Twenty-one reasons why Kevin McHale was better than Tim Duncan

[Useruser666]

http://www.celticsblog.com/2016/7/23/12262038/twenty-one-reasons-why-kevin-mchale-was-better-than-tim-duncan

I completely disagree, but discuss.

1) First and foremost, McHale simply had far more post moves and a better shooting touch, as well as the game's quickest low-post release and incredible footwork. Duncan's main move was a left side banker or a short jump hook. That is pretty much it, becaus ehe lacked creativity and good footwork, at least compared to McHale. Don't get me wrong, Duncan has been a wonderful player and a good ambassador for the NBA.

For his first 10-12 seasons he was extremely good. But since around 2010 or so he was basically a pretty good player at best, hanging on and playing at a solid level in reduced minutes. Due in large part to injuries, McHale was not able to hang on nearly as long as Tim. At his peak, I feel Kevin was better.

Indeed, McHale had the greatest array of post moves of any big man in NBA history, with Hakeem Olajuwon a distant second. Kevin's lateral footwork was amazing, honed by years of playing ice hockey growing up in Minnesota.

McHale was the superior face-up shooter, plus he possessed a great jump hook, an unstoppable fadeaway, a ridiculous up and under move, over the shoulder flip shots, a finger roll, reverse layups and just about every other post move one can think of.

And of course Kevin was the master at keeping the ball high over his head and not bringing it down once his great hands caressed the ball. Duncan was good at this too, but no one was like Kevin in that respect. He often had the ball already in the hoop with his incredibly quick and soft release when defenders were still not at the peak of their leap trying to block it.

When preparing to dissect his opponent inside, McHale just had a great feel for where the defense was, great improvisational ability and the skills to counter whatever the defense did, despite double-teaming.

McHale was also, as Red Auerbach noted in the "Vintage NBA" TV episode on the Minnesota big man, "extremely smart."

[RD2191]

OP is a faggot.

[SpursFan86]

Not really much to discuss. Anyone who thinks McHale was better than (or even close to) Duncan is clueless. Though I guess it's not entirely surprising considering Boston is infamous for having some of the biggest homers around.

[spurs10]

OP is :devil....

[SpursFan86]

Copy and pasted the article into Word...holy shit, this clown really typed up a 7000+word essay on why McHale is the best PF ever and better than Duncan :lmao

Again, I know Boston is notorious for having some of the more delusional homers out there...but this is seriously on an entirely different level. Saddest part is, there's a poll at the bottom asking people about the best PF ever and McHale has 30+% of the votes :lmao

[spurs10]

Copy and pasted the article into Word...holy shit, this clown really typed up a 7000+word essay on why McHale is the best PF ever and better than Duncan :lmao

Again, I know Boston is notorious for having some of the more delusional homers out there...but this is seriously on an entirely different level. Saddest part is, there's a poll at the bottom asking people about the best PF ever and McHale has 30+% of the votes :lmao :lol

[dabom]

:lol

[daslicer]

Put Duncan on those 80's Celtics and they have 7-9 championships instead of 3. Switch Mchale on the Spurs instead of Duncan and they have zero championships.

[cd98]

Celtics fans are worst homers in NBA.

[cd98]

Not only that, it's just a bunch on conclusionary statements with no evidence. Like McHale had the most moves in NBA history....I don't know that that is true, but Tim only needed three bc no one could stop any of them...so who cares?

[daslicer]

Not only that, it's just a bunch on conclusionary statements with no evidence. Like McHale had the most moves in NBA history....I don't know that that is true, but Tim only needed three bc no one could stop any of them...so who cares?

I agree plus Tim could post up guys easily. Very few players have that ability which leads to easy buckets.

[hsxvvd]

Put Duncan on those 80's Celtics and they have 7-9 championships instead of 3. Switch Mchale on the Spurs instead of Duncan and they have zero championships.

[spurraider21]

mchale did have better post moves and footwork than duncan... but duncan was bigger, stronger, taller, and a better athlete so he didn't need to be as crafty as mchale to be more effective. duncan was also much better at dealing with doubles and passing out

mchale was scola on steroids

duncan was the GOAT

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

:lmao

[ginobilized]

Defense, rebounding, blocks, steals, leadership, adaptability and assists favor TD strongly. No denying McHale was a great offensive player. Different era, though.

