RealGM

Realgm posters, please enlighten me on this one: How good really was James Worthy?

Everytime I hear discussions about the best small forwards in the game, I rarely hear his name... Is he really a pure SF? Or was he a post-playing SF who ran the break really well? Were his handles good enough? Did he have the range?

I have watched many Showtime Lakers videos showing James dominating in the playoffs, hence earning him his monicker... but those were highlights... I really haven't had the time to watch full games to really measure how good he was.

Was his greatness amplified by being on the Showtime Lakers? How do you stack him against other SF greats? Or even against current SF's? Whose game did his play resemble the most?

BTW... I'm working a basketball report right now... and for the weirdest reasons, James' name was the first one to pop in my mind...

Thank you in advance for any useful information you can offer.

Well I don't see anyone to compare him to now which is because of how the game has changed.

Imo he was a great finisher/dunker. My constant memory is of him posting up on the left near the baseline and he would spin baseline and either finish with a dunk or he would use his incredibly ability to extend with a fingeroll type layup. He was a perfect compliment to the Laker Showtime because he was a greyhound running up and down the court. Jumpshot was avg imo; kind of funny looking as I remember it but it went in.

I suppose if I had to compare him to someone he would have Shawn Marions athleticism and Josh Howards build.

He would have to modify his game because he posted up a lot and I don't see too many SF's posting up in todays game outside of Lebron.

I was a bigtime Sixers fan during Dr.J/Maruice Cheeks/Bobby Jones era and when the Lakers scammed to get Worthy in the draft I was like the Sixers will never beat the Lakers. It's funny because the one year that the Sixers won they swept the Lakers but Worthy had gotten injured and didn't play. I don't think he would have stopped the Sixers from winning because they were on a mission that year but I don't think they Sixers would have swept the Lakers........

Big Snacks was pretty good he got a massive contract from Isiah Thomas back in the offseason of the 2004-2005 season I believe...

In my opinion, the best finisher around the rim of all time. Of course, MJ is in the discussion, but he was often the initiator as well as the finisher. Worthy had a suspect handle, and wasn't the greatest passer but was the consummate quick leaper, who could beat people to the rim at any given time.

Within 10 feet of the rim, I would trust Worthy to score 2 points more than anyone I can think of, other than Jordan. He had great hands, and handled Magic's passes to perfection. Many times he wouldn't even put the ball on the floor but would just go right to the rim. He had a good mid-range jumper, but I don't recall him being great in that area.

He earned the "Big Game" label from his body of work at NC and on the Lakers. He always seemed to come up big on the largest stages.

G35s got him pretty spot on.

While I definitely wouldn't go that far as to call him the best finisher ever, I will say that James was an absolutely ideal wingman for Magic -- long, tall, exceptionally quick/fast, great hands. He has to be one of the more graceful and agile big men to ever play.

In the halfcourt, he was a well-above average, but not quite great, low-post player who could be counted on to produce when Magic and Kareem weren't on the block. Had an average jumper, wasn't as good a rebounder as you'd expect for his size and athletic ability, was a solid but unspectacular defensive player.

To me, the small forward position is one of versatility. Guys like Bird, Havlicek, Dr. J, Pippen, Barry -- all of them could score, but they hurt you in a lot of other areas, too. JW, as much as I appreciated his style, just didn't do enough, in my opinion, to be rated in that upper tier of SFs. He would have been great regardless, but he was also very fortunate to play in a system, and with a point guard, who maximized his strengths to the fullest.

Most comparable player today was Shawn Marion. Marion is a bit better help defender and a much better rebounder, Worthy had better post moves and a talent for big game heroics. Terrific complementary player on a great great team.

And just for your report to flow correctly he should be referred to as "Big Game" James Worthy.

G35 wrote:I suppose if I had to compare him to someone he would have Shawn Marions athleticism and Josh Howards build.

He would have to modify his game because he posted up a lot and I don't see too many SF's posting up in todays game outside of Lebron.

Taller than both of them though, just mentioning that.

Why would he have to modify his game? If anything, the dearth of post-up SFs in the league today would make him a more valuable commodity.

Rooster wrote:-= original quote snipped =-


Taller than both of them though, just mentioning that.

Why would he have to modify his game? If anything, the dearth of post-up SFs in the league today would make him a more valuable commodity.

I say that because it's just harder to post up and that be your primary way to attack the defense.

Imo if all you can do is post up then you can get taken out of your game with zone defenses and double teams. James would still be able to post up just not as much as he did in his day........