If you watched like you claim you would know that Worthy played the PF position quite a bit. Especially with that trapping unit I posted. They had Green as the SF with that lineup.
Don't you remember Worthy guarding McHale in all those Finals? Isn't McHale a PF? One of the greatest if I remember correctly.
Worthy did play the 4 at times and started at 4 at times too if I remember. That is what I think he meant and I agree. Worthy had the size and ability to play 4 that is what I think he was pointing out.
mchale guarded small forwards and bird guarded power forwards when they were on the floor together
did this make bird a power forward and mchale a small forward?
other examples
when the lakers faced the bulls(starting in their finals meeting) pippen usually guarded magic and MJ stayed on worthy
by your logic buduan, with worthy being a power forward and air jordan guarding him, it now makes michael jordan a 4
ive seen dennis rodman guard shaq , and shaq guard rodman so by your logic either rodman is a center(which makes luc longley a forward) or shaq is a forward
matchups are one thing but when you use your eyes its another
ac green was the power forward he did the dirty work of setting picks and grabbing the rebounds
worthy stayed out on the perimeter (although he did post up here and there throughout a game)
and though worthy and green were about the same size it was obvious that both had very different roles on the team and because they were about the same size it allowed for flexibilty in certain matchups but worthy was the small forward
Worthy did play the 4 at times and started at 4 at times too if I remember. That is what I think he meant and I agree. Worthy had the size and ability to play 4 that is what I think he was pointing out.
Point is that Worthy played 4 at times. I don't think he meant that Worthy was a 4. Worthy was often used as a 4 during trap and defensive purposes situations he was right...I saw it countless times. I don't think anybody meant that Worthy was officially a 4. Same thing as is Ben Wallace really a 5 and Duncan is a true 5 not a 4.
Point is that Worthy played 4 at times. I don't think he meant that Worthy was a 4. Worthy was often used as a 4 during trap and defensive purposes situations he was right...I saw it countless times. I don't think anybody meant that Worthy was officially a 4. Same thing as is Ben Wallace really a 5 and Duncan is a true 5 not a 4.
bballdoctor i get what you are saying but what buduan said to start all this is totally different
A.C. Green, Mychal Thompson, and James Worthy dominated the PF spot in the latter half of the 80's. Rambis started I think one year. He was a heck of a rebounder and defender. Unlike the foul a minute Madsen. The guy is out of control most of the time.-buduan
there was nothing about being a part timer(and spending most of the time in another positionit was about how the line-up with worthy at the 4 dominated )) and the statement was incredibly untrue
the bulls had a great trap in the early 90s in which horace grant played a guard role by his duties in the trap in the backcourt
that didn't make grant a guard because in the halfcourt game just like worthy he went back to his normal role
and though worthy and green were about the same size it was obvious that both had very different roles on the team and because they were about the same size it allowed for flexibilty in certain matchups but worthy was the small forward-this is me earlier
i acknowledged that on occasion they switched up ..but you are what you are, ac green wasn't about to be trying to take players off the dribble while worthy played on the weakside trying to garner rebounds off misses and thats why worthy is a 3 and green is a 4 ...its because of their offensive purpose on the floor and that never changed not while they were trapping not while they were playing the clippers or celtics or whomever
bballdoctor i get what you are saying but what buduan said to start all this is totally different
A.C. Green, Mychal Thompson, and James Worthy dominated the PF spot in the latter half of the 80's. Rambis started I think one year. He was a heck of a rebounder and defender. Unlike the foul a minute Madsen. The guy is out of control most of the time.-buduan
there was nothing about being a part timer(and spending most of the time in another positionit was about how the line-up with worthy at the 4 dominated )) and the statement was incredibly untrue
the bulls had a great trap in the early 90s in which horace grant played a guard role by his duties in the trap in the backcourt
that didn't make grant a guard because in the halfcourt game just like worthy he went back to his normal role
and though worthy and green were about the same size it was obvious that both had very different roles on the team and because they were about the same size it allowed for flexibilty in certain matchups but worthy was the small forward-this is me earlier
i acknowledged that on occasion they switched up ..but you are what you are, ac green wasn't about to be trying to take players off the dribble while worthy played on the weakside trying to garner rebounds off misses and thats why worthy is a 3 and green is a 4 ...its because of their offensive purpose on the floor and that never changed not while they were trapping not while they were playing the clippers or celtics or whomever
I meant they dominated the PF position on the Lakers. He was trying to say that Rambis was their 4. Not true. Once Green joined the team Rambis rarely played. Rambis played a whopping 800+ minutes in 1988 and wasn't even on the team in 1989.
So yes, Green, Worthy, and Thompson played the position primarily. Green was considered the best defending big man. He covered alot of the quicker SF's so that Worthy and Magic weren't run down covering guys like Nique. Worthy played the 4 more often than you would like to admit happygrinch.
Since you claim you watched the Lakers in the 80's, who guarded McHale the majority of the time in those classic series?
The answer is Worthy and Thompson. Who did McHale guard? Worthy.
Originally posted by <b>SkywalkerAC</b>!
i think we can all agree by this point that the 80s had some great defensive teams but overall, today's defense is better:yes:
I meant they dominated the PF position on the Lakers. He was trying to say that Rambis was their 4. Not true. Once Green joined the team Rambis rarely played. Rambis played a whopping 800+ minutes in 1988 and wasn't even on the team in 1989.
So yes, Green, Worthy, and Thompson played the position primarily. Green was considered the best defending big man. He covered alot of the quicker SF's so that Worthy and Magic weren't run down covering guys like Nique. Worthy played the 4 more often than you would like to admit happygrinch.
Since you claim you watched the Lakers in the 80's, who guarded McHale the majority of the time in those classic series?
The answer is Worthy and Thompson. Who did McHale guard? Worthy.
mchale guarded worthy for the same reason that green was often put on the other team's best frontcourt scorer , to save bird's energy
but i'm almost positive the only time in the late 80's worthy switched off the human highlight film was in the all-star game that would have meant guarding kevin willis not exactly a walk in the park for a player pyhsically
and skywalker what you last said is what i've felt all along but conversations often sway from topics
I thihnk there's a much more recent thread where we hashed this out from only a few years back - this is so strange that it pops up like this and its the second one in a week
It amazes me that people still think of "mid-range jumpers" as a sort of arcane skill. It's just shooting. But with any jumper the problem is getting separation to shoot them, which is a lot more difficult for perimeter players than big men. This is why so many big men shoot them well (because defenses want a possession to end with a Brandon Bass or Glen Davis long two) and why so many guards try to shoot everything from behind the arc or within ten feet.
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