the all decade team.

Now that the decade of 2000-2010 is almost done... We basically have a year and 4 months to go. Who have been the top players of the decade, counting those players who did well like in the early part of the decade. Remember, I'm not asking who's the best now, but which 12 players deserve to be on the all decade team like they got in the 2k series. No seperation in east or west considering alot of guys switched conference. Offer an explanation for some players atleast.

starting 5

pg- Jason Kidd (probably the best PG of this century, Triple double machine, a decent scorer some years. In my opinion one of the best point guards of all time.)

sg- Kobe Bryant ( This is a give me, one of the most dominant scorers in NBA history, and is basically unstopable. )

Sf- Lebron James ( This is a hard one when I think back to guys like McGrady and Pierce, but Lebron has done more in his first years in the league then just about anyone, and I believe he will retire as one of the best players ever.)

PF- Tim Duncan ( It was either Timmy or Kevin Garnett but both of these guys did amazine jobs at the turn of the century, Tim Duncan has just been the heart and soul of the spurs, leading them to 3 championships.

C- Shaquille O'neal (This was an easy choice but Shaq was completely dominant up until a year or two ago, and even though he isn't great now I don't think any other Center can match up with his dominance in the early 00's)

Bench (in no particular order)

Allen Iverson
Kevin Garnett
Dirk Nowitzki
Steve Nash
Ray Allen
Tracy McGrady
Elton Brand
Paul Pierce

C - Shaq
PF - Duncan
SF - LeBron
SG - Kobe
PG - Iverson
----------
Garnett
Kidd
Nash
Dirk
McGrady
Pierce
Wade
----IR----
Ray Ray
Billups
Amare

Now that the decade of 2000-2010 is almost done... We basically have a year and 4 months to go.

Yes, but the seasons are offset. Is 2001-2010 (ten seasons) the decade, or is 2000-2009 (ten seasons) the decade with this season being the last? So does this decade start with 1999-2000 or 2000-01? Or 2001-02?

Anyway. I'll give it a whirl off the top of my head as quick as possible. And take liberties with positions. (As Shaq is the only center in major consideration.) As of right now:
First Team: O'Neal, Duncan, Garnett, Bryant, Nash
Second Team: Nowitzki, Marion, LeBron, Pierce, Billups
Third Team: Wallace, Brand, Carter, McGrady, Allen/Iverson
"IR": Kidd, Cassell

If there's one year left, Amare probably makes it, if there's two, I'd say he definitely does, barring another missed season. Yao too. Those two are wildcards who could make the whole thing reshuffle. I cut them off, after doing a check, because they didn't have 15,000 minutes.

After the 09-10 season.

i like benji's teams. but then i think lebron will eventually take garnett's spot in ur first team. if not, will be really really close. nash deserves to be up there in first team cuz of back to back mvp. hope to see him finish strong in this decade. as for the 3rd team, instead of wallace, i'd expect to see dwight, amare, or yao. but overall, benji's decade list is the closest to what i think would be.

C: Shaq
PF: Duncan
SF: LeBron
SG: Kobe
PG: Nash

Bench:

Kidd
Garnett
Iverson
Nowitzki
Amare
Dwight Howard
Arenas

IR

Yao
McGrady
Ginobili

I put them on IR because McGrady is a great player but he didn't show it on playoffs as Yao Ming. And Ginobili because he was very important in the San Antonio's dinasty

C - Shaq
F - Duncan
F - Garnett
G - Kobe
G - AI

I'd go with Shaq, Duncan, Garnett, Kobe and AI as the starting five with Nowitzki, McGrady, LeBron, Allen, Carter, Kidd and Brand rounding out the bench. If I had to pick three injured reserve/alternates I'd go with Wade, Yao and Amare.

C=Shaq
PF=Duncan
SF=Garnett
SG=KOBE
PG=KIDD

BENCH
Nash
Anthony
Pierce
R. Wallce
Yao
AI
J. O'neal

RR:
Carter
Allen

This TEAM BASE ON PLAYER EXP...

Im not going to put guys who were drafted after the 2001 Season cause it would be really unfair to compare the uprising stars to the guys who has been all-stars for years.

First Team
C: Shaq (Most physically dominating Center)
PF: Duncan (Made a living out of fundamentals)
SF: Garnett (Change how people think of the PF spot because of speed and versatility)
SG: Kobe (Most all-around scorer of this decade)
PG: Kidd (has been doing what nash, paul and deron are doing for more than a decade)

Bench
Iverson (the guy is a creator, not a scorer, not a passer, but creates)
Allen (best pure shooter of the 2000's even compared to Peja)

I dont know who else to put so
McGrady (Kobe without clutch except for that magic night against SAS)
Camby (Behind Shaq, i would take him at Center)
Pierce (prolific scorer but i hate how he moves on the court; slow but effective)
Nowitzki (Best foreign player ever to play in the NBA)

C- Shaq, This choice needs no explanation. And even if it did I'm sure everyones listed them.

