Best in each category all time - Make your choices

[Dee4Three]

Make your own list

This is an image that I had a few disagreements with....

[Murat]

Scoring: late 00s Kobe
Rebounding: Barkley '93
Passing: Stockton
Defense: Pippen
Post: OLAJUWON FOR SURE
Athleticism: Wilt. He could dunk from FT line until it was moved far
Handles: Iverson
Shooting: Stephen Curry

[Dee4Three]

First List

Scoring: Michael Jordan
Rebounding: Wilt Chamberlain
Passing: Magic Johnson
Defense: Hakeem Olajuwon
Post: Hakeem Olajuwon
Athleticism: Vince Carter
Handles: Allen Iverson
Shooting: Larry Bird

Second List

Scoring: Kobe Bryant
Rebounding: Bill Russell
Passing: John Stockton
Defense: Bill Russell
Post: Michael Jordan
Athleticism: Julius Erving
Handles: Jason Williams
Shooting: Michael Jordan

Third List

Scoring: Wilt Chamberlain
Rebounding: Dennis Rodman
Passing: Jason Williams
Defense: Scottie Pippen
Post: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Athleticism: Michael Jordan
Handles: Tim Hardaway
Shooting: Steph Curry


I look at scoring as someone I could have on the floor at all times, whenever I needed a basket. Which is why Wilt makes the third team (His FT shooting would keep him off the floor in a big moment). No player had a bigger or better offensive repertoire than Michael Jordan, Kobe is the closest. Rebounding was tough, as I had to leave Barkley off the list in favor of Rodman, but both are interchangeable to me. Moses Malone is an honorable mention in that category. When I think of post game, I think of who was just flat out unguardable in the post, Hakeem is the best post player I've ever seen.... but Jordan is right there with him (In fact, it was tough to choose Hakeem over Jordan for the first team). Jordans footwork in the post was filthy, his defender was done every time. Go back and watch footage of a 39 year old Jordan with the Wizards just killing guys in the post (Including PF's like Kenyon Martin). Kareem Makes the third team over Shaq, for the fact that he had the most dominate move in NBA history (Sky Hook), and If I needed a basket in the post.... I know I could give it to Kareem on anybody with his go to move. When I look at athleticism, I am factoring in body control, along with leaping ability and strength. Lebron makes no teams in this regard, because he does not have good body control, and his vertical is also less than Erving/Jordan and Carter. Handles wise, it was really tough between AI and Jason Williams, even Chris Webber said that Jason Williams is the best he's ever seen in regards to ball handling. I went with AI because he wasn't like a lot of the players today, he would do ONE crossover, or one dribble move to get by his guy... you wouldn't see him dancing with the dribble and doing small moves/counter moves (like I see Kyrie do a lot, and I have respect for Kyrie's dribbling, it's just different). Jason Williams was just a freak... and while in his first couple years he was a little wild, he cleaned it up when he went to the Grizzlies and when he won his title starting for the 05-06 Heat. He has some of the best passes I've ever seen, amazing court vision, and dribbling wise he was just insane. For shooting, Bird could hit from anywhere on the court effortlessly, and over anybody. He didn't take a lot of three's, because he didn't like three's, the game was different back than. I would want Larry taking a shot over anybody all time. However, Jordan's mid range game has him on that second team, because... I mean... how can you deny the amazing Jordan jumper? Unstoppable from mid range. The 3rd shooting choice was really tough... and I went with Curry. Reason being, his shot is so fast, and it doesn't matter where he is on the floor (you have to pick him up right after half court) he is a threat. Ray Allen was honorable mention there.

That's my reasoning.

[[Q]]

Kyrie for handles is a joke. So many players have come through with crazy handles, for me Jason Williams was #1.

Hard to combine perimeter defense & interior defense into one, but I'd say it would have to be a 2 or 3 that could guard multiple positions, and I'm almost tempted to say it'd have to be a defensive specialist like Bruce Bowen.

