I was just placing my daily NBA all-star votes and was realizing just how difficult it is for a player to be considered in the "top ten" in the league. In the east the stars aren't that numerous....Derozan is certainly in the top 5. The west is another matter though.
So I began to wonder if historically Vince Carter and Chris Bosh were "top ten" players and if so for how long. I would assume that they were victims of the same "ignore Canada" bias which exists now, though Carter attained a lot of notoriety with his dunk contest win. Looking at how many times/years they were top 10....or ever in the rarefied air of top 5 might be a reasonable way to decide the GROAT question.....if it matters. But that's what fan sites are all about no?
I followed NBA closely through the70s, 80s and first half of the 90s but not as much in the late 90s/early 00s (too busy coaching). Steve Nash's early career got me back into it. So I wasn't super aware of VC in his Raptor years.
So Carter was All second team once, All third team once. Bosh was All Second team once. When one looks at the other players who populated those teams it would be very hard to say that Bosh was top 10 more than that one time and Carter ......maybe twice. I suspect people remember Carter as spectacular but in those years players like Duncan and Garnett and Shaq and Jordan were all NBA year after year. The data would suggest that Carter's peak wasn't really any better than Demar right now.
Lowry was All third team two years ago and Demar last year. The way it looks now Demar might well make one of the teams again this year....highly unlikely to be All NBA. Given that a lot of the center position picks in the past were not that good (Andrew Bynum!?) a third team pick might actually be a top ten player.
I personally would have said Kyle was the Raptor's best player for the past 3 years. Demar is clearly on top this year. Given that his performance this year will continue similar to present I think he will arguably be a top 10 player...though hard to compare with a Cousins, Embiid, Davis because of position.
Someone who has the time and inclination could do this analysis with more detail but my view would be that with consistency and longevity and NOW with the past two years of peak performance....Demar Derozan is the Greatest Raptor of All Time. The non performance based issues....personality, loyalty etc would seem to be in his favour as well. I wasn't a big fan during the infamous playoff loss to Philly when VC went to his graduation ceremony the day of the game. I must say though that it seems a very selfish act which may well have had a big psychological impact on his teammates. I can't see Derozan or Lowry taking that chance.
So I began to wonder if historically Vince Carter and Chris Bosh were "top ten" players and if so for how long. I would assume that they were victims of the same "ignore Canada" bias which exists now, though Carter attained a lot of notoriety with his dunk contest win. Looking at how many times/years they were top 10....or ever in the rarefied air of top 5 might be a reasonable way to decide the GROAT question.....if it matters. But that's what fan sites are all about no?
I followed NBA closely through the70s, 80s and first half of the 90s but not as much in the late 90s/early 00s (too busy coaching). Steve Nash's early career got me back into it. So I wasn't super aware of VC in his Raptor years.
So Carter was All second team once, All third team once. Bosh was All Second team once. When one looks at the other players who populated those teams it would be very hard to say that Bosh was top 10 more than that one time and Carter ......maybe twice. I suspect people remember Carter as spectacular but in those years players like Duncan and Garnett and Shaq and Jordan were all NBA year after year. The data would suggest that Carter's peak wasn't really any better than Demar right now.
Lowry was All third team two years ago and Demar last year. The way it looks now Demar might well make one of the teams again this year....highly unlikely to be All NBA. Given that a lot of the center position picks in the past were not that good (Andrew Bynum!?) a third team pick might actually be a top ten player.
I personally would have said Kyle was the Raptor's best player for the past 3 years. Demar is clearly on top this year. Given that his performance this year will continue similar to present I think he will arguably be a top 10 player...though hard to compare with a Cousins, Embiid, Davis because of position.
Someone who has the time and inclination could do this analysis with more detail but my view would be that with consistency and longevity and NOW with the past two years of peak performance....Demar Derozan is the Greatest Raptor of All Time. The non performance based issues....personality, loyalty etc would seem to be in his favour as well. I wasn't a big fan during the infamous playoff loss to Philly when VC went to his graduation ceremony the day of the game. I must say though that it seems a very selfish act which may well have had a big psychological impact on his teammates. I can't see Derozan or Lowry taking that chance.
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