Where's Manute? :o)
Posted on 08/31/2009 9:35:20 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
Where's Manute? :o)
Neither did Manute Bol. I call shenanigans!
My dad says he didn't hustle in the 4th quarter!!!!
But has anyone ever seen George Mikan play? .... btw, thanks for the thread. I can understand it. Too many threads have these stupid teaser titles that tell you nothing but have those irritating “ .........” at the end of them.
And no Georghe Murasan, either.
Are you the kid in the cockpit of the first Airplane! movie?
I second that. I’m from San Antonio. I’ve closely followed Robinson’s career since he was in the Navy.
If this was a ranking on the classiest centers..... David Robinson would rank #1, #2 and #3.
He was an NBA superstar. On and off the court.
Well I do like movies about gladiators.
Oldtimers have. Bud Grant, legendary Vikings coach, was one of his teammates for a time. He made the 50th anniversary all-time list and fourth is certainly not too low a position for him to occupy here. In his day, he was as dominant as Shaq or Olajuwon in theirs.
InterceptPoint wrote:
The list is fine but Bill Russell has to go first. He was a winner. That counts for me. Chamberlain was probably more skilled as was Jabbar but Bill Russell won all of those championships.
..... Absolutely agree. Chamberlain had all the stratospheric scoring stats and press coverage, but the basic idea behind basketball is to WIN THE GAME. Russell ultimately had to rent an entire vault to store all his championship rings - 11 titles in 13 seasons. On that basis you MUST go with Russell as No. 1.
I got to meet George Mikan shortly before he died. What a gentleman, what an athlete. Too bad that he lived in the era before massive TV contracts and free agency allowed the players to become as rich as kings.
I've seen him on video and based on what I saw he doesn't belong on the list. Not nearly as athletic at many if not most of the current centers. Plus the competition was nothing like it is today. But maybe a "real old timer" can set us straight. He was, however, the NBA's first really dominant player. That does go for something.
Olajuwon is supposedly a good guy as well.
I hadn’t heard of him either. But according to wikipedia, he almost won a Congressional seat as a Republican during the 50s:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mikan
“Olajuwan in his prime vs Shaq in his prime? Hakeem would have made him look big, slow and foolish.”
We had that matchup in the 1995 NBA finals, and young Shaq played almost as well as Olajuwan at his peak. The rest of the Orlando Magic stunk. On the whole I’d agree that Olajuwan was a bit better player than Shaq.
Which makes the 1983 NCAA championship of NC State over Houston (featuring Olajuwan and Clyde Drexler) all the more miraculous.
I have to make a comment about Bill Walton who I once met at a trade show. He was so much fun to watch. No center before or since had his skill at initiating the fast break. On the defensive board he could have the ball out of his hands before his feet hit the ground with a pass to a guard racing up the court . It was an amazing thing to watch. No center that I’m aware of has come close to matching his ability in this area.
ML/NJ
I consider Hakeem to be a class act too, most definitely (& Clyde, also!).
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