Mitch Richmond..The most underrated player ever?

[Winsome Gerbil]

Was he better than Glen Rice?

Yes. Could do more things, did them more consistently, and played both sides of the ball. I would agree though that Rice had the single best season back there when he had that one season where he played like a major star. But on a consistent basis Richmond was closer to being a #1, while Rice was always a guy clearly built to be the #2 to a great #1 big man.

I don't know how to fully express my feelings on Richmond. He was just a tough rock solid off guard (even nicknamed The Rock). He was physical, rarely injured, and just there night after night after night doing it all for some really godawful teams. But I dunno, he just lacked that spark, you know? He always came at you hard, but he just didn't have that extra greatness gear. Was never a great clutch/closer. Not an elite creater and could never really elevate the sucky players around him. You just always got the feeling that he was going all out all the time, but when it came time to separate the really really good players from the all time greats, a guy like Jordan could crank the nitro one last notch, while Richmond was already topped out.

[Alan Ogg]

Was he better than Glen Rice?

Yes. Could do more things, did them more consistently, and played both sides of the ball. I would agree though that Rice had the single best season back there when he had that one season where he played like a major star. But on a consistent basis Richmond was closer to being a #1, while Rice was always a guy clearly built to be the #2 to a great #1 big man.

I don't know how to fully express my feelings on Richmond. He was just a tough rock solid off guard (even nicknamed The Rock). He was physical, rarely injured, and just there night after night after night doing it all for some really godawful teams. But I dunno, he just lacked that spark, you know? He always came at you hard, but he just didn't have that extra greatness gear. Was never a great clutch/closer. Not an elite creater and could never really elevate the sucky players around him. You just always got the feeling that he was going all out all the time, but when it came time to separate the really really good players from the all time greats, a guy like Jordan could crank the nitro one last notch, while Richmond was already topped out.

Good post, and I agree. It was that lack of that "special" gear, that intangible spark of a true superstar. Even some less-talented players seem to have it on occasion. Richmond was very, very good, and had a nice career, but I wouldn't call him underrated. He's just not talked about because his teams never really did much. Joe Johnson seems are pretty fair modern-day comparison, as far as impact on the game.

I mentioned Glen Rice because he's another guy from the '90s that played at a really high level, but doesn't get talked about much these days. The clear leading scorer on most of his teams, like Richmond, and a dead-eye shooter. Another great player, but not a superstar or legend.

[Ruhiel]

Joe Johnson is a bigger, slower, takes more time to get a shot off, less impactful version of Richmond.

Johnson at 6'8 is nowhere near Richmond.

Richmond just didn't have the same physical as a guy like Jordan. Less blocks, steals, defense, etc.

He still used his body well and most importantly maximized his shooting %s while maintaining a high shooting %.

[Jheri Curl]

I literally had this same exact conversation with my cousin last week...Mitch is definitely overlooked.

[NCHeels2008]

was Glen Rice a top 5 player 96-97? Relooking at those stats he was incredibly efficient

6th in Win Shares
61%TS
Averaged 27-4-2 at 48%FG 47%3FG 87%FT drawing 7 FTs a game

Hornets went 54-28 with their 2nd best player being Anthony Mason (who had an incredible season as well). Especially considering the era, that was a hell of a season.

[vincecarter4pres]

Man, Richmond and Rice were two of my favorite players.

Loved watching both those guys, Richmond never got much TV coverage around here though.

[Vindicater]

I can't wait to come back to Realgm in 10 years when a whole new group of idiots are talking about how Kevin Martin was one of the most underrated players ever...

[Dipper 13]

Hal Greer

Season of the 76ers: the story of Wilt Chamberlain and the 1967 NBA champions - Wayne Lynch

"I think I'm better than the fourth guard," Greer told reporters. "You gotta realize that Oscar is the greatest. Jerry West is right behind Oscar, but I think I should be up there. I think I'm on a par with West.


The Black Athlete: Emergence & Arrival - 1968

No one in basketball is more effective than Hal Greer at sprinting down the middle of the court on a fast break, stopping just beyond the keyhole and scoring on a jump shot. "Hal," said one NBA coach, "has the finest middle-distance shot in the game." From fifteen to eighteen feet, Greer is more deadly than the Big O." At 6 ft. 3 in. and 178 pounds, Greer frequently gives away 40 pounds and 6 inches to NBA adversaries assigned to shutting off the middle. The key to Greer's success, therefore, is maneuverability and speed. Particularly speed.


Great teams of pro basketball - 1971

First there was Hal Greer, one of the best guards in the game. He was fast. "I must be fast," Greer said, "always, always quick. The day I slow down I'm finished." And he was a constant scoring threat. Said his former coach, Dolph Schayes, "Hal has the finest middle-distance shot in the game. From 15 to 18 feet, Hal is more deadly than Oscar Robertson." At 6'2", 175 pounds, Greer was agile, strong and not prone to injury. An eight-year veteran of NBA play, he could be counted on to average 20 points a game and contribute steadily in assists.