Shooting could be broken down into spot up shooters and off the dribble shooters but it's hard to argue against Curry

I'd say rodman is the best rebounder of all time considering that he excelled while being on the shorter side

[Dee4Three]

Kyrie for handles is a joke. So many players have come through with crazy handles, for me Jason Williams was #1.

Hard to combine perimeter defense & interior defense into one, but I'd say it would have to be a 2 or 3 that could guard multiple positions, and I'm almost tempted to say it'd have to be a defensive specialist like Bruce Bowen.

Shooting could be broken down into spot up shooters and off the dribble shooters but it's hard to argue against Curry

I'd say rodman is the best rebounder of all time considering that he excelled while being on the shorter side

I agree that the categories could be expanded. And yeah, the Kyrie thing is really silly.

If I chose post defender and perimeter defender, I would go with Hakeem as post defender, and Pippen as perimeter defender.

[Andrew]

Scoring: Michael Jordan (All the statistical accomplishments, plus the skill he displayed.)
Rebounding: Dennis Rodman (The amazing numbers, despite being far from the biggest guy on the floor.)
Passing: Magic Johnson (Big numbers, records, and incredible court vision. He made fancy passes look routine, and easy.)
Defense: Interior, Hakeem Olajuwon (He could do it all); Perimeter, Dennis Rodman (could guard 1-5. That's been said of a few players, but few proved they could quite like The Worm.)
Post: Hakeem Olajuwon (Hard to go against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the skyhook, but The Dream had a dazzling array of moves.)
Athleticism: Michael Jordan (Really tough call, but I'm going with the combination of speed, agility, leaping ability, strength, hand-eye co-ordination, footwork, and conditioning.)
Handles: John Stockton (Right behind Magic in passing, rock solid if unspectacular handling of the basketball.)
Shooting: Stephen Curry (At this point, I'd give it to him. Limitless range, fine percentages.)

[Sauru]

i am fine with this list except for kyrie, he has no business even in the conversation. also shooting should really be split into 2 as curry is probably the best on the move shooter ever while i would rank several players above him in spot up shooting and some in catch and shoot. defense should also be split up but since we are just using overall defense then i like pippen here

[NovU]

Scoring: Allen Iverson (Let's ignore %, you want score in creative, unique, unseen ways in mass, AI was special in that regard)
Rebounding: Rodman
Passing: Stockton
Defense: Bill Russell
Post: Wilt (bigger & stronger than Shaq, nuf said)
Athleticism: LeBum James (freak)
Handles: CP3 (spider man handle)
Shooting: Steve Kerr (He shot what % in half court era? Go look it up. Korver's close but more you shoot better rhythm you get into and this era encourages shooters. Kerr could do even better today. Curry? He's more than a shooter)

[Valor]

Scoring: Michael Jordan 37 ppg on 48% shooting as a guard in 87, All time career leader in ppg at 30.1, got all the moves you need and can't stop him even if he told the defender what he was going to do.
Rebounding: Dennis Rodman. Not a great leaper, not the tallest guy, but somehow someway was able to just read and nab all the rebounds. Still holds the record for most offensive rebounds in a finals game (and he did it twice, in the same series)
Passing: Magic Johnson. This guy made passing (to me anyways) cool, plus all the numbers etc back it up to an extent.
Defense (Perimeter): Scottie Pippen. He could pretty much shut everybody down from PG to PF (and Cs in today's game). From locking up Magic Johnson 94 feet to making Barkley look helpless in the post, Pip could do it all on the defensive end. The NBA owes him a defensive player of the decade award or something to compensate the robbery of not giving him one single DPOY award.
Defense (Post): Hakeem Olajuwon. Locks down everybody and can help on the guards on the switch just as well as he guards big men. Perfect post defender.
Post: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. All time scoring leader and it feels as though he did it all with one move - the unstoppable sky hook. Love Hakeem but nobody could stop the sky hook.
Athleticism: LeBron James. Size of Malone, leaping ability of MJ, speed of (feels like, anyways) Iverson. This guy's got the best physical tools ever given to a basketball player.
Handles: Allen Iverson. Best crossover of all time, absolutely unstoppable. He even crossed over Jordan, enough said.
Shooting (catch and shoot): Steve Kerr, all time career leader in three point %s, formerly all time leader in single season three point %. The greatest player ever trusted him to take a championship winning jumper.
Shooting (on the move): Stephen Curry. Probably has surpassed Ray Allen in this, insane range and quick release.

