DavidStern wrote:TrueLAfan wrote:5. Karl Malone. Just can't put Hakeem (not a good shooting year; underperforming team that he was the leader of) or Drob (great supporting cast) over Malone. 31 and 11 on 56% shooting with good D.
HM—Hakeem, Drob, Stockton
If Robinson had great supporting cast then Malone had even greater - even you mentioned Stockton as HM, so at the same level as Robinson...
Robinson could spend seasons on a roster like the 00 Blazers, while Malone+Stockton could spend the same period of time playing with teammates that have the talent of a girl's high school basketball team, and your argument would remain, altogether, as: "John Stockton".
If Stockton was truly so great that he was supposed to make teams with Thurl Bailey as a third option into a contender, then it's obvious that you shouldn't be voting for Robinson at all -- instead, you should be voting for Stockton.
But let's face it, the majority of your posts that mention Stockton aren't really about his greatness; rather you use him as a prop to pretend that Malone was less than Robinson. Over and over, no matter how many counter-examples are used or examinations of the relative lack of worth of such an assertion, you trot it right back out again. Never able to directly deal with what the other side points out, and thus not even able to back up your prior assertion.
Just, again, to put things into perspective, Robinson in 90 was actually outscored by Terry Cummings in the playoffs; Cummings also scored 22 per game in the regular season. Even as Malone had a down playoffs, he still scored more per game than both Robinson and Cummings.
Find me an example of a teammate of Malone's outscoring him on a per game basis over the course of the playoffs in his prime. Wait, I'll save you the trouble: there aren't any such examples.
(In fact, from the ages of 22 through 39 Malone was Utah's leading scorer, easily, every post-season.)
If you want to say that Robinson wasn't in his prime, then you immediately disconnect any idea of him belonging on a top 5 list.
You could argue that Olajuwon was outscored by teammates in this playoffs, but that rather compounds the point as this certainly was close to a nadir as far as prime Olajuwon's career arc.
The Spurs of 90 had three guys over 20 points per (Cummings, Robinson, Anderson), and five guys that scored at least 12.3 to 24.9 per. The Jazz had Malone at 25.2, Bailey at 20 , Stockton at 15 and Bobby Hansen at 10.
The Spurs that year were competing with rather deep teams like the Blazers and Suns as far as depth of scoring out of a top-tier five man roster.
The Blazers got 88.8 points per game out of their top five in the post-season. The Suns got 87. The Spurs? 94.3 PPG in those playoffs from their top five.
Utah averaged 80.6 PPG from theirs. Minus out Malone's scoring and Utah was averaging 55.4 PPG -- take Robinson's scoring from the Spurs' top five and they average 70 points per with the four men left in that listing.
In the playoffs, typically, it's key to look at the strength of a roster that's streamlined; as far as key strength of rotation, there's no doubt that the Spurs were loaded that year.
Utah ranked dead last for playoff performance from their top five in the western conference. And, keep in mind, that was with Malone as the NBA's third leading scorer in the playoffs.
To be fair to Robinson, this was his rookie year. And by that standard it was very impressive. But a handicap like that isn't -- or at least shouldn't -- get Robinson ranked. And the disturbing fact is that, even while not being what one would call a great post-season, this was more impressive than what Robinson managed season V season at his peak.
You can try arguing Robinson -- it's arguable, sure -- though trying to poor mouth it for him on the basis of roster talent doesn't appear to be the shrewdest move in this case. But I know that you continue to believe that it was Rod Strickland's (Avery Johnson's/Doc Rivers') fault that David was weak in the post, shaky with his jumper and liable to give up scoring duties to anybody with a good deal of talent out of the 4 spot.
The fact that the argument remains the same no matter the year tells us that David was likewise about the same on skillsets in 1990 as he was in 1996. Backhanded at best.
