The Top 50 NBA Players of My Generation

[Black Lushus 0]

I thought it was his rookie season? no?

[Guest Vitamin X]

Marino was part of the fabled NFL Draft Class of `83 with Kelly and Elway.

[Black Lushus 0]

I gotcha...

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Yeah, it was his 2nd year in the league. They almost made it the next year (1985), falling to NE in the AFC Champ., who went on to get spanked by Da Bears.

 

There's a game I would have liked to have seen. The Dolphins gave the Bears their only loss that year, and it would have been interesting to see whether they could do it again. Yeah, I know Jim McMahon was hurt for that regular season game, but I still would have liked to see how the game would have played out. They certainly couldn't have done any worse than NE.

[AboveAverage484 0]

What confuses me is he says championships are important and then trashes my ranking of Scottie Pippen, who has six rings to his credit.  I guess we should disregard Kobe's rings too since he wouldn't have won shit without Shaq.  While we're at it, who gets credit for Detroit last year?  Billups won the Finals MVP, but you could also say Hamilton, Ben or Rasheed are all equally deserving of being the most important player.

 

One can't say Maravich wasn't a good player either, he was just surrounded by garbage for the majority of his career.

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I'm now done with this thread. I don't know how many times I have to put down that Pippen only has those rings because of Jordan.

 

 

Comparing Kobe to Pippen must be a joke. Really.

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Ha Ha, I win, just kidding.

[Rendclaw 0]

Pippen/Jordan is the mirror image of Shaq/Kobe. One could not have risen to the heights they attained without the other. Neither one of them accomplished as much without each other as they did with each other. The argument is moot, because while we can speculate about what *MIGHT* have happened if Jordan didn;t have Pippen or Shaq didn't have Kobe, that's exactly what it is: SPECULATION. Jordan was the best player in history, no doubt, but he would not have enjoyed as much success in the league without Pippen. Their relationship was symbiotic, just like Magic/Kareem, Bird/McHale/Parrish, Olajuwon/Drexler. Every great player needs a second one to compliment his skills and quite honestly, take some of the defensive pressure away from the greater player. Pippen was above average, definitely, but think of the "Silent Assassin" Nike commercial that showcased him. Nuff Said.

 

And from the start of reading the thread, I understood that this was about ability, not championships. Straight up ability, and the awards that come from that ability. The list wouldn;t even make 50 if championships were included in the equation. Hell, I doubt it would make 20.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Except Shaq went to the Finals as an Orlando Magic.

[Guest Vitamin X]

He had Hardaway.

[nogoodnick 0]

Olajuwon/Drexler is the wrong kind of comparison. Drexler was a Hall of Famer before he went to Houston.

[alfdogg 0]

And the Rockets won the championship the year before Drexler got there.

[alfdogg 0]

I guess we should disregard Kobe's rings too since he wouldn't have won shit without Shaq.

To be fair, Shaq never won a ring until Kobe rose to All-star status.

 

Unless that was sarcasm.

[AboveAverage484 0]

I guess the best way to factor this in would be to include Finals MVP into the equation.

[Guest Rrrsh]

Reggie is easily Top 10

 

EASY

[Black Lushus 0]

I'd go as far as to say Olajuwon carried the Rockets to the title in 94 without the help of another "STAR" player...I can't recall another star player on that team, just a whole bunch of role players...am I wrong? was there another big star on that team at the time? I can't recall...sure he had Horry and Cassell and Kenny Smith, but again, those guys were just role players...he didn't have a Kobe or a Pippen or a Stockton, etc. to play off of...

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I'd go as far as to say Olajuwon carried the Rockets to the title in 94 without the help of another "STAR" player...I can't recall another star player on that team, just a whole bunch of role players...am I wrong?  was there another big star on that team at the time?  I can't recall...sure he had Horry and Cassell and Kenny Smith, but again, those guys were just role players...he didn't have a Kobe or a Pippen or a Stockton, etc. to play off of...

