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Player
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 789
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Re: NBA Yearly Match-up Tournament: 2/7 Len Bias Region
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Originally Posted by RollWithEm
Pippen did an excellent job on Drexler in the 1992 Finals. ... I’m not saying Scottie was a Drexler-stopper. I’m just saying Pippen did a very good job of limiting his open looks and preventing him from living in the lane.
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I believe this was your statement:
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Originally Posted by RollWithEm
It’s too bad we all know what Pippen does to Drexler in big games.
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That sounds like stating that Clyde Drexler got shut down by Scottie Pippen. Of course, if you want to call someone averaging 24.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game in the NBA Finals that instead of completely overstating your previous remark ...
I also like how you selectively picked certain games painting this picture of Drexler, but ignored Pippen's 6-for-19 clunker in Game 21 and his 6-for-15 effort in Game 3. In reality, Michael Jordan (another excellent defender) guarded Drexler more in the '92 Finals than Pippen did. Drexler shot poorly in the NBA Finals, but the entire Blazers unit shot 44 percent from the field.
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Originally Posted by RollWithEm
Pippen, D Rob, and Reggie are stone cold locks. Kevin Johnson’s case is borderline, but I think he’ll eventually get in. Mark Jackson has an outside shot given his gaudy career assist total, and Horace Grant is even a distant possibility (HOF Monitor score 121).
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The Class of '87 has three hall of fame-caliber players (and Reggie Miller and Scottie Pippen need a little context for their explanations). If Kevin Johnson, Mark Jackson and Horace Grant are inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, then quite frankly it needs to be shut down. Considering Adrian Dantley needed years to get in and guys like Artis Gilmore still cannot get in, it would be ridiculous to let lesser players like these three in.
KJ was a very good player for several seasons until his hamstring problems and seemingly waning interest in his prime eroded his game. There are simply better, more dominant players than KJ who may not be inducted (see Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, Bernard King, Grant Hill). You can't make the argument that KJ should be voted in ahead of someone like Tim Hardaway, a similar caliber player who had a slighlty longer career who likely won't be inducted.
Jackson was simply an above-average quarterback who is second all time in assists because he played 17 seasons. Jackson only had one season where he played in an All-Star Game. You basically would be inducting Jackson more for preserverence and certainly not for dominance. If you let Jackson in for that, then there are ton of players who should be inducted -- and mostly ahead of him.
Grant is simply a good grunt player but an average player overall. Being a role player on several teams that won titles (the '90s Bulls, the Lakers this decade) does not qualify one for immortality. I can name tons of players who were better than Grant (such as Chris Webber, Shawn Kemp, Marques Johnson, etc.) who won't be inducted.
If this group could have produced a potential fourth hall of famer, IMO it would have been the late Reggie Lewis.
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Originally Posted by RollWithEm
I would say there’s a pretty big difference between young Ralph Sampson and prime-level David Robinson. Sampson might have been a slightly better rebounder, but Robinson was clearly the superior offensive player of the two in production and efficiency. But if you ignore that all together, D Rob’s defensive skills far outweigh anything Sampson produced in his short career.
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Ralph Sampson was a more skilled offensive player than David Robinson; Robinson was more productive. I can't say Robinson was demonstrably better than Sampson as a defender, or even noticeably better (Sampson was also a good defender). I also felt both men lacked mental toughness, and Robinson was notorious for seeing noticeable production drops in the playoffs.
I give the edge to Robinson, mostly because he had more prolonged better health to Sampson. Robinson would be facing a center who matches him athletically and is three inches taller. Moreover, Robinson's mid- to high-post game is not going to put pressure on Sampson down low.
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Originally Posted by RollWithEm
You’re right about the scorers on the 1983 team. Also, the bench for the 1987 team is actually what kept them from being #1-caliber in this tournament. I actually wouldn’t include Dennis Hopson in my bench, incidentally. I went with Ken Norman and Olden Polynice over him.
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Yeah, but Snake Norman is at best a marginal improvement over Dennis Hopson (not to mention Norman is shakier) and Olden Polynice was never more than big man who could block shots and rebound occasionally, basically a more athletic Erick Dampier.
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Last edited by Najee : 06-05-2008 at 04:06 AM.
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