Pec Deck 110/6
Hammer Strength Chest 55s/3
Nautilus PullOver 110/6
Pulldown 110/6
Deadlift 195/6
Two articles from slamonline.com caught my attention today. One was concerning the whole Greg Oden injury situation. Another focused on a more interesting issue in my opinion. Major debates in the NBA revolve around Stephon Marbury, Lebron vs Wade vs Kobe, Shaq and his comedic jabs and New York circa 2010. This article spoitlights a rather understated debate, at least now a days.
Up until recently, the question of who the better point guard is between Deron Williams of Utah and Chris Paul of New Orleans seemed lopsided in favour of CP3. He is more exciting, dynamic, charismatic, and fantasy team friendly. It seemed as though he would routinely carry the Hornets on his back.
Deron Williams, in contrast, is more of tortoise to Paul's hare. He is rather quick, but Deron is more of a power oriented guard. His game is predicated more on pick and rolls and a more effective outside jumpshot. As a point guard, Deron prefers the ol' "coach runs the team through me" paradigm. Chris Paul would routinely wave off Coach Byron Scott to do his own thing weaving, passing, and scoring at will. To both their credits, both styles have worked and both players are to be considered the top point guards in the league.
My point of contention lies in who will have a more accomplished career down the line and a lot of it really has much to do with their respective styles both as point guards and as overall players. The line between who is considered a fine floor general and who is considered a overly free wheeling ball hog can be easily crossed by point guards with Chris Paul's style. As the teams best player, the Hornets' offensive schemes centre around CP3's abilities. Its often been said that no team has had its best player as it point guard since Isiah Thomas was running things as a bad boy. Players like Thomas and Paul are tasked not only with running the machine, but being the teams best weapon at the same time. While this can lead to championship rings in the case of Thomas, this could also lead to a Stephon Marbury type of situation. The flaw about having your best offensive threat being your point guard is that more often then not, they will be the smallest players on the floor. They would not be able to physically impose their will on games in the same way that wings or bigs would.
Deron Williams strikes some as a system point guard but I prefer to call him a systems point guard. The key difference being that he is not a great point guard because of a coach implemented system. He is a great point guard because he implements a coach's system flawlessly. One only look at the Jazz's current winning streak despite the absence of Carlos Boozer. I wouldn't say D-Will is the teams best player, he is however responsible for the team's success.
At the end of the day, should the structure and philosophy of both teams remain the same, I believe Deron Williams may accomplish more in his career than Chris Paul. Teams considered dynasties would contain more than one piece considered to be an elite team in the league. If either the Jazz or the Hornets go on to become championship contenders, they may need a few more high caliber players. With that said, a point guard like Williams would be more effective in bringing together a team and managing their collective focus. Chris Paul would always be the focus of any team he is apart of that doesn't contain Lebron, Wade, Kobe, Howard, or Duncan. I just believe that a team can't win championships when their floor general is also responsible for and probably wants to score his teams points. I may be missing something about Chris Paul's game but Deron Willims just screams elite floor general to me. Coupled with another player who can be his teams primary scorer and built around a team of good role players, a Deron Williams lead team is more balanced and more efficient.
I find this to be a very appropriate nickname for Kevin Durant. Apart from the obvious, lengthy reasons, Durant is probably as deadly as a tarantula. When the debate between Oden or Durant was going on, people always fell back on the fact that Greg Oden was the big man that a team can build a dynasty around. Kevin Durant is 6'10" with an armspan that is around 8'10". When he fills out in a few years he can be anywhere from 220 to 240 lbs. (Big If). I think that would place him within "big man" territory especially if compared to the likes of Chris Bosh and Dirk Nowitzki. Sure is has a perimeter oriented game now but back in Texas, he showed flashes of brilliance in the post with his moves and insane rebounding ability. We all know about his incredible outside game. I'm sure added weight would only encourage him to bang a little more. Kevin Durant has the potential to be a very dangerous inside/ outside player and would be the catharsis in the evolution of the combo forward that Kevin Garnett started all those years ago. Ironically, Kevin Durant has stated he feels that he can affect the game on the boards and on rebounds the way Kevin Garnett does. Combine this with an elite offensive game that is head and shoulders above Garnett's and you have a player who I picked to have gone first over all in the NBA draft. All of his problems aside; I still believe he will become a world class player, Greg Oden is still a guy who fits an existing archetype in basketball, even if its a rapidly vanishing one. Durant on the other hand, can become a player who breaks the mould the way Wilt, Oscar, Magic, Michael, Lebron, and Dwight have done before him. He is once in a lifetime. He is the DURANTULA.
*Credit for picture goes to J.E. Skeets who posted this on slamonline.com
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