Top PF's in the NBA

I'm having a debate with someone over who are the current best PF's in the NBA.

Not "What PF would you take in order to build a team?" discussion. But "What PF is the best right now?" discussion.


He ranked Blake Griffin above:

Zac Randolph
Pau Gasol
Dirk Nowitski
Lamarcus Aldridge



Thoughts?

Right now:

KEVIN LOVE????? (although he occasionally can play C)
Blake (dude needs to stop flopping like pus tho)
Z-Bo
Dirk
KG (technically, but he's been playing much better at C lately)
Gasol
Bosh (based on skills and ability and production before in Toronto)
STAT (aka Amare- when healthy and actually trying hard on D)
Aldridge

So you agree Blake is a better PF than Dirk? Why? Blake cannot score unless he's <7 feet from the basket. He basically has one post move. His scoring is based of sheer athleticism. I'm not saying he's a bad PF, he's definitely good. But above Dirk?

Blake Griffin cannot take over a game by himself.
If Dirk even gets the ball in his hands, he's probably going to score. You can't block his shot. You're at his mercy. You just have to hope he's having a bad night. The only defense against Dirk is denying the pass.
If Blake gets the ball more than 7 feet from the basket, then it comes down to who's defending him. He'll make a spin move, then push-off the defender with his off hand and the ref will NEVER call it against Griffin (which is retarded).

Dirk has a jumper. Blake does not. Dirk has post moves. Blake has one.

I'm not hating on him, but he just doesn't impress me at all (outside of his athleticism).

I just think Dirk has lost a little bit of his mojo and swag this season, and didn't really turn it on til mid season.

Yeah, when he's on , I still have the dude up there top 2-3.
And I hate Griffin's pansy a$$ as much as anyone, and how he tries to dunk everything too often (and I'm a fan of the glitz and flash too), but he has the IQ and maturity, not to mention skills and talent to be easily top 2 and suplant Dirk. Don't get me wrong, there's a reason I picked the Griz to win initially was partially because I thought Blake just wasn't ready to be enough of an offensive force opposite of Z-Bo to help alongside CP3, but I still think he is immensely talented and when he's focused and not acting like a p33sy , he can be a dominating force inside of 10 ft cause of his athleticism and quickness (especially matched up with Z-Bo or Fat Gasol). Not to mention, lets not forget, the dude can actually shoot it (still nowhere as consistent as Dirk nor KLove tho) and handle the ball pretty well. And when he's focused, he can play some defense too (although having DeAndre in there sometimes eases him up). He can occasionally mix it up on the post a lil too. Basically, think about it, the dude is avging like 20pts a game purely out of his physical ability and an elite PG in CP3, think if he can get a lil hot from midrange (which he has shown he can do) and pull some countermoves in the post. He's basically like an even more athletic young Amare pre-microscope in Phoenix, and with a lil bit better D and all around offense.

THAT'S scary as Ish.

OH crap , forgot Timmy Duncan.

I put him right alongside KG and Gasol.

Lebron sometimes plays the PF position doesn't he? It is his weakest spot, but I think he is still in the top half of the league with it.

Lol that could be applicable too, but he also plays 3 other positions just as good. Dude could be top 2 PF if he decided to do it full time

Ibaka is the best defensive PF in the association.

He's the best shot-blocking PF in the NBA. His on ball defense is not very good at all

Griffin reminds me a lot on Vince Carter in his prime. Griffin, like Vince, can do one thing extremely well, but take away his limited post game and he doesn't bring much to the table. I remember watch Carter when he played for the Raptors he was a freak athlete back then but couldn't do much more than dunk. Unless Blake expands his game past dunking he isn't going to be much more than a fan favorite. I'd take Kevin Love over Griffin anyday. Blake just has a ton more flash than Love.

Carter also had a clutch 3

False. His face-up defense has improved remarkably over the course of the season.

I would put Griffin above randolph , but you could argue the three others are better. It's hard to clearly rank them though because they all are great players with unique strengths.

Blake Griffin is highly overrated. Without his highlights he'd be nowhere in the discussion of best PFs

Just wanted to quote this.

While improved he is still lacking very much so, as evidenced by him not playing in the 4th against SA

He has trouble guarding big, physical centers (Tim Duncan), but I wouldn't say his defense is "not good at all" like the poster I had quoted claimed. He's just not as good as Perkins or Collison, who I would say are very good defenders.

Brooks has already come out and said that not playing Ibaka in the 4th was a mistake. We missed his defense.

It was me and I said that his on ball defense is not good at all which is very much true. He's a helluva shot blocker though

We still talkin about Ibaka right? I would agree, although I wouldn't quite say that he's "not good at all." A lot of what makes a good post defender (against a typical low post, b2basket player) is having a low center of gravity and strong lower body , along with quick feet. That's what makes guys like Perkins and Chuck Hayes (who is among NBA circles as one of the best pure post defender in the league despite being only 6'6) elite defenders despite not having the pure length and shot blocking ability of Ibaka. But Ibaka is prob. the best shot blocker since Ben Wallace during his prime, so that negates some of his relative weakness as a b2basket defender.

Teams are starting to figure him out. Drive in and get rejected, or pull your player out and let him create with Ibaka 1v1. He does well down low, but I'm talking out pulling him out and watching teams hit jumpers on him all day. Ibaka is one of the main reasons that I have the Thunder losing in 5. Very little offensive game and he can't step out and take away the corner 3 that the Spurs love so much

You have the Thunder losing in 5 because you have a bet haha.