CB Historical Draft: Vote Best Power Forward of the Era

[nickagneta]

Now that the CB Historical Draft is nearing it's end, we get to look back and vote on who were the best of the best for that era. Here is the first. If you want to vote for a player not listed, just post their name here.

[Roy Hobbs]

I'd rank them:

1. Duncan
2. Malone
3. KG
4. Barkley

But really, you can't go wrong with any of those guys; I can see an argument for any of them as #1, especially the top three of them.

[DavorCroatiaFan]

KG.
Duncan is basiclly center, Dirk SF, Mailman choke artist and Sir Charles got (hopefully) 2 rings less then KG.

[Donoghus]

Extremely tough question but I gotta go with Duncan. 

[wdleehi]

Duncan.  He and Shaq own the era.

[rondo987]

1- Duncan
2- Malone
3- Barkley
4- Garnett
5- Dirk

Duncan is the best, in my opinion. You can't forget about everything the mailman did and accomplished (besides winning a ring ofcourse), along with Barley. The unfortunate part is that if either one of those players were playing in a different era than the 90s, they both probably would have had rings. I love KG, but I think those 3 were slightly better.

[nickagneta]

KG brings one hell of a resume to the table here:

-MVP
-Defensive Player of the Year
-13-Time All-Star
-All-Star MVP
-8-Time All Defense First Team
-2-Time All-Defense Second Team
-4-Time All-NBA First Team
-2-Time All-NBA Second Team
-2-Time All-NBA Third Team
-4-Time(Consecutive) NBA Leader in Rebounds per game
-Current NBA Leader among active players in Total Rebounds for career
-One of just a couple of players in league history to average 20+PPG, 10+RPG and 5+ APG for 5 consecutive seasons
-2-Time League Leader in PER
-4-Time finisher in top 3 balloting for MVP
-Had one of the greatest seasons ever by any player in the era in 2003-04 when he lead the league in points, FGs made, FGs attempted, defensive rebounds, total rebounds, rebounds per game, PER, defensive rebounding percentage, win shares and win shares per 48 minutes
-has the second most career assists by a power forward in the history of the NBA and will probably finish his career as the NBA career leader in assists by a power forward
-the only active player that is in the top ten amongst active players for points scored in their career(4), rebounds accrued in their career(1) and assists given out in their career(9)

[KCattheStripe]

Neither Duncan nor KG would have beaten Michael either.

[Roy Hobbs]

KG brings one hell of a resume to the table here:

-MVP
-Defensive Player of the Year
-13-Time All-Star
-All-Star MVP
-8-Time All Defense First Team
-2-Time All-Defense Second Team
-4-Time All-NBA First Team
-2-Time All-NBA Second Team
-2-Time All-NBA Third Team
-4-Time(Consecutive) NBA Leader in Rebounds per game
-Current NBA Leader among active players in Total Rebounds for career
-One of just a couple of players in league history to average 20+PPG, 10+RPG and 5+ APG for 5 consecutive seasons
-2-Time League Leader in PER
-4-Time finisher in top 3 balloting for MVP
-Had one of the greatest seasons ever by any player in the era in 2003-04 when he lead the league in points, FGs made, FGs attempted, defensive rebounds, total rebounds, rebounds per game, PER, defensive rebounding percentage, win shares and win shares per 48 minutes
-has the second most career assists by a power forward in the history of the NBA and will probably finish his career as the NBA career leader in assists by a power forward
-the only active player that is in the top ten amongst active players for points scored in their career(4), rebounds accrued in their career(1) and assists given out in their career(9)

I'd take Duncan's:

2 MVPs
3 Finals MVPs
1 All-star MVP
12 All-star appearances (every year he's been in the league)
8 Time All Defense First Team
5 Time All Defense Second Team
9 Time All-NBA First Team
3 Time All-NBA Second Team
1 Time All-NBA Third Team
5 Times in the top ten in PPG
12 Times in the top ten in RPG
10 Times in the top ten in BPG
 
... and of course, four rings.

