RealGM Top 100 List #8

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Re: RealGM Top 100 List #8 

Post#81 » by OldSchoolNBA » Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:22 pm

An Unbiased Fan wrote:
Sedale Threatt wrote:I believe the edge that Olajuwon and Duncan both have defensively more than make up for whatever advantage Bryant has on offense. We've already had this discussion, so you know that I think that Kobe has been overrated as a defensive player for much of his career. Sometimes significantly so.

That's really the question I'm asking, and I can respect people's opinions if they feel differently. The individual offense vs individual defense factor, actually came up during the Bird vs Duncan discussions, so I'm still trying to get more input on how people feel about this.

Balancing a guy like Magic's offense, with a defender like Russell's defense is tricky. Bird's offense vs Hakeem's defense? Barkley's offense vs KG's defense?

That's all I'm trying to sort out. I know we differ on Bryant's defensive impact, but I do think that it tips the scale in his favor over TD & Hakeem. The fact that Kobe isn't all offense, and has been a key defender for LA, does hold importance.
It's a nice feather in Kobe's cap. I just don't think it significantly matters as one had no direct control over the other. For example, it's not like Duncan could have made up for Antonio Daniels being a horrific defender in 01.

But I'll humor you -- let's say that eliminates Duncan from the equation.

What about Olajuwon, then?


Well, those series did re-write the NBA history books. SA had HCA and were favorites going into the 01' series. In 02', Shaq was banged up, and LA was down 1-2, that could have stopped a 3-peat. In 04', that series prevented a possible Spurs 3-peat. If Duncan was a better player, then why didn't he play better, considering the stiffs LA threw at him on defense.

As for Hakeem vs Kobe. Both are highly skilled, both are 2-way players, but I feel Kobe's career resume puts him ahead. When Kenny Smith says Kobe is better than his longtime teammate, that's saying something. By pretty much every metric we have used so far in the project, Kobe should be ahead of Hakeem.

Ok, so I fully expect you to agree with me when I cite Horry's and Elie's opinion on Hakeem vs Shaq/Duncan. I mean, they said Hakeem was better than both so would that not make Hakeem better than both of them?
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Re: RealGM Top 100 List #8 

Post#82 » by Sedale Threatt » Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:23 pm

jaypo wrote:
Sedale Threatt wrote:Anyway, I'm about to head out for vacation, and my internet access will be sporadic (I hope) so my participation for the next couple of weeks will be limited.

Vote: Olajuwon
Nominate: Nowitzki


Have fun and be careful!


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Re: RealGM Top 100 List #8 

Post#83 » by Gongxi » Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:24 pm

Baller 24 wrote:and the Lakers having one of the best paint defensees in the league with Shaq +6.7 (ranked 3 ) in '01 & +7.1 (ranked 2) in '02.


I've seen AUF cite the Lakers perimeter defense several times while defending the 'merits' of Kobe's latest All-D selection. Will he be interested in recognizing those Laker teams' interior defense now?

That said, we shouldn't let one person all but derail this thing. I'm interested in hearing more about Olajuwon v Duncan before I vote.
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Re: RealGM Top 100 List #8 

Post#84 » by lorak » Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:36 pm

Duncan vs Hakeem is almost like coin flip. Almost, because Hakeem was more capable of taking over the game. He was like Jordan among centers/power forwards.
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Re: RealGM Top 100 List #8 

Post#85 » by An Unbiased Fan » Wed Jul 13, 2011 9:00 pm

Baller 24 wrote:I don't think you're understanding what he's stating, why are you using PPG as an indicator to measure their offensive level when both Olajuwon & Duncan have completely different roles offensively compared to Bryant?

It absolutely makes no sense, considering they have different roles offensively, I have no idea how PPG indicates automatically how a perimeter based player instructed to score at all times is automatically the best offensive player.

Also consider the fact that in '03 and '94 neither had a player on the perimeter that was capable of creating their own shot, shouldering the load offensively, consistently closing out games WITH either Duncan or Olajuwon NOT on the floor.

With Bryant we've seen that on numerous occasions considering he's been blessed with numerous post established offensive players, even when he's not on the floor, you've seen the Lakers take leads, go on runs, and close out games.

And in terms of defense, big-men have the ability to impact a defensive scheme in a varity of ways (I've only see three-four perimeter players impact an entire defense, and that's Jordan & Pippen's Bulls, Wade & LeBron's Heat, and LeBron's Cavs).

