iverson's retirement and the iverson top 50 thread got me thinking about where people rank other players. i've seen barkley discussions and i feel like people tend to underrate barkley because he didn't win a title (or maybe i'm just watching the wrong discussions). i don't have him way inside the top 20, but i think he belongs there. here are his relevant stats: http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/barklch01.html REGULAR SEASON: 22.1 PPG 11.7 RPG 3.9 APG 1.5 SPG 0.8 BPG 3.1 TOPG 54.1/26.6/73.5 shooter 61.2 TS% 24.6 PER .216 WS/48 PLAYOFFS: 23.0 PPG 12.9 RPG 3.9 APG 1.6 SPG 0.9 BPG 2.9 TOPG 51.3/25.5/71.7 shooter 58.4 TS% 24.2 PER .193 WS/48 made 1 finals with the phoenix suns. where do you have him ranked?
The young Barkley was a freak. After he began to gain more weight, his offensive game became ugly... backing in, backing in, backing in... I'd put him among the top 5 PFs of all time.
Say want you want, but there will never be a 6'5 PF as good as Barkley again. We are blessed to witness his career.
Why put the height qualifier on it? Forwards are much larger and stronger now. The Barkley rule and changes to illegal defense would kill a ton of his offense.
Not from 84-94. He wasn't a back-it-in player till the end of his career, and was still rebounding at an elite rate. The height qualifier is because of how much of an athletic freak he really was. Routinely overpowering guys bigger than him, one of the best "leapers" ever, and faster than guys smaller than him. Forwards now don't have the combination of agility, leaping ability, power, and shot-making that Charles had.
Exactly. He did not start the whole backing in thing until late in his career when he lost his athleticism. Top 5 PF for sure.
I would not put Malone ahead and Dirk is a maybe (One Championship is a reason?) Can't remember Hayes but Duncan, Garnett slightly above.... this is not about championships but overall ability and Chuck was there with both of them
My point is, if you have to have a height qualifier, how good was he really? If you want to leave him in his era, that works for me and his production was all time great. In today's NBA I don't think he is anywhere near that effective. When you have such drastic rule changes it is almost impossible to compare and rank players.
i have to say i'm surprised at the large number of 26-30 votes. who is ahead of him to get him back there? all of baylor, erving, malone, kg, dirk would have to be ahead of him and then maybe some old-timers like mikan/pettit? plus some newer guys like a wade? i suppose there are lots of arguments to be had in this range and depending on how they go you can get a pretty good range.
young Barkley with the Sixers was a beast! Crazy athletics for someone that size/weight. Grabs the rebound and dribbles it to the other court and finishes. One of the best rebounder in the history of the NBA, and he was undersized. I can't rate where he belongs as I've never seen many of the other greats played. But he is one of my favorite players all-time. He is funny too haha
Hmm, let's see. In no order: Kareem Wilt Russell Hakeem Shaq Moses Duncan Jordan Magic Bird LeBron Kobe Oscar West Zeke Dr. J I don't see how anyone can make an argument to take Barkley over the above 16 players. Karl Malone has better numbers, more longevity, an additional MVP and has been to the Finals one more time. I'll take Malone over him. KG also has all of those things besides the additional MVP, and he was the backbone of a title team. I'll take KG over Barkley. Neither Dirk or Barkley played defense, but Dirk did lead his team to a title. I'll take him over Barkley too. That's 19 players. I'll also take Wade over him (25/5/6 avg, and a Finals MVP). That's 20.
You guys are forgetting McHale among the all time great PFs. Before Duncan, KG, and Dirk, there were four guys who could be considered all time best PF: Hayes, McHale, Barkley, and Malone.
Did you just say PFs nowadays are stronger than f1ckiing Charles Barkley That's just foolishness. Do you want name one There isn't but go ahead and try
