At last years World Championships Paul Pierce's amazing performance was easily tops for the tournament yet we were led to believe by media morons that he had failed. He was snubbed for the Allstars as were all from Team USA. A mediocre player named Pero Cameron (NZ) made the allstar five despite a less than mediocre tournament. This is typical.
This year we are led to believe that Steve Nash was MVP for the America's Olympic Qualifying Tournament. I wonder what was Steve's reaction to the award? He knows the truth about his sub-par performances featuring terrible shooting (37%) and turnovers leading to Canada's elimination from next year's Olympics. It certainly makes me wonder who are the lamebrains analyzing the talent at international events.
Regardless I will gladly set the record straight once again and reveal the true stars as well as the imposters.
****After last years World Championships I listed my Top 20 performers and made a point to mention a couple of 23 year olds to keep an eye on. At the time they received little or no attention from the media. They were Andres Nocione (#11) of Argentina and Mehmet Okur (#16) of Turkey. We've seen how Okur surprised everybody after a stellar rookie season with the Pistons and now we are hearing raves about Nocione. In spite of the raves and tournament allstar selection Nocione was not near as impressive this year as last and did not make my top 20.
****Those who made my top 20 at both Olympic Qualifying and last years Worlds were Emu Ginobili Arg, Frabrizio Oberto Arg, Daniel Santiago PR and Elton Brand.
****With 6 of the top 7 TPR Allstars, USA domination was complete.
****As Pierce was easily MVP at the Worlds, Tim Duncan was easily MVP this year.
****Puerto Rico's Jose Ortiz was the top non-USA performer.
****Argentina showed balance and depth with 7 players at a 100+ TPR, however they did not place anyone on my top ten.
****Anderson Varejo of Brazil may have wanted to stay in the NBA draft after his impressive performance.
****The New Jersey Nets had the distinction of the 3 lowest scores on Team USA. Kenyon Martin (TPR 111) was respectable however Jason Kidd (TPR 61) and Richard Jefferson (TPR 65) were absolutely horrible.
Olympic Qualifying Tournament Allstar selections: Steve Nash (MVP), Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan, Jermaine O'Neal, Andres Nocione, Jose Ortiz
SCHALLERTPR ALLSTARS
My Allstar teams are calculated by Total Performance Ratings (productivity per minute) with a bonus for total minutes played.
NBA TPR scale: 120+ superstar, 100+ allstar, 80+ starter, 65+ bench, 60 = min wage
First Team_______TPR_"bonus_score
Tim Duncan USA______225__40__265
Jermaine O'Neal USA___182__39__221
Vince Carter USA_____168__40__208
Jose Ortiz PR_________155__46__201
Mike Bibby USA_______158__41__199
Second Team______TPR_"bonus_score
Allen Iverson USA______161__37__198
Tracy McGrady USA____165__29__194
Omar Quintero Mex_____140__53__193
Anderson Varejo Bra____151__38__189
Nene Hilario Bra________143__43__186
Third Team_______TPR_"bonus_score
Rowan Barrett Can_____133__48__181
Emu Ginobili Arg_______128__52__180
Ray Allen USA_________137__39__176
Daniel Santiago PR_____125__41__166
Fabrizio Oberto Arg____117__49__166
Fourth Team______TPR_"bonus_score
Tiago Splitter Bra_____133__31__164
Jesus Benitez Mex____129__35__164
Alej.Montecchia Arg___131__31__162
Kevin Sheppard VI____138__24__162
Elton Brand USA______130__30__160
Notable:
Steve Nash Can______101__50__151
Andres Nocione Arg___106__49__155
Total Performance Ratings (The Total 12)
Scoring
Scoring Efficiency
Ballhandling
Rebounding
Disruptive Defense
One on one Defense
Team Defense
Team Game Pace
Positional Norms
Schedule Strength
Projected Improvement or Decline
Teams Wins Adjustment
Ratings indicate productivity per minute played. See my feature "The TPR Formula" for more information.
