The heading has nothing to do with this post. I just have that line stuck in my head. I’ll get to the Whole 9 later, but I haven’t posted anything in a week, so here’s something I’ve been wanting to post.

The 30 Best SF’s In The NBA

First some explanations: no one who has played under 35% of their team’s minutes will make the list (Sorry Donte Greene! You’ll make it next time!). The bottom 10 just get a little blurb, the middle 10 get a blurb and a pic, the top 10 get a full explanation. Let’s Go!

30. James Posey, NOH: Posey has been terrible for the Hornets, and has lost a lot of minutes to rookie Marcus Thornton.
29. Trenton Hassell, NJN: Forced into heavy minutes due injuries, Hassell has been among the league’s worst regulars for a few years now.
28. Matt Barnes, ORL:Barnes is actually sort of impressive in making this list. While technically the backup, he’s basically splitting this position with…
27. Mickael Pietrus, ORL:Pietrus and Barnes are essentially giving Orlando league-average starters minutes at the 3 for the whole game. Not a bad combination. This is a good thing for the Magic.
26. Wilson Chandler, NYK:Chandler showed some promise towards the end of last year, but has been a disaster this season. His defense has been passable, but he hasn’t been able to get any offensive production whatsoever.
25. Al Thornton, LAC:Thornton has started to heat up recently after starting the season with 8 straight clunkers. But he’s well on his way back up.
24. Peja Stojakovic, NOH:Another disappoointing start this year for Peja. It ain’t hard to tell with him tho’: he’s a shooter, when he isn’t making jump shots he’s not really helping you. And he’s shooting a career low percentage.
23. Michael Finley, SAS:Pretty much left for dead after last season, Finley’s quietly assumed the backup role and helped Richard Jefferson fit in well with the Spurs.
22. Ryan Gomes, MIN:Another guy who got off to a horrendous start before turning it on lately, Gomes has started to take control of the T-Wolf offense with Big Al struggling.
21. Quentin Richardson, MIA:Q is in the middle of a bit of a bounce-back year after being left for dead and traded 4 times in one off-season. He’s in a good situation playing with old pal Dwizzle.


20. Jared Dudley, PHX: The first of a few WTF names on the list, Dudley has quietly emerged as a very strong bench player for the Suns.  He’s added a scrappy element to the team that was obviously missing from the team before.


19. Shane Battier, HOU:I’ve explained many times that Shane’s the best defender in the league. But his offense has slipped to a point where he’s becoming a true Bruce Bowen clone. But his on the ball defense combined with Trevor Ariza’s long arms and athleticism on defense have made the Rockets quite possibly the best defensive team in the league…..And this is without their 7-and-a-half foot center.


18. Marvin Williams, ATL: The main defender on a Hawks team that has jumped into the elite of the Eastern Conference thus far, Williams is an elite specialist in that area. And we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for now, but his offense is starting to sink to Battier/Bowen levels.


17. Grant Hill, PHX: Grant’s certainly been tremendous in helping Phoenix with all of the dirty work/little things. They’re also doing a good job of cutting his minutes down with contributions from Dudley.


16. Caron Butler, WAS: I’m willing to throw Tough Juice a bit of a bone for his season thus far as it seems he’s been playing with nagging injuries and has struggled to fit into Flip Saunders’ offense thus far. But what’s saddening about this situation was to see Gil call him out . Butler’s always been supportive of Gil through all of the Hibbaci’s injuries. And everyone loves Tough Juice’s game while Gil’s can be pretty selfish at times. These two need to get on the same page, obviously. But that seems to be Antawn Jamison’s role: to keep everyone on the same page. We’ll see how things turn out in Washington.  But I think Butler’s still one of the top 5 SF’s in the league, but his season thus far has been terrible.  But to be fair, so has Gil’s.


15. Richard Jefferson, SAS:After a summer in which he made the news for a few of the wrong reasons, RJ has thankfully kept his news this year on the court. But the Spurs haven’t been as good as expected, and RJ’s a big reason for that. He’s slowly becoming accustomed to the Spur way of life, and that’s going to take some time. But I think both he and the Spurs will be better off after going through these growing pains.


14. Stephen Jackson, CHA: It’s been a weird season for Captain Jack, who was exiled by the Warriors to Charlotte.  Though from now one he’ll probably be known as a SG in Charlotte.   But since his arrival, the ‘Cats are on a run. Maybe, just maybe the situation will work out for Jack. Actually, I think it probably well. Jack and Pop had a great relationship, and I expect similar of his situation with Larry Brown. And players always leave the Warriors to get better, don’t they?


13. Omri Casspi, SAC:The second of our WTF names on this list is Omri Casspi, a guy who’s as good as anyone in the league at doing anything that’s asked of him. Think Shane Battier before he became just a defender. The guy gets to the rack, hustles, plays D, rebounds, and is an excellent passer. It should also be noted that Donte Greene would have made the top 10 if he’d played enough minutes. The SF spot was a complete black hole for the team last season, this year it seems to be a strength. Casspi’s currently starting there and Greene is switching between the 2 and the 3 until K-Mart is back from injury. The Kings have been the surprise team of the year so far, and I just hope it continues as they’re sitting pretty at 8-8.


12. Gerald Wallace, CHA: Wallace and Jack are essentially both wings, as LB’s playing two wings instead of a typical SG and SF. Wallace, as we know, is a great weak-side help defender. He uses his unreal athleticism to grab an un-real amount of rebounds for a SF. The ‘Cats are looking pretty good since they got Jack.