(Duncan did quite well in "imaginary" stats like PER (12 times top 10) Wins Shares, Defensive Wins Shares (12 times in top 10, 5 times best in NBA, active leader, 7th best all-time), and Defensive Rating (13 times in top 10, 4 times best in NBA, active leader, second best all-time), too.)

[nickagneta]

KG brings one hell of a resume to the table here:

-MVP
-Defensive Player of the Year
-13-Time All-Star
-All-Star MVP
-8-Time All Defense First Team
-2-Time All-Defense Second Team
-4-Time All-NBA First Team
-2-Time All-NBA Second Team
-2-Time All-NBA Third Team
-4-Time(Consecutive) NBA Leader in Rebounds per game
-Current NBA Leader among active players in Total Rebounds for career
-One of just a couple of players in league history to average 20+PPG, 10+RPG and 5+ APG for 5 consecutive seasons
-2-Time League Leader in PER
-4-Time finisher in top 3 balloting for MVP
-Had one of the greatest seasons ever by any player in the era in 2003-04 when he lead the league in points, FGs made, FGs attempted, defensive rebounds, total rebounds, rebounds per game, PER, defensive rebounding percentage, win shares and win shares per 48 minutes
-has the second most career assists by a power forward in the history of the NBA and will probably finish his career as the NBA career leader in assists by a power forward
-the only active player that is in the top ten amongst active players for points scored in their career(4), rebounds accrued in their career(1) and assists given out in their career(9)

I'd take Duncan's:

2 MVPs
3 Finals MVPs
1 All-star MVP
12 All-star appearances (every year he's been in the league)
8 Time All Defense First Team
5 Time All Defense Second Team
9 Time All-NBA First Team
3 Time All-NBA Second Team
1 Time All-NBA Third Team
5 Times in the top ten in PPG
12 Times in the top ten in RPG
10 Times in the top ten in BPG
 
... and of course, four rings.

(Duncan did quite well in "imaginary" stats like PER (12 times top 10) Wins Shares, Defensive Wins Shares (12 times in top 10, 5 times best in NBA, active leader, 7th best all-time), and Defensive Rating (13 times in top 10, 4 times best in NBA, active leader, second best all-time), too.)

Real, real close. What I think separates these two from the likes of Malone and Barley is that they made players around them better. I can't say that I saw that in Barkley and Malone.

I just think, taken out of the teams they were playing on that KG was a better overall player. I think Duncan had certain advantages like coming into the league more experienced, coming into the league under the tutelage of David Robinson, playing under one of the best coach's and talent evaluator and developers in the league in Greg Popovich and genuinely being surrounded by better overall players.

KG on the other hand never got to play with a player the caliber of Manu or Parker, never mind Robinson, until he came to Boston with a good 12 years of his career gone. That's definitely something I took into consideration when trying to decide between them. Tough, tough choice overall, though.

To me these two are the cream of the crop and you can't go wrong picking either as the best of the era. So that being said, I let the home town bias shine.

[Fan from VT]

Let the record show that despite being my starting PF, I did NOT vote for Malone as best PF of the era!! so those two votes he got so far are from other people.

[KCattheStripe]

Nick: Karl Malone didn't make JohN Stockton better?

[nickagneta]

Nick: Karl Malone didn't make JohN Stockton better?

I would argue it was the other way around.

Without Stockton pushing a pace complimentary to Malone's presence and without Stockton to deliver him the ball in the best position for Malone while also getting it at the exact time Malone would be most effective with the ball, would Malone be who he was.

Look at Tyson Chandler and Twight Howard as examples. Tyson Chandler had his best offensive years with a great point guard in Chris Paul and was near All-Star caliber with FG% near league leading heights when playing with him. Without him he's pretty much a stiff. Now look at Dwight Howard and think just how much better would he be with a true play making, passing first, floor general type PG like Williams or Rondo?

I say Stockton made Malone better, not the other way around.

[KCattheStripe]

Nick: Karl Malone didn't make JohN Stockton better?

I would argue it was the other way around.

Without Stockton pushing a pace complimentary to Malone's presence and without Stockton to deliver him the ball in the best position for Malone while also getting it at the exact time Malone would be most effective with the ball, would Malone be who he was.

Look at Tyson Chandler and Twight Howard as examples. