8 Players Who Deserve More Props

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peja no, jr smith no, monta ellis no, chauncey billups already has a lot of attention, jamison yes, hedo yes, battier no, andre miller hell yes

how can you say no to monta? the guy has been playing out of his mind!

That guy is obviously a moron. And to all the people who thought JR Smith didn't deserve any props, he may single-handedly knocked the Warriors out of the playoffs last night.

After I wrote the article, I commented that George Karl and the Nugz would be wise to give JR more minutes over Anthony Carter (when Denver lost to Seattle, Carter played 31 minutes while JR played just 16 minutes). Last night vs. the Warriors:

A. Carter = 23 minutes, 9 points, 3 assists, 3 turnovers, -9 while on the floor
JR Smith = 26 minutes, 24 points, 4 threes, 3 boards, +18 while on the floor

As a Warriors fan, I now loathe JR Smith, but he still deserves some props...

This is coming from a Chargers fan, what do you expect.

cool article.

Kevin Martin

werent 4 him kings might not have any wins

Good call on Antawn and especially Andre Miller. Are Philly fans really that sad about AI when they got Miller, who I think is maybe a better fit for the team. I know A.I. is one of the best players of all time, potentially, but I think Miller has done a great job alongside the other A.I. leading this younger team to the post season.

From Billups Wikipedia page:
"His nickname is "Mr. Big Shot." He was the 2004 NBA Finals Most Valuable Player."

I think they basketball community is more than familiar with his work.

You needed Wikipedia to tell you that? Of course everyone KNOWS who Billups is, but few have talked about him this season. He gets taken for granted because he's rock solid every single year, but that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve props.

Yes, because I like citing empirical evidence as opposed to say haphazardly throwing together a list of players based on something intangible like they 'need more props'. Maybe people aren't talking about him as much because he's 32 and his numbers are starting to slightly decline, while guys like Chris Paul and Deron Williams have evolved into all world franchise point guards. But yeah, by all means, more props.

What are these thumbs up and thumbs down icons for? Props. RESPECT. I guarantee you that every single player and coach has serious respect for Billups, but for some reason, not all fans do and the media tends to ignore him.

His numbers are starting to decline? Please cite your empirical evidence to show me. Oh, perhaps you're talking about his minutes. You are correct, his 33.1 mpg is his lowest figure in 5 years. Truth is, his 18.9 points per 36 minutes this season is a career-high and the rest of his per minute stats are near career-high levels as well.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/billuch01.html

As I pointed out in my article, his FG% and FT% are also career-highs this year. So because the Pistons are so talented and Billups is so efficient, he doesn't deserve to get talked about? Blasphemy! He's just as good as he was in previous years, if not better. So I decided to point this out and give him some props. Chris Paul is on another level, but if I want to win in the playoffs THIS YEAR, I'll gladly take Billups over Deron Williams, Steve Nash, and yes, Baron Davis (still love ya Baron).

All I gotta say to you is: If you don't wanna give Billups props right now, then please don't mention him in your blog when Detroit advances to the NBA Finals!

You just spent 4 paragraphs trying to convince me that Billups is a good player when my my original comment could pretty much be paraphrased to "Everyone knows Billups is good, he doesn't need more recognition." He ranks 12th in the league in APG, 55th in PPG, 33rd in steals/game and he still made the all-star team, when guys like Jose Calderon (who would have been perfect for this list) had better numbers but was left off.

Wait, since when does wikipedia count as empirical evidence?

Yeah, I didn't like what I wrote there either. It's not empirical. It was a poor word choice.

leandro barbosa and baron davis

Agreed!

wow kings had hedo and peja

Traded Peja for Artest. Traded Hedo for Brad Miller.

they were contenders at one time.........arco arena was loud n very difficult for opposing teams........

battier definitely, he completely shuts down kobe everytime we play them. coulda added kevin martin and maybe kyle korver

Both belong in there. People know Korver but don't talk much about him.

does anyone honestly completely shut down kobe? let me some stats

all those guys deserve more adualtion

ohh that sounded smart

to ilovebarondavis baron davis is considered on of the best players in the league i think he gets enough credit so does leanardo a few real under the radar guys are rafear alston, jose calderon, louis williams, matt barnes, kevin martin...Im saying no to boom dizzle and barbosa because I consider them superstars

No all-star love to Boom, though. I say give him more love!

what about travis outlaw in portland. the guy is almost unguardable and yet some websites have his picture mixed up with bo outlaw. He has also been hella clutch and is versitile because he can play the 3 or 4.

Oh I know, there was one Blazer game up in Toronto earlier in the season, and it was aired all over Canada, and apparently they were calling him Bo, and they even had Bo Outlaws picture...and all the announcers were outraged. It was disrespectful.

Travis should definitely be on that list. There's a reason BRoy calls him Big Shot Trav. How many times has he brought the Blazers back? How many game winning shots has he hit? He's amazing.

Outlaw definitely belongs

I read somewhere (Blazers media guide, maybe?) that Outlaw dunked for the first time when he was in 5th grade. That's awesome.

Outlaw's got long arms. He's got reach.

5th grade? that's unreal

Yeah, the Bo/ Travis thing was pretty weak, but at least Bo was a badass player in his own right. I've given Outlaw a lot of love in the past. In fact, here's an article that I wrote for 82games at the end of November, where I suggested picking up the gazelle:

http://82games.com/fantasy/gazelle.htm

Outlaw has been an absolute monster in the 4th this year...

Yep. They call him MR. Fourth Quarter for a reason!

Francisco Garcia, Travis Outlaw, Anthony Parker, Nate Robinson, Jannero Pargo, Kellena Azubuike, Jason Maxiell, Linas Kleiza, Willie Green, Mo Evans, Hakim Warrick, Tim Thomas, Danny Granger.

I'm a big fan of all of those guys. Except for Tim Thomas. Eff that dude. But yeah, Outlaw, Maxiell, Nate, Azubuike, Kleiza, and Granger are some of my favorite young players. I haven't posted that many articles on Yardbarker, but I've been writing about hoops all season long and mentioned all of those players at one point or another...

I like Thomas because he's solid for the Clips no matter who they play, bench or starter. Saw him last Thursday, first guy on the floor to sign autographs.
Garcia, hit 3 big shots to put 3 games away. He's a big part of the Kings bench and had 29 points at Denver off of the bench.

Tim Thomas used to be a Suns a few seasons back and I really liked him. He hit the big shots when needed, for the most part. I heard the team called him "the Rental" because when he's with you, he's with you, heart and soul...he'll hit the important shots...but he has no serious attachment to a team.

I wish we could've kept him. I think he's really a Sun at heart. He did things there he hasn't done anywhere else.

Yea, I'd like to have kept him in Phoenix as well. He and James Jones.
Though I can't really complain because now I get to watch JJ
all the time now that he's with Portland.

Garcia is a stud, I loved watching that guy in college. And Nate Rob is the man! I watched him back in high school when he was playing with the Stewart twins. The dude has freakish hops...

yeah baron deserved allstar consideration and was snubbed but you cant lie there were many good ones this year

i dont think ive seen jannero pargo anywhere? if so i apologize, if not go ahead and do it.

ahh just seen it now, thanks rcs

Travis Outlaw. Every time he scores I shout "TELL THEM WHAT YA NAME IS!!!" They'll get it right next year.

Seen some love for Outlaw (rightly so) but none for Aldridge. He's been stellar this season.

Aldridge definitely deserves credit too, James Jones and Martell Webster too. All good players.

Yeah, James Jones is cool, but Martell Webster? I guess we're giving props out to EVERYONE now.