There are 21 players that remain to be seen on "Pat's Top 25 Players Countdown". On Friday, July 27th, 2018 the 23rd and 22nd best player were posted. A lot of people didn't quite agree with the Kyle Lowry nomination to say the least, but I can't change what's already there. Besides Kyle Lowry is a four time All-Star the past four seasons ,with an All-NBA selection and plays on a perennial top four team in the Eastern Conference. I feel his place in the top 25 is justified. The 21st selection on my list is a guy that has yet to make an All-Star appearance but has been on an All-NBA team and at worse is a top three defender in the NBA. Before I list the 21st and 20th player of my list ,I'll like to give a recap of the players selected so far.
Players that didn't make the Cut.
- C. Nikola Jokic *Denver Nuggets
- C. Andre Drummond *Detroit Pistons
- SG. Devin Booker *Phoenix Suns
- PF. Kevin Love *Cleveland Cavaliers
- PG. Kemba Walker *Charlotte Hornets
- SG. C.J. McCollum *Portland Trail Blazers
Top 25 Ranking *25-22
- (25.) SG. Bradley Beal *Washington Wizards
- (24.) C. Karl-Anthony Towns *Minnesota Timberwolves
- (23.) PG. Kyle Lowry *Toronto Raptors
- (22.) SG. Victor Oladipo *Indiana Pacers
Now the 21st and 20th selection ...
- (21.) C. Rudy Gobert *Utah Jazz
" THE STIFLE TOWER" is the only player on my list to not make an All-Star game yet, but that doesn't diminish his value. Rudy Gobert just won Defensive Player of the Year over Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis while only playing in 56 games. What makes this even more impressive is despite missing that many games he still received 89 first place votes compared to Davis five first- place votes and Embiid's two. Still not impressed? He received 303 more total votes (466) than the second place finisher Joel Embiid (133). Still need convincing? Rudy Gobert has finished top five in Defensive Rating three out of the past four seasons, his lowest mark coming in at 8th in 2016.
It was hard to place Rudy Gobert in my top 25,because there's a player in the NBA whose playing style is very similar and actually have better numbers in some categories, that player is Center Andre Drummond. Drummond and Gobert are extremely close in a ton of statistical categories, let's look at it. Their cumulative stats for the past four seasons, Drummond (14.7 Pts, 14.5 Rebs, 1.5 Blks, 1.4 Ast, 1.0 Stl, 52 Fg% & 44 Ft%). Gobert stats (11.3 Pts, 11 Rebs, 2.4 Blks, 1.4 Ast, 61 Fg% & 63 Ft%). Drummond hold the edge in points, rebounds and assist, but Gobert averages more blocks, a better Fg% and a better Ft%. Now let's look at the accolades. Andre Drummond is a two time All Star (2016,2018) , two-time rebounding leader (2016,2018) and made All-NBA third team in 2016. Rudy Gobert won Defensive Player of the Year (2018), All-NBA second team (2017), Blocks leader (2017) and made two All- Defensive first teams (2017,2018).