PF- Tim Duncan, Easily one of the most disliked players in the L because of how he plays and how good he is at it.

SF- KG, He was held it down in Minnesota by himself for a good part of the decade, aside from one season, and when the argument about who the best player in the league is his name is always bound to pop up.

SG- Kobe Bryant, Kobes 3 rings, MVP Award and 81 point explosion means he was a lock for this spot.

PG- Steve Nash, He made the Suns franchise worth talking about again, helping the team to 33 more wins than the season before and onto the Conference Finals for the first time in 11 years. And don't forget those two MVP Awards.

Backups:

Dirk, One of the first European superstars of the NBA, plays like no other 7 footer before him could dream of. If a team has drafted a center from Europe that can shoot the 3, chance are they're hoping he can be the next Dirk, and who can blame them?

Lebron, Lebron hasn't done much in his career compared to the rest of these guys. But hes only been played 5 full seasons and has already accomplished so much. (And who can forget what he did to the Pistons a couple of years back?)

Iverson, One of the more dominant players during the early half of the decade, and when you factor in him being as tall (or as short, I should say) as he is you can't deny AI his spot.

Jason Kidd, Up until last season Kidd was doing the same thing he had done since 94-95 averaging nearly a double double.

Elton Brand, Averaged a double-double in points and rebounds in all but 3 seasons, ands hes only 6'8". I would consider him the most underrated player on this list, and before the happenings of this summer, the NBA.

Tony Parker & Manu, the other two parts of the Spurs keys to success. I couldn't think of any players who were more deserving for their hard work during this decade.

Alright, I was going to create a new topic but since it's the same subject i'm posting in here.
I'm adding an all-decade team for 2000-2010 in my game, and i'm stuck. i'm going to give you my criteria, and my reasoning for the players i chose. (I get the feeling some people aren't using a standard but are just choosing players they like.)

To be on the all-decade team, a player must be a dominating presence at his position for most of that decade. Really no different from the criteria for the other all-decade teams. (Example: Chris Paul might be in the top three PGs playing today, but he hasn't been in the decade long enough.)
Stats and personal talent are considered, but achievements in leadership and personal awards must be considered as well. (Example: Elton Brand and Shawn Marion may be double-double machines, but they haven't led their teams deep in the playoffs. Ray Allen may be the best shooter in the decade, but he's never been an MVP contender.)

C . Shaquille O'Neal
Obvious choice. Four-time NBA Champion, 3-time All-star game MVP, 3-time NBA Finals MVP, most dominant center for most of the decade.

PF. Tim Duncan
Another Obvious choice. Two-time NBA MVP and Final MVP, Four-time NBA Champion, most dominant PF of the decade.

SF. Kevin Garnett
Again, another obvious choice. Most complete player in the NBA. NBA MVP, Defensive Player, Champion, multiple first/second all-nba teams and first/second all-defensive teams.

SG. Kobe Bryant
"Best Player in the World" for a few years now. Four time NBA champion. NBA MVP and finals MVP. Seven time first team all-nba, and all-defensive.

PG. Steve Nash
Two-time NBA MVP, three time all-nba first team, six-time nba all-star.

Back-up PG. Jason Kidd
Five-time all-nba first team, four-time all-defensive first team. Led New Jersey to the NBA Finals twice. Regular assists leader, regular triple-double threat. Two time Olympic champion. Fourth in all-time assists.

Back-up SG. Iverson
NBA MVP, three-time all-NBA first team, ten time all-star, four-time scoring champ, led philly to the nba finals.

Back-up SF. LeBron James
Immediate impact on the NBA. NBA MVP, five-time all-nba teams, scoring champ, all-defensive first team, olympic gold medalist.

Back-up PF. Dirk Nowitzki
NBA MVP, nine-time all-nba teams, eight-time all-star, led the Mavs to the NBA Finals.

Three more spots left, and here's where I get stuck.

Back-up Centre. Yao Ming or Dwight Howard?
First, I'm going by position so I do need to have a back-up centre. The case for Dwight Howard is that he's been an unstoppable force in the past three years, and this year led his team to the NBA Finals! The case against him is that he's only been a force for half the decade (or even less).
The case for Yao Ming is that although he peaked at the same year Dwight Howard did, Yao has been a presence in the league for longer than that. The problem with Yao is that he hasn't always been healthy and hasn't led his team to the Finals yet.

