Hoop Magazine: Study Of The League's Best Twosomes

[duncan228]

July/August issue. I can't find a website, I guess it's print only.

Spurs have cover for championship, but article inside on the league's best twosomes is interesting.

They break it down by numbers (w/l, # of games, points, assists, rebounds per game) ,complementary parts, signature play, longevity, and weaknesses. They also compare the two as the "second coming" of past players. (In parenthesis)

Bruce Bowen does commentary on each pair. It's a good read, pick it up.
These are the top eight, they also list 9-30.

1.) Duncan/Parker (Russell/Cousy)
2.) Nash/Stoudemire (Malone/Stockton)
3.) Billups/Hamilton (Thomas/Dumars)
4.) Nowitzki/Howard (Bird/McHale)
5.) Shaq/Wade (Abdul-Jabbar/Johnson)
6.) Iverson/Anthony (Frazier/Monroe)
7.) Yao/McGrady (Erving/Malone)
8.) Boozer/Williams (Payton/Kemp)

[diego]

dont know about the ranking, but the comparisons are horrible

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

dont know about the ranking, but the comparisons are horrible

Thought the same thing.

[RC's Boss]

Wade and Magic??? They would have done better just saying fuck it and put Shaq/ Wade... Shaq/ Kobe '00

[lefty]

Ummm...Parker/ Duncan = Russell / Cousy...WTF ?????????

However, like Russell, Duncan makes his teammates better.

[pjjrfan]

dont know about the ranking, but the comparisons are horrible
Ditto, I missed out on Cousy, but the Iverson-Anthony comparison to Frazier-Monroe, give me a break.

[lefty]

Ditto, I missed out on Cousy, but the Iverson-Anthony comparison to Frazier-Monroe, give me a break.


Agree

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

And Boozer-Williams/Payton-Kemp?

When was the FIRST time Boozer did something Kemp would have done? Kemp was all about athleticism and acrobatics, Boozer lives and dies by the 17ft fadeaway/step-back, much like Malone did. Not much similarity there. And Williams... I don't know who to compare him to yet.

[Roxsfan]

Fixed :p:


1.) Yao/McGrady (Shaq+Kareem and MJ+Glyde)
2.) Duncan/Parker (Ducan/Cousy)
3.) Billups/Hamilton (Thomas/Dumars)
4.) Nowitzki/Howard (Bird/McHale)
5.) Shaq/Wade (Abdul-Jabbar/Johnson)
6.) Iverson/Anthony (Frazier/Monroe)
7.) Nash/Stoudemire (Malone/Stockton)
8.) Boozer/Williams (Payton/Kemp)

[lefty]

Beno / Butler = Stockton / Malone

[wildbill2u]

Ditto, I missed out on Cousy, but the Iverson-Anthony comparison to Frazier-Monroe, give me a break.
Russell came into the league in 1968. Cousy came into the league in 1950 and retired in 1969. By the time Russell and Cousy played together on the Celtics, Cousy was on his last legs and their time on court together was limited, not to mention their status as a "best two"

[duncan228]

The writers explain their choices and why they made the comparisons.
It's too much for me to put everyone in here. Every twosome has a 2-3 page spread on all the details. Plus Bowens comments on each one.
There's no website to link to.

SO...if you're interested in the complete list and all the detail on how they made their choices you'll have to pick up the magazine.

I found it at Barnes and Noble, I assume any major bookseller would have it or be able to order it.

It was worth the few bucks to me because it was the Spurs Championship cover article as well as the Duncan/Parker spread on being the number one twosome.

(I posted the list because I thought it could make for good conversation.Sorry if the lack of detail hurts that.)

[manubili]

This is tricky. Duncan/Parker comes in first over Nash-Stoudemire because of the third one coming close: MANU. Remember the suns "final".

[J.T.]

You know the NBA has turned into a league of "superstars," media sellouts, and one-man teams when articles like this are published. Same reason the Spurs are called boring and stuff. These days the NBA is more about flashy highlights and Kobe scoring 81. The concept of a team sport is forgotten until the Spurs are knocking the "flashy" teams out of the playoffs.

Reminds me of the WCF from this year. Wasn't the big rivalry matchup ppl wanted to see (like Suns/Mavs or Mavs/Spurs on a lesser scale), but it was two good TEAMS.

No way is Wade ready to be called the second coming of Magic. He's a great player and won a ring, but he still has a lot to do to be compared to one of the GOATs.

[J.T.]

I'd also make a case that Duncan and Bowen are a twosome on the defensive end. Probably won't ever be another combo like that in the league...at least not at the same level that Tim and Bruce play D.

[duncan228]

I'd also make a case that Duncan and Bowen are a twosome on the defensive end. Probably won't ever be another combo like that in the league...at least not at the same level that Tim and Bruce play D.

I agree with you.

[exstatic]

Russell came into the league in 1968. Cousy came into the league in 1950 and retired in 1969. By the time Russell and Cousy played together on the Celtics, Cousy was on his last legs and their time on court together was limited, not to mention their status as a "best two"
You need to study your NBA history a bit better
Russ 1956-1969
Cooz 1950-1963 + 1969-1970

That a 7 year overlap.

[SpursIndonesia]

This is tricky. Duncan/Parker comes in first over Nash-Stoudemire because of the third one coming close: MANU. Remember the suns "final".

Agreed, and a defensive stalwart named Bruce Bowen helps a lot too.
:p:

[UV Ray]

For the Spurs:

Donaghy and Stern have to be near the top of the list.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Yao is like Dr. J? :lmao

[Solid D]

This list any other year would probably have Shaq/Wade in the top 2 or 3.

David Robinson was more like Bill Russell defensively than Tim is.

As Russell progressed, there are three teammates that had a prominent role at each segment of Bill's career

Early - Bill Russell/Bob Cousy
Mid - Bill Russell/Sam Jones
Late - Bill Russell/Hondo Havlicek