For perspective, Joe Johnson has scored more career points than Kevin McHale. So has Rolando Blackmon in almost the same number of games. TD is 14th on the All-time list. McHale is around 70th IIRC. Nuff said.

[TXstbobcat]

Sounds like something Bill Simmons would write.

[spursistan]

:lmao

[Ron Swanson]

Celtics fans are worst homers in NBA.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Late in his career Duncan was one sided but in his prime he could finish over both shoulders with either hand. McHale was great but he did the up and under ad nauseum. He also didn't have Duncan's range out to the elbow, or passing ability.

:lol acting like keeping the ball high is some sort of achievement.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Naming all those centers and then disregarding McHale played with Chief who was Boston's center was pretty stupid.

I cannot read anymore of that shit.

[apalisoc_9]

Mchale was white.

[rmt]

The most important reason why Duncan was better than McHale was that he was the centerpiece of all the Spurs' championships.

[skulls138]

The most important reason why Duncan was better than McHale was that he was the centerpiece of all the Spurs' championships.Pretty much. Duncan could have scored alot more if he wanted but I think he realized that having everyone involved will bring more rings. Mchale was a great scorer but was a role player. Duncan was the leader and had the big picture in mind at all times. The only player I could compare Duncan with is Russell.

[Joseph Kony]

lol Tim Duncan would jizz in McHale's mouth. he has nothing on Tim Duncan

[Joseph Kony]

but this is from a celtics blog so not even worth posting tbh. not like there isn't some faggot on a Jazz blog claiming pedo cowboy is better than Tim also

[poeticism707]

Not really much to discuss. Anyone who thinks McHale was better than (or even close to) Duncan is clueless. Though I guess it's not entirely surprising considering Boston is infamous for having some of the biggest homers around.

This.

[Useruser666]

OP is a faggot.

Nah

[Budkin]

Utterly laughable.

[lefty]

McHale shits on Duncan tbh

[NickiRasgo]

Click Bait just to gather hits from their site.
But then, they were expecting this right?

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ErgVnimzMMM/V4UwNbSZBLI/AAAAAAAASBY/ZVbvlo2uWE0qKEnReTrya8Q5fF9BNZT-ACLcB/s1600/tim.duncan.celtics.sporting.news.cover.jpg

[tholdren]

Mchale was white.
tim isn't?

[Sean Cagney]

Celtics fans are worst homers in NBA.

^^^ This.

[SPURt]

lol Tim Duncan would jizz in McHale's mouth. he has nothing on Tim Duncan
I would gladly volunteer to take Kevin's place if Kevin isn't comfortable getting Tim's jizz in his mouth

[MVPCues]

Bizarre. I personally think McHale was a great player, but this is just bizarre.

[dbreiden83080]

Was like a tenth the rebounder and defender Tim was..

[benefactor]

Celtics fan still bitter about the lottery tbh. Nothing to see here.

[Capt Bringdown]

Absurd premise, but I do miss that kind of highly skilled low-post/pivot play that McHale epitomized. Being able to score down low, using head-smarts and crafty moves, in traffic, has become somewhat of a lost art.
Adrian Dantley was another player, even though he played a different position, who also had wicked chops for scoring in traffic.

Mchale would have decimated Draymond Green, of course.
LOL, today's NBA.

[BillMc]

Bizarre. I personally think McHale was a great player, but this is just bizarre.

Agree.

Yes, McHale had amazing post moves but its a stretch to say he was as good an offensive player as prime Timmy. But even if you give Kevin that, on the other side of the court, Duncan was worlds better. No contest.

[J_Paco]

Put Duncan on those 80's Celtics and they have 7-9 championships instead of 3. Switch Mchale on the Spurs instead of Duncan and they have zero championships.

Quoted for absolute truth.....

[Kawhitstorm]

McHale shits on Duncan tbh

McHale used to get shat on by Worthy: http://bkref.com/tiny/1QaBm :lol

[DMC]

Ditka.

[Joseph Kony]

I would gladly volunteer to take Kevin's place if Kevin isn't comfortable getting Tim's jizz in his mouth

https://media.giphy.com/media/RIFv4btS2XLoI/giphy.gif

[spurraider21]

Mchale was white.
astute observation

[BillMc]

Boston media is required to periodically deify McHale after he gave them a (late) prime KG for basically nothing.