Bryant's ability on defense doesn't come close to the impact the big-men have, considering he's more strict to playing good individual defense (and even that's been overrated and completely dismantling the accolade that stands for All-NBA Defense, considering he doesn't play it 100% of the time).

So to answer your question Duncan & Olajuwon both have a significant defensive advnatage compared to that of Bryant, whereas Bryant's "PPG" measure of offensive accuary isn't close to being enough to consider him the greater offensive player, considering both have won championships without a proven caliber player, taking on even more of an offensive load.


I'm using PPG created to show actual offensive production. Why wouldn't I? Of course HO, TD, & KB have differing roles. Kobe's role was as a volume scorer, facilitator, and closer. He excelled at all 3, and that certainly speaks to his production value.

Defensively, Kobe had importance in LA's runs. From 00'-10' we can see tangible evidence of Kobe effecting series by his defense on opposing perimeter players. Does he have the impact of a defensive anchor, no, but he DID have an impact.

Also, Kobe had larger offensive loads for 4 of his titles than Hakeem or TD did, even in 94' & 03'. So I don't see how you can use that argument against him. His PTS% & AST% are higher. The Rockets and Spurs were defensive-minded teams

I'm not going to calculate the numbers, but here are Duncan's numbers against the Lakers until 2004:

25.9 PPG, 12.8 RPG, 4.0 APG, 2.7 BPG, FG 47%



I don't know why you're posting this.

Why are you using head-to-head match-ups as an indicator to suggest who's better in the playoffs? There's a lot of things that go into factoring who wins a series, key roles by significant players (Fisher's defense on Johnson/Porter (36% combined), or I don't know..maybe having one of the most dominant players in league history to help out. Duncan never had the kind of support.


I was speaking to Duncan & kobe's INDIVIDUAL performances. Kobe outplayed TD 3 out of those 4 series.

Lol. And he still put up very dominant numbers --- 25.9 PPG, 12.8 RPG, 4.0 APG, 2.7 BPG, FG 47% along with Shaq's help defense, and the Lakers having one of the best paint defensees in the league with Shaq +6.7 (ranked 3 ) in '01 & +7.1 (ranked 2) in '02. What do you have to refer to after Duncan's dominant effort? You're obviously going to state the winner of that series, where there are numerous factors taken into place that I started eariler (like having a superstar).


Baller, are you saying Kobe didn't outplay Duncan individually in 01', 02', & 04'? I mean the games are on Youtube if you want to check. And those series determined 2 champions.
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Re: RealGM Top 100 List #8 

Post#86 » by An Unbiased Fan » Wed Jul 13, 2011 9:11 pm

Gongxi wrote:
An Unbiased Fan wrote:By pretty much every metric we have used so far in the project, Kobe should be ahead of Hakeem.


Absolutely not, especially when you admit you're using his "career resume" as opposed to how well he played basketball (great, but not as good as Hakeem did).

A player's career resume hasn't been a big factor in these discussions? really? :lol:

Er, okay.
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Re: RealGM Top 100 List #8 

Post#87 » by Baller 24 » Wed Jul 13, 2011 10:50 pm

An Unbiased Fan wrote:I'm using PPG created to show actual offensive production. Why wouldn't I? Of course HO, TD, & KB have differing roles. Kobe's role was as a volume scorer, facilitator, and closer. He excelled at all 3, and that certainly speaks to his production value.


So Duncan and Olajuwon didn't excel at closing out games, despite having an inferior supporting cast to which Bryant has never had the impact to go through

Defensively, Kobe had importance in LA's runs. From 00'-10' we can see tangible evidence of Kobe effecting series by his defense on opposing perimeter players. Does he have the impact of a defensive anchor, no, but he DID have an impact.


No. This argument is already blown out the window, considering the Lakers with O'Neal are amongst the top 3 in the league with point in the paint defense. Olajuwon and Duncan's impact is much more superior, it's more "not ridiculous" to say that Duncan and Olajuwon's defensive impact is significantly greater than Bryant's.

Also, Kobe had larger offensive loads for 4 of his titles than Hakeem or TD did, even in 94' & 03'. So I don't see how you can use that argument against him. His PTS% & AST% are higher.


From what aspect? Scoring the basketball? Either Olajuwon or Duncan didn't have the luxury of having one of the most dominant players in history OR having close to the support that he did in '09 or '10.

