Drob vs Karl Malone

[kooldude]

Who's the better player and who's higher on the all-time list?

[carrottop12]

These two are very close, probably right next to each other on the all time list, literally interchangeable in the 10-15 spot somewhere depending on how you feel.

Both were dominant during their time, D-Rob was a better defender, but Malone was a better offensive player for longer. D-Rob got lucky and got a ring with Duncan at the end of his career, Malone never got one.

I would take Malone because he was better for a longer time, and it's a homer pick, but Robinson was great too.

[vct33]

I'd take The Admiral and never think twice.

[etopn23]

DRob was the better player in his prime - no question IMO.

[UDRIH14]

drob didnt have stockton as a PG to feed him

[PDXKnight]

I'd take Robinson as well. The Mail Man was incredible, but Robinson was even more incredible in his prime.

[shawngoat23]

Robinson was a better two-way player, in my opinion, but Malone belongs higher on the all-time list despite not having any rings.

I believe either player in their primes would be the best player in the league today. This I state with no offense attended towards Duncan, who was consistently good and has had a great career, but was rarely truly dominant. In any case, he has since steadily declined from his prime, although he's still good enough to keep his team a championship contender.

[penbeast0]

Robinson was the better player at his peak; Malone had a much longer period of dominance. Peak or longevity . . . depends how you weigh it. If I was drafting one with the expectation of the careers they actually had, I'd take Robinson. He took some weak teams a long way further than they had any right going; that and he was the kind of superclassy guy I'd want to represent my franchise.

[Point forward]

I may be in the minority, but I take Karl Malone. Almost 37,000 points is something even Michael Jordan could not do.

[carrottop12]

These guys were seriously such good players, go back and look at their stats and its amazing the talent level that the NBA had for a while.

And neither of these guys were the best player in their day, pretty scary.

[UDRIH14]

drob never tried KO his opponents

[Idunkon1stdates]

drob never tried KO his opponents

And DRob was KO'd by Malone.

Advantage: Malone

[D.Brasco]

I may be in the minority, but I take Karl Malone. Almost 37,000 points is something even Michael Jordan could not do.

Didn't do it, not couldn't. If Mike hadn't taken 2 retirements he defenetly could have gotten that easy.

[nate33]

Robinson was the better player at his peak; Malone had a much longer period of dominance. Peak or longevity . . . depends how you weigh it. If I was drafting one with the expectation of the careers they actually had, I'd take Robinson. He took some weak teams a long way further than they had any right going; that and he was the kind of superclassy guy I'd want to represent my franchise.

Ditto. I think penbeast0 is my twin.

[el loco]

I may be in the minority, but I take Karl Malone. Almost 37,000 points is something even Michael Jordan could not do.

Yeah, I tend to agree with that. If it weren't for one missed offensive foul, Mr. Mailman might be sporting some jewelry/hardware of his own.

[kaima]

The idea that Robinson was better than Malone, or his equal for that matter, I believe is based out of ignorance. For all the talk about what Hakeem did to Robinson, Malone was just as vicious at stealing the Mermaid's lunch in the postseason, and did it multiple years.

Robinson also had a very weak post up game, and while Malone could score on him at will (begging the question of just how great Robinson's defense was) Robinson could not do the same against Malone's D (and yes, Malone guarded Robinson throughout those playoff series).

As the below playoff summaries will demonstrate, this was not a close matchup in their primes. If DRob is better than Malone, then I'd have to say he's better than Hakeem as well. Ridiculous, on both counts:

5/12/96
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.spor ... a973315a10


Karl Malone scored 32 points and shut down David Robinson as the Utah Jazz again smothered the San Antonio Spurs, 105-75, to take a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series.

Jeff Hornacek scored 10 of his 17 points in a pair of decisive third-quarter bursts for the Jazz, who limited the Spurs to 75 points for the second time in the series and are allowing just 75.5 points per game in their last four post-season contests. Game Four is Sunday night at Salt Lake City.

"They were very physical with us," Spurs coach Bob Hill said. "They put us on our heels and basically the game was over. We were very apologetic, we didn't fight back, we didn't get dirty. They told us what they were going to do in the paper. They called our bluff. They put it in the paper and then they did it and we didn't respond."

