Dan Majerle vs Rip Hamilton

[durantbird]

Who was the better defender, better shooter and better overall player?

[trex_8063]

Defense - Without looking at it too hard [mostly going from memory and reputation], I'd likely say Majerle was the better defender, though Rip was capable in his own right.

Shooting - Well, Rip was certainly the better mid-range shooter [really not even close], and also notably better at the FT-line. I think maybe Majerle has the edge from distance. Hamilton did get really good at catch-and-shoot three's toward the end of his prime, though they were almost exclusively assisted, and the offensive scheme in Detroit got him A LOT of looks from the corners. That, as well as volume [Rip never shot as many from deep as Majerle routinely was], should be considered when comparing 3pt%. Though Majerle did get three years with the shortened line, which also shouldn't be overlooked.

Majerle, however, was in some ways a prototype of shooters today in that he was routinely [as early as '93, at least] firing away from 4+ feet behind the arc (even as far back as 30-32' occasionally). I specifically remember one playoff game in '93 [I think it was in the Finals, actually] when to beat the clock at the end of a quarter Majerle let one fly from about 35'. He missed, but as the teams walked back to the bench, coach Paul Westphal was grinning and put his hands to his throat as he mouthed "Choke?" to Majerle.......it was telling of how semi-routine such distance was for Majerle [even as early as '93] that Westphal could make that joke. For whatever that's worth.....

Majerle was the better finisher, too (there was a reason he was called Thunder Dan). And I was a little surprised to see that Hamilton likely had [slightly] more of his total shots assisted; though to be fair he should get a fair bit of credit for generating the openings (his motor and off-ball movement was superb.....up there with Reggie and Ray Ray).

Hamilton was responsible for larger volume of scoring.

Passing/Play-making - In terms of play-making for others.....idk. Rip generated marginally more assists, but I'll say this for Majerle: his turnover economy was outstanding. To be sure Hamilton was responsible for more offensive production, but Majerle did what he did while committing barely more than half the turnovers Rip committed.

Rebounding - If looking at it [DRebs] as something separate from defense, certainly Majerle was the little better rebounding wing, though this doesn't move the needle far.

Longevity is really really similar.


So overall......it's a good comparison. They're in roughly the same all-time range for me......I'd probably say Hamilton, slightly, in an all-time sense. But they're fairly close.

[SeattleJazzFan]

majerle had a reputation as a defender - i think he was a tad overrated there. i'd call it even or give a slight edge to rip.

shooting - it's a wash. i think majerle was probably a tad more efficient and could shoot the three, but Rip was the more prolific scorer.

passing/playmaking - assists are about even, but my memory tells me majerle was a bit better playmaker/passer.

rebounding - slight nod to majerle

longevity is a pretty big advantage for Rip. Majerle had four seasons of 15+ ppg and 8 seasons of 10+ ppg. Rip had 10 seasons of 15+ ppg and 12 straight of 10+ ppg.

they both played 14 seasons, but Rip was a major player for at least 12 of those where Majerle didn't do anything his last 5 seasons in the league.

conclusion: edge to Rip, but it is VERY close and a fun comparison.

[trex_8063]

majerle had a reputation as a defender - i think he was a tad overrated there. i'd call it even or give a slight edge to rip.

shooting - it's a wash. i think majerle was probably a tad more efficient and could shoot the three, but Rip was the more prolific scorer.

passing/playmaking - assists are about even, but my memory tells me majerle was a bit better playmaker/passer.

rebounding - slight nod to majerle

longevity is a pretty big advantage for Rip. Majerle had four seasons of 15+ ppg and 8 seasons of 10+ ppg. Rip had 10 seasons of 15+ ppg and 12 straight of 10+ ppg.

they both played 14 seasons, but Rip was a major player for at least 12 of those where Majerle didn't do anything his last 5 seasons in the league.

conclusion: edge to Rip, but it is VERY close and a fun comparison.

