Around the League: Week 11 1/4-1/10

[The Bobster]

Isiah was a great ball handler and passer, and good defensively, plus he was a prolific scorer when need be. His shooting wasn't bad (45% for his career), but he was mainly a streak shooter rather than a pure shooter.

Great basketball player, horrible basketball executive.

isiah would not have been considered a top ten pg of all time if the pistons didnt win championships.

And yet they did.

[The Bobster]

me and @mhaubs consider alcindor to be the greatest center of all time.

bill russell, if he was playing today, would just be another ben wallace of deandre jordan type. good thing the other teams didnt do a lot of hack a russell back in the 50s, and maybe it would not have mattered since the celtics teams then were stacked.

Of course Russell also averaged 4.3 assists a game for his career. And 15.1 points.

Wallace, 5.3 points and 1.5 assists. He never averaged in double figures. Jordan 8.3 points and 0.5 assists. His career high is 11.6 points.

Russell was named MVP 5 times. Wallace and Jordan have combined for one All-NBA 3rd Team.

The best description I've heard for Russell was "Dennis Rodman with a brain". He was as good a defender and rebounder as Rodman and a much better passer and scorer. Plus he didn't come with the additional baggage.

[Mori Chu]

bill russell, if he was playing today, would just be another ben wallace of deandre jordan type. good thing the other teams didnt do a lot of hack a russell back in the 50s, and maybe it would not have mattered since the celtics teams then were stacked.

Bill Russell was an all-time great. He was exceptional then, and he would have figured out a way to be exceptional today. He would have been a star in today's league, too. He would not have played exactly the same way, because the game has changed. But his talent and his intellect were both extremely high and you better believe he would have anchored some team winning multiple titles even now.

[SDC]

me and @mhaubs consider alcindor to be the greatest center of all time.

bill russell, if he was playing today, would just be another ben wallace of deandre jordan type. good thing the other teams didnt do a lot of hack a russell back in the 50s, and maybe it would not have mattered since the celtics teams then were stacked.

Of course Russell also averaged 4.3 assists a game for his career. And 15.1 points.

Wallace, 5.3 points and 1.5 assists. He never averaged in double figures. Jordan 8.3 points and 0.5 assists. His career high is 11.6 points.

.

i dunno man. chamberlain also averaged 4.4 assists for his career. wilt even led the league in assist once (8.6/game). they both also averaged 25+ rebounds a season, something that will never happen again in today's nba. everything seems inflated back then, especially if you are the BIG MAN and the ball is in your hands a lot.

[LazarusLong]

One thing Russell did that nobody has every approached: Many of his block shots actually would be re-directs to teammates to start fast breaks.
That is, when he would block a shot, he made sure the ball was sent away from opponents and to an area where a Celtic was standing. He thinks guys who do a "volleyball" blast into the stands for an ESPN highlight are idiots.

Where Chamberlain was incredibly evolved physically as a basketball player, Russell was the smartest man on the court for decades.

[LazarusLong]

Hahaha, Hassan Whiteside... That just made my day.

That is mildly humorous, and ill-informed, considering all the other great centers that are ignored...

[SDC]

One thing Russell did that nobody has every approached: Many of his block shots actually would be re-directs to teammates to start fast breaks.
That is, when he would block a shot, he made sure the ball was sent away from opponents and to an area where a Celtic was standing. He thinks guys who do a "volleyball" blast into the stands for an ESPN highlight are idiots.

Where Chamberlain was incredibly evolved physically as a basketball player, Russell was the smartest man on the court for decades.

that's how hassan whiteside would block shots too.

[LazarusLong]

[TOO]

Man, I had SDC on block for so long I forgot how wacky he was.

[Wally_West]

Every time I read a SDC post.

[Mori Chu]

Wait, the Hassan Whiteside at #10 center of all time was serious??

[Indy]

Wait, the Hassan Whiteside at #10 center of all time was serious??

None of his posts are serious. At least not in that way.

[The Bobster]

Just a wild guess at the centers -

1. Wilt, 2. Kareem, 3. Russell, 4. Hakeem, 5. Shaq, 6. Moses, 7. Robinson, 8. Mikan 9. Thurmond, 10. Ewing. With Reed, Gilmore, Unseld, Parish and Mutombo on the outside looking in.

ESPN's rankings - 1. Kareem, 2. Wilt, 3. Russell, 4. Shaq, 5 Hakeem, 6. Moses, 7. Robinson, 8. Ewing, 9. Mikan, 10. Walton

I wouldn't have included Walton over Thurmond because his career was so short. Sure, at his peak he was better but he only played 468 games and only 209 of those were at his peak in Portland. Thurmond played twice as many games. Cowens retired at 31 (with a brief comeback) and still played 766. An injury-plagued Reed still managed 650.

They basically admit ranking Kareem over Wilt based on Kareem's longevity over Wilt's advantage in peak value. I think Ewing was a little overrated by them.

[pickle]

I only started watching the game in 1990, but even with that recent bias, I still wouldn't rank Ewing in the top ten. That one is definitely off. I'm surprised that Russell is so ... underrated. I know that the consecutive championships under modern day context isn't as outrageous, but even so ... and I don't know if I would have ranked Shaq over Hakeem.

[The Bobster]

There isn't anything egregious about their list - There only problem I have is including Walton based on his peak value but then admitting that they picked Kareem over Wilt because of his longevity. If you're going by the course of their career Thurmond (78 .0 Win Shares) finishes way ahead of Walton (39.3). So does Unseld (110.1), Cowens (86.3), Gilmore (107.4 in just his NBA career), Mutombo (117.0), Parish (147.0) and Reed (74.9). And Reed, Unseld and Cowens have as many NBA MVPs as Walton (1).

[Cap]

No Smits? Eaton? Muresan? Bol? Bradley? Yao? Come on, let's hear it for the goofy freaks! They were fun to watch.

[Sunsfan4life]

The Dunkin Dutchman!

[pickle]

But at least Hassan Whiteside got some love.