This is where we can ask, just how good was he? in terms of a past player. Not all of us are 60, so many of us never got to see some of greats in their primes... I shall start. Just how good was Mitch Richmond?
Paul Pierce with a little less ruggedness but more grit than a Michael Finley. IMO...played MJ as good as anyone in the 90s. Probably first player to strategically say 'I cant stop Jordan so Ill make him use up energy on defense.' Recent comparison: James Harden at the beginning of this season...just consistently putting up 25. Similar Players Imo: Pierce Mashburn Better offensive version of Nick Anderson Finley Eric Gordon (mitch is what he should aim for skill wise in his prime)
Just how good was Connie Hawkins? Nice summary of his travails from Wiki: The ABA knee injury he had was pretty severe. Still, he averaged 24.6 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game his NBA rookie season and ended with a game of 44 points, 20 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 blocks and 5 steals and playoff averages of 25/14/6. Of course, his rookie season came when he was 27 years old.
A bonafied star version of Rockets beloved Bobby Sura. Could play in any era...tough as nails. Sad that the toughest players on those Cavs teams were their backcourt players. In the league right now...no one. Closes PG comparison right now is Chris Paul. Same testiness...Price pretty much was automatic at the charity stripe. Price is severely underrated. Similar players: Chris Paul Lawson with genuine talent and a wet jumpshot Stephen Curry with Reggie Miller's attitude and outside shot
Remember those brief games in the Tmac/Yao era when Raefer Alston actually played well according to JVG and Clutchfans...AND had the stats to back it up? That was a consistent Mugsy Bogues. Same exact player mentally as well as skillwise. Skip believed he belonged on the court despite his streetball background...and played like it. Mugsy believed he belonged on the court despite his height...and played like it. So if you ever want to know how good Mugsy was...just think of those times in your head when you were proud Skip was the Rockets pg...and thats the epitome of it. Similar players: A short but consistently talented Skip More talented Avery Johnson/ Daryl Armstrong What Yogi Ferell would be if he improves 30% from where hes at right now but never reaches his potential Poor man's Isiah Thomas
Should have been Lebron before Lebron if he had a motor and a better work ethic than he had (he had one...just not one that the fans wanted). His motor was the only thing he genuinely lacked. Talent of Lebron with the motor of Jalen Rose. Great scorer...but poor finisher around the rim. One of only a few players EVER that could consistently tap into a zone on a nightly basis. If I were to be honest...he probably had the best ZONE TAPPING potential of every player ever. Similar players: Skinnier Lebron without a motor and a wetter jumpshot in his prime Penny Hardaway with more offense Offkey a little...but Tmac was the perimeter version of Shaq if you think about it. Just that his dominance at a perimeter position couldnt have the same lacksi mindset that shaq as a bigman could and still carry a team far.
You must be kidding, same exact skills and consistent version of Skip? I saw some games and I can make a better assessment than this.
When skip played really well? Yes...that was Mugsy. Im talking those games that Skip was having folks run back to the forum and start a thread. Mugsy was better than skip obviously...but im not trying to portray how great mugsy is (or any of the players ive scouted) more than im trying to get fans here to imagine how good they were by picturing a player theyve more than likely seen. The way they played and their mindset...imho...was the same way.
Anybody see Bernard King play? How good was he and how good could he have been? He put up nearly 33/6/4 just when he looked to be entering his prime at age 28 and then he tore his ACL. In the 90-91 season at age 34 he put up 28/5/4.6 and then it looks like he had another setback the season after and tried to come back and called it quits soon after.
I only watched players from 80s on. I have tapes upon tapes of old games and new games. Im a scout professionally...thats all I can really say. !
You're a scout, really? Then I really cannot fathom why you chose Skip to compare him too. You have any old Bogues games on tapes perhaps??
Mitch Richmond was a very solid 20-23 point a game defender that didn't really do anything else really well. He was ideally a #2-3 player on a championship team, similar to Latrel Sprewell in impact on a game. Mark Price played like a borderline Hall of Famer. He shoot the ball extremely well, was a very good passer and limited his mistakes. He typically did not over extend himself and played to his strengths. He was a physically limited as a defender but was a good team defender. Bernard King was an elite scorer, in the same vein as Adrian Dantley or Kiki Vandeweghe. He was not a terribly good defender and did not really make his teammates better. However, in fairness to him, in that era high scoring wings were only supposed to score and do little else. Here is one to consider..... "How good was Brad Daugherty?"
He was another of those high scoring swing guys in the 70's and 80's and was probably the most consistent and long lasting of that era. He was not quite as good at his best as Gervin or Adrian Dantley. He stared on those high scoring Nuggets team. He was not an especially good rebounder or defender.