[Dee4Three]

I'm seeing Rodman a lot, and I admit... it was really tough to not put him or Barkley on my first list. Moses was considered as well.

But Rodman at 6'8" and Barkley at 6'6" (Listed as 6'6", but many have said he was 6'4") were just amazing position rebounders. Here's a story about Rodman and how smart he was about the boards...

http://www.viralhoops.com/dennis-rodman-rebounding-story/


"This story, from former Detroit Pistons teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas might explain how he became so proficient.

“We were standing in the lay-up line, warming up and shooting, and Rodman was standing back and watching everybody shoot.

“I said ‘Hey, come on, you have to participate; everybodys shooting lay-ups, you have to shoot lay-ups too.’ And he said, ‘I’m just watching the rotations on the basketball.’"

[Andrew]

Rodman's antics and outlandish forms of personal expression too often masked the fact that he was an incredibly smart basketball player.

[Dee4Three]

Correct. But If you knew basketball, you knew that you did not want your team facing Rodman on the glass, or just facing him in general (great defender). I would have loved to have Rodman on my favorite team.

[debiler]

Ok, I'll put my two cents in and list a couple of guys in no particular order. Some categories are really tough, as it is quite hard to leave names off the list. Also, I'll put two new categories at the end: genes and smarts!

Scoring: Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Pete Maravich
Rebounding: Dennis Rodman, Wilt Chamberlain, Bob Pettit, Charles Barkley
Passing: John Stockton, Magic Johnson, Jason Williams, Jason Kidd
Defense (Perimeter): Scottie Pippen, Gary Payton, John Stockton, Dennis Rodman
Defense (Post): Bill Russell, Hakeem Olajuwon, Dikembe Mutombo
Post: Hakeem Olajuwon, Kevin McHale, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Athleticism: LeBron James, Vince Carter, Michael Jordan
Handles: Jason Williams, Steph Curry, Tim Hardaway
Shooting (catch and shoot): Ray Allen, Reggie Miller, Drazen Petrovic
Shooting (on the move): Steph Curry, James Harden, Kevin Durant
Genes: LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, Wilt Chamberlain
Smarts: Larry Bird, Arvydas Sabonis, Pete Maravich

Now I'd like to elaborate on some of my choices. First of all, scoring. I think Michael and Kobe are undisputed here. But I kinda wonder how nobody even mentioned Pete Maravich. The guy was near unstoppable from everywhere on the court. He scored crazy points without a three-point-line and didn't have the body or size of an NBA caliber player. He did it all on pure talent, work ethic and skill. Amazing. I made a concsious decision to leave out Wilt because while he dominated in the paint, he was a one-trick pony. At that time, nobody -not even Bill Russel- could stop him. But he only had one thing: dominate in the paint. To me, a great scorer is somebody who will always find a way, even if you strip him of his first, second and third options.

Now we come to rebounding. Barkley and Rodman are absolute no-brainers. To not only lead but to dominate the league in rebounding at 6'6 and 6'8 is beyond absurd and speaks volumes about their unique skills and instincts. The same goes for Pettit. His rebounding output over the span of his whole career was impressive to say the least. Wilt was a different kind of rebounder. He grabbed everything just because of his physical dominance. But the numbers were just way too good to ignore.

When talking about passing, there are really two kinds of players. Those who get the job done like Stockton and Kidd and those who threw the most amazing passes even their teammates sometimes didn't see coming. A great pass is not necessarily one that looks great. A great pass is precise and sharp and opens up lots of options for the receiver, because he does not have to worry about making the catch but think ahead. Magic and JWill on the other hand made passes that were impossible, and also deserve no lesser credit for that.

