Your all-time starting five in basketball (1 Viewer)

[stunpals]

Top Five Guys you want on your team in a pick-up game.

PG - Gilbert Arenas - you know he's packing heat
SG - Stephen Jackson - he's got your back
SF - Ron Artest - full of crazy
PF - Dennis Rodman - wormtastic
C - Shaq - perfect if it's a half-court battle. He can camp out under the basket

 

[JimEverett]

My only regret for my top 5 is that there is no room for Robert Horry - the only Bamer I have ever liked, in any sport.

Also, not so much on topic, but talking about Rodman made me look up some info on his hall-of-fame potential:

Dennis Rodman
Sorry, Charles, but Rodman is by far the best rebounding non-center in basketball history. He led the league in rebounding seven times (more than great rebounding forwards Bob Pettit, Elgin Baylor, Jerry Lucas and Charles Barkley combined). But not only was he winning rebounding titles, he was blowing the competition to smithereens.

In 1992, he had 18.7 rebounds per game to runner-up Kevin Willis' 15.5.

In 1993, he had 18.3 to Shaquille O'Neal's 13.9.

In 1994, he bested O'Neal again, 17.3 to 13.2.

In 1995, he outdistanced Dikembe Mutombo 16.8 to 12.3.

In 1996, he beat David Robinson 14.9 to 12.2.

In 1997, he really left Mutombo in the dust, 16.1 to 11.6.

And, in 1998, it was 15 for Rodman and 13.6 for Jayson Williams.

Even Wilt Chamberlain wasn't hammering the competition by such fat margins. With a wiry 6-7, 228-pound frame, Rodman was out-boarding behemoths.

Rodman often dove into the stands to get offensive rebounds, just to give his team one more shot. He owns the playoff record for 11 offensive boards in a single game, which he collected twice as a Chicago Bull in the 1996 Finals against Seattle.

Michael Jordan, who averaged 27 points but hit just 41 percent of his shots in the series, won the Finals MVP; Rodman, who averaged 15 rebounds per game, was just as deserving of the honor.

Rodman won seven NBA All-Defensive first team awards and was voted Defensive Player of the Year in 1990 and 1991.

Rest assured, he is also the only player who said he wanted to play a complete game in the nude. He was spirited, never dull. How about his lining up on the free-throw lane with his arms folded?

How his antics will mesh with the Hall's "total contribution" criterion for selection is hard to tell. But it says here that a player who has piled up these distinctions ought not to be shut out for wearing a wedding dress or changing his hair color each day of the week.

Rodman has been retired for the necessary five years to be eligible. But the trustees of the Hall of Fame can determine that if a candidate has "damaged the integrity of the game of basketball" he may be "deemed unworthy of enshrinement and removed from consideration."

Stay tuned. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=shouler_ken&id=2822048

 

[Danchrism]

How did you come to this conclusion?
Barkley was smaller than pretty much every power forward he played against, but a wider, stronger build than any small forward in the league. He often paired against centers, guards, and yes, 6'10" small forwards with great success. Incredibly agile and strong at the same time, Barkley dominated matchups against small forwards. Where in the world did you get this opinion because the film shows the opposite. As a matter of my own team, if I had the luxury of having another dominant power forward in my starting 5, I would definitely put Barkley in at small forward because he would dominate the opponent offensively and defensively.

What I meant was that nobody was intentionally putting Barkley with a tall small forward. You had to pair Iverson with a big point guard (McKie, Snow, etc.) when he played SG in Philly.

 

[mister pc]

In his prime I have no doubt Hakeem was the greatest big man of all time, unfortunately his prime was relatively short... I often wondered how much he could have extended his career simply by eating properly during the season instead of fasting for long periods of time. His game and his moves have not been duplicated by a big since mainly because there are not many bigs with the agility, coordination, and quickness of a SF/SG in the league and that was what his moves were designed for. Of course he was also a defensive monster and holds the all time blocks mark despite playing in an ERA where his height was nothing special.

i agree its probably safe to say he put a huge toll on his body by fasting every year for a month while still playing NBA basketball. A full court basketball game is physically exhausting for a body that has proper nutrition. I cant imagine how Hakeem had the strength to do that, and to do it so well.

 

[mister pc]

Charles could definitely guard taller PFs. And he could out rebound them too. Barkely makes the list as my PF because he could score from all over the floor, and he was a tough defender, and he could pull over 30 rebounds in a game despite being only 6'4",

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[stunpals]

All-Soft Team:

PG - TJ ford - spinal
SG - Vince Carter - wears a skirt
SF - Manu Ginobli - flop master
PF - LaMarcus Aldridge - loaths rebounding
C - Eric Dampier - Erica

 

[Twenty]

All-Soft Team:

PG - TJ ford - spinal
SG - Vince Carter - wears a skirt
SF - Manu Ginobli - flop master
PF - LaMarcus Aldridge - loaths rebounding
C - Eric Dampier - Erica

You forgot Shawn Bradley.