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The 1994 Club included Olajuwon, Otis Thorpe, Vernon Maxwell, Kenny Smith, Sam Cassell, Mario Elie, Robert Horry, Scott Brooks, Matt Bullard, and Carl Herrera. The 1995 Club included much the same personnel, except for Clyde Drexler who was acquired in a mid-season trade. I think that era had no dominant NBA teams, and that helped the Rockets. They did have a complete team, much like the Pistons of today.

[Black Lushus 0]

yeah that's what I mean...they had a bunch of GOOD players, but no second star to compliment Hakeem, yet they were able to get it done that season...what I do wonder, though is if any of the current Pistons could be held or someday be held in that same category as a guy like Hakeem? I think it's too late for Rasheed, Ben doesn't score enough, I don't think Billups or Prince will be THAT guy, but perhaps Rip?

[Ripper 0]

I think that you can build a championship around a dominant big man with a bunch of role players around Him. All they have to do is be able to shoot, rebound or play D and the fact that there is a dominant big man that demands a double, they just need to do the fundamentals. Guards, for the most part are tough to double, which is why everyone played Jordan one on one.

 

Don't get me wrong, its tough as it has probably only happend around that time of the Rockets, but alot of teams got close (Knicks, Spurs come to mind).

 

And Rendclaw I wouldn't say no doubt about Jordan being the best in history.

[AboveAverage484 0]

I love Reggie, he was a great player and pretty classy, but I think the reason he gets so much praise is because he stayed with the same team for so long. He was also really streaky towards the end of his career, scoring 20 points one game and the next mayb 7 or 8.

[Rendclaw 0]

I think that you can build a championship around a dominant big man with a bunch of role players around Him.  All they have to do is be able to shoot, rebound or play D and the fact that there is a dominant big man that demands a double, they just need to do the fundamentals.  Guards, for the most part are tough to double, which is why everyone played Jordan one on one. 

 

Don't get me wrong, its tough as it has probably only happend around that time of the Rockets, but alot of teams got close (Knicks, Spurs come to mind).

 

And Rendclaw I wouldn't say no doubt about Jordan being the best in history.

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The Spurs won in 99 and 03, and a lot of people can say that was because of David Robinson, but I don;t think that they win without players like Sean Elliott and Mario Elie.

 

And Rip, thats cool. You have your thoughts, I have mine... In my world I have to give Jordan his props, even though I think Magic did more things. If Jordan is #1, Magic is #1a.

 

As far as the building around the big man, the problem is now that there are not enough players in the league that are fundamentally sound enough for that formula to work very well. And the big man cannot have any glaring weaknesses (like Shaq's, Chamberlain's and now Duncan's bad free throw shooting)

 

My problem with Reggie was that he was just a bit too one-dimensional. He did the other things just well enough to get by for most of his career. He was a good defender, but anyone with enough ability and perseverance could do what they wanted against him.

[Dangerous A 0]

As far as the building around the big man, the problem is now that there are not enough players in the league that are fundamentally sound enough for that formula to work very well.

 

Excellent observation. One staple of Phil Jackson is that if you look at most of his rosters, he prefers older, more fundamentally sound players versus young, developing athletes. Shaq and Kobe were the work horses, but the Lakers peppered their teams with vets who were smart like Brian Shaw, Ron Harper, John Salley, Rick Fox, Robert Horry, etc.

 

Same with the 2nd Bulls run of the 90's. One reason Jackson was able to deal with Rodman was besides that fact that he was a dirty work guy who didn't care if he got shots, he is one of the smartest players to ever play the game. Rodman got the intracacies of the Triangle offense in one training camp, whereas Tex Winter and Phil say that it takes most players a full year to year and a half to really start comprehending the complexity of the offense. The Bulls also liked more experienced guys like Longley, Harper, Kerr, Dele (yes he was a vet by the time he joined the Bulls), Buchler, etc.

 

I bring up the 2nd Bulls run because when they ran the Triangle then, they used MJ as the low post guy who gets the trigger pass a lot versus the traditional center. If you look at games played in that time, you'll see MJ posting up quite a bit because in reality, he was the Bulls best low post player. Scottie would also take this "spot" as well and was effective in the post against certain players. (anyone versed or coached in the Triple Post offense knows what I mean by "spot")

[Rendclaw 0]

Ugh, don;t bring up Phil Jackson. I have hated that smug, know-it-all bastard for years, and after something I heard today, I hate him even more. He still refuses to give the Pistons any credit for winning the title over his heavily favored Lakers, and dogs them out at every opportunity.

