KG vs The Admiral

[secund2nun]

Garnett: 20/10.5/3 on 50%

Pierce: 20/5/5 on 44%

Pierce is overrated if people really think he was the best player on that championship team just because he was handed the FMVP.

Not to mention KG was the best defender on the team by miles. KG was way better than Pierce. Most fans underrate big men and this is an example of it.

[Pointguard]

wasnt talking about defense, KG is one of the best defenders ever, much better than pierce.

Am i the only one that recalls the celtics running plays for pierce to close out the games in the playoffs?

Most of the games weren't close because they locked teams down. Still, KG's offense was more reliable and consistent than Pierce's which fluctuated and sometimes went astray. Pierce and Allen would sometimes get hot and they would take the fourth quarter scoring. KG was the default guy and moreso structured into the offense.

There was no way you saw the playoffs and though Pierce was even better on offense alone, much less defense.

[Bob Dole]

Most of the games weren't close because they locked teams down. Still, KG's offense was more reliable and consistent than Pierce's which fluctuated and sometimes went astray. Pierce and Allen would sometimes get hot and they would take the fourth quarter scoring. KG was the default guy and moreso structured into the offense.

There was no way you saw the playoffs and though Pierce was even better on offense alone, much less defense.

You my friend, know basketball.

[Milbuck]

over reliance on box scores and stats. this was only like 6 years ago. watching those games i felt that the celtics went to pierce to close out the games.

They wouldn't have even been in a position to close out games without KG. You do understand how significant it is that he anchored one of the GOAT defenses is right?

[ProfessorMurder]

Anyone who thinks Pierce got that for anything other than being a lifetime Celtic is kidding themselves.



For building a team, it's just whether you want a closer to the basket big, or a stretch big. I prefer KG to Robinson, but it's not like either is really much better than the other.

[longhornfan1234]

Robinson slightly.

[houston]

both were choke artists but I'll give the edge to KG

[Cold soul]

KG for me but Robinson was the greater physical talent, but underperformed in playoffs and mentally. KG had the greater career and had higher peak play between the two.

[Rake2204]

DRob was arguably more gifted than both KG and Duncan, problem was Admiral wasnt a fierce competitor. Mental aspect is as important as physical gifts.

I'd like to get to the bottom of Robinson's "lack of competitiveness/soft" thing someday. 30/11/5/3 isn't too shabby for someone who wasn't really competitive. I was always on the other side of the coin on that one.

I thought Robinson could give all he could and push as much as possible for victory without having to express that will outward. He still dunked on heads, he still ran as hard as humanly possible, he still swatted heaps of shots, and he still kept himself in supreme condition. I think there's more ways to succeeding on the hardwood than by grimacing, yelling, and leaving a trail of "All I wanna do is win" quotables.

But that's not a dig at you or anything, Harison. I'm just not sure I ever agreed with that shared line of thinking, as popular as it was. I thought his team's lack of success in the postseason had a lot more to do with a lack of options outside of Robinson. Game plans shifted to eliminating Robinson and forcing other players to contribute, for which they largely did not.

[D.J.]

Garnett. My only real knock on Admiral was his disappearing in the postseason. Prime example was 1995 against Houston. Hakeem ran circles around Admiral.

The one thing that impressed me with KG was taking scrubs to 50 wins and the playoffs on the regular:


2000(50-32)
Garnett- 23/12/5
Brandon- 17/9/3
Szczerbiak- 12/4/3
Sealy- 11/4
Nesterovic- 5/5

Bench players- Joe Smith(9/6), Peeler(10/3), Sam Mitchell, Bobby Jackson


2001(47-35)
Garnett- 22/11/5
Brandon- 16/8/4
Szczerbiak- 14/6
Peeler- 11/3/3
Nesterovic- 5/4

Bench players- Ellis(9/6), Billups(9/3), Slater, Sam Mitchell, Dean Garrett


2002(50-32)
Garnett- 21/12/5
Szczerbiak- 19/5/3
Brandon(only played 32 games)- 12/8
Smith- 11/6
Nesterovic- 8/7

Bench players- Billups(13/6), Peeler(9/3), Trent, Sam Mitchell, Lopez, Loren Woods


2003(51-31)
Garnett- 23/13/6
Szczerbiak(only played 52 games)- 18/5/3
Hudson- 14/6
Nesterovic- 11/7
Peeler- 8/3/3

Bench players- Gill(9/3), Joe Smith(7/5), Rod Strickland, Trent, Marc Jackson


Some putrid teams KG led to the playoffs.

[Black Mamba's B]

Pretty sure Drob had some decent playoff numbers, he didn't just vanish like some clueless posters claim

[D.J.]

Pretty sure Drob had some decent playoff numbers, he didn't just vanish like some clueless posters claim

Game 6 against Phoenix 1993- 22 pts on just 6/15 shooting in game 6, including Barkley nailing the game winning 20 footer in his grill.


1994 against Utah- 20/10 in 4 games on 41% shooting. 12/9 in game 2 and 16/11 on 8/21 in game 3.


1995 against Houston- averaged 24/11 on less than 45% shooting. Hakeem averaged 35/13/5/4 on 56% shooting. Those include games of 41/16/4/3/2, 43/11/5/4, and 42/9/8/5.


1996 against Utah- averaged 19/9 in 6 games. Outplayed by Malone.

[Warfan]

Pretty sure Drob had some decent playoff numbers, he didn't just vanish like some clueless posters claim

Yeah, I mentioned in the OP that he had a few disappointing series:

Blazers 93: 19PPG on .426FG%, down from 23.4PPG on .501fg% in the reg. season

Utah 94: 20PPG on .411FG%, down from 30PPG on .507FG% in the reg. season

Denver 95: 19PPG on .429FG%, down from 27.6PPG on .530FG% in the reg. season

Houston 95: 24PPG on .449FG%, down from 27.6PPG on .530FG% in the reg. season

Utah 96: 19.3PPG on .475FG%, down from 25PPG on .516FG% in the reg. season

[MMM]

Anyone who thinks Pierce got that for anything other than being a lifetime Celtic is kidding themselves.



For building a team, it's just whether you want a closer to the basket big, or a stretch big. I prefer KG to Robinson, but it's not like either is really much better than the other.

KG was the better player in the playoffs and would of won FMVP if he shot a bit better from the field. KG was still the better overall player in that series but Pierce did lead the team in scoring, avg over 6 assists, and played good defense on Kobe down the stretch of games. Ray also did a good job defensively on Kobe and it helped that they both had KG backing them up.

[Dragonyeuw]

However you rank them, I think they're pretty close to one another. I have them at the lower end of the top 20 GOAT list.

Scoring- Robinson
Rebounding- wash
Passing-Garnett
Defense- arguable either way, Garnett's tenacity and versatility against Admiral's shotblocking

I don't think there's 'major' edges in any category. Career-wise, I think Robinson's legacy took a hit from being abused by Hakeem in 95( I also believe that entire 95 run significantly boosted Hakeem's legacy). I think their careers are comparable in terms of accolades, Robinson has one more ring but he was a roleplayer in 03, and a complimentary star to Duncan in 99. Garnett was the best overall player on that 08 Celtics squad, the anchor if you will. I do think that we were robbed of seeing better things from Garnett due to the mediocrity of his Twolves rosters during most of his prime.