Perimeter D is quite hard to rate objectively, because there are no numbers. Pippen and Payton are the obvious choices. Rodman is a different animal. I could put him in a category of his own called "overall defense", because he did everything on defense perfectly. Quickness, tenacity, strength and hustle. I also included John Stockton, because as Steve Kerr put it: "He was a dirty bastard!" Stockton had every card up his sleeve, he never backed down and he's the all-time steals leader of the league. Nuff said.

Post D is a little easier. Russell is legend. He made a career out of intimidating opponents so much that they'd have to rethink their whole game. Back then, he was the only one who could force Wilt to work hard for every point. Hakeem was so intelligent and smart, nobody could get inside his head. He was always there and due to his quick mind which he also utilized on offense, he had the ability to see through his opponent. And then there's the ultimate shot-blocker and shot-alterer Mutombo. The only reason why he was posterized so many times is because it was the only way to get anything in the paint against him. Try a shot or a layup over that guy. Not gonna happen.

I will not go into detail on post moves. Hakeem, McHale and Kareem stand. Any other opinion is foolish.

Athleticism: LeBron is like a tank with a vertical leap. Once he builds up momentum, it's just over. Vince Carter was the best highflyer the game has ever seen. I don't think we'll ever see anyone throw down with that kind of intensity, grace and ups ever again. And MJ was just unbelievably fast, quick and never lost control. He was tough and stringy like a 1-hour steak.

(Flashy) handles is in no way meant in a derogatory way, when the ballhandler uses them to his advantage. Like Jason Williams did. The things he did with the ball in his hands were nothing short of amazing. Then there's the godfather of the crossover, Tim Hardaway. His crossover was one of the deadliest and most effective moves of all time and ist still underrated to this day. There's nobody who could execute a crossover as precisely and lightning-fast as he did. It may not look spectacular, but man, this is THE move. And then we have Steph Curry who will just weave into and out of defenders seemingly at will, because he has the best overall dribbling handles. Because of his amazing repertoire and no clear preference for one move, he's insanely hard to stop.

For shooting, I was unsure where to put Reggie, but decided to put him in catch-and-shoot, even though he took many of his shots from a running motion. The man was always moving, constantly using screens, pushing, shoving, elbowing to get his shot. Once he'd get a chance to catch the ball, it would already be too late. Petrovic had the most reliable shot in my opinion. It was either deny the ball, block him, or foul him. Let him fire, and you'd be sorry. And the best shooting mechanics award goes to Ray Allen. He perfected the catch and shoot by setting up the shot even before catching the ball. That's why the lift on his jumper seemed so effortless and fast.

Moving (or off the dribble) shooters are quite a new breed, come to think of it. At least when it comes to long-distance. That's why this one's populated by Steph, Harden and Durant. Steph uses screens and his quick release, while nobody comes close to Harden at creating space for himself. He creates some kind of bubble around him where he just can't be touched. And Durant really uses his height facing up and pulling up from three out of nowhere.

For genes, I put three guys who were just blessed by nature. There's no way Shaq would have made it to the NBA if he hadn't had that inhuman size and strength. Not with his work ethic. Same goes for Wilt, who was just ahead of his time in terms of natural gifts. And LeBron ist just a freak of nature: body of a PF, strength of a C, speed of a SF/SG and eyes of a PG.

Smarts might be my favorite of all categories, because I am a guy who's by no means a physical specimen (5'9, white, both knees brittle like stale bread, yet I still surprise people on the court). That's why I put this one last. Smart and quick thinking, experience (and of course hard work) can make up for most physical limitations, you just have to accept them and develop strengths from them. Larry is the prime example. He could dominate games just by outthinking everyone on the court. His exceptional mind allowed him to be quicker and stronger than he actually was. The best way to put it: he just knew the game. Sabonis on the other hand was born a giant, but had the mindset of a point guard. And when physical decline set in, he adapted his game so well. He never made bad decisions. And well, Pete Maravich made everybody wonder: how does he do it? I normally eat skinny white dudes for breakfast.

