Artis Gilmore vs Dwight Howard

TT8198 · Post #1 » by **TT8198** » Sun Apr 9, 2023 3:59 pm

Who would you rather have at their peak?

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70sFan · Post #2 » by **70sFan** » Mon Apr 10, 2023 6:38 am

Gilmore is a great teammate, very consistent and durable, aware of his limitations and his game is MUCH cooler.

What's the reason to take Dwight?

HeartBreakKid · Post #3 » by **HeartBreakKid** » Mon Apr 10, 2023 6:45 am

70sFan wrote:Gilmore is a great teammate, very consistent and durable, aware of his limitations and his game is MUCH cooler.

What's the reason to take Dwight?

He plays in Taiwan!

When he feels like it.

70sFan · Post #4 » by **70sFan** » Mon Apr 10, 2023 7:39 am

HeartBreakKid wrote:
70sFan wrote:Gilmore is a great teammate, very consistent and durable, aware of his limitations and his game is MUCH cooler.

What's the reason to take Dwight?

He plays in Taiwan!

When he feels like it.

A-Train played in Italy, that's cooler to me :wink:

Post #5 » by **penbeast0** » Mon Apr 10, 2023 4:02 pm

Most of their best years, Dwight was more active, more aggressive, and quicker in a tougher league. Artis was longer, stronger, and more consistent and a better passer (not a strength for either admittedly) but while the ABA was surprisingly good at center, the 70s were still not a strong period in league history. I would probably take Gilmore's 75 season over any Dwight year but if you were looking at best 5 year prime (08-12 for Dwight), it would be a more difficult question.

It really depends on how much you are discounting Artis's superior numbers for achieving them against weaker competition. It doesn't take much of a discount to start seeing a strong case for Dwight Howard. People forget how good he was for a while seeing him the last few years.

Post #6 » by **tsherkin** » Mon Apr 10, 2023 4:13 pm

penbeast0 wrote:People forget how good he was for a while seeing him the last few years.

Or perhaps they remember his defensive value and his limitations on O and that influences things?

Dwight was really good, particularly on the glass and on D. Offensively, when he wasn't trying to be something he wasn't, he was pretty good. For a solid 5-7 years, he was an 18-22 ppg guy on good efficiency for his era. A boob at the line, but an extremely dangerous PnR threat, rim-runner, offensive rebounder, all that. A really high-end garbageman, which worked out well for Orlando's offense so long as he wasn't trying to iso too much. They had very good success with him. Faded super-hard after 2011, though. Durability gone, skillset never improved, and he was never an AS again after 2014 (age 28 season).

As you say, specific competition becomes an interesting consideration, and they both share a lack of really mind-blowing passing ability. Artis was better at the line and had more conventional size. Both similarly dominant as finishers. Each with a reasonable case versus the other.

I think I might go with Gilmore, personally, but I waffle some.