You're ridiculous, you are comparing AST% and PST% numbers for a perimeter who's main objective is to SCORE the basketball of course their numbers are going to be generally a lot higher, but how can you from that aspect state that he's clearly a better offensive player when they don't even play the same relative position and have completely different objectives throughout the course of a basketball game, how does that automatically make Bryant the superior offensive player, and in this case significantly superior?

That's like using rebound rate, BLK%, and TS% in favor of Duncan & Olajuwon, while taking the hit on Bryant stating they're percentage is significantly higher for either one of those stats, considering , see how ridiculous that sounds?

In what aspect does Olajuwon or Duncan have the ball in their hands at that kind of a level? Here, I'll take it to another level and compare each AST% league-wide relative to their positions.

Kobe Bryant from '01 to '08: 25.3 AST %

D-Wade from '05 to '11: 34.6 AST%
Allen Iverson from '01 to '08: 29.9 AST%
Tracy McGrady from '01to '08: 28.9 AST%

Not superior or even on par with his counter-parts (I'm basing this by SGs on majority All-NBA Teams/MVP-Win-Shares).

Olajuwon from '90 to '97: 14.5 AST%

Shaq O'Neal from '95 to '06: 15.6 AST%
Robinson from '90 to '98 (excluding '97): 13.9 AST%
Ewing from '90 to '97: 11.1 AST%
Alonzo Mourning from '93 to '00: 7.5 AST%

Olajuwon's amongst the elite, only trailing O'Neal by a single percent, with Robinson is not far behind. We already know Chris Webber (20.2%) and Kevin Garnett (19.9%) already excel in terms of prime forms due to their primary goal to facilitate the offense from the high/low post, but Duncan is a clear 3rd (17.6%), significantly ahead of the likes of Nowitzki, Brand, Bosh, Boozer, J. O'Neal.

My point in doing this is that it's unfair you're comparing a guards AST% to to a big-mans, when it's clear what their main objectives are, but when you adjust it relative to their competition and position, they're still amongst the elite. Just like how Bryant is.

If this is seriously your argument in convincing everyone that it's a clear offensive advantage to Bryant, then it's clearly not. I can easily throw out rebound rate, BLK%, and TS% to say "hey! they have higher ones, way higher than Kobes in more categories, that means they're clearly the better player", obviously I'd sound ridiculous.

The Rockets and Spurs were defensive-minded teams


Spurs probably, but MOST definitely not the Rockets. Ask any Rockets fan other than myself, they never literally preached defense, their philosophy wasn't behind being dominant defensively, and they never had a coach that was so constant on keeping the defense aligned.

In fact, they had consistent coaching changes, and even when Rudy T arrived, he wasn't a defensive minded coach, he was more a vocal motivator more than anything. His plays always consisted of pounding the ball to Olajuwon and later let Francis run play-ground plays in a professional basketball league and see where that takes us kind of deal.

And if you're going to seriously bring up the coaching aspect to deteriote some of the accomplishments defensively, Kobe Bryant had the GOAT coach in Phil Jackson, so please don't even start with that.

I don't know why you're posting this.


?

You just stated that Bryant was "hands down" the best player on the floor in every Spurs series. I provided Duncan's stats, you're suggesting he played even better than those numbers?

I was speaking to Duncan & kobe's INDIVIDUAL performances. Kobe outplayed TD 3 out of those 4 series.


You're still not understanding that they both play completely different positions, in what context did he outperform Duncan? Here are his numbers again: 25.9 PPG, 12.8 RPG, 4.0 APG, 2.7 BPG, FG 47%. Show me, how did he outperform that? Duncan's weak-side defense also helped contain Shaq from having a monster series (23.9PPG on 52%) and again this is against the Lakers having one of the best paint defenses in the league with Shaq +6.7 (ranked 3 ) in '01 & +7.1 (ranked 2) in '02, so show me how he "outplayed" individually in those series, I still have yet to see any evidence suggesting so.


Baller, are you saying Kobe didn't outplay Duncan individually in 01', 02', & 04'? I mean the games are on Youtube if you want to check. And those series determined 2 champions.
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Re: RealGM Top 100 List #8 

Post#88 » by Vinsanity420 » Wed Jul 13, 2011 10:52 pm

therealbig3 wrote:I think Duncan passed better, was his equal defensively, and was equal or better as a scorer in all seasons outside of 93-96. Also, I think Duncan was a slightly better rebounder.

Also, imo, Duncan was a better leader and was better in terms of team chemistry (at least when compared to earlier Hakeem).

