Arsilva wrote:The Infamous1 wrote:bastillon wrote:clearly you're just looking at stats without taking context into consideration. I feel like that has to be done with Drexler if anybody, because he could fill up the stat sheet very easily but not necessarily come through when it mattered. Drexler was possibly the greatest transition player of all-time. he used to have 30+ pt games on fastbreaks alone. but he was quite bad in the HCO for a superstar. he wasn't even the best HCO player on those Portland teams (that would be Terry Porter by far). Drexler had many flaws in the HCO. he was a mediocre ballhandler. he didn't really have outside game because of that inconsistent jumpshot. he played extremely well off the ball and was a very underrated passer, but his limited scoring/shooting skills made him kinda useless as a guy you would run your offense through in the postseason. his points came from putbacks, backcuts, transition, getting to the line.
for example, he was nowhere near Penny Hardaway in terms of HCO. I know people will point out to his numbers in the '95 finals, but Drexler was scoring tons of points in transition because of how many turnovers Horry and Olajuwon forced on the Magic. he also had it easy in the HCO because of how much attention Hakeem demanded in the post, so that Drexler could just finish. there were also times when Hakeem was standing on the weak side with Shaq covering him, and Drexler just abused Magic on mismatches while driving/posting up. so Drexler was a great guy to play 2nd fiddle because he could get a lot of points without running a ton of plays through him, but at the same time you had to remember that running plays through him is not exactly what you would wanna do to begin with. he could post-up smaller guards, he could drive by weaker defenders, he could abuse you when given space to get inside, but he wasn't a guy who could create something out of nothing a la Kobe Bryant or even somebody like Brandon Roy.
Great assessment. This is the real value of forums...having access to insightful analysis beyond the data. Drexler was great, but if he could take over a game like Jordan, Bird, Lebron, Magic, Portland could have at least extended the series against the Bulls...in game 6 they had a great lead starting 4th quarter...but didn't have an player who could create something by himself to gain some relief when Bulls started gainning steam.
The same applies to Ray Allen vs Reggie Miller...the numbers and game 6 finals (2013) make people place Ray above Reggie...but only someone who actually watched games, remember how Allen couldn't score after game 2 in 2010 finals....or how Miller raised his game against Bulls in 1998, even playing injured and being guarded by Michael Jordan.
Drexler COULD and often DID take over games.... and getting to 6 games vs. jordan's bulls is hardly a knock on him or those portlant teams. Drexler took over games and changed the pace of how it could be played. he didnt do it in the half court, but that doesnt change the fact that he did it...
i'd compare it to playing on defense in football, and lining up across from someone like randy moss. sure he isnt going to kill you with precise routes or underneath stuff, but he has you on your heels before the ball is even snapped because you know if you make one false move its an easy score against you...
clyde was similar... take a bad shot, make a bad pass, take a second off, and its going to be 2 points the other way... and everyone is on their heels because of it.
And that is the one thing that doesnt show up in the boxscores. which is why guys like barkley, kidd, drexler, are so criminally underrated.
With some elite scorers you can say ok... im gonna play him straight up, let him get his 35 points, stop everyone else and try and win that way. you cant do that with guys who dominante in the full court.