[james evans]

when I saw it was a celtics site, I didn't even bother clicking.

[SASdynasty!]

Put Duncan on those 80's Celtics and they have 7-9 championships instead of 3. Switch Mchale on the Spurs instead of Duncan and they have zero championships.
Nine?! This is almost as bad as the people that say the Spurs would have 8+ championships with Chris Paul, a guy who can't get to the WCF with a stacked cast and good coach.

[Harry Callahan]

I could not read the article as it was stupid AND way too long.

Celtics blogger? Yawn.

[cutewizard]

Duncan better over-all, why is this even a thread, huh? hehe

[daslicer]

Nine?! This is almost as bad as the people that say the Spurs would have 8+ championships with Chris Paul, a guy who can't get to the WCF with a stacked cast and good coach.

I didn't know Larry Bird was on the same level as Chris Paul. Those celtic teams were loaded. Dennis Johnson,Parish,Bird were all hall of famers. Parish and Bird career wise are both better than Manu and Parker. Hard for me to believe Duncan doesn't ring 7-9 times with that team. Also factor in playing in a big market like Boston that has an effect on reffing. I feel the Spurs would have had 7 titles if it wasn't for bs reffing.

[skulls138]

I didn't know Larry Bird was on the same level as Chris Paul. Those celtic teams were loaded. Dennis Johnson,Parish,Bird were all hall of famers. Parish and Bird career wise are both better than Manu and Parker. Hard for me to believe Duncan doesn't ring 7-9 times with that team. Also factor in playing in a big market like Boston that has an effect on reffing. I feel the Spurs would have had 7 titles if it wasn't for bs reffing.I love Parish but he aint no Ginobili!!

[YGWHI]

Mchale would have decimated Draymond Green, of course.
LOL, today's NBA.
Agree. The lack of elite bigs.

However, I'd love to see Spurs, Clippers, Grizz...getting a lot of success with LMA-Pau/Blake-Jordan/ZBo-Gasol, this next season, helping to stop the "go small at all costs" style.

[ffadicted]

Holy shit that is a lot of words... definition of tl'dr

[bklynspursfan]

laughable... just BS haha. even the poll on his sites and people commenting know it's BS

[TheGreatYacht]

Celtics fans are pathetic :lol

These are the same retards that think SysTom Brady > Peyton

[TDomination]

The writer is grasping at straws here. Anyone needing to make that much reasoning on why one player is better than another is honestly just trying to convince themselves.

Besides, Duncan as a rookie (i believe) asked Pop for tapes on Kevin McHale to try to learn his footwork and see how he played.
Then Duncan implemented what he saw and was able to become one of the greatest players to step out on the court.

The author should just take solace knowing that at least McHale helped Timmy become what he is instead of trying to compare the two, which really there is none.

Even on the Boston Celtic Blog site people are putting Duncan ahead of Mchale after this 21 reasoning rant :lol

[elemento]

What a fucking aberration

Maybe we should write a shit article on how Bowen was better than Bird as his defense was 10x better than Bird's and that he could actually kick someone in the face in a real NBA game :lol

[J_Paco]

The writer is grasping at straws here. Anyone needing to make that much reasoning on why one player is better than another is honestly just trying to convince themselves.

Besides, Duncan as a rookie (i believe) asked Pop for tapes on Kevin McHale to try to learn his footwork and see how he played.
Then Duncan implemented what he saw and was able to become one of the greatest players to step out on the court.

The author should just take solace knowing that at least McHale helped Timmy become what he is instead of trying to compare the two, which really there is none.

Even on the Boston Celtic Blog site people are putting Duncan ahead of Mchale after this 21 reasoning rant :lol

They would never agree that Duncan is better than every Celtic player ever, though. And I believe he is.....

[Arcadian]

Not only that, it's just a bunch on conclusionary statements with no evidence. Like McHale had the most moves in NBA history....I don't know that that is true, but Tim only needed three bc no one could stop any of them...so who cares?

Exactly. Kareem had ONE move and used it to score more points than anyone else in history. The "number of moves" is irrelevant. The relevant thing is, how effective were the moves that he had?

[TrainOfThought5]

tim isn't?

Lolwut