Okay, so my title may be a little misleading; there are tons of great players in the NBA. In fact, my personal belief is that we are living in the most talented era of basketball all-time.
Nonetheless, there are a number of big-time players that are simply missing the mark this year and causing their teams a lot of frustration by doing so.
As the saying goes, "what goes up, must go down." That phrase certainly applies to what has happened this year to the following five players:
1. Tracy McGrady
Houston's megastar has turned into a mega-disappointment. This was supposed to be Houston's year. They stacked up on depth by adding Steve Francis, Luis Scola, Mike James, Aaron Brook, and Bonzi Wells (who was a Rocket last year, but hardly considered one by Jeff Van Gundy). With all their talent, it seemed as though the team would finally have the secondary scoring they needed to back up Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. But things didn't turn out the way they were supposed to.
The Houston Rockets (17-17) are 2.5 games back of a playoff spot while McGrady's points, assists, and rebounds have all gone down. On top of that, he has been as fragile as ever, causing an anonymous NBA player to dub him "half man, half a season."
2. Shaquille O'Neal
I'm not blaming him completely for the Heat's collapse this year, as he has been dealing with injury troubles (back). Nonetheless, it's shame to see Shaq struggle so much for Miami (8-26) when they are in desperate need for a leader to turn their season around.While Dwyane Wade has also been struggling with injuries and slumps, it is much more inexcusable for Shaq to be on such a consistent decline. Every year, Shaq says "screw it" to coming to camp in shape and expects the season to be his warm-up for the playoffs. That mentality is the main reason why Miami may not be heading to the postseason in 2008.
3. Stephon Marbury
The simple fact that you're thinking "Stephon Marbury doesn't belong on a list with McGrady and Shaq" proves how far this guy has fallen off. He is the epitome of disaster. He's Terrell Owens and Chad Johnson combined, but without any highlight-reel plays left in the tank.
Here are three quotes that Marbury made in an interview with Bruce Beck on "Mike'd Up" I'm guessing he'd probably want to erase this interview from history if he could.
- "Me trying to be the leader of the team, it's to try to convince them of a way, how we can go steal a trophy. People are going to think we're crazy for talking like that, but if you believe it, you can achieve it." (Note: The Knicks are 8-24.)
- "I think I'm going to average like 10 points, like 12, 13 dimes, like 2, 3 assists and about 4, 5 rebounds." (Note: Marbury is averaging 13.7 points, 4.5 assists, and 2.2 rebounds ... oh, and since "dimes" and "assists" are the same thing, I think he meant 2-3 steals. He is currently averaging 0.9 steals per game.)
- "Isiah Thomas is a "man's man and he can see the light." (Note: Stephon Marbury and Isiah Thomas have had a number of difficulties since the offseason interview.)
4. Zach Randolph
Let's face it, any list about disappointments would be incomplete without have New York written all over it.
Last year, Randolph was a 20-10 guy with the Blazers, but this year, his stats are a touch worse. But the main thing we've learned about Randolph is that he can put up great stats, but he does so in a way that hurts his team.
This year, he was supposed to be the guy that saved the Knicks. Sure, tons of analysts saw trouble brewing by putting him alongside Eddy Curry, but the Knicks felt as though they were going to be contenders. You all know what happened. The Knicks are amidst one of the most troublesome years that I can remember and Randolph's old team, the Blazers, have turned into a contender without making any major changes. Zach Randolph is the new poster boy for addition by subtraction.
5. Jermaine O'Neal
If you were to organize Jermaine O'Neal's 12 seasons in the NBA into three chapters, they would read like this.
Chapter 1 (1996-2000): Promising Youngster — In this stage of his career, Jermaine O'Neal was a young Portland Trailblazer that was headed for the big-time. Everybody knew he was going to be good, it was just a matter of gaining maturity and confidence.
Chapter 2 (2001-2005): On Top of His Game — When Jermaine O'Neal was traded to Indiana, the team was going through a supposed rebuilding phase after losing three starters (Rik Smits, Mark Jackson, and Dale Davis), as well as their coach, Larry Bird. O'Neal ensured that the rebuilding phase wouldn't be a difficult, carrying on the playoff tradition that Pacers fans had grown used to while also leading them to an NBA-leading 61-21 record in 2003-04. Unfortunately, the Pacers failed to ever make any major damage in the playoffs.
Chapter 3 (2006-2008): Injury Prone Has-Been — Since the 2004-2005 season, Jermaine O'Neal's points have be on a consistent decline from 24.3 down to his current average of 15.8. He has also failed to play in more than 70 games a year in eight of his 12 seasons in the league. While extremely talented, Jermaine is no longer considered a premier center in the league, nor can he be relied on as being the best player on his team.
Indiana is currently 1.5 games out a playoff spot and looking to deal O'Neal. The only problem is that nobody seems to want him.
Honorable Mention: Dwyane Wade, Ben Wallace, Emeka Okafor, Kirk Hinrich, and Andrea Bargnani
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