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Sports: NBA 2006-2007


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Is James Worthy really one of the 50 greatest NBA players? Hall-of-Fame worthy? I always felt he benefited way too much from playing in LA with Magic (perhaps even more than Scottie did playing with MJ in Chicago). Put Pippen or Worthy on the Clippers and they are not 50 best, or HOF. And Coop--would any of us had heard of him if he played in Atlanta or Dallas? Digging the photos, especially Rambis.

"Big Game" James Worthy often played his best ball when it mattered most, putting up 40+ points in crucial playoff games. He had that sweet spin move in the post and could really finish around the basket or on the break.

Scottie was awesome playing next to MJ, time to review some Classic Sports footage of the Bulls at their peak.

However, that 50 greatest NBA players list is really a joke, for the reasons you state. It's WAY dated.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Nate Archibald

Paul Arizin (no idea who this is)

Charles Barkley

Rick Barry

Elgin Baylor

Dave Bing

Larry Bird

Wilt Chamberlain

Bob Cousy

Dave Cowens

Billy Cunningham

Dave DeBusschere

Clyde Drexler

Julius Erving

Patrick Ewing

Walt Frazier

George Gervin

Hal Greer (Who?)

John Havlicek

Elvin Hayes

Magic Johnson

Sam Jones

Michael Jordan

Jerry Lucas

Karl Malone

Moses Malone

Pete Maravich

Kevin McHale (if we're questioning Worthy for benefitting a lot from great teammates, zombie-man has to get the same treatment)

George Mikan

Earl Monroe

Hakeem Olajuwon

Shaquille O'Neal

Robert Parish (again, the Chief benefitted from that great Celtics team as much as Worthy did from the Lakers or Pippen from the Bulls--Bird was clearly their greatest player)

Bob Pettit

Scottie Pippen

Willis Reed (what, because he played hurt and had a clutch playoff game?)

Oscar Robertson

David Robinson

Bill Russell

Dolph Schayes (c'mon now)

Bill Sharman (puhlease)

John Stockton

Isiah Thomas

Nate Thurmond

Wes Unseld

Bill Walton (What did he play, two healthy seasons?)

Jerry West

Lenny Wilkens

James Worthy

The following players could easily knock a few of those old-time players off this list, imo:

Tim Duncan

Steve Nash

Kobe Bryant

Dirk Nowitzki

Paul Arizin was one of the first great jump shooters in the NBA. I saw him play and he was one of the best offensive players of his time.

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By grouping them all together and limiting it to 50 players they've subjected them to comparison across the years. Could Paul Arizin fill it up like Ray Allen? Jump shots didn't even look the same back then. Even within the list--Superman Mikan couldn't check Shaq or Hakeem.

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By grouping them all together and limiting it to 50 players they've subjected them to comparison across the years. Could Paul Arizin fill it up like Ray Allen? Jump shots didn't even look the same back then. Even within the list--Superman Mikan couldn't check Shaq or Hakeem.

I know what you're saying Noj, and it is kind of weird to think about how many great players from the more recent past and up to the present aren't exactly being celebrated in the same way for their talents, but at the same time I think the list is perfectly valid. You can't compare players from different eras, imo, simply because times change, athletes change, and the game changes. Maybe it would make more sense if they created a list of the X (not sure what would be optimal, but less than 50) greatest players of each decade. I think it's good to celebrate the guys from the earlier eras even if they wouldn't be able to get minutes today, becuase they were great then, and part of the game's history that shouldn't be forgotten.

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Haven't been here in a long time but my 2 cents is:

The point really being missed here is that if those same "old guys" players were subjected to the training and conditions of todays game, they would still be the greatest players because of that very fact. They had what it took then and they would have it now.

Paul Arazin was a great player then, and if he had to train and learn today's game, he would have been great also. Now, if you just want to say the old guys against the younger new guys, then of course they would not be able to man up; but it doesn't work that way.

:cool:

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Good to see (or more accurately, read about) LeBron going to the rim much more often. With Snow ineffective as a starter, and Daniel "Boobie" Gibson hurt, Larry Hughes has been playing a lot at the point, and it appears to be working. Not a great shooting night for him, but it looks like he was part of the effort (12 pts, 8 rebs, 6 assists). Of course if he was guarding Rip, then maybe he didn't contribute all that much...

Detroit fortunate that the game was as close as it was--20 more free throw attempts, and the Cavs only hitting 54% from the line (13/24). At least LeBron was 6/8.

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kobe suspended another game for hitting some dude in the face on his jumper's follow through

i've notice how he only does that shit to white boyzzz....

kobe is doing that shit on purpose

lakers w/o kobe are the worst team in the league

the starting line-up last night was a MF-ing joke

vince carter is making a run at MVP

since the heat beat down the pistons last week

the heat :tup

the pistons :tdown

Edited by Soulstation1
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Good to see (or more accurately, read about) LeBron going to the rim much more often. With Snow ineffective as a starter, and Daniel "Boobie" Gibson hurt, Larry Hughes has been playing a lot at the point, and it appears to be working. Not a great shooting night for him, but it looks like he was part of the effort (12 pts, 8 rebs, 6 assists). Of course if he was guarding Rip, then maybe he didn't contribute all that much...

Detroit fortunate that the game was as close as it was--20 more free throw attempts, and the Cavs only hitting 54% from the line (13/24). At least LeBron was 6/8.

That's what I'm talking about. The Cavs are a horrible free-shooting team (last in the league at 68%). Their free-throws were even worse last night, as you mentioned. So, the Pistons are down by 3 with about 20 seconds left, Flip calls a timeout, and what does he draw up? A top of the arch screen for Rasheed who hoists a 3-pointer that misses, which shouldn't be surprising because 'Sheed and Chauncey missed almost every three they took last night (I think 'Sheed made one... I don't think Chauncey made any). WHY!? Drive to the basket, get a 2 point shot up, maybe it falls, you get fouled, shoot the free-throw, game tied. Worst case scenario you miss, no foul, so you instantly foul one of the Cavs horrible free-throw shooters (ie, any of them), which stops the clock, and you try again.

Just friggin' stupid coaching.

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kobe suspended another game for hitting some dude in the face on his jumper's follow through

i've notice how he only does that shit to white boyzzz....

kobe is doing that shit on purpose

For what it's worth, Marco Jaric said he didn't think Kobe did it on purpose.

lakers w/o kobe are the worst team in the league

This is true.

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Looks like you are never going to admit that Kobe is a dirty player. Kobe "pays back" players always somewhere near the end of games when he is losing. Exactly what did you expect Genobli and Yarko to say. If they said anything different they would be classified as "crybabys." So they said the right thing and let the league take action. Kobe is mean and still having said that, he is still one of the greatest players in the game, but his head "ain't straight" and never has been. Even when he first came into the league he was prone to "tantrums" and many of them. We know you are a good fan but enough blindness is enough blindness.

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I'm pretty sure I've already said in this thread that Kobe tends to do that sort of thing. Not sure if I've seen him throw a "tantrum." It isn't like he racks up technical fouls like Rasheed Wallace from a few years back. I think there is a negative perception of Kobe coloring some of your glasses as much as a positive one colors my own.

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