1987 NBA Finals

King Glorious · #1 06-04-2008, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EpBurns

Heard a comment the other day about that 87 series from an espn announcer " that Kobe would be the best player on the court if he had played in that series" I almost spit out my drink, dont get me wrong Kobe is a great player but to say he would be the best player on the court when you had the likes of Magic, Larry and 5 other certain hall of famers I just dont buy that. D.J. would of locked down Kobe!!

Kobe is going to be on the short list once it's over with. On the ability to score the ball, he's one of the three best I've ever seen, along with MJ and Pete Maravich. I think that if Kobe set his mind to it, he could be as great overall as anyone has been. But his mind is not set to that and because of that, I'd not put him up there with MJ, Bird, and Magic. Kobe would have been the most dominant scorer on the court but just like when MJ scored 63 and 49 on the Celtics in that 1986 series, the best scorer didn't mean much when it came to winning.

DJ would not have locked Kobe down though. With players like Jordan and Bryant, they can never, ever be locked down. Slowed down some, yes. But the saying "you can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him" applies.

#2 06-04-2008, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by King Glorious

Kobe is going to be on the short list once it's over with. On the ability to score the ball, he's one of the three best I've ever seen, along with MJ and Pete Maravich. I think that if Kobe set his mind to it, he could be as great overall as anyone has been. But his mind is not set to that and because of that, I'd not put him up there with MJ, Bird, and Magic. Kobe would have been the most dominant scorer on the court but just like when MJ scored 63 and 49 on the Celtics in that 1986 series, the best scorer didn't mean much when it came to winning.

DJ would not have locked Kobe down though. With players like Jordan and Bryant, they can never, ever be locked down. Slowed down some, yes. But the saying "you can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him" applies.

Rick Barry was better than Maravich as a scorer and passer. Just not as flashy if we are looking for the great white scorer. DJ was a great defender, had some wars with Magic. But imo, no way he locks down Kobe. Kobe is way quicker than Magic. If Kobe continues at this pace he goes down as a better long range shooter than Michael. The one thing MJ has over Kobe is hands. MJ hands were/are so big he could do things with the ball on the way to the basket Kobe dreams of. The athletic skills are there, but he cant one hand the ball like Jordan. And I definitley give Michael the basketball brains.

All supposition and opinion but fun...

King Glorious · #3 06-05-2008, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pgardn

Rick Barry was better than Maravich as a scorer and passer. Just not as flashy if we are looking for the great white scorer. DJ was a great defender, had some wars with Magic. But imo, no way he locks down Kobe. Kobe is way quicker than Magic. If Kobe continues at this pace he goes down as a better long range shooter than Michael. The one thing MJ has over Kobe is hands. MJ hands were/are so big he could do things with the ball on the way to the basket Kobe dreams of. The athletic skills are there, but he cant one hand the ball like Jordan. And I definitley give Michael the basketball brains.

All supposition and opinion but fun...

Barry was great. I don't know that I'd put him above Maravich though. Using their NBA career stats, their shooting percentages were nearly the same (.449 for Barry, .441 for Maravich), their assists were about the same (5.1 for Barry, 5.4 for Maravich) and their scoring was about the same (23.2 on 20.4 shots for Barry, 24.2 on 21.3 shots for Maravich). My preference has always been for Maravich though. I thought he played with lesser talent and was far more the focal point of defenses, especially coming out of college. I thought Barry was more of a traditional type of scorer whereas Maravich had more in his repetoire. Both were great though. But for a variety of ways to get a shot and to make it, I'd go with Maravich.

#4 06-05-2008, 07:49 PM

I will never forget Barry going to the finals as an underdog with the Warriors and taking his Golden State team to a 4-0 sweep. At the time it was a stunner.

Barry was really a forward and Maravich a guard so its sort of difficult to compare. Barry had unlimited range. The 3 pointer was not around(NBA). He would have won more scoring titles if it was. Barry was also one of the cockiest guys around. Did not have the Maravich speed.

Cannon Shell · #5 06-06-2008, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by King Glorious

Barry was great. I don't know that I'd put him above Maravich though. Using their NBA career stats, their shooting percentages were nearly the same (.449 for Barry, .441 for Maravich), their assists were about the same (5.1 for Barry, 5.4 for Maravich) and their scoring was about the same (23.2 on 20.4 shots for Barry, 24.2 on 21.3 shots for Maravich). My preference has always been for Maravich though. I thought he played with lesser talent and was far more the focal point of defenses, especially coming out of college. I thought Barry was more of a traditional type of scorer whereas Maravich had more in his repetoire. Both were great though. But for a variety of ways to get a shot and to make it, I'd go with Maravich.

Jerry West was a better scorer than either guy

ddthetide · #6 06-06-2008, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by King Glorious

Kobe is going to be on the short list once it's over with. On the ability to score the ball, he's one of the three best I've ever seen, along with MJ and Pete Maravich. I think that if Kobe set his mind to it, he could be as great overall as anyone has been. But his mind is not set to that and because of that, I'd not put him up there with MJ, Bird, and Magic. Kobe would have been the most dominant scorer on the court but just like when MJ scored 63 and 49 on the Celtics in that 1986 series, the best scorer didn't mean much when it came to winning.

DJ would not have locked Kobe down though. With players like Jordan and Bryant, they can never, ever be locked down. Slowed down some, yes. But the saying "you can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him" applies.

you forgot about David Thompson of the ABA Nuggets. long before MJ was DT.