KG all day, every day. What exactly would I expect Duncan to do better than KG? Oh but he has more rings and more mvps? Yea, if garnett player with pop, ginobli, tp, kawhi, Aldridge, and the spurs for 20 years, he would have lots of rings. KG is the man here. KG changed the NBA.
And if KG had 5 rings and challenged Kobe as the player of his generation like TD you'd say "TD all day..."
maybe, but not in this case. KG was a Celtic and literally beat LA for a ring....whereas Duncan and the Spurs did it a couple of times but not in the Finals. So they are similar on that front. The hate for the two is equal.
The difference is that KG fans aren't going around claiming that he is better than Kobe or calling him the greatest PF in the history, etc. That makes the Duncan world (not him personally) far more annoying.
How can you hold Duncan playing in the WCF against him?
True, Spurs beat the Lakers twice en route to championships. Credit where credit is due.
KG all day, every day. What exactly would I expect Duncan to do better than KG? Oh but he has more rings and more mvps? Yea, if garnett player with pop, ginobli, tp, kawhi, Aldridge, and the spurs for 20 years, he would have lots of rings. KG is the man here. KG changed the NBA.
And if KG had 5 rings and challenged Kobe as the player of his generation like TD you'd say "TD all day..."
maybe, but not in this case. KG was a Celtic and literally beat LA for a ring....whereas Duncan and the Spurs did it a couple of times but not in the Finals. So they are similar on that front. The hate for the two is equal.
The difference is that KG fans aren't going around claiming that he is better than Kobe or calling him the greatest PF in the history, etc. That makes the Duncan world (not him personally) far more annoying.
How can you hold Duncan playing in the WCF against him?
He's holding the fact that some people consider Duncan better than or equal to Kobe against him.
If team mates were not known and I were building a team from scratch, I'd take Duncan over Garnett. However, if the surrounding talent were known, I'd pick the guy who would work best with that specific talent, which could be either guy. In today's game, KG or Duncan could easily be the center in a one-in and four out style but Duncan probably the better one. If a historically dominant center were on roster already, I'd pick Garnett over Duncan.
Duncan had the advantage of having a legendary coach and talented teams built around him. KG floundered for so long on mediocre Minnesota teams. _________________ Lakers. Built different.
Duncan had the advantage of having a legendary coach and talented teams built around him. KG floundered for so long on mediocre Minnesota teams.
I will never forget when Kobe demolished the Spurs in '01 and thinking that it was the end of the spurs. The '02 Spurs on paper looked like a team that would win 40 some games. They added Bowen,Parker, but lost Derick Anderson and replaced him with an over the hill Steve Smith. Robinson was way past his prime. That team however ended up winning 58 games and losing to the Lakers in 5 games but every game was competitive in that series. KG and Duncan had the same amount of talent that year and Duncan's team overachieved while KG was able to get to the playoffs with the team he had.
One skill set Duncan had that made him a vastly superior player to KG was his back to the basket game. Very few bigs historically posses that skill. Wilt,Kareem,Shaq,Moses Malone,Olajuwon all had that ability.
Pop was also a (bleep) coach when he first started coaching the Spurs. I remember Phil Jackson once call Pop and his coaching staff the simulator crew because the plays Pop ran were very predictable. Pop's offense during the the early '00s was 4 down which was give the ball to Duncan and everybody get out of the way. Pop didn't become a great coach until the late '00s. Duncan pretty much made Pop.
I think Kobe was the better player than Duncan but I have a lot of respect for Duncan. There is no bigman in the last 30 years other than Kareem I would pick over him.
Was just browsing YT, and came across these vids..
To me it's pretty much take your pick. Both of these guys were giants and definitely the two best PF to ever play. I actually rank Duncan ahead of KG (like most) based on his career and team accomplishments. But when you break down their peaks it's a tough call. From my observations watching the two, it seems to me like KG was asked to do more over the course of their primes, mainly because of the shortage of talent on the Wolves. TD soared to greater heights, but when you look at their peaks they are both right there numbers wise. Duncan was a superior post scorer, with KG perhaps being better all around (off the dribble, face up, FT, long range, etc). Both were amazing defenders, but personally I like KGs versatility on switches, and his ability to not cede any ground against perimeter players. TD was much more consistent on the boards, even late in his career. As far as playmaking, I'd say they're about even. Like Shaq, both were bigs whom you could run your offense through. Extremely valuable. In the end I just have to go for personal preference and give the nod to KG (if we're talking primes, not career). I can vividly remember the summer of 07 when the KG/Lakers rumblings were hot. ESPN actually announced that a Kg for Bynum/Odom swap was "imminent" . This prompted me to run around the house jumping for joy. Of course that was a little premature. It broke my heart when the KG to Boston deal went through. But getting Pau a couple of months later certainly made up for it.
I think early on they were the top 2 PF in the league but as the career progress, TD just pulled ahead with his rings.
Where is Dirk in this convo (I think KG is closer to Dirk than TD)?
Good point. We've seen a wealth of amazing PFs in the last 15-20 years. As amazing as Dirk is/was, I wouldn't peg him as an elite two-way player like KG and TD.
Joined: 24 Dec 2007 Posts: 35813 Location: Santa Clarita, CA (Hell) ->>>>>Ithaca, NY -≥≥≥≥≥Berkeley, CA
Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 5:48 am Post subject:
The Grind wrote:
governator wrote:
I think early on they were the top 2 PF in the league but as the career progress, TD just pulled ahead with his rings.
Where is Dirk in this convo (I think KG is closer to Dirk than TD)?
Good point. We've seen a wealth of amazing PFs in the last 15-20 years. As amazing as Dirk is/was, I wouldn't peg him as an elite two-way player like KG and TD.
But better offense than either one. _________________ Damian Lillard shatters Dwight Coward's championship dreams:
I think early on they were the top 2 PF in the league but as the career progress, TD just pulled ahead with his rings.
Where is Dirk in this convo (I think KG is closer to Dirk than TD)?
Good point. We've seen a wealth of amazing PFs in the last 15-20 years. As amazing as Dirk is/was, I wouldn't peg him as an elite two-way player like KG and TD.
But better offense than either one.
Dirk isn't a great interior defender or rebounder (largely because he spends so much time on the perimeter). You can make a case for him as the greatest offensive PF of all time, mostly because of his 3-point range.
I'd put Dirk behind Duncan, Malone, Garnett and Barkley as the 5th best PF of all time. Typically, I see him ranged anywhere from 3rd (behind Duncan and Malone) to 6th or 7th.
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. This prompted me to run around the house jumping for joy. Of course that was a little premature. It broke my heart when the KG to Boston deal went through. But getting Pau a couple of months later certainly made up for it.