 

As much as I loved the Lakers of the 80s, I just hope and pray that this current squad goes down in flames. Kobe and Phil, with their actions and attitudes, don;t deserve a lot of the accolades that they get nowadays.

[Guest Rrrsh]

I love Reggie, he was a great player and pretty classy, but I think the reason he gets so much praise is because he stayed with the same team for so long.  He was also really streaky towards the end of his career, scoring 20 points one game and the next mayb 7 or 8.

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If you take Reggie's last three eyars compared everyone elses Last three years, he is like #3. Remember Ewing the Majic or Jordan the Wizard?

 

Reggie was the most clutch guy in the Playoffs and the best 3 point shooter since Bird. Thats Top 10. He beats Clyde, Barkley and Ewing, no doubt. He is probably tied with Malone, but you have Malone about 5 spots too high.

[Brett Favre 0]

Reggie beats Ewing? Ewing had a team full of CBA players and carried them to the finals. He was also within a game of a ring. He was a better scorer, scored more points in less years, better playoff numbers, and more all-star games.

 

All Reggie did was hit 3 point shots. Ewing blocked shots, rebounded, nearly averaged as much steals as Reggie at the center position, and was 10x the defender at his position than Reggie was at his. Please.

[Black Lushus 0]

Ewing is hated by anyone who is not a Knicks fan, he never gets respect anywhere anytime...

[Guest Rrrsh]

Being a good shooter is the best thing you can have in basketball. Ewing was a terrible passer, made no one around him better and was an average shooter. Yah he was better at big man stuff and Regiies main flaw is his D, Ewing created nothing and gave nothing to anyone else. He made no one better.

[iggymcfly 0]

Being a good shooter is the best thing you can have in basketball. Ewing was a terrible passer, made no one around him better and was an average shooter.  Yah he was better at big man stuff and Regiies main flaw is his D, Ewing created nothing and gave nothing to anyone else. He made no one better.

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But Reggie Miller did? Bitch please.

 

All he ever did was have everyone on the team set 35 screens for him, so he could jack up three pointers. He couldn't even create his own shot, let alone get other guys involved in the offense.

 

I'd say somebody who gets 10+ rebounds per game, passes well out of the double team and plays great help defense in the post "makes his teammates better" more than someone who scurries around the floor like a chicken with his head cut off and completely disrupts the offense in order to attempt as many 3-pointers as humanly possible.

[Black Lushus 0]

even Alfdogg doesn't knock Ewing as much as THAT Pacer fan...

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

THis is silly. Miller and Ewing were both great players. Miller was great not only for his ability to shoot the three, but he also NEVER turned the ball over. Ewing was great for the reasons mentioned above. Ewing's underrated because his best years came before the Knicks' Finals run.

[Ripper 0]

You know why Ewing is so hated and underrated? because he had the ugliest game of any hall of famer I can remember. I mean fundamentally, he was garbage. His offensive moves were horrible, he was always out of position on d, he didn't really block out...he just did everything WRONG.

 

BUT, dude was a fucking warrior. Even though his offensive moves looked horrible, he was fight till that ball went in the fucking basket. Even though he was out of position on D, he would hustle his ass off to get back to where he would make the play more often than not. He never blocked out, but that son ova bitch would will himself to the rebound. Thats why I resepect him so much, because never has a player been so good at playing so wrong. And seriously, when your second best player is....well....seriously...who was the number 2 guy in New York? Gerald Wilkins? Charles Smith? John Starks? Derek Harper was a god amoungst men at one point in his career but by the time he got to New York, he was on the tail end.

[Brett Favre 0]

Which is why I don't understand making players better around him argument. Are you kidding me? Starks wasn't better because of Ewing? Harper? Oakley? Mason? Jackson? The list goes on. It's laughable to think that Miller made players around him better when all he did was shoot and use screens to set HIMSELF up. Come on now.

 

On the ugly offensive game, the turnaround jumpshot was beauty.