Doctor MJ wrote:Honestly really curious on your take 70s.
I think that is an interesting comparison because:
1. Gilmore, despite his ridiculous talent and physical gifts, never reached Gobert's defensive heights in the NBA.
2. Artis was more capable defender from physical standpoint and although he had his share of issues, I wouldn't call him stupid or stubborn player, which makes me think how much of that was caused by the horrible situation in Chicago in the late 1970s.
3. Even though their offensive numbers are relatively close, I don't think anyone should put the two close offensively. Gilmore was often overtasked and again, had his issues with turnovers and sometimes slow decision making, but he was better than Gobert at basically everything on offense, at least from skillset standpoint.
So I wonder if we give Gobert the edge based on the fact that Gilmore was in bad situation in Chicago. Some may bring up SAS years, but his first season there was his 12th pro season and he was 33/34 at that time, after an injury that slowed him down considerably. I am saying this as someone who on one hand is significantly higher on Rudy than most, but on the other may be biased towards Gilmore.
I'd be incline to favor Gobert on all fronts given your NBA constraint, but that's also because I perceive Artis as taking a significant dip in athleticism in the NBA years compared to the ABA years, and maybe that's too simplistic.
I don't think the athleticism decline happened before 1979 injury. Maybe there was some motor problem in the late 1970s, but again - how much of that is the dysfunctional situation he was put in? We'll never know I guess.
At Artis' very best I tend to see him as being comparable as a shot blocker, stronger but still explosive, and with better touch on offense. I'd probably default to calling Gobert the better peak defender by a smidge, and favor peak ABA Artis as the more complete 2-way player.
Often wonder how far 1977 Gilmore was from his ABA peak. It seems that he had to adjust to the new league during the first months, but he looked like good old A-Train at the end of the season. A shame we have so few Bulls games from 1976/77...