when jordan played for washington

He was a very good player, but got by on guile more than quickness.

DD

 

His athleticism was below average for a SG/SF. He knew his limitations and stayed within them. I think that's what made him a great NBA player in Washington. His game was all about position, timing and cleverness. He couldn't take guys off the dribble anymore his offense was full of head fakes, short jumpers and drawing fouls.

It was still painful to watch.

 

I believe he made life a lot harder on himself by trading Rip for Stackhouse. Shortly after both player's careers went different directions as Stackhouse went from franchise player to 6th man, while Rip went from little known spot up shooter to starting 2-guard of the east-champs 6 years running. That team could have gotten out of the east without trading Rip and if Kwame would have developed a fraction of what was hoped.

 

Mainly a perimeter player at that point. I think he was about average athletically compared to other guard/forwards.

Still good enough to put up 20/5/5 (including 51 in one game). Even a old Jordan was better than 90 percent of the guys out there.

 

He was better than 95% of NBA guards/forwards at that time, but he still wasn't competely MJ. He showed flashes of brilliance, the one that sticks out in my mind is when he ran the length of the court and blocked a shot against the backboard with two hands, he literally just pinned the ball on the backboard and gained possession of it. Then afterwards in the post game conference he said "I can still jump when I'm angry"... Its somewhere on youtube

 

Anyone who can score 40 pts in a game at 40 years of age in a 'young mans game' is more than an athletic freak- they are a freak of nature.

Michael Jordan was born to ball.

 

But he had his moments. Remember this?

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KJriDpfgQNs&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KJriDpfgQNs&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

 

The Washington Jordan was mostly a jump shooting SF who also used his strength to back up smaller defenders in the post. He was not able to attack the basket as often as he did in his prime. He definitely has lost much of his athleticism to the point where he had troubles dunking the ball. MJ was also a much more willing passer at that stage of his career.

Jordan's defense was still very good. He was no longer a dominant defender as in his prime, but his timing and positioning compensated for his lack of quickness. He still guarded the opposing team's best perimeter player which was quite amazing.

Overall MJ at 38/39/40 was still a very good player -- a border line AS type player.

 

Though, I still believe that MJ with Wizards proved MJ is absolutely one of the greatest athletes ever. Although not having his greatest and athleticism, he was still able to be an all-star caliber player (who could dominate on occassion).


<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BlNfnD_i77s&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BlNfnD_i77s&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>


<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qKVbEeQPVGo&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qKVbEeQPVGo&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ye-0ghhY7uw&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ye-0ghhY7uw&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

 

Wilkins aged better IMO. When he was with Spurs he was still a handful. Of course if you put Wizards MJ in a 5 game playoff series I assume he would elevate his play to some ridiculous level.

 

Funny, in the 2nd video at 1:55 Marv says he has a tie with Yao Ming and Stoudemire. The other commentator can't believe it. I wonder which player he thought was obviously better...

 

Oh, that was actually Mike Fratello said that. Albert was like how could you have tie?

 

I would hope Wilkins aged better... he only played on half the court.

 

Bingo, although I wouldn't say his defense was "very good." He was above average, maybe, and his basketball IQ was extremely high as a Wizard. He made the game look easy for someone his age.

 

Great, great play but I'm not sure he even got his hands over the rim on that block. Excellent timing, however.

 

Dominique was 36-37 when he played in SA which, I think, is very significant considering Jordan was 35 when he won his last Championship and was still the best player in the league in many people's opinion. 'Nique was not even able to stick around the league until he was 40 much less put up All Star numbers like Mike did in Washington.

Still, that was great staying power by Wilkins. I'll bet Kobe can't put up 18/6/2 in just over 30 minutes a game when he is 36-37.

 

Im going to have to beg to differ on that. Even though Kobe has a long ways to go, the guy is a freak of an athlete. If he stays healthy I could see him playing in the league at 36-37 and still putting up say 15/5/5. He has already begun mastering the back to the basket game where he can get his turn around going over defenders, at will. This is gonna keep him in good shape physically as he gets older, much like jordan. Only difference is Kobe came into the League a littler earlier so has clocked a few more miles already.

Time will tell my friend..

 

not to take away from jordan's accomplishments - but the only reason he got those 40 + games was because he bent collins over backwards and forced him to make the offense run through him.

he was far from their most efficient player.

 

this is a pretty accurate description of him in DC.