Bottom 5

5 Overrated Players

So there are probably a lot of players that get undeserved hype, and honestly, these lists don't mean much other than the opinion of the writer, but since I want to share my opinions with you, which of course you so desperately don't care about, here they are. Honestly, I think that the list of players below probably get more hype than their game merits, and you'll see my reasons why too. Maybe I'm being unfairly biased, but hey, I'm supposed write what I think here right?

1.) Dirk Nowitzki (PF, Dallas Mavericks)
People have called him a choker, and he is, he's not really adept at handling pressure well, as seen by his recently horrendous streak of performances in the Olympics preliminary games. Germany beat Angola, who beat... no one. Honestly, as much as they say he's improved his inside game, all that means is that he can actually utilize his height advantage against Tracy McGrady in the paint, meaning that they actually have to put a real power forward to guard him now, which feasibly can create some match-up problems, but for all the points and rebounds he gets, to me he still seems something of a glorified 7-ft shooting guard. He's bigger, but he's slower, and honestly, his defense is kind of hurting (ok, so he gets defensive boards, but come on, so does Jeff Foster), and honestly despite his "improvement" in the post, Erick Dampier is still their "go-to" post man, seriously, what's that say? I never have, and still never do understand why his name is always mentioned as among the best PF in the league. Don't get me wrong he's good, but he's not that good.

2.) Carmelo Anthony (SF, Denver Nuggets)
He scores a lot, I'll give you that, I think J.R. Smith scores a lot too, oh yeah, so does Eddy Curry. I don't think anyone considers Smith or Curry among the elites of the NBA. I don't mean to knock on Melo, he's a monster offensively, but his horrid defense and poor decision making really make him something other than among the best SF in the league. I think people put his name up there because they can't think of anyone else to put up there. Even in Team USA, he ball-hawks, isn't overly efficient in rebounding, and honestly, doesn't have much of a feel for the defensive end, often his man being the one to have the open trey. Sure points wins you games, but it doesn't help if you don't stop the other team from making them too. I'm a defense-first kind of guy, and honestly, scoring ability and scoring ability alone doesn't count for too much, and Melo has nothing but scoring ability. At least Allen Iverson can dish and clog lanes for steals.

3.) Dwight Howard (C, Orlando Magic)
Don't get me wrong, I love Dwight Howard, he's one of my favorite players, and he's an amazing center with probably the most natural ability and the most athleticism out of any center in the league. That hardly makes him the best. He's a good rebounder, good shot blocker, but he lacks a go to move to make him elite. Right now, I have to say that it's more a lack of true quality centers (especially in the Eastern Conference) that makes him up there on the scales. He's sort of got a running hook, but until he develops a goto move, or rather, just any move that is not turning and dunking, he's more of just highlight jams than anything else. Body him up and he kind of loses his game. Don't get me wrong, he's hard to keep up with, but in my books, he's still shy of being among the elite.

4.) Lamar Odom (SF/PF, Los Angeles Lakers)
People like his versatility, they like his length, they like how he can finish at the basket, they like his ball handling and passing abilities. That's great, but firstly he's still a choker. His mindset doesn't match his skill set. He can't handle pressure, but his skills are something that warrant him being the goto guy. He's like an oversized slasher who can't shoot the ball. He's not really an SF, but then again he's so soft on defense in the low post, actually, I think he's just soft on defense (period), tacked on to the fact that he doesn't really have a low post offense game, I can't really call him a PF either. He's a talented awkward player, but an awkward player nonetheless.

5.) Kevin Love (PF, Minnesota Timberwolves), OJ Mayo (Memphis Grizzlies)
I'm gonna go out and call it here, draft-busts. Mayo and Love both have not done anything to inspire excitement in me and I honestly don't think they'll live up to their draft hype. While Mayo looks to have the skill sets to make a good NBA player, there's not a significant amount of upside to him, and looks to be kind of like a J.R. Smith, someone who "could have been great" Love on the other hand seems to be something of a hard worker, but just kind of outclassed.

Soon to come: players that are underrated.