TOP 10 POWER FORWARDS OF THE 1980s

[momo]

I have always felt the 4 was the toughest to rank. A lot of PF's over the years were not expected to shoot other than off an offensive board, especially on a team with good guards. And the 4 has evolved so much up to this point.
I reserve the right to revise this and waffle, flip flop and meander


I am also not considering players like Josh Howard who are too new to really examine in depth.

~

1-Duncan
I am reluctant to put him here but he is the best synthesis of most aspects of the 4 to date, and I don't want to cop out and say he is a 5...

even tho he is a 5 :P

2-McHale
I want to put him in 1st and I am a lakers fan. Thats how sick he was. Charles Oakley compared playing him to torture.

3-Pettit
I am sure some could knock this pick. Fine by me.

4-Elvin Hayes
One of the early prototypes at the 4.

5-Barkley
Play D and compete more and he could have been #1, easy. Amazing player. MJ will rent you storage space in his head, cheep.

6-Malone
Strength, durability and elbows. Points, pick n roles. I watched him be less than great too many times to rank him higher and am pretty much biased against him.

7-Connie Hawkins (young guys should u tube this one)

Imagine Dr J at the 4. Total freak, huge hands, handle, creative, and tragic. Basically blacklisted for a longtime and one of the ABA guys who gets overlooked as an NBA great. He was past his prime by the time he hit the suns and still dropped jaws. Play in the NBA, no drama, get a chip or 2 and he would be compared to anyone in the top 10 all time.

8-Bob McAdoo
I can see him not on anyones list, but he was a better player than his carer might indicate.

9- KG
Congrats on the chip, I should probably have ya higher.

10-Shawn Kemp
No chip, but he was a better defender than the chuckster, and I just cant ignore his monster dunks, kids, belly and drinking problem. Should have had a MUCH better carer.

~~~~

Looking over the list, it is pretty rubbish as it is all time and not 80's, but I can live with it for now.

[Sir Charles]

Barkley = SUPERIOR TO DUNCAN

Barkley = More Natural Talent
Barkley = Better 1 on 1 Game
Barkley = Better Driver and Charger
Barkley = Better Post Player
Barkley = Better Long Distance Shooter
Barkley = Higher FG% and Unstoppableness
Barkley = Superior Ball Handler
Barkley = Better Hands
Barkley = Superior Passer and On The Fast Break Too (could Actually Lead A Fast Break)
Barkley = Better Rebounder and Offensive Rebounder
Barkley = Better Anticipator for Steals
Barkley = Way Stronger
Barkley = More Athletic and A Leaper (39 Inch Vertical Leap!)
Barkley = Much Faster and Quicker
Barkley = Way Way More Agressive
Barkley = More Clutch
Here is: aging Barkley`s stats facing Tim Duncan.

Duncan = Better Shot Blocker
Duncan = Nicer Guy that Played in League with No Handcheck, a Better Supporting Cast fo ALL of his Career, in a League with No Laker Shotime, Celtics Pride, Badboys, Jordan-Pippen Bulls etc



http://www.basketball-reference.com/...1&p2=duncati01

Barkley vs Duncan

[COLOR="Blue"]Barkley:[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Blue"]MPG: 34.5 (Playing Lesser)[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Blue"]PPG: 19.43 [/COLOR]
[COLOR="Blue"]FG%: 47.2%[/COLOR]
[COLOR="Blue"]RPG 13.43 [/COLOR]
ASPG: 2.71
[COLOR="Blue"]SPG: 2.1 [/COLOR]
BPG: 0.57 [COLOR="Blue"]
3-Point FG%: 25%[/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkSlateGray"]Duncan:[/COLOR]

MPG: 38.5 (Playing Longer)

PPG: 16.0
RPG: 10.0
[COLOR="RoyalBlue"]ASPG: 4.0[/COLOR]
SPG: 0.29
[COLOR="RoyalBlue"]BPG: 1.86 [/COLOR]
3-Point FG%: 0%

If this was Charles at ages 34-36, with Back and Knee Injuries, overweight and way Past His Prime...Just Imagine what Charles would do in HIS PRIME, HEALTHY, WITH IDEAL WEIGHT and in his 20s and early 30
s? and if he would have had the Supporting Cast Duncan has had for ALL OF HIS CAREER in a Weak Era

[momo]

Ya have to give timmah a check mark for better D too.

[Sir Charles]

Ya have to give timmah a check mark for better D too.

Duncan is a Better Shot Blocker do height. Thats about it in THE REST OF THE STUFF HE IS NOT EVEN CLOSE TO BARKLEY . Even though he is a Good Shot Blocker he has no Leaping Ability. Hakeem at around 6`10 ft had Leaping ability and this man did Play Centers not pussied out to call himself PF-C = AND HE COULD HAVE.

If you are 6`11 ft and you play against 6`8/ 6`9 ers and dont average over 2 bpg yoy shold shoot urself!. Plus in this league there is no Handchecking, 3 Second Rule that takes away from Strong Heavy Forward-Centers and very Few PFs have POWER-TALENT AND SPEED at the Same Time.

Charles could D not only with PFs but also Against Much Quicker and Talented SFs as well as Fill In the Lanes Against Gs that where trying to get to te Basket. Barkley has better hands and was a better anticipator for Steals too. Barkley was an intimidator do to his Inmense Natural Strength and Agressive Play also

[chains5000]

So now Barkley was an All D player?

[Sir Charles]

So now Barkley was an All D player?

Barkley was an Underrated Defender. Just because in Collage he was overweight and lazy...and in the 84 Olympic Trails Knight cut him because of him being Lazy.

Charles did not want to play any how in the Summer (even though he led that team in everything!) and in the Draft to cover up the real reasons why Knight did not choose him: which was he wanted him to go to 220 lbs which was impossible at his contexture and ofcourse was pissed at the fact this fat slob and short dude was superior to everyone, as "Doctor J clearly said it, "Some of the The Skills in Basketball where a Little To Easy for Charles" .

So Charles in Draft day said that he "Had to Work On his Defense" (which was ofcourse a lie in respect to Knight who cutt him off due to Jelousy ).

This made him get a Reputation of a Lazy Defender. Let me remined you that Barkley rarely let Players in the PAINT. He could Guard 3-4 and sometimes 2. He was an intimidator like no other at 260-280 lbs and Barkey averaged:

2,2 spg and 1.8 bpg for one season. Something Duncan has never :)

[Hejira]

Hmm. Strictly in terms of the 1980s, I'd go:

1. Kevin McHale - Played the entire decade, 3 rings, #2 in MVP in 86/87
2. Charles Barkley - HUGE was 85/86 on...
3. Karl Malone - HUGE from 86/87 on...
4. Larry Nance - Best shotblocking forward in the league, and a 19-8 guy all decade
5. Buck Williams - One of the best rebounders of all-time, and averaged an efficient 15-18 ppg for most of the decade
6. Terry Cummings - A SF/PF maybe, but had a 23-10.5 rookie year and then was a 20 ppg scorer until the end of the decade
7. Ralph Sampson - Talent-wise, he should have been Top 4 (or better). Only had 3 big years (2 of which he played at PF) before knees betrayed him.
8. Dan Roundfield - Great defender and consistant 18-10-2 block guy in the early half of the decade
9. Maurice Lucas - One of the quintessional enforcers of the late 70s and 80s.
10. Clark Kellogg - A 20-10 guy for about 3 years before injuries wrecked him.

[23jordan23]

Malone is the best PF of all time so far but when its all said and done Tim Duncan will surpass all of them..why? he's got couple of rings to show for it ..and his stats aren't too shabby either.