Well with it being a Tuesday morning and all, I thought it would be fitting to roll out a nice little poll thread. Many a time on these very boards have we ranked and debated the best players in the history of the hardwood. We have even listed the best second options ever and battled over it, but I want to go one step more. I want to bring forth a challenge to my fellow posters here the CBS boards. Can you rank the top 10 best thirf options to ever play in the NBA? This is not an easy task. I mean how many great players were the third option on their own team? Look at your favorite team right now. Who is your team's third option? Are they any good? Whould you call them an all-time great? Most likely not. I know Luol Deng is far from great.

So I went through the rosters of some of the greatest teams in NBA history and looked at their third options. Many factors came into play. Sure scoring is nice but I looked for guys that fit into the system like oil in a machine. Guys that were part of championships or at the very least parts of a great winning team. After a few hours of going over the numbers I came up with a top ten list that I am going to share with you. I also included a poll for fun so you can vote on the best third option ever. I also ask that you give your own list to fuel a bit of debate. Thanks and I hope you enjoy. 

Here is my Top10 list in order of lowest ranking to highest to add drama.  

10. Horace Grant. Maybe not the first name to come to mind when considering te best third options but Grat fits into the oil catagory. He meshed in with the Bulls perfectly during the first three championships. He was a working man's player that could clean up the boards and shoot the 15 foot jumper. He had a solid game in the paint that opened things up a bit for Pip and Jordan. He also sported those grat goggles.

9. Tony Parker. Parker was clearly the third option for the Spurs during the Championship years. Duncan and Manu were the one and two but when your third option is your point guard you are in good shape. Parker was and still is an elite drive and kick player and has a gift at finishing around the basket. His savvy play with the ball in his hands made the Spurs even more deadly. Do you dare not double down on Duncan and risk Parker driving? Classic.

8. Ray Allen. Let us not fool ourselves. Even if you are a Celtics hater you have to admitt the addition of Allen as a third option was one of the greatest moves in the history of the sport. Allen's elite shooter ability simply opened the floor up on a grand scale. Also, who out there can claim to be a Ray Ray hater. The guy is just a nice dude and a great team player. Too bad he plays with a bunch of punks. Sorry, I could not help it. lol

7. Wes Unseld. When you think blue collar you must have a picture of Unseld in your mind. The guy would just give it his all and sacrifice his body down low. Playing behind Dandridge and Elvin Hayes, Wes was a double double threat every night he stepped on the floor and helped make those Washington Bullets teams unforgettable.

6. Dave Debusschere. In my eyes double D gets the edge over Unseld. Debusschere was pure passion on the floor. He is the very thing missing from much of todays NBA. He was "Effort". He was a double double machine and there were times were he played like the best player on the floor, and having Willis Reed and Walt Frazier as teammates, that is saying something.

5. Bob Cousy. Really Cousy was the first great point guard to grace the NBA floor. He was a master with the ball in his had and a true magician. With Russell and Jones as running mates Cousy would be a huge part of an amazing 6 Championships and on 10 All-NBA first teams and 13 Allstar teams. He was the tiny giant of his time.

4. Wilt Chamberlain. When Wilt went to the Lakers at the end of his career he was the thrid option. With Elgin Baylor and Jerry West on the team Wilt slid down to the third option, but that did not stop him from averaging 20 points and 21 rebounds in his first season there. Wilt battled through injuries and remained a force with the Lakers while there.

3. Kevin McHale. Sure the guy looks like a stand in for Frankenstein, but in reality he was a freak of nature. As skinny as a pole, McHale would defend the paint like few other againt players much larger then himself. He was much stronger then he looked and perhaps that was due to being created in the basement lab of a madman. He also had a pretty jumper and could score in many different ways within 17 feet of the rim. With Bird and Parrish, McHale and the Celtics would share the 80s with the Lakers.

2. Dennis Rodman. The baddest man to ever step foot on the hardwood. He had worst shots I have ever seen but man could he reound and defend. In my Eyes Rodman was the best pound for pound rebounder to ever play the game and certainly the best in the modern era. A 7 time rebounding champion with averages of 14.9, 16.7, and 15.0 with the Bulls Dennis was in a league all his own. His defense on Karl Malone during both Finals is a thing of legend. He was also the best looking NBA player ever to wear a dress in public.

1. James Worthy. Here is a guy that could have led his own team deep into the playoffs, but when Magic Johnson and Kareem are on the floor with you, you need to fing your role and Big Game James did just that. He became a effecient scorer and jump shooter but more importantly he was willing to hit the game winner. Many a Lakers games during the 80s were won by Worthy's last second shooting. He was a 3x Champion, a 7 time Allstar, and winner of the Finals MVP in 1988. He was a complete player and ranks on everyones Top10 list for small forwards in NBA Histoy. That is saying a lot for a third option.

So, I hope you enjoyed my rankings and I would love to see yours. I left Chris Bosh off my list as we have yet to see him play for the Heat. Perhaps by this time next year he will be on this list. I also wanted to add Hornacek at 10 but the Jazz never made it past the Bulls and he just missed the list.

