DJ Rod
Years ago

Top 10 NBL players this decade

Who do you think the top NBL players this decade have been?

Obviously this is a very individual thing so everyone is going to have a different opinion but by the end we might have a pretty decent list.

I have done NO research for this so it's off the top of my head:

Aussies:
Maher
CJ
Rillie
Worthington
Anstey
Mackinnon
Heal
Gaze
Nielsen
Bradtke
(Penney)

Imports: (some who naturalised)
Copeland
Redhage
Rose
Grace
Mee
D-Mac
Homicide
Chris Williams
Powell
Ere

OVERALL in MY order:

1. Gaze
2. Anstey
3. D-Mac
4. Ere
5. Rose
6. Mackinnon
7. Grace
8. Mee
9. Nielsen
10. CJ

i think if i came back in an hour it could change a bit... i already remembered Dwight, Rucker, Rogers, Saville, Vlahov, Jason Smith, did Leroy play this decade? Farley, Newley, etc

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Skin
Years ago

No Maher in top 10?

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paul
Years ago

I could come up with 25 candidates: Anstey, Bruton, Mackinnon, Chris Williams, Ere, Penney, Nielsen, Ballinger, Redhage, Corey Williams, Bradtke, Rose, Copeland, Maher, Heal, Rillie, Powell, Hodge, Dwight, Melvin Thomas, Saville, Grace, D-Mac, Mee, Rychart

For mine, Anstey, Bruton and Mackinnon standout because they have been superstars in the comp for the most part of the decade.

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Anonymous
Years ago

The NBL website (maybe in conjunction with FoxSports) should run competitions for things like this - best team, best starting 5, best player, best guard, etc...

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KEVY47
Years ago

Depends on the voting criteria....

If it's like NBL votes on Player of the Week (taking whole week into account) i'd add Saville into the equation.

Finals MVP to start the Decade, and Olympian near the end.

Then again, I guess there's not too many stars that have played the whole decade.

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XY
Years ago

I posted this in an earlier thread that started a similar discussion that just didn't get off the ground. I think it is a very interesting topic.

---------------

My team of the decade:

C: Chris Anstey (MVP, 2 x Sengstock medal, def player, 2 rings)
PF: Matt Neilson (MVP, Sengstock medal, 2 rings)
SF: Sam Mackinnon (MVP, Sengstock medal, def player, 1 ring)
SG: Jason Smith (Sengstock medal, 3 rings?)
PG: Brett Maher (Sengstock medal, 1 ring)

---
Bench:
C: Mark Bradtke (MVP, all time rebounder, 1 ring)
PF: Chris Williams (MVP, Sengstock medal, 1 ring)
SF: Glen Saville (Sengstock medal, def player, 1 ring)
SG: Kirk Penney (MVP)
PG: CJ Bruton (3 rings)

Coach: Brian Goorjian (4 rings, countless other awards)

It hurts me to have to put as many people in that I chose to dislike when they were playing against us, but that is probably just a measure of their worth.

Mee unlucky with I think 4 defensive player of the year awards, but no rings this decade.

Highly successful role players such as David Stiff and Brett Wheeler are unfortunate to miss in favour of more dominant players. But they deserve a mention for their contribution to so many successful teams.

---------------

Anyway, the selections above are only on the basis of performances this decade, which is what knocks out people like Gaze from contention.

Chris Williams is probably the only person who didn't have a multiple year involvement with the league, he got in as the most dominant individual season performance.

Anyhow, probably could easily add another 10 people to that list.

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djrod
Years ago

flat out forgot maher in my top 10... he is in there

I originally forgot Sav and added him at the bottom, he should be in the top 10 too but who do you leave out?

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XY
Years ago

djrod

Arguably you could say that Gaze, D-Mac, Rose etc had the peaks of their careers in the 90's and not in this decade. However, it depends on your criteria. If you are just listing the ten best players (over their careers) to play this decade, you certainly can't exclude those players.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Ballinger?

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Anonymous
Years ago

Agreed with Rose, Gaze and DMac. MJ played in the NBA for the Wizards but wasn't exactly in the best players of the decade...

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djrod
Years ago

yeah all good points...

i dont even know what my criteria are hahaha

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