Looking at it in terms of ppg is a poor way of assessing longevity. Noting that Rip had more double-digit and 15+ seasons simply ties directly back to what you said in the 2nd line: "Rip was the more prolific scorer".
That's all relative numbers of 10+/15+ seasons is telling you.

I mean, Majerle peaked at 17.3 ppg.......Rip basically averaged that for his entire 14-year career. So of course he's going to have more higher ppg seasons.
To put it another way: should we conclude that BOTH of these guys had better longevity than Dikembe Mutombo because he had only ONE season of 15+ ppg? Or that Bill Walton had better longevity than Ben Wallace?

Or to look at a different [broader] measure of production, I could counter that Majerle had a positive BPM all 14 seasons of his career, whereas Rip's is positive in only SEVEN seasons.......so it's actually Majerle that has the big longevity advantage.

But that's not right either. Truth is it's pretty close to a wash: they both played total 14 seasons [with just 34 total games and <700 total minutes separating them, with both of them being around for one shortened season] with a fairly similar career-arc in terms of how long it took them to reach their respective primes, and a fairly similar decline out of them.

[SeattleJazzFan]

majerle had a reputation as a defender - i think he was a tad overrated there. i'd call it even or give a slight edge to rip.

shooting - it's a wash. i think majerle was probably a tad more efficient and could shoot the three, but Rip was the more prolific scorer.

passing/playmaking - assists are about even, but my memory tells me majerle was a bit better playmaker/passer.

rebounding - slight nod to majerle

longevity is a pretty big advantage for Rip. Majerle had four seasons of 15+ ppg and 8 seasons of 10+ ppg. Rip had 10 seasons of 15+ ppg and 12 straight of 10+ ppg.

they both played 14 seasons, but Rip was a major player for at least 12 of those where Majerle didn't do anything his last 5 seasons in the league.

conclusion: edge to Rip, but it is VERY close and a fun comparison.

Looking at it in terms of ppg is a poor way of assessing longevity. Noting that Rip had more double-digit and 15+ seasons simply ties directly back to what you said in the 2nd line: "Rip was the more prolific scorer".
That's all relative numbers of 10+/15+ seasons is telling you.

I mean, Majerle peaked at 17.3 ppg.......Rip basically averaged that for his entire 14-year career. So of course he's going to have more higher ppg seasons.
To put it another way: should we conclude that BOTH of these guys had better longevity than Dikembe Mutombo because he had only ONE season of 15+ ppg? Or that Bill Walton had better longevity than Ben Wallace?

Or to look at a different [broader] measure of production, I could counter that Majerle had a positive BPM all 14 seasons of his career, whereas Rip's is positive in only SEVEN seasons.......so it's actually Majerle that has the big longevity advantage.

But that's not right either. Truth is it's pretty close to a wash: they both played total 14 seasons [with just 34 total games and <700 total minutes separating them, with both of them being around for one shortened season] with a fairly similar career-arc in terms of how long it took them to reach their respective primes, and a fairly similar decline out of them.

i thought you might go there and it makes sense to an extent, but let's face it, of DM's 14 seasons, he was a non factor in at least 5 of those.

[DNice68]

Hamilton and it’s not even close!

[GeorgeMarcus]

I would have thought Majerle would be considered the better defender somewhat comfortably. Rip had the offensive advantage but it should have been greater if he stretched some of those long 2s behind the arc. It's a shame he just missed the boat on 3pt era because it likely would have been a smooth transition for him. Relative to the rules in their respective careers, I think I'd take Majerle by a hair

[Dr Positivity]

Majerle led the league in 3pt makes in back to back years when players like Miller and Rice were in their prime (tied Miller one of them), I think you have to judge players by their eras and that is really impressive. Rip's offensive game is "harder", but I think probably 3s>2s here. Defensively I'm willing to entertain Rip is as good despite Majerle making All D twice.