It really is a tossup. OT had huge hands and was a physical beast. Luis is finesse and great footwork. Both hustled their tails off every play.
OT was a power scorer under the basket with a lot a touch. Defensivly he could handle any 4 in the league because of his strenght. I'm going OT with much respect to Scola.
I missed the part where I said OT was not a high level player. Other than that, I guess all I can say is that I agree!? That is, unless you're insinuating that Luis does not play at a high level and would be a bad fit starting next to Hakeem.
Oh no, you gave OT his props but what I disagreed with was the thought that it depended on the center. I LOVE Scola and all but OT is/was the superior player as he played with both style centers and THRIVED. When Larry Smith was our center,a defensive minded center, he raised his game to an all-star level. When he played with Dream, he reverted back to being a brick wall and helped with all the dirty work giving Dream a chance to do his damage. Scola would be good with dream but Scola also plays a lot on the perimeter and dream evolved in a fantastic outside shooter with about the same range as Luis, this could be an issue offensively.
You're speaking more of absolutes. I'm speaking more about relatives. By your argument, I can say that because Scola averaged like 20/8 after the Landry trade, then he's technically "better" when playing with Chuck Hayes than Yao. Or that he's better playing with some stiff center on the Argentina team because he always beasts in international play. I maintain that as long as a center can patrol the middle by himself, Luis' offensive diversity makes him more effective than Thorpe. Because IMO that is the biggest advantage Thorpe has over Scola.
OT was a legit 20 / 10 guy that hit over 50% of his shots and played great defense. I love what Scola does but OT was just as good an offinsive player (even if he did only have a right hand) and a better defender and rebounder.
Man after always watching scola enter beast mode in the world championships the last three or four times I got to go with him. OT was solid, but I could never envision him carrying a team.
exactly - i love luis, but how the heck is he beating thorpe? i suspect those who voted for him never saw otis play. (im 35 years old)
let's not forget OTs stellar one handed rebounds and full court outlet passes! there is no doubt the power forward position has changed slightly since the 90's. agree to disagree on the offensive game - but ur right, OT was a monster on the boards.
looks like a lot of folks are too young to remember OT. Dude was a BEAST on D. Had a soft touch and could rebound with one hand. A real POWER forward. They don't make them like that any more.
I like OT, but this statement makes it sound like he was Scottie Pippen. That team was a bunch of good role players and one very dominant superstar.
He was Dreams #2 that year just like Drexler was the year after. Hell, Portland traded their HOF franchise player for OT so it showed how highly they regarded Thorpe. No bones about it. OT would be considered a Boozer, Bosh status type in the NBA right now.
Hmmmm....I don't take MadMax's statement as being anything that makes OT sound like he was Scottie Pippen. Not trying to be argumentative, but only your own statement seems to be making that comparison. Too, Thorpe was borderline All Star for much of his career (making the All Star game once), so I'd only loosely call him a role player. He was a key member of the Rocket's starters and an iron man of a player (much like Scola) and he played a vital role on the team -- not just a good role player but an outstanding player in his own right. I don't say any of that to try and make Thorpe sound like that much better of a player than Scola. Each compares favorably the other in many ways...but my own nod, by a slight margin, goes to Thorpe. I like Scola a lot and respect him as a player and individual, but he's not quite the overall player Thorpe was (close, but not quite).
or Hakeem or Maxwell or Kenny Smith or Ralph Sampson or Rockets beating the Bulls with Jordan or the old Gallery Furniture or Houston Wrestling or the Oilers
Otis had Dream and Luis has Yao. There's a big difference between best center in NBA history and big China man.
