Yep.
Rings is the difference in the legacy of the two players fair or unfair.
dr j does,nt have larry bird in his top 10 either.malone just got pushed out better players.
Dr J has Malone on his list.
Even if you ignore the rings you can't ignore what they did in the playoffs. Duncan remained consistent in his game, Malone fg% drops to 46.I know that based upon how they played him and other players that played around him, he played like a power forward. But in my highly rationalized brain, I tell myself that he’s a Center because of his blocks and height.
I also probably over emphasize points. Duncan averaged between 19 to 22 points too often for me to look at stats. His top averages were 25.5, 23.3, and 23.2. Everything else is below that. Malone averaged over 25.
Based upon height, Malone did pretty well for rebounds (10.1), even though Duncan has the edge on that (10.8).
Malone had more assists (3.6 vs 3.0) and steals (1.4 vs 0.7) by a significant average. I think Duncan got fewer steals because he was there for blocks (2.2 versus 0.8) but I could argue the same from Malone’s that he had fewer blocks because he was defending a bit farther away, and was shorter. Charles Barkley was great for rebounds based on his height.
So I feel that Duncan on the defensive end was like a Center and on offense more like a power forward. He was used very well. The Spurs could afford a regular center who didn’t score because they had Duncan. Two tall guys (which I understand is not good in todays NBA and Spurs had great outside shooters beyond the Jazz’s Hornacek.) Yes, I know he has defended power forwards, too.
Malone shot 51.6% and Duncan shot 50.6%. I believe Malone shot further with more jump shots (maybe too many settled jump shots) and Duncan closer (Yes, I know about Duncan’s free throw bank shot and Malone’s transition dunks.) Not that it matters, but Malone shot 27.4% from three and Duncan 17.9%. Malone’s free-throw shooting was 74.2% and Duncan’s was 69.6%.
People may point to last few years of Duncan, but Malone played almost 100 more games. So Malone’s average should’ve gone down.
I understand that people then use other intangibles, rings, etc., but I accept other people, having other opinions, I know that I’m biased. Duncan would’ve done better maybe with Stockton and Parker as far as individual stats. I’m not saying team success because obviously there’s a chemistry and other factors that Parker contributed. Malone definitely benefited from being the number one guy there. Sloan was a great coach, but obviously with Popovich, the Spurs won. So to resolve things for me, I called him a center.
Defense counts too
I know that based upon how they played him and other players that played around him, he played like a power forward. But in my highly rationalized brain, I tell myself that he’s a Center because of his blocks and height.
I also probably over emphasize points. Duncan averaged between 19 to 22 points too often for me to look at stats. His top averages were 25.5, 23.3, and 23.2. Everything else is below that. Malone averaged over 25.
Based upon height, Malone did pretty well for rebounds (10.1), even though Duncan has the edge on that (10.8).
Malone had more assists (3.6 vs 3.0) and steals (1.4 vs 0.7) by a significant average. I think Duncan got fewer steals because he was there for blocks (2.2 versus 0.8) but I could argue the same from Malone’s that he had fewer blocks because he was defending a bit farther away, and was shorter. Charles Barkley was great for rebounds based on his height.
So I feel that Duncan on the defensive end was like a Center and on offense more like a power forward. He was used very well. The Spurs could afford a regular center who didn’t score because they had Duncan. Two tall guys (which I understand is not good in todays NBA and Spurs had great outside shooters beyond the Jazz’s Hornacek.) Yes, I know he has defended power forwards, too.
Malone shot 51.6% and Duncan shot 50.6%. I believe Malone shot further with more jump shots (maybe too many settled jump shots) and Duncan closer (Yes, I know about Duncan’s free throw bank shot and Malone’s transition dunks.) Not that it matters, but Malone shot 27.4% from three and Duncan 17.9%. Malone’s free-throw shooting was 74.2% and Duncan’s was 69.6%.
People may point to last few years of Duncan, but Malone played almost 100 more games. So Malone’s average should’ve gone down.
I understand that people then use other intangibles, rings, etc., but I accept other people, having other opinions, I know that I’m biased. Duncan would’ve done better maybe with Stockton and Parker as far as individual stats. I’m not saying team success because obviously there’s a chemistry and other factors that Parker contributed. Malone definitely benefited from being the number one guy there. Sloan was a great coach, but obviously with Popovich, the Spurs won. So to resolve things for me, I called him a center.
