Magic played with many HOFs and made them better. Playing with Magic only helped Kareem and Worthy's careers. Magic is the greatest team player ever and would have no problem playing with Kobe. I am sure they have played with and against each other a lot in the Lakers training facility and would know exactly how to play best together.
All-Time NBA Draft Round 2: One Love vs. Jeffrey32
- Thread starter Elizah Huge
- Start date
Magic played with many HOFs and made them better. Playing with Magic only helped Kareem and Worthy's careers. Magic is the greatest team player ever and would have no problem playing with Kobe. I am sure they have played with and against each other a lot in the Lakers training facility and would know exactly how to play best together.
No question Magic is a special player, but as I have shown, in their playoffs series, regardless of the W-L which depends on the teams, Hardaway was able to match Magic punch for punch, scoring more, having the same # of assists and getting a whopping 3 more steals. Even the regular seasons stats that you provide showed that Magic did not dominate Hardaway and that is stretched over a longer period as well.
Bottom line, for all that Magic is known for, the numbers proved that Hardaway is a good match for Magic.
In the middle, however, the Duncan-Nowitzki lineup would dominate this series down low and that's where the battle is won. And the numbers proved that whenever Duncan played Mourning he was able to dominate him.
Miggs
Well-Known Member
Was Hardaway ever a key contributor on deep playoff runs?
Yeah in 1997 when he took the Heat to challenge the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals and like every teams including Utah lost to Michael.
(Hardaway scored 38 points vs the Knicks in game 7 in the semifinal)
Miggs
Well-Known Member
So just one time in his entire career?
Yeah but again you've got to look at what casts he had to play with, coaching, etc. Teammates matter when you're considering how far you progress in the playoffs.
Look, I'm not saying Hardaway is better than Magic, I'm simply saying at that when they played Hardaway matched up very well against Magic.
This match to me is decided in the middle with Duncan & Dirk controlling the paint & versatility in scoring.
Duncan dominated a Mourning who was playing only 20 minutes a game as Shaq's back-up and post his kidney ailment. Mourning v. Duncan in their primes would have been an epic battle that I would have definitely liked to watch.
Miggs
Well-Known Member
Fair enough. I love your 4/5 combo. I just hate your bench.
Its a close match-up but Clydes stache puts One Loves team over the edge for me.
Kyrie and Kevin Love could stuff a stat sheet too, but neither saw even one playoff series until they played with LeBron. Point is saying Hardaway matched Magic (in his last season btw) stat for stat makes him equal in any way to Magic is a joke. I would stick with your front court arguments.
Haha.. ok agree to disagree then.. off the bench just need someone I can throw the ball to and let him go to work (Carmelo, Irving).
BTW - you seem to know quite a bit about this Draft Comp. .. care to join us in the Current draft after this?