[Dee4Three]

Ok, I'll put my two cents in and list a couple of guys in no particular order. Some categories are really tough, as it is quite hard to leave names off the list. Also, I'll put two new categories at the end: genes and smarts!

Scoring: Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Pete Maravich
Rebounding: Dennis Rodman, Wilt Chamberlain, Bob Pettit, Charles Barkley
Passing: John Stockton, Magic Johnson, Jason Williams, Jason Kidd
Defense (Perimeter): Scottie Pippen, Gary Payton, John Stockton, Dennis Rodman
Defense (Post): Bill Russell, Hakeem Olajuwon, Dikembe Mutombo
Post: Hakeem Olajuwon, Kevin McHale, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Athleticism: LeBron James, Vince Carter, Michael Jordan
Handles: Jason Williams, Steph Curry, Tim Hardaway
Shooting (catch and shoot): Ray Allen, Reggie Miller, Drazen Petrovic
Shooting (on the move): Steph Curry, James Harden, Kevin Durant
Genes: LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, Wilt Chamberlain
Smarts: Larry Bird, Arvydas Sabonis, Pete Maravich

Now I'd like to elaborate on some of my choices. First of all, scoring. I think Michael and Kobe are undisputed here. But I kinda wonder how nobody even mentioned Pete Maravich. The guy was near unstoppable from everywhere on the court. He scored crazy points without a three-point-line and didn't have the body or size of an NBA caliber player. He did it all on pure talent, work ethic and skill. Amazing. I made a concsious decision to leave out Wilt because while he dominated in the paint, he was a one-trick pony. At that time, nobody -not even Bill Russel- could stop him. But he only had one thing: dominate in the paint. To me, a great scorer is somebody who will always find a way, even if you strip him of his first, second and third options.

Now we come to rebounding. Barkley and Rodman are absolute no-brainers. To not only lead but to dominate the league in rebounding at 6'6 and 6'8 is beyond absurd and speaks volumes about their unique skills and instincts. The same goes for Pettit. His rebounding output over the span of his whole career was impressive to say the least. Wilt was a different kind of rebounder. He grabbed everything just because of his physical dominance. But the numbers were just way too good to ignore.

When talking about passing, there are really two kinds of players. Those who get the job done like Stockton and Kidd and those who threw the most amazing passes even their teammates sometimes didn't see coming. A great pass is not necessarily one that looks great. A great pass is precise and sharp and opens up lots of options for the receiver, because he does not have to worry about making the catch but think ahead. Magic and JWill on the other hand made passes that were impossible, and also deserve no lesser credit for that.

Perimeter D is quite hard to rate objectively, because there are no numbers. Pippen and Payton are the obvious choices. Rodman is a different animal. I could put him in a category of his own called "overall defense", because he did everything on defense perfectly. Quickness, tenacity, strength and hustle. I also included John Stockton, because as Steve Kerr put it: "He was a dirty bastard!" Stockton had every card up his sleeve, he never backed down and he's the all-time steals leader of the league. Nuff said.

Post D is a little easier. Russell is legend. He made a career out of intimidating opponents so much that they'd have to rethink their whole game. Back then, he was the only one who could force Wilt to work hard for every point. Hakeem was so intelligent and smart, nobody could get inside his head. He was always there and due to his quick mind which he also utilized on offense, he had the ability to see through his opponent. And then there's the ultimate shot-blocker and shot-alterer Mutombo. The only reason why he was posterized so many times is because it was the only way to get anything in the paint against him. Try a shot or a layup over that guy. Not gonna happen.

I will not go into detail on post moves. Hakeem, McHale and Kareem stand. Any other opinion is foolish.