Hakeem did have a better peak as a scorer, and he was stuck with some bad teams in Houston, and this argument can go both ways, and while I personally rank Duncan higher, I'd have no problem with people taking Hakeem over him.

But I always see people saying Duncan didn't do anything better than Hakeem, and that's just not true, and it's kind of a tired argument.


Passing better? That's only arguable. Hakeem was an excellent passer out of the post after drawing the ridiculous amount of defensive attention he did when he entered his prime.

Equal defensively? Duncan doesn't have the case for GOAT defender, Hakeem does. Embarassing Ewing in 94? Or dominating the Spurs in 95? He controlled the paint and altered passing lanes significantly - combine that with his superior speed to play the pick and roll.. he was deadly. Again, a clearly superior athlete and every bit as sound as Duncan fundamentally. Hakeem likely has Russell like impact if he plays in the same era, since their skillsets on defense are so similar - but that we'll never know.

Duncan simply gets more love on defense due to anchoring good defenses consistently - which has more to do with his great defensive supporting cast/coaching.

Offense and Defense clearly goes to Hakeem. What else is there?

I guess you can give Duncan an edge in intangibles because he won more titles so people need some way to explain it. :roll:
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Re: RealGM Top 100 List #8 

Post#89 » by Vinsanity420 » Wed Jul 13, 2011 10:59 pm

I didn't even need to post all that I did - Ronnymac's post was Gold.
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Re: RealGM Top 100 List #8 

Post#90 » by drza » Thu Jul 14, 2011 12:42 am

I still am in a similar place to where I was last night. My decision would be between Duncan, Olajuwon and KG. There is no possible chance that KG is getting voted in now, so I'm going to focus on Olajuwon and Duncan. Unfortunately, I still haven't been convinced one way or the other on these two so I'd like to hold off on my vote...but I go back on the road tonight, with no guarantee for internet access in the next few days, so I'd better vote now.

I can't find any separation between the two, to be honest, and I haven't seen any type of supr in-depth, impact vs impact (not just team records) comparison that makes me lean either way. So, with the caveat that if I somehow manage internet access tomorrow and better cases have been made I may change my vote, I'll go ahead and flip a coin and take Timmy. Could have easily gone either way.

As for the nomination, Dirk was a great dark horse candidate. ON paper, Robinson as a two-way player should have a bigger impact than Dirk's more 1-way contribution, but Dirk's consistently huhe +/- and longevity makes a strong case. And there are questions about Robinson's style of play translating t the postseason that Dirk doesn't have. I would love to ee an in-depth Dirk vs Robinson debate as well, preferably chaired by Mysticbb and David Stern, and I'd want to participate as well. Unfortunately, my situation is what it is, so I have to pick one. At the moment, I guess I'll go Dirk.

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Re: RealGM Top 100 List #8 

Post#91 » by pancakes3 » Thu Jul 14, 2011 1:08 am

vote hakeem, nominate barkley
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Re: RealGM Top 100 List #8 

Post#92 » by JordansBulls » Thu Jul 14, 2011 1:27 am

I voted for Kobe but if Hakeem/Duncan need a tiebreaker I would take Hakeem
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Re: RealGM Top 100 List #8 

Post#93 » by Fencer reregistered » Thu Jul 14, 2011 2:52 am

For the first time, I can't bring myself to read the entire thread -- way too much "You idiots, you're underrating Kobe's greatness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

So I'll just repeat my votes from last time:

Duncan
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I shall continue to vote for Duncan until at least one of Duncan or Kobe is on the list.
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Re: RealGM Top 100 List #8 

Post#94 » by Wavy Q » Thu Jul 14, 2011 3:41 am

So far other than the Bill Russell KAJ swap this is my personal list exactly. We'll see where it goes from here.
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Re: RealGM Top 100 List #8 

Post#95 » by SDChargers#1 » Thu Jul 14, 2011 4:34 am

Baller 24 wrote:
No. This argument is already blown out the window, considering the Lakers with O'Neal are amongst the top 3 in the league with point in the paint defense. Olajuwon and Duncan's impact is much more superior, it's more "not ridiculous" to say that Duncan and Olajuwon's defensive impact is significantly greater than Bryant's.