11. Hedo Turkoglu, TOR: I was one of the many people who didn’t like this signing, but it seems to have worked out quite well for all parties. With Calderon struggling a bit, Turkoglu has moved in to the spot as the second banana behind Chris Bosh for a Raptors squad that is overachieving a bit.


10. Corey Maggette, GSW: While the Warriors have been up-and-down this year, Maggette is having a career season. He’s playing solid d, blocking shots, grabbing rebounds and shooting out of his mind. My main criticism with Bad Porn’s game has been that he takes some bad shots, has bad court vision, and doesn’t do anything but score. Well he’s shooting a career high 51%, cutting down on the 3’s, and has his lowest turnover numbers in 10 years. His scoring has actually gone down, but his scoring efficiency is way up. He and Monta have really taken off since Jack was dealt, and it’s perhaps been a blessing in disguise for a team that was just in terrible shape altogether.


9. Danny Granger, IND:That he’s in the top 10 isn’t too surprising, but Granger’s been a bit of a different beast this year than last. Most of his scoring numbers are down (including shooting percentage, which is way down), but both rebounds and assists are up. He’s also turning the ball over and fouling more. He was an easy top 5 here last year, but while he’s still a superior player, he’s not quite what he was last year thus far.


8. Ersan Ilyasova, MIL:Probably the biggest WTF name on here, Ilyasova has been extremely good for a Milwaukee team for which he doesn’t even start. He’s shown a great presence to do all the little things and helps Young Money on the high-pick and rolls with his ability to shoot from the outside/mid-range. But since Andrew Bogut went down, he’s really been cranking out the scoring as well. He’s also grabbing the boards like crazy. He and Bogut have been the main beneficiaries of Brandon Jennings’ incredible rookie season thus far. The question would come down to who’s been more surprising? Ilyasova or Casspi? What it really comes down to is their rookie point guards.


7. Rudy Gay, MEM:While he’s always had the potential to be this good, Gay’s finally starting to put it together in this, his fourth season. He’s scoring a career high 20.7, shattering his career high for shooting (50%!), and is ahead of his career high in rebounds (6.9). He and Marc Gasol have established themselves as the best players on the Grizz (like I’ve said before, OJ Mayo is basically just a chucker). He’s fun to watch as he just comes out of nowhere with acrobatic dunks and such. He and Wallace are in the top 5 most athletic guys in the league.


6. Paul Pierce, BOS:An interesting question that’s come up recently is where The Truth falls in the hierarchy of Celtics history. I think a lot of it has to do with how they do this season. If they can come up with another ring (which I think they will), he HAS to be in the Celtic top 3 of all-time, with Bird and Russell. If not, I’d say he’s top 5, behind Bird, Russel, Hondo, and Cousy.


5. Ron Artest, LAL:I must say that I did not see this coming. Ron Ron has been perfect in LA. Hes done all the little things, and Phil has even had to talk to him about being “too unselfish.” While I’m personally never going to be a big fan of his again (players are banished from my fan-dom when they join the Lakers), I must admit that it’s a wonderful thing to see for Ron’s career.


4. Luol Deng, CHI:I had no idea what to expect from Deng this season. After the Bulls did so well without him in the playoffs last year, and then losing Ben Gordon in Free Agency, who knew what would become of Deng, whom the Bulls wouldn’t give up in a potential Kobe trade a couple of seasons ago. But he’s been an overwhelming success and he’s the best player on the team right now (yes, that includes Derrick Rose).


3. Kevin Durant, OKC: The top 3 are almost inter-changeable but after that there’s a big drop off for number 4. Here we’re going to slot KD in at third because of the lack of team success….at least for now. We’re really being picky in the top 3. KD’s only averaging 27.4 and 7.2 in only his third season at the tender age of 21. It should also be noted that everyone thought Oklahoma City would be good, but they seem they’re even better than we thought. Russell Westbrook looks like a stud at PG, we know KD is a superstar, Jeff Green’s still playing the Pippen to KD’s Jordan, and James Harden looks much better than i expected. Either way this is a team to be reckoned with. Slot them with Portland and Sacto as the future powers of the West.


2. Carmelo Anthony, DEN: Again, we’re being picky here, but I gave Melo the edge on KD because of his performance in the playoffs last year. Really we’re talking about 3 potential MVP guys here. So they’re really 1, 1a, and 1b. But ‘Melo has turned that corner and is one of the 5 best players in the league now, pretty much unanimously agreed upon. He’s averaging a career high 31 points (which leads the NBA), and shooting a career high (49.3%). And the Nuggs are in first place, but are in a dog fight for the Northwest with Portland, Utah, and OKC. Ultimately, one of those teams will probably not make the playoffs this year, but don’t count on that team being the Nuggets.


1. Lebron James, CLE: The best player in the league. Period. Kobe’s not even that close anymore. I don’t like talking too much about Lebron because it’s just so cliche to do so. But since we’re talking about him anyway, I think the NBA has an upper 8 elite players and everyone after is pretty mixed: Lebron, Nash, Wade, Kobe, Melo, Dwight Howard, CP3, and KD. If you really want to, you can throw Deron Williams and Tim Duncan in there too to make it an even 10. But after that it’s pretty mixed depending on who you’d ask. Some would put KG in there, but I think I’d probably have him third on his own team (behind Rondo and Pierce). Brandon Jennings? Not yet…Derrick Rose? Not ready…. Bosh? Too inconsistent… Billups? He’s having a down year…. One of the Spurs would probably come next, but which one? Who’s better between Parker and Ginobili. We’ll see how these questions are answered as the year goes on.