11th spot. Dwyane Wade or Chauncey Billups?
Wade is unstoppable when he's healthy. He led his team to the finals and won in just his third year. He's got an olympic gold medal, and is recognized on the all-nba teams, all defensive teams, and all-star teams. Billups is an NBA Finals MVP with a championship ring, he's recognized on all-nba and all-defensive teams, and was able to bring his Pistons back to the Finals. Wade's arguably more talented, but Billups is more of a leader (Pistons, Nuggets).

12th spot. Paul Pierce or Chris Webber or Tracy McGrady
Pierce was an undeniable force in Boston for many years, making them a playoff team by himself. When he finally got help, he won a championship and got finals MVP. But even before then, he led his team to the Eastern Conference FInals once before. He's a great shooter, and I think most people forgot that he got brutally stabbed multiple times outside a club once. This guy is as tough as they get.
Chris Webber is a five-time all-star, prolific scorer, and made Sacramento into a playoff team. But he couldn't get the Kings to the NBA Finals (Shaq was his Jordan to Karl Malone). Webber's stats also dropped into lame territory by the mid-decade.
Tracy McGrady is a two-time nba scoring champion, 7-time all-star, 7-time all-nba team. He has incredible talent, but he also has back problems and hasn't led his Rockets deep enough into the playoffs.


This is not a list of my favourite players, or the most over-looked, underrated, players. These are the best, with awards and achievements matching their talent, shaping nba basketball in this decade. They have at times carried their teams on their backs deep in the playoffs. They are already hall-of-fame shoo-ins.

I hope you got a sense of that from reading the explanations. Arenas, Kirilenko, Brand, Vince Carter, etc don't get mentioned because while their talent and stats are impressive, they haven't led their teams to the kind of success the players on the list have.

Anyway, I'm looking for help deciding on those last three spots: (back-up centre, and two 'free' reserve spots).

"Yao Ming or Dwight Howard"
- Jermaine O'Neal

"Paul Pierce or Chris Webber or Tracy McGrady"
- T-Mac

Wade, Billups, Pierce, and Webber can probably round out the remaining bench and IR. I'm also stumped on who's the 12th man.
Webber in the IR, definitely.

C: Shaquille O'Neal. (Dominator)
PF: Tim Duncan (Mr fundamentals)
SF: Kevin Garnett ( Perfect defender and scorer.)
SG: Kobe Bryant ( Very good all-around game)
PG: Jason Kidd ( One of the best PG-s ever!)

C Shaq
PF Tim Duncan
SF LeBron
SG Kobe
PG Kidd

Other 7 guys:

Tracy McGrady
Dirk Nowitzki
Jermaine O'Neal
Allen Iverson
Kevin Garnett
Chauncey Billups
Chris Webber

i like benji's teams. but then i think lebron will eventually take garnett's spot in ur first team. if not, will be really really close. nash deserves to be up there in first team cuz of back to back mvp. hope to see him finish strong in this decade. as for the 3rd team, instead of wallace, i'd expect to see dwight, amare, or yao. but overall, benji's decade list is the closest to what i think would be.

how could lebron eventually take garnetts spot is its an all decade team? he gonna go back in time and step his game up a bit?

i agree though, benji picked a good team, much much MUCH better than that iverson first team pick

Starting Five :
C - Shaquille O'Neal
PF - Tim Duncan
SF - Kevin Garnett
SG - Kobe Bryant
PG - Jason Kidd
( Sh!t I Picked The Same Starting Five ! )

Bench :

bSG - Vince Carter
bSF - Tracy McGrady
bPG - Allen Iverson
bPF - Dirk Nowitzki
bC - Jermaine O' Neal ( The Pacers Version , obviously )
LeBron James - Combo PG to PF
Chris Webber - Combo SF to C

i like benji's teams. but then i think lebron will eventually take garnett's spot in ur first team. if not, will be really really close. nash deserves to be up there in first team cuz of back to back mvp. hope to see him finish strong in this decade. as for the 3rd team, instead of wallace, i'd expect to see dwight, amare, or yao. but overall, benji's decade list is the closest to what i think would be.

how could lebron eventually take garnetts spot is its an all decade team? he gonna go back in time and step his game up a bit?

i agree though, benji picked a good team, much much MUCH better than that iverson first team pick

9 months late on the reply there old man.
(I know, I know, he's still on-topic)

