Toronto Sun NBA Players Poll

["frank dele" <frank_dele@hotmail.com>]

Hello All,

  Just wanted to send a quick note about the Toronto Sun's Fifth 
Annual NBA Player Poll which appeared over the weekend.  I don't 
believe that this available on the website, so I though a quick 
review would be interesting.  

Scores are tabulated by a panel of 5 NBA beat reporters and local TV 
commentators.  The biggest name is Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune, 
who hitched on the wheels of Michael Jordan for many years with a 
book and a plethora of TV appearances.  The others are Canadian 
reporters and TV faces.  

Before I start, I found out an interesting fact a few days ago.  Does 
anyone know how many NBA records Larry Bird owns?  Any ideas as to 
which records he does own?  Answer later.

A perfect score would be 25.  (5 X 5)  The 10 best players are in 
order ... Shaq, Karl(both with a score of 24), Stockton, Kidd, 
Duncan, Webber, Payton, Grant Hill, Olajuwon, and Pippen.


As for the Celts : 
Kenny Anderson and Dana Barros both tied at PG 
with a score of 10 (T30)  on par with such illustrious talent as 
Jacque Vaughn, Jon Barry, Childs and Ward from NY, Muggsy and Bimbo, 
while just ahead of Bobby Sura and Bobby Jackson)

At 2 : with Allen Iverson leading the way at 20.5, Ron Mercer is tied 
for 19 (12.5) with among others, Stackhouse, JR Rider, Chauncey 
Billups, and Wes Person.

Greg Minor (5.0) may be a tad low tied at 64 with Fred Hoiberg, 
Bryce Drew and Ed Gray (who I also think is a bit low).

Marlon Garnett holds the sole distinction of being the worst player 
in the NBA with a rating of 2.5, meaning he received the lowest 
possible rating from all 5 panelists.  

At Small Forward, Paul Pierce finished tied for eighth at 15.0 tied 
with Joe Smith, Kendall Gill, Bryon Russell etc.  

Tied for 59 was Bruce Bowen (7.5) with Eric Williams, Nowitzki, 
Ferry, etc. while McCarty was at the bottom of the 3's at 5.0 with 
Charles O'Bannion, Keith Booth among the bigger names.  

Best performance by a Celtic was Antoine (17.5, t14 among PF) maybe a 
bit low for him given he was tied with in my opinion, inferior talent 
in Rasheed, D Manning, Alan Henderson, and Horace Grant.  Popeye was 
not rated.  

At Centre, Vitaly (12.5, t 14) shared a ranking with K Willis, 
Geiger, Ike Austin, all 3 Utah C,and Longely.  To my astonishment, 
also at 12.5 was Brad Miller (!) from Charlotte.  Dwayne and 
Tony Battie (both t56, 5.0) better keep their power windows closed as 
their share the centre basement (and the accompanying poor parking 
space) with among others, noted thief Charles Shackleford.  

Team Rankings(11 each team) had the C's at the bottom just behind 
Denver while Utah and Portland were the cream of the crop.  

Pitino is # 21 among coaches, Chris Wallace 25 among GM's.  

For me, the saddest part is that the rankings, for the most part seem 
to be pretty accurate.  I guess for a Celtic fan, we should take 
comfort in the fact that these ranking reflect the past 2 years, not 
future potential or performance.  

If anyone has any individual inquiries, I will be happy to respond.  
It took a transit strike here in Toronto to get me to type this much. 
 I hope some found it to be informative.

Larry Legend has only 1 record listed in the nba record book.  Of all 
things, it is most offensive rebounds in a playoff series.  

Kudos on the great list,

Frank D.


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