Twinkie defense wrote:That's BS. Just like Mutombo has at times been a dominant player at his position. You're the only one talking about Hall of Fame. You don't like Sarunas - were you even a Warriors fan at the time? - and so you're doing semantic gymnastics to devalue his game.
#1 I do not call Mutombo a dominant player. I didn't call Ben Wallace a dominant player either. But I would be inclined to give more credence to the argument that a paint defender has a much greater impact on a game than a transition scorer. So yeah, if I had to say who was "more" dominant, I'd say Mutombo by leaps and bounds, and so would anyone else who isn't "challenged."
#2 I am not the only one who thinks about hall of fame caliber impact when throwing around the term "Dominant."
#3 I do not dislike Sarunas. I very much enjoyed him being a warrior, but I don't get carried away with it and make ridiculous claims about dominance. He was a very strong roleplayer. His role was scoring, but he was ultimately a roleplayer.
#4 Yes I was a Warriors fan at the time. I have been a Warrior fan since my earliest memories of childhood when my father went nuts about Rick Barry's championship. My family attended lots of games over those intervening thiry-some years and in all honesty, this is the first time I have EVER heard another Warriors or other NBA fan assert that Runi was
"one of the most dominant guards in the league." #5 It's not semantic gymnastics. It's the same disagreement that you and I have about most basketball related issues. You value people who do "just one thing well" (especially when it's scoring) much much much much higher than I and the rest of the basketball literate world values them.
It's a disagreement about the fundamental values of the game. It's not about me not liking Runi. And it's definitely not about me not having enough history with the Warriors to have a rational opinion on a player I watched extensively and cheered my ass off for in person on quite a few occasions (BTW, That's a flat out feeble attempt at a desperation/frustration argument there. Just pitiful to go to there "you're not enough of a fan to disagree with me" card, especially as your first response. All that says is that you really don't have squat to stand on. Just terrible man. I suggest you edit that post to something less pathetic if you really intend on defending this position. )
Runi was not dominant by any definition I've ever heard. You are the first person to ever make such an argument in my presence in 35 years of following the team passionately. But then again, you've consistently proven to be about the most basketball ignorant fan I've ever shared a conversation with. So there's that. I guess there's a first time for everything when you are involved.