Next, here are some more numbers to see just how close these two stack up. They both finished top two in defensive rating last year, Drummond finished first (99.0) & Gobert finished second (99.5). Also, in Defensive box plus/minus Drummond finished first (5.3) & Gobert finished second (4.6). A lot of numbers favor Drummond being the better player ,so why would I place Gobert ahead of him? Well the impact of a players defense actually being able to propel his team to a top five seed two years in a row is why he's ahead. The Jazz has made the playoffs the past two seasons in the WEST, while the Pistons haven't gotten over the hump the past two seasons in the EAST, even with the addition of fellow star Blake Griffin last season. Next, Utah was 11-15 without Gobert last season and 37-19 with him. When Gobert came back after his second return from injury he had an instant impact defensively which made them nearly unbeatable. To back up this claim there was an article article by Tim Cato, a writer for SB Nation he provides a lot of information on Gobert's impact and he states, "In an era of offensive explosion, it's staggering what the Utah Jazz have done since Gobert's second return. Since re-entering the lineup Jan.19, the Jazz have played 28 games and won 23 of them, all while holding teams to 96.8 points per 100 possessions. That's a 5.9-point advantage over the second best team during that span --- which is the same difference between the no.2 team and the no.18 team." Gobert led the Jazz to a top two defensive rating last season (101.6) placing .1 behind the Boston Celtics (101.5), while the Pistons finished 11th. When Gobert missed significant playing time they ranked 21st in defensive rating at (107.3). The Jazz have finished no lower than fifth in defense the past three seasons while Detroit finished out the top 10 three times. Drummond plays in a weaker conference and still can't get his team to the playoffs. Also, before winning Defensive Player of the Year this past season Rudy Gobert finished 2nd in voting last year and top five in voting the past four seasons, while Andre Drummond only had one top ten finish in voting, placing 10th in 2016. Drummond stats may be slightly better ,but he isn't definitively better than Gobert in any category. Averaging three more points and three more rebounds on a perennial lottery team isn't really impressive than a guy who is more efficient, recognized as a much defender across the NBA and a defensive anchor for a top five western conference team. Rudy Gobert is a top 25 player, his offense may not be, but his defense thanks to his 7"9 wingspan neutralizes all his offensive deficiencies.
- (20.) PF. LaMarcus Aldridge *San Antonio Spurs
The 12th year big man out of Texas University has been one of the best Power Forwards in the NBA, since he came into the scene back in 2006. Aldridge has been stellar these past four seasons as well, with a cumulative average of (20.5 Pts, 8.6 Rebs, 1.8 Ast, 1.1 Blks, 49 Fg% and 84 Ft%.)
Aldridge is pretty much a throwback Power forward , most of his damage comes from the elbow in. Over the past four seasons Aldridge has made three All-Star games (2015,2016,2018) , All-NBA second team twice (2015,2018) and All-NBA third team once (2016). Also, LaMarcus Aldridge has made the playoffs every year the past four seasons and has been "The Man" on two out of those four seasons.
Aldridge did sort of hit a bump in the road his first two seasons in San Antonio. He had to adjust his game to the Spurs free flowing ball movement . This took some getting used to and his scoring dropped because of it. His first two seasons with the Spurs saw him score under 20 points per game each year (18.0 in 2016), (17.3 in 2017), which was something he hasn't done since the 2009-2010 season. Aldridge stepped up in a big way this past season. The Spurs needed him to carry the load because Kawhi Leonard only played in nine games. This allowed Aldridge to flourish as the lead man once again. He averaged ( 23.1 Pts, 8.5 Rebs, 2.0 Ast, 1.2 Blk, 51 Fg% , 83 Ft%). Also, 2018 saw Aldridge finish eight in PER (25.0), ninth in MVP shares , *his most since seventh in 2015, seventh in win shares (10.9) and awarded the All-NBA second team. Aldridge team has finished in the top 10 of offensive efficiency three out of the past four seasons as well.
Furthermore, an underrated part of Aldridge's game is his one on one and help defense. Aldridge averages 1.1 Blocks per game and has been apart of a team ranked no lower than 10th in Defensive Rating, his lowest team mark coming in 10th as a member of the Trail Blazers in 2015. In LaMarcus Aldridge three seasons as a Spur he has been apart of a team that has finished in the top five in Defensive Rating . In 2016 and 2017 they placed first and even more impressively they finished 4th last season without perennial First team All- Defense and 2x Defensive Player of the Year, Kawhi Leonard.
LaMarcus Aldridge is a top 20 player in the NBA and in my estimate should be considered the third or fourth best power forward in the NBA.
There you have it numbers 25-20. I will like to know how you'll feel about these selections. The 19th and 18th selection will be posted Wednesday, August 1st, 2018!
D Rose the best player of all time!!!
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