http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/blog/index?name=simmons Q: This is what you wrote about Joakim Noah in your most recent blog: "He's a winner, he's always in the right place at the right time, he always makes the right decision on either end, he doesn't care about stats, he's immensely fun to play with and he makes 5-6 important plays per game that will not be reflected in the stats." Couldn't that exact, I mean EXACT, same thing have been said about Shane Battier in 2001? Do you still think Noah should be a top-four pick knowing that? --Neil A. Johnson, Peoria, Ill. SG: Hell yeah! What's wrong with Shane Battier? Is he not having a big enough impact on Houston's season for you? He's the most underrated Intangibles Guy in the entire league -- you can't measure him by stats, you can only measure him by watching the games and seeing all the little things he does from game to game. And he's a fantastic locker room guy. That's why I was such a big proponent of the Battier-for-Gay/Swift trade last summer. If you did the 2001 Draft over again (which was seriously loaded, by the way) and every team got a do-over for its pick, here's how the top 11 would go: 1. Wash -- Gilbert Arenas (No. 30 originally) 2. Clips -- Pau Gasol (3) 3. Atlanta -- Tony Parker (28) 4. Chicago -- Joe Johnson (10) 5. G-State -- Mehmet Okur (37) 6. Grizz -- Zach Randolph (19) 7. Jersey -- Eddy Curry (4) 8. Cleveland -- Shane Battier (6) 9. Detroit -- Jason Richardson (5) 10. Boston -- Gerald Wallace (25) 11. Boston -- Richard Jefferson (13) So let's say Noah evolves into a more talented, big man's version of Battier ... why would this be a bad thing?
Man that draft was loaded big time Might even compare to the 2003 draft. Anyway Bill Simmons said it right about shane. He does all the intangibles and is a true professional. Props to Shane!!
simmons does great writing and humor but the guy is like jim rome when it comes to sports. he has zero sports analysis ability...but I will be happy to see rockets respect anywhere I can find it
hardly, the 2003 draft had 4 of the top 5 as cant miss and if darko comes around to be a respectable player then possibly 5. the 2001 draft is you look at it the majority of the picks were high after the "lottery" (after pick 13) most of the top 13 picks didnt even make the list, goes to show you that this draft was more of a "potential" based draft than skills. Curry really hasnt come on decently until this past december. notable missing players in the top 10 of that draft: kwame brown, tyson chandler, eddie griffin, desiangia diop, kendrick perkins its a shame really that players like arenas, randolph and okur fell so low due to the GM's love with potential.
Most of the so called analysts have crappy analysis abilities (see Barkley, Charles or Smith, Kenny) IMO. At least Simmons is entertaining, and he's right a lot of the time, which is enough to keep me reading his columns.
wohhh wohh wohh... i like battier and all, but him before Richard Jefferson? And Gerald Wallace before Richard Jefferson?
gay's going for 30 tonight. he's had a nice stretch since being inserted into the starting lineup. not to derail this thread because I don't know if the rockets would be as good with yao out of the lineup without battier. I've been surprised about what he is doing. but the early reports of Gay's demise might be premature. we'll see.
Playing in the rockets can make shane more popular. not only we are a strong team, we have T-mac and Yao the billion fans Ming stuck in the middle.
Good to see stuff like this, especially from someone that everyone reads. People like me have been so wrong about Shane so many times, it's amazing that (every summer) we forget how frickin' brilliant he is during the winter.
Umm, yeah. You wouldn't take Gasol over Parker? Or if you wouldn't, do you really there's that big of a difference between them? I mean, we're not exactly talking Gasol over Lebron or Wade. I mean, it's Parker. Yes, good numbers in the regular season, but not exactly a world-beater in the playoffs.
is that the guy who crashed his SUV while doing something in the driver's seat? he is a DUM Driving Under the influence of Masturbating DUM griffin.
Yes, Gasol over Parker. I think most people would actually do that so no its not some insane suggestion.