Athleticism: LeBron is like a tank with a vertical leap. Once he builds up momentum, it's just over. Vince Carter was the best highflyer the game has ever seen. I don't think we'll ever see anyone throw down with that kind of intensity, grace and ups ever again. And MJ was just unbelievably fast, quick and never lost control. He was tough and stringy like a 1-hour steak.

(Flashy) handles is in no way meant in a derogatory way, when the ballhandler uses them to his advantage. Like Jason Williams did. The things he did with the ball in his hands were nothing short of amazing. Then there's the godfather of the crossover, Tim Hardaway. His crossover was one of the deadliest and most effective moves of all time and ist still underrated to this day. There's nobody who could execute a crossover as precisely and lightning-fast as he did. It may not look spectacular, but man, this is THE move. And then we have Steph Curry who will just weave into and out of defenders seemingly at will, because he has the best overall dribbling handles. Because of his amazing repertoire and no clear preference for one move, he's insanely hard to stop.

For shooting, I was unsure where to put Reggie, but decided to put him in catch-and-shoot, even though he took many of his shots from a running motion. The man was always moving, constantly using screens, pushing, shoving, elbowing to get his shot. Once he'd get a chance to catch the ball, it would already be too late. Petrovic had the most reliable shot in my opinion. It was either deny the ball, block him, or foul him. Let him fire, and you'd be sorry. And the best shooting mechanics award goes to Ray Allen. He perfected the catch and shoot by setting up the shot even before catching the ball. That's why the lift on his jumper seemed so effortless and fast.

Moving (or off the dribble) shooters are quite a new breed, come to think of it. At least when it comes to long-distance. That's why this one's populated by Steph, Harden and Durant. Steph uses screens and his quick release, while nobody comes close to Harden at creating space for himself. He creates some kind of bubble around him where he just can't be touched. And Durant really uses his height facing up and pulling up from three out of nowhere.

For genes, I put three guys who were just blessed by nature. There's no way Shaq would have made it to the NBA if he hadn't had that inhuman size and strength. Not with his work ethic. Same goes for Wilt, who was just ahead of his time in terms of natural gifts. And LeBron ist just a freak of nature: body of a PF, strength of a C, speed of a SF/SG and eyes of a PG.

Smarts might be my favorite of all categories, because I am a guy who's by no means a physical specimen (5'9, white, both knees brittle like stale bread, yet I still surprise people on the court). That's why I put this one last. Smart and quick thinking, experience (and of course hard work) can make up for most physical limitations, you just have to accept them and develop strengths from them. Larry is the prime example. He could dominate games just by outthinking everyone on the court. His exceptional mind allowed him to be quicker and stronger than he actually was. The best way to put it: he just knew the game. Sabonis on the other hand was born a giant, but had the mindset of a point guard. And when physical decline set in, he adapted his game so well. He never made bad decisions. And well, Pete Maravich made everybody wonder: how does he do it? I normally eat skinny white dudes for breakfast.

I love this breakdown.

[benji]

How could you make this image with anyone other than Rodman for rebounding. It's like the one non-debatable thing in NBA history. Everything else you could quibble in some manner but nobody has dominated a stat like Rodman dominated rebounding. (And he hasn't...yet...had somebody else come along and challenge it like Paul has Stockton, etc.)

Handles is a funny one, especially when you think how many players probably could have done something but didn't while playing professionally. Compare Rafer Alston for example. Cousy for years wasn't allowed to go behind the back, no-look pass and stuff (but Red unleashed him) just like players weren't allowed to dunk or they'd get yanked by coaches.

[Sauru]

Handles is a funny one, especially when you think how many players probably could have done something but didn't while playing professionally. Compare Rafer Alston for example. Cousy for years wasn't allowed to go behind the back, no-look pass and stuff (but Red unleashed him) just like players weren't allowed to dunk or they'd get yanked by coaches.

i try to bring this point up when talking about curry and his shooting.

