2007-8 NBA All Overrated Team

What makes someone overrated?

1) A player is overrated when he is thought to be better than he really is. Stephon Marbury used to be overrated, but now everyone realize he sucks, so he's no longer overrated. Being overrated doesn't mean someone is a bad player. It just means he is not as good as he is reputed to be.

2) Scoring is highly rated, while doing so efficiently is not. Therefore players who score a lot of points because of the sheer volume of shots tend to be overrated.

3) Rebounding is highly rated, but it should be kept in mind that players of certain positions should get more rebounds. For example, a point guard who grabs six rebounds per game is more valuable than a power forward who grabs eight (with regard to rebounding) because the point guard is getting more than his opponent while the power forward is grabbing fewer than his.

4) Defense is underrated. Players who do not play it well are overrated.

5) Having chemistry with teammates is underrated. Making things easier for teammates will help a player's team win, but a lot of little things go unnoticed, so players who do not do them tend to be overrated.

That gives you an idea of my philosophy. Without further ado, the players who received the most unwarranted praise during the 2007-8 NBA season:

1. Point Guard: Tony Parker. It is the role of the point guard to bring the ball up the floor, create for teammates, distribute the ball, and generally run the offense, and defend other point guards. Point guards are supposed to make things easier on offense for their teammates. Tony Parker does not. He gets a certain allocation of shots, which he makes with surprising efficiency, but Tim Duncan does most of the creating for himself or for others. The Spurs have had a good but not great offense, but to the extent that they have been successful, it has been because of their team defense, which cannot be attributed to Parker in any way. He's a top 10 point guard in the NBA, but I want to punch the tv whenever anyone (Mark Jackson) says Parker is a top five or better point guard. He's in the top five among point guards who don't get their teammates easy baskets. I'll give him that.
Dishonorable Mention: TJ Ford, Devin Harris, Chauncey Billups, Gilbert Arenas

2. Shooting Guard: Kevin Durant. Yes, shooting guard. I read that Durant played shooting guard to avoid banging against bigger bodies. I don't know for sure if this is true because I was too busy not watching the Sonics to notice. He did redeem himself towards the end of the season, but from October through February, he averaged 19.3 points on 39.9% shooting, to go with 4.1 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. Four rebounds for a 6-9 guy with a 9 foot wingspan? 2.3 assists for a guy with an outstanding basketball IQ? I'm not saying he was that bad, or that he won't have a great career, but he was a one-dimensional player whose one dimension was overshooting.
Dishonorable Mention: Ben Gordon, Kobe Bryant

3. Small Forward: Tayshaun Prince. Tayshaun Prince is a pretty good defender, and an above average role player, but he went from underrated his first few years to overrated. He's a good role player you'd like to have on a good team, but averaging 13-5-3 doesn't merit a spot on the US National Team now that the national team is good again.
Dishonorable Mention: Paul Pierce, Luol Deng

4. Power Forward: Amare Stoudemire. Amare Stoudemire is a great finisher. If someone can create an open shot anywhere from 17 feet and in, he will probably make it. He's one of the best mid-range shooting power forwards in the NBA. But... he doesn't do all the things the make a big man truly dominant. He is a below average rebounder and a below average defender. This automatically rules him out of any consideration for dominant big man status. Plus, he doesn't create shots for himself or his teammates, and worst of all, he's an immature egomaniac. Examples:
In the 2005 season, he was fouled late in a close regular season game against the Spurs and before shooting free throws, he started doing pushups on the ground until Steve Nash pulled him up. Of course he missed a free throw that left his hands in a way that suggested he had been doing pushups or some other straining activity with his arms. He missed the free throw(s? Or one of two free throws? I can't remember) and the Suns ended up losing in overtime.
When Nash won his first MVP award, I remember Amare saying (although I can't find the quote) that he, Nash, and Shawn Marion were the MVPs, basically taking credit for winning the MVP. It's one thing for the MVP to share credit with teammates. It's another for a teammate to share his teammate's MVP's adulation with himself.
A quote I stumbled on when looking for the three-MVP quote was this gem from 2007: "In the MVP talk, remember that Steve Nash has three All-Stars and Dirk Nowitzki has two. Kobe Bryant has none." Translation: I'm great. Adulate me! Pay attention to me!"
Lastly, the suspension for leaving the bench. Is the rule stupid? Yes. Is Robert Horry a dick? Yes. Is David Stern and arrogant douche about the whole incident? Yes. But none of those things resulted in Amare (and Boris Diaw) being suspended. Amare chose to leave the bench. Horry and Stern didn't possess his soul and move his feet away from the bench and towards the mini-melee. Amare's own agency did that. He forgot the rule and in order to show his machisimo and toughness (and not to defend Nash, since Horry was already on his way to the Spurs bench), he chose to approach the melee, earning himself a suspension according to rule that every player should know.
It's widely accepted that the Spurs would have won the series anyway because the Spurs are just a terrible matchup for the Suns, but not by me. I've seen people ask, "was there ever a time when you thought the Suns had a chance to beat the Spurs in the playoffs?" and my answer would be "yes, only in 2007." The altercation took place after Game 4 had been decided, therefore games 1-4 (which were split 2-2) were not affected by the suspensions, right? Amare and Boris were back for game 6, so we can agree that game 6, which the Spurs won, was not affected by the suspensions, right? How about Game 5? Let's compare the Suns scoring output and shooting percentage in games 1,2,3,4, and 6 to those of Game 5. Scoring in games 1,2,3,4, and 6 (in order): 106, 101, 101, 104, 106. Field goal percentage in the same games: 46, 53, 49, 48, 48. Averages, 103.6 points on 48.8% shooting. How'd they do in Game 5: 85 points on 40% shooting. Now, I can't guarantee that Amare would have prevented an 85-88 loss, but considering that the Spurs' defensive strategy was to let Amare go off as long as the shooters didn't go off (hence Amare's huge series in 2005), there's a very good chance that if we could go in a time machine, the Suns would have played a Game 7 instead of ending losing the series 4-2. Would the Suns have won a Game 7? I don't know, and anyone who pretends to is full of shit. But the Suns had a chance to win a championship, and Amare did his part to throw it away.
One last note on Amare: To give you an idea of what to expect from the post-Nash, Amare-"led" Suns, assuming he stays here, let's look at his record without Nash since the 04-05 season: 23.5 points on 49.4% shooting, four wins, ten losses, and a scoring margin of -6.7 ppg (103.3-110). Impressive. I guess that's why Nash pretended to endorse Amare for MVP this past season.
Dishonorable Mention: Lamarcus Aldridge

5. Center: Shaquille O'Neal. The field for overrated centers isn't very strong, but Steve Kerr's overrating of Shaq gives Shaq the honor. The Suns' record and scoring average before the Shaq/Marion-Banks trade: 34-14 (58-24 over 82), 109.4-103.3 (+6.1) After the trade: 21-13 (51-31), 111-107.5 (+3.5). When I looked at the 2005-7 Suns, I always thought to myself, if only the Suns could give up four more points per game, they'd be able to contend for a championship. The 1999-2002 Shaq was indisputably the best player in the NBA, but the 2008 Shaq is old, slow, and over the hill. You know what else he's over? Rated.
Dishonorable Mention: Nah.