No one was better than Elvin Hayes. EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Elvin Hayes (29pts/13rebs) vs Warriors (1975 Finals)
Elvin Hayes was a 6 ft 9 Center / Power forward. In his career with the San Diego/Houston Rockets and the Baltimore/Capital/Washington Bullets, Hayes played 1,303 games over 16 seasons, registering 27,313 points (eighth all-time) and 16,279 rebounds (fourth all-time). Hayes never missed more than two games in any of his 16 seasons in the NBA. In addition to his 1968 scoring le, he led the NBA in rebounding in 1970 and 1974. Hayes played in twelve straight NBA All-Star Games from 1969 to 1980.
Hayes was named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team during the 1996--97 NBA season and was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1990. He has boycotted the Hall of Fame since 1990 and refuses to return until Guy Lewis, his coach at the University of Houston, is admitted.
I'm inclined to agree with Gal on this. He was before my time, but those creds are impressive.
You should go read about the first game I recall being billed as "The Game of the Century" between Elvin Hayes' Houston Cougars and Lew Alcindor's UCLA TEAM THAT WAS ON a 48-game winning streak. It had a huge impact on college basketball. In my list, The Big E would be #2.
Id like to believe that the NBA in 70's is nowhere near the level of the NBA in Tim's generation.
Doesn't really matter. Each generation stands on the shoulders of the one before it. Everyone was the same in their own era. Dominance is dominance.
Agreed no point in comparing compe ion from different generations.
Rodman doesn't deserve his spot at that top 10 list, indeed he was one of a rebounder and very disruptive in the paint defensively, but lack of well rounded game won't fly in all era of basketball, and he was just too much of a distraction without someone strong enough personality wise to reign him in.
There was a period of time when 5 of the top 10 PFs in history -- Duncan, Malone, Nowitzki, Garnett, and Gasol -- were playing in the same division at the same time (though Gasol wasn't what he would become and Malone wasn't what he had been).
Disagree. Rodman's unique skill set makes him hard to rank but he was a beast. His defense was unreal. You're talking about the guy that shut down Shaq in his prime. He became more and more of a head case over time, but for most of his career he was a real force on the court.
In this case Bill Russell is the greatest center of all time.
You can't compare the Daytona 500 to a soapbox derby. Sure the bar moves the same for everyone, but if you're looking at total performance vs level of compe ion, you have to factor in the difficulty faced by the player. Otherwise it doesn't matter how much players progress or how the league improves, you're never any better than the guy who first put a ball through a peach basket.
When guys from that era look at someone like Tim and say he's the best who ever did it, that's all you need to know.
On January 20, 1968, the Big E and the Houston Cougars faced Lew and the UCLA Bruins in the first-ever nationally televised regular season college basketball game.
In front of a record 52,693 fans at the HoustonAstrodome, Hayes scored 39 points and had 15 rebounds while limiting Alcindor to just 15 points as Houston beat UCLA 71–69 to snap the Bruins' 47-game winning streak in what has been called the "Game of the Century".
That game helped Hayes earn The Sporting News College Basketball Player of the Year.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvin_Hayes
And then they met in the NCAA playoffs...
Just because Rodman was a dbag doesn't mean he wasn't good. Putting Rodman behind Pau is shameless. I think rodman, anti offensive player, has a better fg percentage and o viously more rebounds and a better defender. On what grounds is Pau better?
If you take rodman off the list you have to remove dirk that no D playing got. Not a great rebounder at 7' either. No way he was better than barkley.
Pau and Dirk are overrated. PPG blind people sometimes.
Rodman probably the best defender on that list. Shut down Shaq.
Oh he was good. Was he a franchise level of player though ? Because the rest of guys on that list are/were. One of a ROLE player, especially for defensive purpose when the team chemistry was right for him, but he basically sinked DRob 95 WCF by leaving the perimeter open for hoarding the rebound, that's just inexcusable for him considering the opponent offense relied so much on perimeter shooting out of opportunities created by the Dream.
You can put him as a top 10 DEFENDER, the best ROLE PLAYER, or more precisely the BEST REBOUNDER ever (though Moses Malone might be rolling in his grave in disagreement), but top ten on any position IMHO required franchise or top three player in a stacked team with complete repertoire or superb ability in one area that he can still carry the team even with other deficiency in his game.
For all of his weakness as a defender (and late prime Dirk was just below or at the par as an average defender), Dirk Nowitzki was so damn dominant offensively that he successfully carried that 2nd superstar less Mavs team to championship, ala TD in 2003 and the Dream in 1995. That will easily propel him into top ten PF list without any debate, outside of which rank exactly that he has earned.
Yeah the problem with rankings is you are comparing players with different skills. Also I'm not sure that Dirk single handedly led teams to success. He always had talent around him.
Dirk is one of the few players in the past 25 years to lead his team to a championship without another All-Star teammate on the roster. Duncan in '03 and Hakeem in '94 & '95 are the others.
Pau should be higher than Garnett. Better numbers, more rings, and better person.
Kg was a defensive monster. Dirk was not.
If this mattered at all Malone would be off the list.
The two years they went to the finals he did.
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