Who was better, Patrick Ewing or David Robinson?

[TheAnchorman]

In your opinion who do you think was the better player overall, taking into account peak years, playoff performance, longevity of career and legacy, and impact on the game? I'm not too well-informed on two of these players but as a hunch I would like to say that David Robinson was the better player due to his accomplishments and dominance in the court compared to Patrick Ewing, who was blessed with a much better team during the early/mid 90s.

Your thoughts?

[Snoop_Cat]

Robinson would've had even more years of amazingness had it not been for service requirements

[dr8ked]

I would say david Robinson, Jumper,spin move, his athleticism, and he once scored 71 pts

[ZMonkey11]

i'm also going to have to go with David Robinson. Man was such an athletic freak. Never seen a better 7 footer run the break.

[IInvented]

Give me The Admiral..

[andgar923]

David might've been better, but I'll take Ewing.

Just personal preference that's all.

[lbj23clutch]

David Robinson was a better player. Probably one of the most athletically gifted big man to ever grace the game. He could run the floor like a 2-guard. Excellent face-up game and had a nice jumper. His post up game was decent, he was excellent at playing the passing lanes and was a better shot blocker then Ewing.

[ClutchCity95]

Patrick Ewing....................

I feel he was the better player than David Robinson was. In terms of just talent in general I feel David Robinson wins that department, but the reality is he never had the motivation or determination to be the greatest like for say Michael Jordan. Patrick Ewing was always the more motivated, more passionate and the much more tougher player than Admiral was. Patrick Ewing had all the intangibles you would like to have from a center or even from a player from that matter. David Robinson's heart and desire is similar to Tracy McGrady's, Somebody who had the potential and talent to be one of the greatest but never fulfilled it due to lack of Heart and desire.

As a leader, Patrick Ewing was better. He had gotten further as the 1st option on a team than David Robinson did, but Admiral was not a bad leader either. He did have one of the best single turnaround records in his rookie season with the Spurs.

Offensively: Ewing was better. Ewing was the more reliable, more polished scorer than David Robinson was. Ewing is arguably one of the best mid-range shooters for a center to ever play. David Robinson was a player offensively that relied heavily on athletic ability. It's one of the few reasons why Admiral had ended up playing sub-par come playoff time because he wouldn't be able to out-run or out-muscle them, that's where the skills are useful. Admiral also frequently settled for jumpers during his prime, not that he was bad at it but with his athleticism he should have attacked the rim more often and finished more.

Both were also pretty athletic and both could run the floor pretty well and finish. David was obviously better at it because he was much more athletic than Ewing was, but Ewing could do it as well during his younger days, but if you ask me Admiral relied on that TOO MUCH where as for Ewing he did play pretty good in the half-court offense while Robinson didn't too much.

Defensively: Robinson was better. Robinson was the better defensive player, better shot blocker, better post defender, really just the better defender. He was also voted into more All-NBA Defensive teams than Ewing did. Not to mention, Admiral was one of the three players to average 2 BPG and SPG in a season. Patrick Ewing was not a bad defender, but he wasn't better than Robinson defensively. Ewing was a great shot blocker, but was a bit limited defensively due to his foot-speed kind of like Shaq.

I feel Ewing was better because he was the better leader, better offensively, had much better intangibles, and also because he did accomplished more as a leader. Although he may not have 2 championship rings like David Robinson has. David Robinson wouldn't have won it without Duncan in the 1st place. Ewing did make it to the NBA Finals in 1994, sure Michael Jordan wasn't playing then but it's still a better accomplishment than Robinson did as a leader. Robinson disappointed the Spurs many times, from what I recall. The East was also much stronger than the West from what I recall during both Ewing and Robinson's timeline and Primes.

I never understood why people tend to underrate Ewing all the time. So Ewing is my answer.

[magnax1]

Robinson on Defense and Offense. Though a lot of times the Admiral seemed to rely on his athleticism to much, but none the less he was a better player overall.

[ZMonkey11]

I never understood why people tend to underrate Ewing all the time. So Ewing is my answer.

Cause he never got a ship.

[Shep]

i'm assuming this is a joke thread. saying ewing was better than robinson is like saying stockton was better than olajuwon.

[sirkeelma]

The Admiral..

[andgar923]

i'm assuming this is a joke thread. saying ewing was better than robinson is like saying stockton was better than olajuwon.

Not its not a joke, Ewing was a beast.

[andgar923]

Cause he never got a ship.

He also didn't play with Tim Duncan.

[TheAnchorman]

I'm going to respond more fully tomorrow, but for now:

I feel he was the better player than David Robinson was. In terms of just talent in general I feel David Robinson wins that department, but the reality is he never had the motivation or determination to be the greatest like for say Michael Jordan. Patrick Ewing was always the more motivated, more passionate and the much more tougher player than Admiral was. Patrick Ewing had all the intangibles you would like to have from a center or even from a player from that matter. David Robinson's heart and desire is similar to Tracy McGrady's, Somebody who had the potential and talent to be one of the greatest but never fulfilled it due to lack of Heart and desire.

I don't recall David Robinson ever having lack of heart or desire. Where did you get this from? The 1995 NBA WCF?

Also, what would be some "intangibles" that Ewing brought to the table that Robinson did not? You can tell me he advanced further into the playoffs, but I will tell you that the reason why I think so is because he had a better team and a pretty damn good coach to help make it happen.