Speaking of Manu.....

[WayOutWest]

Manu has been touched on in the Spurs vs. Laker game.  While I still hold to my opinion that Manu is a 3rd tier player, I do hate it when the ball is in his hands because he's unpredictable.  When I think of players like Kobe, T-Mac, Duncan or Iverson, I think UNSTOPPABLE.  But there are players in the league that are unpredictable, Manu is one of them.  You don't know what you're gonna get from the guy, he's a game hero as much as a goat.

Can you guys think of other unpredictable guys, not unstoppable, but unpredictable.  The only guy that comes to my mind is Vernon Maxwell, you never knew what you were going to get from the guy.  Mad Max was alot more limited than Manu, while I criticize the guy I do recognize he's multi-facited, he can drive, dish and shoot from anywhere, he's a great ONE possesion option when defenses are focused on TD.

Any others?

[westkoast]

Gilbert Arenas to me was one of those guys although he is now venturing into the unstopable realm.  You never know if he is going to take you to the rim, shoot a jump shot, or pass the ball.  You are not sure where his shots are going to come from and def not where his passes are going.

I agree about Manu.  You really don't know what he is going to do.  Sometimes he is a hero and sometimes his unpredictable nature on the court has hurt the Spurs.  I think they will take the good with the bad though.

[Lurker]

Pop has touched on the good vs bad aspects.  And he says that it is hard to put restraints on Manu.  The guy is always going at 110% on the floor at both ends.  And you do end up with some real brain farts (game 7 last year) but you end up with a lot more good things than bad.

Unpredictable players:  Marbury and Iverson come to mind.  Although Iverson could be in the unstoppable category.

[jn]

Man there has to be a lot of guys who fit this bill.  For now I would throw out Steve Francis as a great example.  It was always a battle between his stuning abilities and his abominable decision making.  Now of course he no longer has the physical ablities.

[Rolando Blackman]

Hey y'all!!!
  
IMO, the leading character for unpredictability is the volatile Bonzi Wells.  I really think 'Sheed had a bad influence on him at the outset of his career in Portland - but at that time the Blazers were dysfunctional almost at the mid'80s Phoenix Suns level, so maybe it's unfair to load all the blame on Wallace's shoulders.  Bad behavior and all however, when Bonzi's on he's like Charles revisited.
  
-RB
Shaq #1

[Laker Fan]

I agree with WOW on Ginobili, unpredictable is a pretty accurate description of his style, although you do have to take the bad with the good in his case, he has too much upside for his unpredictability to be factor in whether he is valuable to a team, he is, just not top tier by any stretch of the imagination. I would say between 2nd and 3rd tier, he is not a game breaker nor is he unstoppable, he would never be a franchise player nor a player to build a team around, just a solid role player who hustles his behind off, nothing more.

I agree with Lurker on Marbury and Iverson being unpredictable but not on Iverson being unstoppable, scoring points while your team doesn't make the playoffs or is at best a 1st round and out in a weak EC doesn't put you in the rarified unstoppable category, we'll see how he does in Denver.

Arenas is rapidly becoming unstoppable simply because, like Kobe, Duncan, perhaps Wade, but particularly Kobe, he can kill you from anywhere on the floor, come to think of it, so can Dirk Nowitski, which makes him likewise unstoppable.

[westkoast]

Pop has touched on the good vs bad aspects.  And he says that it is hard to put restraints on Manu.  The guy is always going at 110% on the floor at both ends.  And you do end up with some real brain farts (game 7 last year) but you end up with a lot more good things than bad.

Unpredictable players:  Marbury and Iverson come to mind.  Although Iverson could be in the unstoppable category.

I think you deal with the bad because the good comes more often then not.  Putting restraints on Manu is hard to do, seems like it is part of his personality to be spontaneous and also it limits him as a player.  It is hard to make a game plan for that kind of player and it is hard to anticipate what he is going to do.  Any great defender has the ability to anticipate what another player is going to do, I think even Bruce Bowen and Ron Artest would have trouble doing so with Manu.

Marbury is unpredictable mentaly.  I think he is pretty predictable on the court, he is always going to want to shoot first and pass second.  Same reason I didn't include Nash, who you cannot predict what he is going to do but the idea to pass always comes first before it does to score.  I think they are somewhat predictable in that aspect.