Elvin Hayes or Bob McAdoo?

[oolalaa]

Peak and career, Hayes or McAdoo?


Both peaked in the early/mid 70s. Both were power forwards/undersized centers. Both were great transition athletes (McAdoo especially) whose games centered around finesse.

Hayes may have had significantly more team success but he had the GREAT fortune of playing with Unseld/Chenier and then Unseld/Dandridge for MOST of the 70s. What could McAdoo have accomplished on those Bullets teams, in place of Hayes?

[ShaqAttack3234]

I'll take McAdoo. Hayes seemed to be the better defensive player and rebounder, but he was a black hole who walked out of some games during the '72 season when Tex Winter tried to get him to be a more willing passer and fit into the triangle(then known as the triple post). Reading about Hayes on the '72 Rockets really lowered my opinion of him. I like his turnaround jumper, but his shot selection was very questionable from what I've seen, and he seemed extremely selfish.

McAdoo impresses me in the Braves games I've seen as a mobile big man with a great outside shot who ran the floor well, and was unusual as a PF/C who could shoot off the dribble, he was also much more efficient than Hayes. McAdoo was also really impressing even coming off the bench on some loaded Laker teams.

[WockaVodka]

I'll go with the Big E but barely.

[jlauber]

Peak...easily McAdoo.
Career...Hayes.

A peak McAdoo, from '74 thru '76, finished 2nd, 1st, and 2nd in the MVP voting, and put up a three-year run of about 32-33 ppg. And he was just as brilliant in the post-season, too.

But Hayes had a stronger overall career.

An interesting side-note...Hayes was listed at 6-8 in college, and McAdoo was usually listed at 6-10. Hayes was measured at 6-9 1/2 before the draft. And I don't know how McAdoo went from 6-10 in college to 6-9 in the pros.

[L.Kizzle]

Peak...easily McAdoo.
Career...Hayes.

A peak McAdoo, from '74 thru '76, finished 2nd, 1st, and 2nd in the MVP voting, and put up a three-year run of about 32-33 ppg. And he was just as brilliant in the post-season, too.

But Hayes had a stronger overall career.

An interesting side-note...Hayes was listed at 6-8 in college, and McAdoo was usually listed at 6-10. Hayes was measured at 6-9 1/2 before the draft. And I don't know how McAdoo went from 6-10 in college to 6-9 in the pros.

It was the afro, it fooled us.

[jlauber]

It was the afro, it fooled us.

I might be wrong, but I believe Gilmore was measured at 7-5 with his afro.

[L.Kizzle]

I might be wrong, but I believe Gilmore was measured at 7-5 with his afro.

Gilmore's fro was bigger than 3 inches. He had one of those big Jermaine Jackson afros.

[oolalaa]

I'll take McAdoo. Hayes seemed to be the better defensive player and rebounder, but he was a black hole who walked out of some games during the '72 season when Tex Winter tried to get him to be a more willing passer and fit into the triangle(then known as the triple post). Reading about Hayes on the '72 Rockets really lowered my opinion of him. I like his turnaround jumper, but his shot selection was very questionable from what I've seen, and he seemed extremely selfish.

McAdoo impresses me in the Braves games I've seen as a mobile big man with a great outside shot who ran the floor well, and was unusual as a PF/C who could shoot off the dribble, he was also much more efficient than Hayes. McAdoo was also really impressing even coming off the bench on some loaded Laker teams.

Agree. As far as I can tell, Hayes was one of the worst 'black holes' in NBA history (Even worse than Moses Malone). For someone as talented as he was, he had very little team success until he joined forces with Unseld and Chenier in '73 and, going by what you mentioned regarding his '72 season, I think it's easy to see why.

For 3 years at his peak, McAdoo was EASILY a top 5 player. I would probably take Hondo and Cowens over him in '74 but he was arguably even better than Kareem in '75 (I think he was. He did win MVP after all, whilst Kareem failed to even lead his team to the playoffs, although I know that him missing a bunch of games early on with a hand injury and several Bucks being injured throughout the season was the main reason for that). He was then lumbered with some pretty mediocre teams in the late 70s.

I try to judge players in a vacuum. I try to look beyond team success and cumalitive career accomplishments. I always bring it back to "What could so and so have done if he played on a particular team instead of ....". Which brings me back to my original question - What could McAdoo have accomplished on those Bullets teams, in place of Hayes?

I see no reason whatsoever why McAdoo couldn't have won AT LEAST one title in Washington. Unseld would have been the PERFECT center for him to play with, considering that Unseld was arguably the best outlet passer in NBA history. Can you imagine how many easy transition points he would have gotten from Dandridge leaking up the court after an Unseld rebound, Unseld finding him with an outlet, and then Dandridge biding his time and making the correct pass (Which he ALWAYS seemed to do) to the streaking McAdoo for a spot up elbow jumper or an easy layup. It would have been fun to watch.

[DaHeezy]

McAdoo can do

I'll take Bob McAdoo. He'd be a killer in today's game.

[Gotterdammerung]

Like others, I'd go with McAdoo over Hayes, due to that brilliant 3 year run alone.

However, he was soft, selfish and a weak defender.

While Hayes played horrible defense, had no fundamentals, and had a shittier attitude, he was probably a better power forward (stronger regarding physical play and rebounding, more durable and consistent).

[feyki]

Hayes had great longevity . McAdoo only played along 3-4 years .

I do take Hayes at careers .

But Mcadoo and also Lanier peaked tier above than Hayes .

[senelcoolidge]

McAdoo's peak is probably one of the best ever for a big man. Hayes again with the longevity. I like McAdoo more, but he only had maybe 5 amazing seasons.

[warriorfan]

give me the guy who beat out prime KAJ for MVP