 

[Twenty]

All Ugly Team (I don't care about position):

Sam Cassell
Joakim Noah
Chris Kaman
Gheorghe Muresan
Sheldon Williams

Coach: Gregg Popovich

 

[Teachersaint]

All Ugly Team (I don't care about position):

Sam Cassell
Joakim Noah
Chris Kaman
Gheorghe Muresan
Sheldon Williams

Coach: Gregg Popovich

Charlie Villenueva
Robert Swift
Delonte West
Hedo Turkoglu

 

[ROBOT DEATH SQUAD]

really, Wilt? The ultimate ME guy on that team where he isn't getting the ball? I take the guy with 11 rings every time....

I was also thinking about Russell but I had to go with the guy that average over 50 points a game one season.

 

[Danchrism]

I was also thinking about Russell but I had to go with the guy that average over 50 points a game one season.

Because he was an absolute ball stopper in a league where centers were like 6'8" (Wilt was 7'1"). The only reason Wilt ever led the league in assists was because the league started officially tracking them, so he made it his goal to do that. He never came close to doing that again.

 

[purvis_guy]

To go along with my earlier post of the all-time team with Louisiana connections:
.
PG: Chris Paul
SG: Pistol Pete
SF: Bob Pettit
PF: Karl Malone
C: Shaq
.
--------------------
.
Here's my all-time team with Mississippi connections:
.
PG: Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf
SG: Monta Ellis
SF: Bailey Howell
PF: Danny Manning
C: Spencer Haywood
.
---------------
.
And my all-time team with Alabama connections:
.
PG: Jeff Malone
SG: John Drew
SF: Robert Horry
PF: Charles Barkley
C: Derrick Coleman
.
That Louisiana team looks very strong.

 

[Solucopa]

PG- CP3, WHEN he wins a few rings he'll be considered the greatest PG ever!

SG- Jordan, DUH

SF- Bird, need 3pt shooting? Check.

PF- Rodman, glad to see him getting his props! My favorite player of all time. Nooone was better at defensively and mentally taking over a game. He actually wasn't that bad offensively either when he cared to try. Duncan is a very close 2nd. Chose Rodman cause I value the defense over offense(plenty of that).

C- David Robinson, The admiral! Has anyone mentioned this guy? Only read a few pages... In his prime D Rob was a BEAST. 2 reasons to pick him over a few others: 1. Not horrible at free throws 2. One of the only guys that a prime Shaq won't just be able to bulldoze over.

I think this team would crush all others! Talk about a team with a high "basketball IQ".

 

[Teachersaint]

PG- CP3, WHEN he wins a few rings he'll be considered the greatest PG ever!

SG- Jordan, DUH

SF- Bird, need 3pt shooting? Check.

PF- Rodman, glad to see him getting his props! My favorite player of all time. Nooone was better at defensively and mentally taking over a game. He actually wasn't that bad offensively either when he cared to try. Duncan is a very close 2nd. Chose Rodman cause I value the defense over offense(plenty of that).

C- David Robinson, The admiral! Has anyone mentioned this guy? Only read a few pages... In his prime D Rob was a BEAST. 2 reasons to pick him over a few others: 1. Not horrible at free throws 2. One of the only guys that a prime Shaq won't just be able to bulldoze over.

I think this team would crush all others! Talk about a team with a high "basketball IQ".

Robinson can never ever be ahead of Hakeem (who is behind others) in 95 after Robinson won MVP, Hakeem whipped his *** in the playoffs (including Robinson choking on the foul line)..nice guy, smart--Yes--

 

[Teachersaint]

Because he was an absolute ball stopper in a league where centers were like 6'8" (Wilt was 7'1"). The only reason Wilt ever led the league in assists was because the league started officially tracking them, so he made it his goal to do that. He never came close to doing that again.

more on this debate---Russells teams almost always beat Wilts even though Wilt played with more HOFer.... (84-58)
The year WIlt avged 50--Russell won MVP --in that year when he averaged 50---in the finals Russell holds him to 22 in game 7, while scoring 19

Russells record in game 7's----10-0
Wilt----4-5

Wilt was very concerned with individual records---he never fouled out of a game---he would change when he had 4 fouls---he cared about leading the leagie in assists, and wouldn't score to get some assists--also see 100 pt game...

Wilt traded twice (why--he was selfish...uncoachable)

even though they changed the rules because he so dominant, still only 2 titles..

Russell--11 (Plus he coached 2 of those titles while playing!)

Stats and info from the Book of Basketball (a must read)