AUF specifically said that Olajuwon and Duncan had more defensive impact. He is just saying that Kobe has had a defensive impact, which can be shown in playoff series in which he would switch onto opposing perimeter players (Westbrook, Rondo, etc)

From what aspect? Scoring the basketball? Either Olajuwon or Duncan didn't have the luxury of having one of the most dominant players in history OR having close to the support that he did in '09 or '10.


Kobe's support is getting vastly overrated as usual. I will concede the O'Neal years, but his help in '09 in '10 were not that great, certainly not even close to all time teams. But I will say there were more help than Hakeem or Duncan's teams.

You're ridiculous, you are comparing AST% and PST% numbers for a perimeter who's main objective is to SCORE the basketball of course their numbers are going to be generally a lot higher, but how can you from that aspect state that he's clearly a better offensive player when they don't even play the same relative position and have completely different objectives throughout the course of a basketball game, how does that automatically make Bryant the superior offensive player, and in this case significantly superior?


This is my biggest qualm with these arguments. It's that you are perfectly willing to ignore the biggest strength Bryant has over Duncan and Hakeem (offense produced), but then trump defensive impact of Duncan and Hakeem as being significantly superior. You can't have it both ways. Here I will play your game...

You're ridiculous, you are comparing defense for post players whose main defensive objective is to protect the paint, of course their defense is going to be generally a lot better, but how can you from that aspect state they are clearly better defensive player when they don't even play the same relative position and have completely different objectives throughout the course of a basketball game, how does that automatically make Duncan and Hakeem superior defensive players, and in this case significantly superior?

Now, I want to state that I find what I just wrote to be ridiculous. Of course Duncan and Hakeem have more impact than Bryant defensively. It is their job. But in the same way Bryant clearly...CLEARLY has more impact offensively. Honestly, I can't believe we are arguing that point. He is a better scorer (on better efficiency) and a better passer than both. Who cares what their jobs are, what matters is what they produce on the court.

I find this particularly interesting because as usual peoples arguments change once Kobe becomes involved. What happened to the importance of defense when comparing these 2 to Bird? They were even better at defense than they are compared to Kobe?

It's fine if you believe in something, but please be consistent with it.

That's like using rebound rate, BLK%, and TS% in favor of Duncan & Olajuwon, while taking the hit on Bryant stating they're percentage is significantly higher for either one of those stats, considering , see how ridiculous that sounds?


I agree completely. Except Kobe has a higher career TS% than Duncan or Hakeem :o :o . That's the biggest factor for me personally, is that these two highly efficient big men are LESS efficient than Kobe.

In what aspect does Olajuwon or Duncan have the ball in their hands at that kind of a level? Here, I'll take it to another level and compare each AST% league-wide relative to their positions.

Kobe Bryant from '01 to '08: 25.3 AST %

D-Wade from '05 to '11: 34.6 AST%
Allen Iverson from '01 to '08: 29.9 AST%
Tracy McGrady from '01to '08: 28.9 AST%

Not superior or even on par with his counter-parts (I'm basing this by SGs on majority All-NBA Teams/MVP-Win-Shares).

Olajuwon from '90 to '97: 14.5 AST%

Shaq O'Neal from '95 to '06: 15.6 AST%
Robinson from '90 to '98 (excluding '97): 13.9 AST%
Ewing from '90 to '97: 11.1 AST%
Alonzo Mourning from '93 to '00: 7.5 AST%

Olajuwon's amongst the elite, only trailing O'Neal by a single percent, with Robinson is not far behind. We already know Chris Webber (20.2%) and Kevin Garnett (19.9%) already excel in terms of prime forms due to their primary goal to facilitate the offense from the high/low post, but Duncan is a clear 3rd (17.6%), significantly ahead of the likes of Nowitzki, Brand, Bosh, Boozer, J. O'Neal.

My point in doing this is that it's unfair you're comparing a guards AST% to to a big-mans, when it's clear what their main objectives are, but when you adjust it relative to their competition and position, they're still amongst the elite. Just like how Bryant is.

If this is seriously your argument in convincing everyone that it's a clear offensive advantage to Bryant, then it's clearly not. I can easily throw out rebound rate, BLK%, and TS% to say "hey! they have higher ones, way higher than Kobes in more categories, that means they're clearly the better player", obviously I'd sound ridiculous.


I can go the same way and compare Kobe's rebounding rate compared to those same guys. Kobe is actually one of the best rebounding SGs in the league and has been for most of his career. His career rebounding % is above Wade (who is another great rebounding SG), and blows away guys like Iverson, Allen, Carter, etc.


