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**Minstrel** · 11-03-2006, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kflo

lets put it this way - michael jordan deferred to james worthy.

Jordan also deferred to his brother James Jordan. James Jordan for the Hall of Fame.

PauloCatarino · 11-03-2006, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kflo

i can't believe what i'm reading here. worthy was the #1 pick in the draft. he was an exceptional talent who lived up to the hype. he gave up an advantage to noone he played against. again, the lakers wouldn't have traded him for anyone at his position. cedric ceballos!!!??? jeezzzus. ceballos was a garbage man scorer, who found ways to score but wasn't very reliable in the half court set. which is a large part of why he usually went awol in the playoffs. worthy was an elite 3. as an offensive weapon, he was up there with anyone.

his prime playoff scoring average was 23 pts/40 with 60% ts%. i mean, discussing worthy hitting open jumpers - he was an offensive focal point - he had a post game, and could generate his own opportunities on the perimeter. he ran the floor better than anyone at his position as well. imagine how good magic really is if we only consider worthy to be a very good at one dimension player.

Worthy was unstopable on offense. The same way Kevin McHale was, and the same way Duncan is/was. He was just not a volume scorer. One could say he didn't have to be, considering the teams had the likes of Magic, Kareem and Scott. And that's the thing, really. Worthy didn't have to score in bundles, or pass the ball much (who would one prefer handling the ball? Magic Johnson or any forward in the history of the game?). So i can't see why this could be used aginst him. He was not a top-notch defender, but he was a reliable one. The only knock i see in his game is his poor rebounding numbers. Which can be explained somewhat by playing SF and having to play with a PG who would grab 6/7 rebounds a game)

This thread has the title "Underrated/Overrated Greats". Which makes me ask: are we talking about who are the GREAT player or who are the BEST players? Because there's a whole lot of names being thrown around that don't touch Worthy if we are talking about GREAT players.

It's easy to say "hey, if _____ played with Magic and Kareem he would have been great too." But i don't buy that argument. There was a reason the Lakers picked Worthy above Nique and Terry Cummings. They knew what they were doing. And who has the rings?

Sunsfan81 · 11-03-2006, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PauloCatarino

There was a reason the Lakers picked Worthy above Nique and Terry Cummings. They knew what they were doing. And who has the rings?

I still don't think Worthy was better than Dominique, but he was certainly better than Terry Cummings who is underrated.

PauloCatarino · 11-03-2006, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunsfan81

I still don't think Worthy was better than Dominique, but he was certainly better than Terry Cummings who is underrated.

That's the thing: the Lakers didn't draft the BEST player available - they drafted who they though COULD be the GREATEST of the batch.

And no, i don't consider Worthy best than Nique.

**Minstrel** · 11-03-2006, 03:40 PM

I disagree that there's a difference between "better" and "greater."

PauloCatarino · 11-03-2006, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minstrel

I disagree that there's a difference between "better" and "greater."

Hmmm...

Let's say, for arguments' sake, that Tim Duncan performs 22-10 for the next 5 years while winning 3 more championships, 2 more Finals MVP, 2 More MVPs, 5 All-defense team and 3 All-Nba team.

That would give him 6 rings, 4 MVPs, and a perennial (for his time) All-Nba in both teams...

Could he be considered GREATER than, say, Larry Bird?
Could he considered a BETTER basketball player than Larry?

**Minstrel** · 11-03-2006, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PauloCatarino

Hmmm...

Let's say, for arguments' sake, that Tim Duncan performs 22-10 for the next 5 years while winning 3 more championships, 2 more Finals MVP, 2 More MVPs, 5 All-defense team and 3 All-Nba team.

That would give him 6 rings, 4 MVPs, and a perennial (for his time) All-Nba in both teams...

Could he be considered GREATER than, say, Larry Bird?
Could he considered a BETTER basketball player than Larry?

If by "greater" you mean "more decorated" or "more memorable" or that sort of thing, that's fine. But generally I think the key is who was the superior player on the court.

Steve Nash has more MVP awards than Hakeem Olajuwon or Oscar Robertson...if that means Nash is "greater," I don't think "greater" has much meaning, since Olajuwon and Robertson were far, far more valuable.

da bully · 11-03-2006, 04:23 PM

i wish you laker fans would stop saying that 91 was a drop off for worthy. that was his best scoring season of his career.

da bully · 11-03-2006, 04:35 PM

and as far as pippen, vs worthy, pippen was a better rebounder, passer, assists, 3pt shooter, 10xs the defender, could run an offense was better at steals and blocks was a better ballhandler and they are about even in scoring, with one being a career second scoring option in a slower pace league. while the other was a main scoring option in a much faster pace league. if pippens prime was in the 80s i see no reason he wouldnt average about 25 or 26 ppg.

Sunsfan81 · 11-03-2006, 04:49 PM

Some underrated players:

Neil Johnston might be the most underrated player of all time
Bob McAdoo
Adrian Dantley
Dennis Johnson
Gus Johnson
George McGinnis
Spencer Haywood
Bernard King
Artis Gilmore
Jo Jo White
Mitch Richmond
Sidney Moncrief
Paul Westphal
Jack Sikma
Larry Foust
Chet Walker
Bobby Jones
Michael Cooper

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