Westbrook vs. MJ

[StephHamann]

Why even compare them? Westbrook can clean MJ's boots and that's it.

[KingPush]

Interesting, they are both terrible shooters that rely only on their athleticism so I definitely see the comparison

Of course MJ is better though, since he has about 3 inches of height on him

[Dragonyeuw]

Why even compare them? Westbrook can clean MJ's boots and that's it.

It's not so much about comparing as it is extrapolation. Westbrook is 3 inches shorter, an inferior vertical, an inferior shooter, infinitely inferior IQ......and he's a top 5 player. Now, take that player, add 3 inches of height, higher vertical, GOAT level mid-range shooting, all-time great IQ and awareness, fundamentals, all-time great perimeter defensive skills...he would dominate the league. What I described there is 89-93, AKA peak, MJ.

[3ball]

Interesting, they are [COLOR="Red"]both terrible shooters[/COLOR] that rely only on their athleticism

MJ was one of the best shooters ever inside 20 feet, much better than Curry.

Of course MJ is better though, since [COLOR="Red"]he has about 3 inches of height on him[/COLOR]

Can you imagine if we gave Westbrook 3 more inches AND improved his midrange percentage by 10 points AND made him smarter with more hops?

YIKES... He'd be the GOAT, easily.
.

[BlakFrankWhite]

Westbrook would average a triple double in the 90s

[3ball]

Westbrook would average a triple double in the 90s

That doesn't make sense, since Jordan never averaged a triple-double for a whole season, even though he was 3 inches taller, much smarter, more hops, and shot 10 percentage points better from midrange.

Also, you don't seem to understand that Westbrook would be FORCED to pull-up from midrange in previous eras much more than he does today, due to overcrowded paints that made penetration physically possible.

Here's a thread discussing how the lack of 3-point shooting allowed defenders to overcrowd the paint:

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...0#post12327030

[ClipperRevival]

.
Westbrook is poor man's Jordan with an inferior vertical:






Compare to regular Jordan:








It makes sense that a poor man's Jordan would be the best player in today's game, as of today - Westbrook thrives even though he's 3 inches shorter than Jordan, not nearly as smart, a much worse shooter, and can't jump as high.

Enjoy those facts

Based on what we see from poor man's Jordan, regular Jordan would average 50 in today's game.

That 2nd gif is amazing. No head start and look at the explosion and elevation off the floor. MJ's athleticism was amazing. He just did it with no wasted motion so it didn't look as explosive as guys who get that deep knee bend on their jumps and explode off the floor. MJ was just pure fluidity in movement and that can deceive the eye.

[Dragonyeuw]

That 2nd gif is amazing. No head start and look at the explosion and elevation off the floor. MJ's athleticism was amazing. He just did it with no wasted motion so it didn't look as explosive as guys who get that deep knee bend on their jumps and explode off the floor. MJ was just pure fluidity in movement and that can deceive the eye.

Yeah, they're both amazing really. To have that kind of explosiveness with pretty much little forward momentum is crazy.

[ClipperRevival]

Yeah, they're both amazing really. To have that kind of explosiveness with pretty much little forward momentum is crazy.

Well, in the 2nd gif, he stopped and really had no momentum. It was pretty much a stand still jump off two feet. In the 3rd gif, you could see he is running from mid-court so he had much greater momentum. But still a great dunk.

[3ball]

Well, in the 2nd gif, he stopped and really had no momentum. It was pretty much [COLOR="Red"]a stand still jump off two feet.[/COLOR]

Stand-still posters off 2 feet were standard for Jordan..

Here's posters on Shaq, Barkley, Olajuwon (and1), and Robinson:

[ClipperRevival]

Always appreciate your gifs of MJ, makes me appreciate MJ even more. I don't know if anyone was more explosive off a quick hop step than MJ.

[AirFederer]

Dat dunk on Chuck is an (unknown) ATG!!! Just insane elevation off of no speed.

[Cold soul]

I really miss MJ playing man truly once in lifetime experience highly unlikely we ever seen player as good as Jordan if not better.

[navy]

I really miss MJ playing man truly once in lifetime experience highly unlikely we ever seen player as good as Jordan if not better.

Curry exist

[OldSchoolBBall]

Always appreciate your gifs of MJ, makes me appreciate MJ even more. I don't know if anyone was more explosive off a quick hop step than MJ.

Definitely not. His quickness off the ground after the hop step, and the fact that he could get serious air without really bending his knees, was unparalleled. He was, in my opinion, not only the best leaper off a hop-step ever, but the best hop step player in history (Iverson is second imo). He knew exactly when and how to use it perfectly. Jordan could take a large or short hop step in any direction, and then jump in any ddirection off that hop step - even in a different direction from the direction of the original hop step. Perfect example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tR11lrtHUw#t=0m36s