You just stated that Bryant was "hands down" the best player on the floor in every Spurs series. I provided Duncan's stats, you're suggesting he played even better than those numbers?

You're still not understanding that they both play completely different positions, in what context did he outperform Duncan? Here are his numbers again: 25.9 PPG, 12.8 RPG, 4.0 APG, 2.7 BPG, FG 47%. Show me, how did he outperform that? Duncan's weak-side defense also helped contain Shaq from having a monster series (23.9PPG on 52%) and again this is against the Lakers having one of the best paint defenses in the league with Shaq +6.7 (ranked 3 ) in '01 & +7.1 (ranked 2) in '02, so show me how he "outplayed" individually in those series, I still have yet to see any evidence suggesting so.


It is actually quite close given the numbers you provided, but I am going to do a double check on those when given the chance, cause just glancing they don't look very close to what you pointed out.

EDIT: I did Duncan's numbers as well. In 15 games ('01, '02, and '04) Duncan put up:

24.1 PPG, 13.9 RPG, 3.9 APG, FG 46%

So you're numbers weren't entirely accurate, but close enough (maybe you included other years? Not sure). I would give the slight advantage to Bryant, but certainly not a landslide like AUF suggested.

In 15 games ('01, '02, and '04) Kobe put up:

28.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 5.8 APG, FG 47% (I didn't do FT%, but it was a good deal higher than Duncan).

Overall, this is a very close vote, I can understand people going both ways, but some of the Kobe hate in this thread is unbelievable. He's overrated on defense? OK, I get it people have been saying it for years. He's doesn't have a sizeable advantage on offense compared to Duncan and Hakeem? Cmon, really? Kobe's a better scorer, more efficient and a better passer than both. This is as clear as defense is an argument for them over Kobe.

Vote: Kobe Bryant
Nominate: Charles Barkley
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Re: RealGM Top 100 List #8 

Post#96 » by TMACFORMVP » Thu Jul 14, 2011 4:41 am

It's pretty eerie how Duncan and Olajuwon started their careers. Both seasoned college veterans joining a team with an already 20/10 caliber big man as the first overall pick. Both prove to take the reigns of the team, produce 20/10 rookie seasons themselves, and lead their respective teams to the NBA Finals in their second year. What's funny is, I might be MORE impressed with the run Hakeem had opposed to the one Duncan had despite coming away with the championship. 27/12 with 3.5 blocks, and 2 steals in the post-season, upsetting the defending champion Lakers in the 85 WCF, and taking arguably the greatest team ever assembled to six games in the Finals.

What Duncan did was remarkable as well, but I'm still a bit more impressed with what Olajuwon was able to do. Nonetheless, two championships should weigh heavily, Duncan had better help however, but that shouldn't really be a main detractor since everyone else already voted in already does as well. But, I look at it like this; similar to how I looked at it for Shaq and Hakeem. We take out Duncan and Hakeem's best four year peaks, and compare their careers, and there's a slight edge probably for Duncan, but in terms of individual play, it's near dead even, potentially even in the favor of Hakeem. Then we compare their peaks, and I don't know how particularly close that is, but I do know that Hakeem's was better.

I had Duncan a couple days ago, but I think Hakeem was just the better player. Really a toss up sort of question.

Vote: Hakeem Olajuwon
Nominate: Dirk Nowitzki

I'd like to get more into the Robinson debate, but unfortunately don't have as much time as I'm boarding a plane soon in the next couple hours. I'm definitely not on the boat that it was a rather large difference between he and KG, however. I don't mind Garnett over Robinson, but the gap is certainly small. I think Robinson deserves to be nominated in a spot here, but I have him very comparable with Dirk, and see the arguments for him as well.
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Re: RealGM Top 100 List #8 

Post#97 » by ElGee » Thu Jul 14, 2011 5:25 am

SD Chargers wrote:Of course Duncan and Hakeem have more impact than Bryant defensively. It is their job. But in the same way Bryant clearly...CLEARLY has more impact offensively.


If by "clearly...CLEARLY" you mean slightly more offensive impact, then yes, it's clear. But be careful not to overstate this.

You're speaking to the function of different players, positionally. It is not obvious that any big has a bigger defensive impact that any wing. Bigs carry a larger defensive burden, so they can be a great positive (or negative) on that end than a wing. With Hakeem and Duncan, we are talking about 2 of the GOAT defenders, so their defensive impact on the game should not be minimized by simply noting it as a function of their position. The difference is LARGE...and that's really important.