     Well I thought I would take a small break from writing about the Bulls at look at the NBA in general. I was reading an article on the greatest playoff performances in the history of the NBA and I started to wonder what the best single game ever played by a player was. This would include playoffs, regular season, and finals games. I came up with seven games that stood out to me and I am sure I have missed some other really good ones as well. So, please reply and let me know what you think and also what other great single game performances you think stand the test of time. So let us take a look.

Kobe Bryant scores 81. I started with the most recent game in history and one that sould be fresh in all our minds. The were playing the Raptors back in 2006 when Kobe decided he would go off big time. He single handedly crushed the Raptors in this regular season game. Kobe even sat out part of the fourth quarter. Had he stayed in he could have closed in on the record. What makes this performance stand out to me is the fact that Kobe scored so many points against a solid club in the modern era and that he is a shooting guard. Most of the single game scoring records are held by bigmen making what Kobe did even more special.

Isiah Thomas vs the Lakers 1988. It was game 6 of the 1988 NBA finals and the Pistons were up against the Magic Johnson led Lakers when Isiah proved why many believed him to be one of the greatest point guards in NBA history. Despite a late game injury Thomas would drive his team from a third quarter deficit to victory and force a game seven. Thomas would score a NBA record 25 points in the third quarter and finished the game with 43 points, 8 assists, and 6 steals.

Wilt makes history with 100 points. Just typing that gives me the chills. It was back in 1962 when Chamberlain would face the New York Knicks and put on the greatest offensive assaults ever. An even 100 points. Perhaps the greatest record in the NBA today. Not 99 or 101 points but a blood cooling 100 points. Another interesting thing to me was the final score of 169 to 147. That is crazy. 316 points scored in one game. I am not sure we will see a game like that again in the modern era.

Elgin Baylor vs the Celtics. This is just an insane performance by Baylor. In an all important game 5 were the series was tied Elgin took over on both ends and pushed the Lakers past the Celtics and to a 3-2 series lead. Baylor scored an amazing 61 points while controlling the paint with 22 rebounds. That is 22 points for a 6'5" shooting guard in a finals game against the Celtics who had perhaps the greatest rebounder in NBA history in Bill Russell is the most outstanding part of this performance to me.

Michael Jordan vs the Celtics. This is the game in which MJ became MJ and the very moment that the whole world took notice of his Airness. Sure Jordan was a household name by this point but this game made him an icon and had Larry Bird calling him "God dressed as Michael Jordan". Sure the Bulls lost the game, but it was against arguably the greatest team in NBA history. Jordan would try to carry the Bulls by dropping 63 points against a defensive juggernaut of a team in the Boston Celtics.

Reggie Miller kills the Knicks. This might be the greatest last 10 seconds for any player in a NBA playoff game ever. The score was 105 to 99 with about 16 seconds on the clock. With 8.9 seconds Miller would hit a 3 then steal the inbound pass an quickly hit another 3. Game tied in seconds. Starks then get fouled and misses both shots and then it is again Reggie to the rescue with a 2 point jumper to rip the hearts out of the Knicks. The crowd is silent.

Bill Russell in game 7. Earlier we looked at Elgin Baylor and his great effort in game 5 of the 1962 finals. Well in game 7 Bill Russell showed the world that he was a monster. Russell would go on to dominate on both ends of the floor by scoring 30 points and pulling down an unbelievable 40 rebounds. This is the stuff of legends if you ask me. A giant lurking in the paint and forcing his will. The Celtics would win the game and therefore the finals.

     Well, those are my 7 games. There are a few I thought about putting on the list like MJ's flu game, Shaq vs the 76ers in the finals, and Magic's performance in game 6 of the 1980 finals, but I ended up picking these seven. So what performances did I miss?

Ok, I know that most will say that Wilt was the best Center of alltime. I have a hard time arguing with that statement. Then I wonder what would have happened had Shaq been around back in the 60's. Would he be seen as the greatest ever had he only been born 35 years earlier. I think he would have put up numbers at least as good if not better then Wilt. So how can anyone really say that Wilt was the best. Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, and for sure Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would also have given Wilt a run for his money. I will even go out on a limb and say that all those I just mentioned would school Wilt in a game.

Do not get wrong, I think Wilt has his place in history for sure, but I have a real problem with calling him the greatest center ever. In today's game he would still be a very good player, but he would not dominate like he did back in the day. I would wager he would be a solid 22 and 11 type Center with 2.5 blocks per game.

But in his time he was a force. He was more dominating then any other player ever in their own time. Magic and Bird owned the 80's and Jordan owned the 90's, but no one was ever a force like Wilt was. So in that regard he is the greatest player ever, but is that how the subject should be looked at. I mean if you were to create a five man roster and could use any player ever in there prime and the game was to be played tonight, would you really choose Wilt? I can think of 5 guys I would pick first.

Just a thought.