Ranking the best NBA power forwards, summer of 2011

[v1ncelis]

Dirk Nowitzki
Amare Stoudemire
Lamarcus Aldridge
Zach Randolph
Chris Bosh
Pau Gasol
Blake Griffin
Kevin Garnett
Kevin Love
Josh Smith

[Ikill]

Chris Boshs Raptors won just as many games as Amares Knicks this year despite having a much worse team. Bosh>LA Randolph Amare none of these guys could win 40 games with last years Raptors.

[insidehoops]

Rankings are fun, but even better, put one sentence next to each player as to what makes the player special. Being as specific as possible. Like, not just that he can score, but HOW he scores, etc.

[KGMN]

SMFH

L.A was arugubaly the best PF in the regular season this season and he exposed Love during their head to head meeting.

I hope your not serious

Of course he was arguably the best power forward of the regular season. You can always argue for any player. Statistically, you could argue that Kevin Love was the best power forward in the regular season. Per minute, Kevin averaged nearly double the rebounds that LMA had. More than double if you take Nowitzki's stats. Kevin hit three-pointers like crazy last season, shooting 41.7% beyond the arc, while Aldridge averaged 17.4% and Dirk averaged 39.3%. According to the following article, if you replaced Kevin Love with an average power forward, the Wolves would only have 3 wins rather than 17 last season: http://dberri.wordpress.com/2011/05/...ekend-podcast/. So yes, you can argue that LaMarcus Aldridge was the best power forward in the regular season, but you can argue that for everyone.

No, I would not trade Kevin Love directly for LaMarcus Aldridge if given the chance, but I wouldn't do it for Portland either. Aldridge is simply too dominant anywhere near the basket. The only reason I had LMA 8th in the power forwards is because there are possibly the top 2 Timberwolves ever, and then there's Dirk, Zach Randolph (who absolutely dominated last season), and Amare. Maybe I should've had Pau Gasol lower, but I didn't put too much thought in my rankings.

[8BeastlyXOIAD]

Chris Boshs Raptors won just as many games as Amares Knicks this year despite having a much worse team. Bosh>LA Randolph Amare none of these guys could win 40 games with last years Raptors.

I agree with you on Bosh being better than Amare and Zach, but not L.A.

He was a fvcking beast when Brandon went down with injuries and took that team to the playoffs in the Western Conference

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/gamelo...arcus-aldridge

Take in his numbers for Jan-Feb

[knickswin]

Rankings are fun, but even better, put one sentence next to each player as to what makes the player special. Being as specific as possible. Like, not just that he can score, but HOW he scores, etc.

Okay, I'lll explain my rankings:
1.) Dirk--this is pretty obvious, but he's arguably the best scorer in the NBA and to me the best offensive weapon because of the mismatches he provides and how he spaces the floor. His all-around game is underrated, he's elite at passing out of double teams, a very good rebounder, and while his man-to-man defense is lacking, he's a good help defender and always at least tries on that end.
2.) Amar'e--to me he's the second best scoring power forward in the league behind Dirk. This season he proved that he doesn't need an elite PG to create for him to get his points--although it certainly helps him to score more efficiently. In fact, he made Ray Felton--a very average passing point guard--look like one of the best passing point guards in the game for a while. When his jumper is falling--which is often--he's pretty much unguardable. His rebounding is average and his defense is usually very poor, but if he's paying attention and trying he's not a total sieve on that end of the court since his man-to-man in the post is more adequate than you would think.
3.) Pau--he had a terrible playoffs, but he was very good in the beginning of the regular season and he has one of the best resumes of any of the power forwards so I'm going to treat the playoffs as more or less an aberration. He's probably the most traditionally skilled of any big men in the NBA, a very good passsing big man, a very good rebounder, and an above average defender. I put him below Amar'e and Dirk because you almost never see him take over games with his scoring and he gets bullied around too much.
4.) LaMarcus--I didn't watch too many Portland games this season, but I liked what I saw out of him. He was definitely deserving of an All-Star spot. He's one of the better defenders of the elite power forwards--arguably the best. He has a very good back to the basket game and a nice midrange jumper. I debated putting him ahead of Pau because he took on more of the scoring burden for his team than Pau did, but I gave Pau the edge because of his resume and the fact that LA didn't step his game up that much during the playoffs.
5.) ZBo--probably the best scorer out of the low block out of all the power forwards. Very fundamentally sound, skilled scorer. He still takes bad shots (his midrange J is not as good as he thinks it is) but he showed good passing ability during the playoffs. His rebounding is a bit overrated because he doesn't box out and takes away potential put-back opportunities from his teammates. His defense still isn't good, but at least he pays attention and tries on that end this year.
6.) Bosh--he had a bad year as the third option on his team. He's not a great off the ball player since he doesn't play pick and roll very well, but I think part of the problem is Miami's unsophisticated offensive system. He's still a very skilled scorer one-on-one (when he gets the ball), a decent rebounder, and a very good PnR defender

I'll explain the rest later . . .

[Ikill]

I agree with you on Bosh being better than Amare and Zach, but not L.A.

He was a fvcking beast when Brandon went down with injuries and took that team to the playoffs in the Western Conference

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/gamelo...arcus-aldridge

Take in his numbers for Jan-Feb

There close but Chris Bosh is still better at carrying a team when the Raptors won 47 games in 2007 he had a much worse team than Aldridge did this year. Chris Bosh is also a better rebounder passer and a more efficient scorer

[kaiiu]

Amare>>> Bosh. He was better in PHX and he is better now.

[Scoooter]

False.

So Blake that can jump out of the gym, but can't shoot beyond 8 feet, can't block shots, and can't shoot free throws is better than Amare who can also jump out of the gym, averages 2 blocks a game, has a money jumper from 15, and shoots 80% from the line?

Not yet, maybe, but Blake scores a ton of points, is a great passer, and an excellent rebounder. He could be a Hall of Famer.

[Ikill]

dirk
amare
zach
gasol
bosh
la
duncan
griffin
kg
love


it's funny that the people who rank love low because of his team record rank blake high who has also a bad team record and he plays with better teammates

17 wins and 32 wins with a ton of injuries is a huge diffrence Blake can also create his own shot while Love can't.

[8BeastlyXOIAD]

17 wins and 32 wins with a ton of injuries is a huge diffrence Blake can also create his own shot while Love can't.

Blake is also a better playmaker, finisher, and better defender.

IMO this "Kevin Love - Blake Griffin" comparison isn't even close

[Ikill]

Blake is also a better playmaker, finisher, and better defender.

IMO this "Kevin Love - Blake Griffin" comparison isn't even close

yep the only reason people think its close is cause of the numbers

[blablabla]

17 wins and 32 wins with a ton of injuries is a huge diffrence Blake can also create his own shot while Love can't.

i also ranked him two spots over love

[swe_suns]

1.Dirk Nowitzki
2.LaMarcus Aldridge
3.Pau Gasol
4.Chris Bosh
5.Blake Griffin
6.Amare Stoudemire
7.Zach Randoplh
8.Josh Smith
9.Kevin Love
10.Serge Ibaka/Kevin Garnett

HM:Carlos Boozer, David West, Kris Kardashian, Andrea Barganani, Lamar Kardashian, Elton Brand

u have got to be joking...

[NBAller]

Dirk
Bosh
STAT
Blake
LA
Zbo
Pau