Why? Because the offensive difference isn't large between these players.

Furthermore, Hakeem played some of his best offensive basketball *while* playing elite D. Part of Kobe's "problem" in player comparisons is that his best defense -- say 2000 -- didn't come close to lining up with his best offense (2008 or healthy in 2010 IMO). So what you have is a top-level offensive guy and an average/neutral defensive presence at his peak. And that peak falls well short of the slightly worse offense/elite defensive impact provided by Dream and Duncan.

I know you love you some Kobe, but how do you see this so differently?
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Re: RealGM Top 100 List #8 

Post#98 » by shawngoat23 » Thu Jul 14, 2011 5:43 am

Vote: Hakeem, over Duncan. Duncan had the better career, but Hakeem was a slightly better player in possibly every facet of the game besides a tiny edge in passing in favor of Duncan (and perhaps a neglible lead in rebounding).

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Re: RealGM Top 100 List #8 

Post#99 » by lorak » Thu Jul 14, 2011 8:12 am

vote: Hakeem, because in all time draft I would pick him before Duncan
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Re: RealGM Top 100 List #8 

Post#100 » by SDChargers#1 » Thu Jul 14, 2011 8:23 am

ElGee wrote:
SD Chargers wrote:Of course Duncan and Hakeem have more impact than Bryant defensively. It is their job. But in the same way Bryant clearly...CLEARLY has more impact offensively.


If by "clearly...CLEARLY" you mean slightly more offensive impact, then yes, it's clear. But be careful not to overstate this.

You're speaking to the function of different players, positionally. It is not obvious that any big has a bigger defensive impact that any wing. Bigs carry a larger defensive burden, so they can be a great positive (or negative) on that end than a wing. With Hakeem and Duncan, we are talking about 2 of the GOAT defenders, so their defensive impact on the game should not be minimized by simply noting it as a function of their position. The difference is LARGE...and that's really important.

Why? Because the offensive difference isn't large between these players.

Furthermore, Hakeem played some of his best offensive basketball *while* playing elite D. Part of Kobe's "problem" in player comparisons is that his best defense -- say 2000 -- didn't come close to lining up with his best offense (2008 or healthy in 2010 IMO). So what you have is a top-level offensive guy and an average/neutral defensive presence at his peak. And that peak falls well short of the slightly worse offense/elite defensive impact provided by Dream and Duncan.

I know you love you some Kobe, but how do you see this so differently?


No it is a pretty significant advantage offensively. How do you measure offensive production? Volume, efficiency, and passing? Kobe is better than them (and by a significant margin in volume and passing) in all of those categories.

Volume -

Kobe has scored 25+ ppg TEN times in his career, 27+ ppg six times, 30+ ppg three times (peaked at 35.4).
Hakeem has scored 25+ ppg four times in his career, 27+ ppg two times, 30+ ppg never (peaked at 27.8).
Duncan has scored 25+ ppg one time in his career, 27+ ppg never, and 30 + ppg never (peaked at 25.5).

Kobe has a significant advantage in volume

Efficiency -

Kobe has had 54%+ TS all 15 years of his career and peaked at 58% TS
Hakeem has had 54%+ TS for 14 years of his career, but tailed off and failed to in 4 of his last 5 seasons. Peaked at 57.7% TS
Duncan had had 54%+ TS for 10 years of his career, and failed to four times. Peaked at 57.9% TS

Kobe has a marginal advantage in efficiency (but once again, considering we are comparing bigs to smalls, the fact that Kobe has any advantage at all is pretty telling)

Passing -

Kobe has had 3+ apg in 13 seasons, 4+ apg in 12 seasons, 5+ apg in 8 seasons. Peaked at 6 apg.
Hakeem has had 3+ apg in six seasons, 4+ apg never, 5+ apg never. Peaked at 3.6 apg.
Duncan has had 3+ apg in nine seasons, 4+ apg never, 5+ apg never. Peaked at 3.9 apg.

Kobe has a significant advantage in passing.

So essentially in any given year Kobe would produce an extra 2+ assists and 4+ ppg than Hakeem and Duncan on better efficiency. That is a significant advantage.

Now you can bring up defense and rebounding, where I will readily admit that Hakeem and Duncan had much greater impact than Kobe. Just don't stand there and tell me Kobe isn't CLEARLY the better offensive player. He is better in every measure of the word.

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