1. Duncan is a center and always has been. SA used a two center lineup for the early part of his career and then for the last 4-5 years he was really their center, that was still being called a "power forward". 2. Larry Bird was not bad on defense. He was actually a pretty good defender. 3. LeBron is 6-8 in shoes, Bill Russell was 6-9 to 6-10 barefoot.
Dirk has a ring and that's fantastic but as much as I dislike Malone, his best Utah teams would run roughshod over these Mavericks. Dirk is a tremendous offensive player but he's maybe top 5 at best.
my theory usually works when comparing 2 of the greats, you have to look at stats and talent first. then rings. If one player is clearly more talented, has better stats, and just flat out a better basketball player, then rings don't come into the mix to seperated a lesser with rings. i don't think Dirk is as good as Karl Malone was, so the ring argument doesn't come into play
I still don't think his D is that terrible compared to others who appear more athletic and get a free pass because of it. Bird was tough, great instincts, made the hustle plays. Unlike Nowitzki, he battled in the post. And he was a fixture on a perennially great defensive team. So, yeah that was not a fair comparison on my part. I was mainly thinking about Bird's subpar defensive skills out on the perimeter where lack of lateral quickness hurt him. Not sure I'd go so far as to call him a 2-way player, but he was on the whole good on defense (after a few years of seasoning in the league, and before the back problems really affected him physically). That's my take on Bird from what I've watched and read about him. Others who watched more 80s basketball than me may know better. And perhaps I should have gone with Barkley. Really not a good defender, but still regarded as an all-time great by many because his brashness and tough-guy persona masked the defensive deficiencies.
Barkley also did what a lot of all-time greats at his position do and did it well--rebound. It's going to be a long debate on where Dirk stands in the PF realm. Maybe this postseason has really skewed my reasoning but, despite his defensive inefficiencies, Nowitzki's offensive game more than makes up for it. Though that could be the by product of having a zone defense to make up for your lack of defense or the fact that his opposition at the same position (Aldridge, Gasol, Ibaka, Bosh) can't compare to him.
But Aldridge, Gasol, and Bosh are all great players. The fact those 3 were thoroughly outplayed by him in one postseason speaks volumes, IMO.
No way do I have Duncan at the top of the list of best power forwards, even if he was a power forward, which he wasn't. Great player, but not #1.
Tim Duncan won 4 rings They never added big time free agents or trades. Parker and Manu were both drafted late. This fan did the most with what he had. easily #1
And then completely neglected both out of his life. Trust me, I am aware that he is scum. A sorry excuse of a human being. Please understand that I am aware of this. I just have to rank him second because I feel that his basketball accomplishments were second in ranking despite the lack of a championship/finals MVP. It was difficult to rank him there and it does hurt but I had to.
what separated duncan from malone and barkley is his defense. but that's probably why he is a center. if duncan were listed as a center where would he be on the all time list. john lopez thinks duncan is better than olajuwon, but he's from san antonio
Lol @ a guy who calls himself Rockets Pride and doesn't put Dream at numero uno. BTW, this is the wrong thread! FACEPALM!
Those guys have all had a great year or 2 in their careers but are overall just GOOD players..Nowitzki is better than all of them no doubt but you make it sound like he was responsible for stopping them which is not the case at all..
i'm huge rockets pride. but you dont' have to be bias all the time. now of course if i was talking face to face to a Laker fan, i would say hakeem is #1 :grin:
