[Y! Sports] M.Guokas claims Dwight Howard is a better defensive player Russell (HOF)

OK my bad. I know I'm responding to my own post, but Matt G was a player, not a sportswriter. Still, I just listened to his argument and its weaker than single ply.

 

Of course not. Olajuwon has only TWO rings.

 

Yeah, Russell was a freaking capital m Man too. There are horror stories about the injuries he walked off and played through. Not to take anything away from Howard, but Russell would likely be just as effective today with access to modern training and rehabilitation technology.

 

Posted by Terry Tue Apr 06, 2010 1:38 pm EDT
Dwight is the best of all time period. Lebron , kobe, carmelo as well as Bill rusell cant touch him

The guy who wrote this fails.

 

bill russell was 6'9 and 215 lbs and shot 44% from the field. i feel everyone who played in the 60's and maybe even in the 70's have skewed stats

 

My opinion is that the centers of old are nowhere near as good as the centers of modern eras. I feel that Howard would be Wilt-like in the old days, and Russel would be more Camby-like if he played today. Of course, everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, but honestly there's no way to compare with all the new rules and physical changes the athletes have undergone.

 

I'll bet my genitels 3/4 of the people defending Russell .. never ever saw him play a whole game ..

He's a myth, so people will tend to over rate him .. I never saw russell but I doubt Defensively anybody is better than DH .. people tend overvalue things they dont posses or things they miss .. while the undervalue whats right infront of their eyes

 

if Howard is better than Russell, then Yao Ming is better than Walt?

 

Never watched 90s rockets?

 

99% of the people who'll be criticizing about this also don't work for the Magic. I don't know if I've ever seen him call a game, so I don't know if he's a homer, but this may be as good analysis as Clyde Drexler's.

 

Howard has his moments but Russell was a defensive specialist.

Russell's main job was to defend and rebound his offense was not needed as much with the players he was playing with.

Also stats never tell the whole story... Why I hate them so much.

Russell was also a Player/coach for about 2 or 3 years and I believe he won 1 or 2 championships as a player/coach.

 

Oh come on. The old guys either like having that one last big opinion before they kick the bucket. Or they'll even more staunchly defend the old era to the death.

yes

 

Cant forget about Ben Wallace in his prime. I'd say a better defender than Howard. And more "Russell-esque" in how he did it.

44 FG% back then was good enough for top 10 in the league, top 5 some years. Yeah all those stats are a little skewed.


At what point would the worst NBA players be better than the best NBA players of the 60's? Carl Landry is bigger and more athletic than Elgin Baylor, but Baylor is by far a more accomplished player. Hard to compare different eras. Though no one's talking about the 40's anymore.

 

As an astute fan, I am pretty sure you can question his remark.

He's played against Russell and has seen Dwight up close. Fair enough, but I'd rather believe someone that doesn't work out of Orlando to make that call. If he had played WITH Russell rather than against him then I'd give Guokas more credibility since he got to see Russell play on a more consistent basis (e.g. how he's been able to watch Howard up close on a more consistent basis).

I know this might be an irrevelent point but Russell guarded Wilt Chamberlain and, while Wilt owned the individual battles more often than not, Russell was still averaging what....18/16 or something of that nature against Wilt? Who has Dwight guarded during his career that can be considered to be a force? A declining Shaq? Yao?

 

Matty G's Former teams
Philadelphia 76ers (1966–1971)
Cincinnati Royals(1971–1972)
Kansas City-Omaha Kings(1972–1973)
Buffalo Braves (1973)
Chicago Bulls(1973–1974)
Houston Rockets (1974)
Chicago Bulls(1974–1975)
Kansas City Kings (1975–1976)

 

Speaking of Yao and DH......head to head meetings.
http://www.basketball-reference.com....cgi?request=1&=m&p1=mingya01&=h&p2=howardw01

Yao Ming vs. Dwight Howard


Player G W L GS MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
Yao Ming 9 7 2 9 35.1 8.7 15.4 .561 0.0 0.0 6.2 7.9 .789 3.0 7.4 10.4 1.2 0.7 2.1 2.7 4.1 23.6
Dwight Howard 9 2 7 9 34.0 4.1 9.1 .451 0.0 0.1 .000 4.0 6.7 .600 1.8 8.0 9.8 0.8 1.3 1.7 2.0 3.4 12.2

 

I think that most people who think they're knowledgeable about the game assume Bill Russell was the greatest defensive player ever just because that's the story that has been passed down. How many of these people actually watched him play? I think he was probably a tremendous defensive player for his time, revolutionary even. But if someone who played against him doesn't think he's the mythical all-time defensive juggernaut he's been hyped up to be, who am I to dismiss it?

I'd like to read guys like Goukas, Hubie Brown, Larry Brown, Lenny Wilkins, and Don Nelson debate this stuff. I'm interested in their opinions, because they've been around the game for a long, long time. Their perspective on these sort of topics seem more relevant than a random fan or blogger who's just regurgitating conventional wisdom.

 

matt goukas is a magic homer, not sure if he stills call games for them but i know he use to

 

That's cool, but in the past others have posted quotes from opponents of Russell, for example Jerry West saying that he would take him before Wilt or anyone else, and you have questioned them analytically. Now Goukas says something you agree with and all of a sudden the opinions of his contempararies are credible... hmm.