Thursday, January 19, 2012

The Most Underrated Players in the NBA




                                     The Most Underrated
In the NBA there are a number of players who get the short end of the stick. They contribute so much to their team, and have the stats to back it up but get overshadowed by bigger, and more advertised players. So, for every position, I will give you the most underrated players in the NBA today. 

PG: Jamal Crawford POR PG/SG
Okay, I know he's not a point guard, but he can play the positon, and is really good as a bench player. Former Sixth Man of the Year and to put it simply, Crawford can score. Scoring 50 points for 3 different teams, he could easily be a starter in the league. 

SG: Monta Ellis GS SG/PG
Monta Ellis has been the force that has been leading the run and gun Golden State Warriors. Ellis, straight out of high school, has averaged at least 22 ppg in the last 3 years. He has a plethora of moves to get to the rim, and is one of the most unguardable players in the NBA when on a fastbreak. Why is he underrated? Well, Monta Ellis has never been an all-star, why? Every year he is overshadowed by another shooting guard, one more prominent and more successful. Kobe Bryant has been the canopy on the forest that is Monta's career. Every year when All-Star voting is started, who do all the fans vote for? Not Monta Ellis. They vote for Kobe, because he has been an All-Star starter since I can remember. He has been in that position so much that, it has become the norm. What if Bryant wasn't the starter? What if one year the fans vote for Ellis instead? Imagine the media, the angry LA fans. But is he deserving of it? Yes. In past years yes. He has played like an All-Star, but he never gets voted in. So, as consolation, Ellis gets my vote as the most underrated player in the NBA. 

SF: Luol Deng SF/PF/SG
Pre-Rose era, so mid '00's, Luol Deng was going to be the man in Chicago. But due to injuries he never fulfilled his potential. This year, and in recent years, Deng has played extremely well. On a very good Chicago team, he has been the glue guy for them. Providing big buckets, solid defense, and hard work, he is, in the mind of many, an All-Star. But, just like Ellis, Deng's career has been overshadowed by another advertised name in the NBA. LeBron James is a perennial All-Star for the forward position in the East, so people dont really look at Deng. Considering he made the All-Defensive Second Team and has had 3 solid years with the Bulls, he deserves a little more credit than he is given.

PF: LaMarcus Aldridge POR PF/SF
Here is another story of a good player being blanketed by another player. LaMarcus Aldridge, for years has been underappreciated in Portland, because of Brandon Roy. Now that Roy is gone, the star is still not the best in the West. Once again a more advertised name has put Mr. Aldridge under the bus. Who? Nowitzki. Another player who has snowed on another players roof. Aldridge now, is playing like an All-Star and at an almost MVP form. To put things simply, he deserves a little more love. 

C: Marc Gasol MEM C
Finally Marc Gasol. Another glue guy for another good team. He is very fundamentally sound, and is not afraid to battle down low in the block. Being constantly compared to his All-Star brother Pa, has lit a fire inside this man that cannot be extinguished easily. On a team that has been known to be a surprise to some, he has been a solid and stable presence.

So, there you have them. By position, the most underrated players in the league, please feel free to leave comments, and if we like them we will put them in our best comments tab.

-Cantrell

1 comment:

  1. I think Tony Parker is the most underrated point guard in the league. ESPN constantly says the big 3 of San Antonio is getting old, yet Tony Parker is only 29. I think that if he did not have both Manu Ginobli and Tim Duncan through the years he has been playing he could have easily been a MVP caliber-player on a team where he is the primary option.

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