The Game Within the Game - Walt Frazier




Dynasty's End: Bill Russell And the 1968-69 World Champion Boston Celtics - Thomas J. Whalen

"Hal needs a certain amount of recognition to show people that he's on par with Robertson and West," All-Star teammate Wilt Chamberlain said afterward.

Greer needed no convincing himself. He knew he was the equal of any elite guard in the league, and that included Sam Jones of the Celtics. "He's on a team where they work for him," Greer said. "Our team is balanced. We're a team all the way. We don't work for one guy. Sam doesn't really have to work for his shots. They work for him. He's strictly offense, I'm offense plus I move the ball, too. I move on the fast break." Always intense and demanding of himself as a player, Greer strove for nothing short of basketball perfection in every contest. "After a game," he once revealed, "I think about the mistakes I made on defense that night. Sometimes I stay up all night thinking about defense, like after I've been chasing Oscar all over the court. That's enough to keep any man awake."'



Jet Magazine - Mar 15, 1982





Hal Greer: Productive, Consistent and Durable

This article originally appeared in the January 2006 issue of Hoop.

Star Guard on a Team for the Ages

Hal Greer made the All-NBA Second Team seven straight years but never was selected to the All-NBA First Team. That’s what happens when you play during the same era as Oscar Robertson and Jerry West, but Greer--a 10-time All-Star who was honored as one of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players--accomplished something that neither Robertson nor West did: being the leading playoff scorer on a team that defeated Bill Russell’s Boston Celtics in the playoffs and went on to win an NBA championship.

Russell’s Celtics won eight straight titles and 11 in 13 seasons, but many observers still maintain that the greatest single season team in NBA history is the 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers beat Boston 4-1 in the Eastern Division finals and then defeated the Rick Barry-Nate Thurmond San Francisco Warriors in the NBA Finals. Greer produced 27.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg and 5.3 apg in the playoffs, while his teammate Wilt Chamberlain posted these mind-boggling numbers: 21.7 ppg, 29.1 rpg and 9.0 apg. Hall of Famer and Top 50 selection Billy Cunningham, the sixth man on the 1967 championship team, says, “Hal Greer was such a smart player. In his mind he had a book about every player he played against and what he had to do to make sure that he got free to get shots. He was probably as fine a screener as a guard as anybody. The thing about it was he knew that if he set a good screen then he would be open because he would force a switch and he would end up being matched up with a bigger, slower player that he knew he could easily beat to get whatever shot he wanted.”

Remember the old shoe commercial with playground legend Lamar Mundane? The voiceover said that Mundane would shoot as soon as he crossed midcourt and the fans would yell, “Layup!” That would be a good way to describe Hal Greer’s top of the key jump shot; Sixers coach Alex Hannum said that Greer made that shot at a 70% clip and gave Greer the green light to launch from that range whenever he was open. Greer’s jump shot was so fluid and so deadly that he shot his free throws that way, connecting on better than 80% of his career attempts. Cunningham offers high praise for Greer’s jump shot: “It was as good as anybody’s who ever played the game. I think the beauty of Hal Greer’s game is that he knew where he was most effective and he never shot the ball from an area where he was not completely confident and comfortable. He never went outside of 18-20 feet maximum, but he was deadly and he had the ability to get to that spot.”



The Palm Beach Post - Apr 2, 1967

"Greer plays the complete game,' said Hannum, "He's an offensive threat every minute he's in there. He has the perfect disposition, is well liked by everybody. We wouldn't have near the record this team has without Hal. You hear about our powerful front line of Wilt, Luke Jackson, Chet Walker and Billy Cunningham, but Greer's outside shooting helps make this possible."

Greer admits that the toughest guard in the league against him is Boston's K.C. Jones, but denies the rap placed on him by some writers that he gets "K.C.-itus"

"The three best games of my career have been against Boston," he notes. "I scored 50 points against them my first year in the league, 45 against them here, and 38 this season in Boston."

While he is recognized generally as one of the top offensive players in the game, few people are aware that Greer can play defense with the best. Often, Hannum will send Greer after Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Rick Barry, or Sam Jones, at least until the 76ers' guard gets into foul difficulty.

[LeonSmith]

I can't wait to come back to Realgm in 10 years when a whole new group of idiots are talking about how Kevin Martin was one of the most underrated players ever...

If idiots didn't compare him to Joe Johnson, Richmond wouldn't be underrated.

[Alan Ogg]

I can't wait to come back to Realgm in 10 years when a whole new group of idiots are talking about how Kevin Martin was one of the most underrated players ever...

If idiots didn't compare him to Joe Johnson, Richmond wouldn't be underrated.

You are both idiots.