Robinson, guarded by the shorter but heavier Malone for much of the game, managed just 11 points. He shot just 4-of-10 from the field and 3-of-9 from the foul line. Robinson scored just three points in the second half, when the Spurs were held to just 33.

"This is crazy," Robinson said. "It was a time when we had a good opportunity in here and today wasn't an example of good basketball. They're looking good and we haven't scored. We have to figure a way to put the ball in the basket a lot better than we have been."

GAME 4 96 SEMIS
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.spor ... 38da08c0ad

Chris Morris scored 25 points and a stifling defense held David Robinson to 11 points as the Utah Jazz routed the San Antonio Spurs, 101-86 to take a 3-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series.

Karl Malone added 22 points and was 10-for-10 from the free throw line for the Jazz, who travel to San Antonio for Game Five on Tuesday.

GAME 2 1994 OPENING ROUND
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.spor ... 7121f49f12

San Antonio went without a field goal in 25 attempts over a 16-minute span
of the second and third quarters Saturday, as Utah evened their playoff series at 1-1 with a 96-84 victory.

The Spurs scored just 25 points in the two middle periods, making just 5 of 34 shots.

Jay Humphries scored 12 of his 25 points as Utah took control in the second quarter, outscoring the Spurs 30-9 for a 50-33 lead. The Jazz expanded the margin to 75-49 after three quarters as San Antonio continued to misfire.

The Spurs had a franchise record-low for points in a playoff game and set a host of other NBA and club records with their poor offensive performance.

Karl Malone, despite 7-for-25 shooting from the field, had 23 points and 14 rebounds for the Jazz.

Another terrible performance for Robinson against Malone: David Robinson FG 2-14 FT 8-10 POINTS 12

GAME 1 OPENING ROUND 1994
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.spor ... 3db1ffc736

David Robinson scored 25 points and the San Antonio Spurs, 0-5 against Utah in the regular season, routed the Jazz 106-89 Thursday night in the first game of their Western Conference playoff series.

Karl Malone's 36 points weren't enough to keep the Jazz in contention, and he was the only Utah player to score in double figures as the Jazz came close to tying their record-low 80 points in a playoff game.


GAME 4 1994 OPENING ROUND
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.spor ... 420e94498c

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Karl Malone scored 34 points, including a 20-footer with 42 seconds to play, and the Utah Jazz held off a late San Antonio rally to win 95-90 Thursday night, eliminating the Spurs from the NBA playoffs.

The Spurs trailed 91-84 before Dale Ellis scored and missed a free throw that Dennis Rodman tipped in, making the score 91-88. Malone then hit his key jumper to rebuild the Jazz lead back to five.

David Robinson came back with a spinning jumper, pulling the Spurs to 93-90, and they got the ball back with 12 seconds remaining. But David Benoit grabbed a loose ball and dunked just before time ran out.

In winning the best-of-5 series 3-1, Utah beat San Antonio in Salt Lake City for the 21st time in 22 games, and for the seventh time in eight games this season.

Malone also had 12 rebounds, while John Stockton had 18 assists to go with 13 points. Benoit finished with 15 points, hitting seven of nine shots.

Robinson had 27 points and 12 rebounds for San Antonio, and Ellis scored 24.

Even in games Robinson played well, Malone thoroughly outplayed him.

GAME 3 1994 OPENING ROUND

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.spor ... 3db1ffc736

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah's second straight first-round playoff rout of San Antonio had 20,000 Jazz fans rocking. Karl Malone, however, sat out the victory dance.

He hopes to celebrate Thursday night, when Utah can wrap up its best-of-5 series with the Spurs in the Delta Center -- and avoid a Texas finale on Saturday.

"I can say that these were our best back-to-back games of the season, but they are behind us now," Malone said after scoring 24 points in Utah's 105-72 triumph Tuesday night. "The biggest game of the season is Thursday night."

Malone also grabbed 13 rebounds as the Jazz manhandled cold-shooting San Antonio, which shot just 32 percent to Utah's 53 percent.
[...]
[David Robinson] had just 16 points Tuesday night, hitting only eight of 21 shots.

-------

There are more examples out there, this is just a slapdash cut and paste from another board.

Malone>>>>DRob. And the fact that so many think exactly the opposite is just another example of how underrated Karl is on this board.