I think Lebron James deserves the nod over Kevin Garnett solely for the fact that he actually has taken the Cavaliers from being one of the shittiest teams in basketball to one of the finest in a span of several years -- Kevin Garnett never really managed to pull together the Timberwolves and he was working with an equal amount of talent up there.

i like benji's teams. but then i think lebron will eventually take garnett's spot in ur first team. if not, will be really really close. nash deserves to be up there in first team cuz of back to back mvp. hope to see him finish strong in this decade. as for the 3rd team, instead of wallace, i'd expect to see dwight, amare, or yao. but overall, benji's decade list is the closest to what i think would be.

how could lebron eventually take garnetts spot is its an all decade team? he gonna go back in time and step his game up a bit?

i agree though, benji picked a good team, much much MUCH better than that iverson first team pick

9 months late on the reply there old man.
(I know, I know, he's still on-topic)

i gets around to it when i can

I think Lebron James deserves the nod over Kevin Garnett solely for the fact that he actually has taken the Cavaliers from being one of the shittiest teams in basketball to one of the finest in a span of several years -- Kevin Garnett never really managed to pull together the Timberwolves and he was working with an equal amount of talent up there.

the question of who starts matters less to me than who should be on the team at all. I put garnett in the starting line-up just because he's been an MVP-caliber player for the entire decade. He did lead his t-wolves to the conference finals, and he's been nba mvp before. add to that the championship with boston and a defensive player of the year award, and he gets a slight edge over Lebron.

"Yao Ming or Dwight Howard"
- Jermaine O'Neal

"Paul Pierce or Chris Webber or Tracy McGrady"
- T-Mac

Wade, Billups, Pierce, and Webber can probably round out the remaining bench and IR. I'm also stumped on who's the 12th man.
Webber in the IR, definitely.

Jermaine O'Neal is like Elton Brand to me. Great stats, great skills, but hasn't achieved greatness with a team yet.

Starting Five :
C - Shaquille O'Neal
PF - Tim Duncan
SF - Kevin Garnett
SG - Kobe Bryant
PG - Jason Kidd
( Sh!t I Picked The Same Starting Five ! )

Bench :

bSG - Vince Carter
bSF - Tracy McGrady
bPG - Allen Iverson
bPF - Dirk Nowitzki
bC - Jermaine O' Neal ( The Pacers Version , obviously )
LeBron James - Combo PG to PF
Chris Webber - Combo SF to C

As a long-time raptors fan, I can tell you how overrated Vince Carter is. And to think we used to think of Vince as the next MJ. Then we realized Kobe's the closest we'll get to another MJ, Lebron james is superhuman, and even Tracy McGrady has done a better job carrying a team on his back (resulting in actual back troubles).

i like benji's teams. but then i think lebron will eventually take garnett's spot in ur first team. if not, will be really really close. nash deserves to be up there in first team cuz of back to back mvp. hope to see him finish strong in this decade. as for the 3rd team, instead of wallace, i'd expect to see dwight, amare, or yao. but overall, benji's decade list is the closest to what i think would be.

how could lebron eventually take garnetts spot is its an all decade team? he gonna go back in time and step his game up a bit?

i agree though, benji picked a good team, much much MUCH better than that iverson first team pick

I thought we were talking about 2000 to 2010 as Doobie said that this decade is almost over. But wow, I don't even recall posting on this thread. It's so old. : )

I'd still say it's a close call, KG won a ring, while Bron has been amazing winning mvp, taking a team to the finals, and so on...

Chris Webber - Combo SF to C

Chris Webber was not a SF he was more of a PF

As a long-time raptors fan, I can tell you how overrated Vince Carter is. And to think we used to think of Vince as the next MJ. Then we realized Kobe's the closest we'll get to another MJ, Lebron james is superhuman, and even Tracy McGrady has done a better job carrying a team on his back (resulting in actual back troubles)

....Why I hate being a Raptor fan sometimes... Vince did a lot more for Toronto than most Raptor "fans" give him credit for.

Chris Webber - Combo SF to C

Chris Webber was not a SF he was more of a PF

I said SF to C . . .
That means he can either play SF , PF and C . . .

As a long-time raptors fan, I can tell you how overrated Vince Carter is. And to think we used to think of Vince as the next MJ. Then we realized Kobe's the closest we'll get to another MJ, Lebron james is superhuman, and even Tracy McGrady has done a better job carrying a team on his back (resulting in actual back troubles).

My answer to that is CONSISTENCY . . .
Vince Carter is one of the most consistent players in the game . . .
Always putting up 18+ points every game at any night . . .