8. Down by two, five seconds left, who do you want taking the shot?
Kellen: Kyrie, if you have any questions, watch the final minute of the 2016 NBA finals.
Abideen: I would want LeBron James taking the last shot in the clutch. LeBron has hit several game winning shots in his career. He never fails to lead his team to victory so why would he falter now?
RJ: Taking the last shot I want the ball to be in the hands of James Harden. Harden has seemed unstoppable at most times this year as he is the reigning mnmmn MVP and is leading the league in scoring. He is also a premier passer who can set up his teammates in crunchtime as he is top 3 in assist every year.