Magic
Jordon
Bird
Duncan
Russell
Substitute Garnett for Duncan, and you've got a winner.
I like prime Duncan better. More likely to work the low post on offense.
I guess I'd prefer Garnett for the exact opposite reason. Better floor spacing. With Russell down low, Garnett being more of a pick-and-pop player opens up the floor for Magic, MJ and Bird. KG's screen setting abilities might give this team an edge as well.
Garnett was also a better passer, rebounder and defender. Not by a lot, but noticeably enough to make a difference.
I've always salivated at the thought of what Russ and KG could do on D.
I do also think what 'mmmmm' said in an earlier post deserves some thought. With Bird and MJ already on the roster, it might be a better overall team with the Glove at PG for defensive purposes. GP, KG and Russ would be scary.
Duncan and KG are equals in terms of rebounding and defense. Both can hit an open jumpshot. With all the perimeter offense out there, I want a guy who can post up. Both Bird and Magic had great success with low post offensive threats.
And I want to see Bird and Magic on the same team. When they played together in the Olympics (before they were NBA stars), the passing those two did was great.
Your comment implies that KG was not able to post up. The fact is, KG was (and actually still IS) a fantastic post-up player. One of his signature scoring moves has always been and continues to be his post-up, shake-and-turn jumper from about 4 feet that is almost impossible to stop. He has at least 5 variations of this move that leave defenders basically guessing what he's going to do.
Here are 5 minutes of absolute viewing pleasure:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=1VQVYrtnYzsThe thing about KG though, is that he provides tremendous overall offensive _value_ to a team offense with his ability to stretch the defense.
Indeed, KG is probably THE most significant pioneer of the modern 'stretch big'. Because he can consistently hit that 16-23 foot jumper at almost 50% (a truly ridiculous number if you think about it), he absolutely
commands an opposing big man to have to come out of the paint to defend him. This, in turn, means that there is only one big left inside to defend the post against KG's teammates.
This ability to stretch has made it important for KG to take a large percentage of his shots from outside. That doesn't mean he doesn't also have the ability to score down low. Look at Game 2 of this series - that's what Doc changed the offense to try to do (feeding KG in the post) - and it was working, except that the ridiculous foul trouble kept KG from staying on the floor.
KG in his prime was an unstoppable beast inside and could create points in a much wider variety of ways than Duncan.
To suggest Duncan was a better post-up player is not, imho, accurate. Duncan was/is a great low-post scorer and has tended to score _more_ of his points down low. KG, imho, was/is just as good a low-post scorer, but simply scored a smaller share of his points that way because he is a much more versatile overall offensive weapon.
Even though KG took a larger share of his shots from farther from the basket (lower percentage shots), his overall TS% and eFG% are nearly identical to Duncan's. Indeed, though he has taken fewer shots 'at rim' and 'in close' compared to Duncan, his FG% at those ranges is actually better. In fact, overall, KG has been a better shooter from every range than Duncan.
Duncan has been a truly great player and I'm not going to argue who, in the end is the absolute 'better' player between he and KG. And Duncan was and is a more consistent low post _presence_ on offense. But KG was and is much more multi-talented on offense than Duncan and, imho, just as good in the low post when he needed to be there.
