National Basketball Association - CBSSports.com
1. LBJ
2. Carmella
3. Pierce
4. Josh Howard
5. Deng
6. Caron Butler

8. Rashard Lewis
9. Durant
10. Jefferson
11. Artest
12. Josh Smith
13. Battier
14. Bowen
15. Maggette
16. Kirilenko
17. Jackson
18. Hill
19. Gay
20. Granger

And we wanted to swap #7 for #16?

Bowen at #14 is way too low.

Without his defense S.A. would probably not have won their last three tittles The 2001-02 season was his first with the Spurs.

That is the problem with ranking players using only stats, because there is no way to stat defense other with defensive rebounds, steals and blocked shots.

How do stat affect on shooting percentage and affect on your opponents scoring other than by plus/minus points? (However see my comments on that below).

How do you stat, getting into their heads like Rodman and Bad Boy Bill were an experts at. This affect is cumulative and can even carry over when someone like a Rodman or Bad Boy Bill went to the bench.

All of these very important things and other things are not quantifiable yet their affect on the outcome of games is very significant and in playoff games probably more significant than offensive stats.

All the great teams that have had consistent yearly top records and titles have done it because of defense, almost all of which except for defensive rebounding is not quantifiable as to their contribution to winning. Steals and blocked shots are not always a good thing, so one cannot just look at someone's steals and blocked shots and assume that they are playing good defense.

People try and use plus and minus points when a player is on the floor to help determine the player's contribution to a team's ability to win. However, while this calculation has some merit there are a number of big problems with it because to my knowledge the number

1. Is not adjusted for whom you are on the floor with. You may stop your opponent but the other 4 players on your team may play matador defense.
2. Is not adjusted for what the score was when you entered the game. (If you enter a game with a big lead it is most likely that your team will not outscore the opponent significantly or at all while you are on the floor).
3. Is not adjusted for time of game. Plus and minus points are more meaningful in the last quarter and especially in the last 6 minutes of a game. A player can build up nice plus/minus points but never be on the floor when the game is on the line.

Bottom line is that in my opinion the best way to judge players is by watching the games. Players like Sam Bowen and Michael Cooper will never have the greatest stats but their contribution to the Spurs and Lakers winning World Titles was/is immense.

i take all the ratings and throw them out the window.... how the heck can durant be rated #9 before he's even seen the tip off of a game....

why don't we just not play any games... give him rookie of the year...

give the title to say the suns.... and find something else to do.....


sorry for the grumble but the fact he's rated that high just blows my mind.....

Putting Durant on is pretty silly. Tay comes in #13 on the sprocket points list.

What about David Lee? Gerald Wallace?

And Grant Hill? Come on...

CBS' fantasy rankings has Tay at 16.

LeBron James
2 Carmelo Anthony
3 Paul Pierce
4 Luol Deng
5 Josh Smith s
6 Andre Iguodala
7 Caron Butler
8 Ron Artest
9 Rashard Lewis
10 Josh Howard
11 Antawn Jamison
12 Gerald Wallace
13 Mike Miller
14 Richard Jefferson
15 Danny Granger
16 Tayshaun Prince
17 Kevin Durant
18 Corey Maggette
19 Luke Walton
20 Marvin Williams

Fantasy rankings don't look at the intangibles that players brings to the table - defense, ballhandling, overall impact on the game.

I agree because they are going by how the players rank in the categories. Miller for instance will give you great 3-pt shooting.

1st rating seems a bit out of line as well. What do they base that on? Some guys feelings.

Hmmm ... Tay appears to be ranked WELL ahead of Kirilinko.

I think it is based on Kirilenko's poor last season. I think if both guys are on the top of their form, they'd be pretty close.

Well, that guy seems to know what he's talking about:
Columns Columnist - CBSSports.com

However, the rankings are very subjective and not everyone is going to agree.