Post by Rog on Jan 18, 2017 1:59:35 GMT
The 62nd nominee of the NBN Hall of Fame, Metta World Peace, was a bulldog. Very much like Shane Battier, Pace was the guy who did the dirty work and was a monster defensively. Unlike Battier, he didnt have any semblance of an offense game. Were his defensive accomplishments enough to enshrime him or was he just not good enough in other areas for consideration. Lets take a look.
Career Stats
29.9 MPG, 10 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 1.8 SPG, 1 BPG, 1.3 TOPG on 43.6% from the field, 74.4% from the line, and 39% from three
Best Season
Spurs(2005) - 15.9 PPG, 10 RPG, 2.2 SPG, 2.0 APG, 1.9 BPG, 1.3 TOPG on 42.1% from the field, 75.4% from the line, and 36.9% from three
Career Highs
Points: 33
Rebounds: 22
Assists: 8
Steals: 8
Blocks: 8
Achievements
Championships: 2
Player of the Game: 42
Player of the Week: 0
Player of the Month: 0
Double Doubles: 224
Triple Doubles: 0
Accolades
2000 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
2001 - All-Defensive Team
2003 - All-Defensive Team
2004 - All-Defensive Team
2005 - All-Defensive Team
2007 - All-Defensive Team
2009 - All-Defensive Team
2010 - All-Defensive Team
Arguments For Induction
- Metta World Peace won 2 titles in his career as a starter. He was also named to 7 All-Defensive teams, proving not only was he known as a great defender, he was also recognized as one by the league.
- Seriously, Metta lines up with Scott Pollard and Shane Battier among the greatest defenders in league history, while Pollard and Battier didn't have a lot of luck gettig in, but World Peace carries 7 All-Defensive first teams, something the other two really couldn't really say. He also was a huge producer of stocks which is very important. For his career he averaged 2.8 stocks, but in his prime he did near 4 a game, which is absolutely insane. You cannot ask for a better defender in league history than World Peace.
- Mr. Formerly Ron Artest was also one of the better rebounders for a small forward in league history, averaging just over 6 in his career, but for a solid nine years he averaged 8+ rebounds a game. Not only was Artest a great rebounder, he also did the dirty work on the boards better than most. Like I said, a bulldog.
- Seriously was a great player in all facets, beyond scoring, and that was shown as well in terms of his ability to hold onto the ball and not turn it over. He did a lo of things well and was one of the best defensive players in the league. Its arguable that he has the best case of any pure defensive player so far, and that makes this a very important case. If we deny Peace as well as oher layers like him, we basically state that to be a Hall of Famer, you have to be a good scorer. I don't know that I like putting scoring that far above defense in this voting, and Peace is the best shot to get a true defensive guy in.
Arguments Against Induction
- Other than defensive awards he does not have any awards. Never in the time he was in the league was he a top 3 player at his position. Titles and defensive awards are nice, but when you can't claim to ever be a top three player at his position you really can't be a Hall of Famer can he? It is just tough to make that case.
- He was an ABYSMAL scorer, like really bad. Career high is 16.5 points per game, and even then he carried a 42.9/81.8/42.8 line that isn't horrible, but isn't great either. He had three seasons 13+, and the rest was below that. He shot 43.6% from the field during his career. At least Battier showed some efficiency and a certain amount of volume here and there, but World Peace? Nothing. Even if you say hes got the best defensive case so far, that scoring is awful.
- Also was not a good passer, or even an average one. He held a 'D' rating in handling and he only averaged 1.4 assists and never got higher than 2.3 a game n his career. Not a good scorer, didn't contribute to set people up for scores, so he didn't really do anything but rebound and defend. Is that a Hall of Famer?
- Overall, its a really, really hard case to make, one that has its merits but one that falls short if you are honest. Sure he was a great defender, but didn't do enough outside of that to be a Hall of Famer. My biggest issue here to is, was he someone you feared playing against in the playoffs? I just don't see a legit case to make here.
Vote carefully, and remember to throw out arguments regardless of which side you're on. This should be a discussion that eventually gets the league to the proper decision on him. Your vote can also be retracted after it's been cast if you feel like switching to the other side based on the arguments that have been made. To be inducted, a player needs 70% and to be considered in a later class they need 50%. Vote carefully!
***BONUS - Don't forget that everyone who votes gets $25 and the person that makes the best argument or contributes to the discussion the best will be awarded an extra $25**
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