NBA Power Rankings: Best Southern California Players - Johnson Ranks 9th Out of 34

[Buddahfan]

Baron Davis is a bum and has no business being in the current ranking.

He might not be.

The 1 - 5 were my picks based upon who was left over.

However, I do agree that Davis is a bum.

I was trying to guess who the writer was going to put in the top five based upon who I think is left though like I said I missed four guys so it could be that I missed a top five guy..

I probably wouldn't have listed him in the top 15 if I was making my own list and it may turn out that this writer won't either.

We shall see.

[RaptorDan]

You got that right Hotshot. A lazy, arrogant injury-prone bum to boot.

[Hotshot]

Baron Davis is a bum and has no business being in the current ranking.

[Buddahfan]

Ranking SoCal Ballers In The NBA

Nov 23 6:04a by Dexter Fishmore

The parameters are as follows: to be eligible, you need to have either graduated from a SoCal high school or played your college ball here. That first part excludes, for example, Brandon Jennings, who began his prep career at Compton Dominguez but finished it at Virginia's Oak Hill Academy. And by "SoCal" I mean the Los Angeles area broadly understood to include its innumerable suburbs and Orange County, but excluding San Diego, Fresno and Santa Barbara. By my count, this gives us a data set comprising 34 players scattered across 24 franchises.

And the only criterion is present-day swag. There will be no honoring geezers for past excellence (sorry, Tayshaun Prince) or wishcasting based on youngsters' potential. What we're asking, essentially, is if you were concerned solely with winning an NBA title this year, how much would you covet a given player? Let's start the countdown.

15. Jrue Holiday
14. Josh Childress
13. Trevor Ariza
12. C. Smith
11. M. Barnes
10. Arron Afflalo
09. Amir Johnson
08. Daren Collison
07. Taj Gibson
06. Tyson Chandler

Top Five coming soon.

I wouldn't think that DeRozan is in the top 5.

My guess the top five would include maybe in this order

5. O.J. Mayo
4. Baron Davis
3. Gilbert Arenas
2. K. Love
1. Russell Westbrook

9. Amir Johnson (Westchester). Amir was a high-school teammate of Trevor Ariza, who holds down the number 13 spot on this list. He was also the last high-schooler taken in the NBA draft. When he first showed promise as a Detroit Piston, some predicted a stardom for Amir that hasn't come to pass, but since joining the Toronto Raptors he's emerged as an awfully productive sixth man. He's a nasty inside pugilist who scraps on the boards, finishes efficiently and gets to the stripe. At the moment he leads the NBA in True Shooting Percentage and is second in offensive rebounding rate. He could be even better if he'd learn to stop hacking so much. For his career he averages over six fouls per 36 minutes, which doesn't help keep him on the floor.

Not in top 15 - I was able to come up with only 15, so according the authors count I am missing four. - I probably missed a top 5 guy
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Tayshun Prince
Austin Daye
Jordan Farmar
DeMar DeRozan
James Hardin
Jason Kapano
Earl Watson
Ryan Hollins
Dan Gadzuric
Nick Young
Brian Scalibrine
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
Jarron Collins
Jason Collins
Paul George



11-15

6 - 10