[Brave Sir Rubin]

Scoring: Devin Booker
Rebounding: Jerry Lucas circa 1998
Passing: Jamaal "MVP" Tinsley
Defense (Perimeter): Marcus Smart
Defense (Post): Shawn Bradley
Post: Dwight Howard
Athleticism: Antoine Walker
Handles: Rafer Alston
Shooting (catch and shoot): Nick Young
Shooting (on the move): Ricky Rubio
Genes: Gheorghe Mureșan
Smarts: Charles Barkley
Sex appeal: Arvydas Sabonis
Penis size: Dikembe Mutombo
Best ever overall: Yinka Dare

[benji]

i try to bring this point up when talking about curry and his shooting.

In that one silly book by "Mr. Stats" one of the smart things he does point out is that in the past there was no three point line, but we have game footage of West, Barry, Maravich, etc. all shooting from out there. And that we should probably add at least a point maybe more like two or three per game to each of those guys. In case of Pistol Pete he argues it's more like six points a game as he'd pull up on the run from 30 feet constantly.

Not to mention even players who played with the three point line like Larry Bird (or the end of Rick Barry's career) played in an era where nobody took more than one a game usually. In Bird's first six seasons he only averages one attempt a game. Dirk jacked up four a game comparatively! Both shot roughly the same 40%. That would have added a point a game to Bird's scoring easily.

And also regarding assists, the standards were a lot tighter, now guys will get assists off passes where their guy drives from the three point line. Used to be zero dribbles allowed, then one dribble, I think it's basically two now.

[debiler]

And also regarding assists, the standards were a lot tighter, now guys will get assists off passes where their guy drives from the three point line. Used to be zero dribbles allowed, then one dribble, I think it's basically two now.

I've always been on the fence with the way assists are being counted. I guess there has to be a rule stating what is an assist and what isn't. But it's really hard to put into words. Not counting an assist when the guy you pass it to is making a dribble is ludicrous. It should be more situational. For example, if I pass the ball to KD, who picks up the ball, triple-threats for 5 seconds and then shoots, should it be an assist? He didn't dribble it once.

Also, I want to say that in my lengthy post above, I forgot about Bob Cousy. He's definitely in the handles category. It may not have been flashy and looks kinda stiff, even awkward nowadays. But the man could dribble a basketball. He laid much of the groundwork for all great ballhandlers that would come after him. He was way ahead of everybody else back then.

[Sauru]

And also regarding assists, the standards were a lot tighter, now guys will get assists off passes where their guy drives from the three point line. Used to be zero dribbles allowed, then one dribble, I think it's basically two now.

I've always been on the fence with the way assists are being counted. I guess there has to be a rule stating what is an assist and what isn't. But it's really hard to put into words. Not counting an assist when the guy you pass it to is making a dribble is ludicrous. It should be more situational. For example, if I pass the ball to KD, who picks up the ball, triple-threats for 5 seconds and then shoots, should it be an assist? He didn't dribble it once.

Also, I want to say that in my lengthy post above, I forgot about Bob Cousy. He's definitely in the handles category. It may not have been flashy and looks kinda stiff, even awkward nowadays. But the man could dribble a basketball. He laid much of the groundwork for all great ballhandlers that would come after him. He was way ahead of everybody else back then.

imo an assist should be counted if the pass directly contributed to the score. if the guy holds the ball 5 seconds he didnt do shit to get an assist. if i pass to a guy on the break and he dribbles twice in a direct path to the hoop then that should be an assist

when talking about past ball handlers you must also consider the rules. players today would be called for carrying the ball all the fucking time in the past. now of course these players would adapt as i think the best ball handlers of the pass would only get better with the ability to carry the ball

[shadowgrin]

I thought I was watching black and white footage of Jason Williams before he played in the NBA then I realised White Chocolate is not that old to be recorded with a black and white camera and 'Celtics' was on the jersey, turned out it was a Bob Cousy feature.


afaik it's something like not to exceed 2-3 dribbles and 3 seconds for the receiver to hold the ball for an assist to be counted.

Penis size: Dikembe Mutombo

Who wants to Sex Mutombo?

phpBB [video]