Bill Russell's Mt. Rushmore response

[Exhibitman]

James isn't even clearly the best forward let alone a top 4 of all time all positions; hey LJ, ever heard of Elgin Baylor or Karl Malone? As for Mt. Rushmore, his omitting at least one of Russell, Chamberlain or Abdul-Jabbar is just plain ignorant.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Sorry, Elvin Hayes is not anywhere near as good as LeBron and I grew up watching Big E in D C.

[Bocabirdman]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Sorry, Elvin Hayes is not anywhere near as good as LeBron and I grew up watching Big E in D C.

I guess we will just disagree. I was in Maryland also. You might wanna check career stats though.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by Bocabirdman

I guess we will just disagree. I was in Maryland also. You might wanna check career stats though.

Was Elvin Hayes better than Mike Schmidt?

[Bocabirdman]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Was Elvin Hayes better than Mike Schmidt?

On defense, it's a wash. On offense I give the edge to Schmidt, but of course, he uses a bat to get it done.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Bocabirdman

I guess we will just disagree. I was in Maryland also. You might wanna check career stats though.

I'm not taking anything away from Elvin although he had a marked tendency to disappear in the fourth quarter. I loved him and Unseld and the rest of those teams. But he does not belong in the conversation among the very few best players ever, James does even mid-career. Look at the prices of Elvin's rookie card, the hobby knows how to rate him.

[Peter_Spaeth]

ps Alcindor had a severely injured eye in that game. Lew destroyed him in the rematch.

[barrysloate]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

ps Alcindor had a severely injured eye in that game. Lew destroyed him in the rematch.

Alcindor was wearing a patch on his eye. That had to affect his depth perception. When UCLA and Houston met later in the NCAA's it was all Alcindor. I watched both games and remember them fairly well.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Barry, you and I will take Alcindor/Jabbar and LeBron, Mike will take Hayes and David Robinson, and we'll go from there.

[Bocabirdman]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I'm not taking anything away from Elvin although he had a marked tendency to disappear in the fourth quarter. I loved him and Unseld and the rest of those teams. But he does not belong in the conversation among the very few best players ever, James does even mid-career. Look at the prices of Elvin's rookie card, the hobby knows how to rate him.

Truly, my statement was less pro-Hayes and more anti-James. James rebounds horribly for a man of his size and ability. He can score and he can jump. That means he can create separation and get to the ball . He should be doing a Double double-double () 20 pts. and 20 rebounds every night. I live down here in Florida. I see him do the fourth quarter fade too often.

If you watch, and I mean REALLY watch him, game-after game, he is brilliant in spurts but seldom brilliant for an entire game. Granted, the Heat do not NEED him to be brilliant for 40 minutes.

[Peter_Spaeth]

7.7 boards per game since coming to Miami, that seems decent, granted it is not the best phase of his game.

[Bocabirdman]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

7.7 boards per game since coming to Miami, that seems decent, granted it is not the best phase of his game.

I was curious so I ran some of his numbers.

He is 3rd in the League in Points/Game
He is 9th in Assists/Game
He is tied for 22nd in Steals
He is 38th in Rebounding
He is 3rd in Turn Overs
He blocks one shot every three games.
He grabs one Offensive Rebound a game

Really I was surprised to see how one dimensional he is. He scores first and passes a bit when he is double-teamed. Aside from that he is pedestrian.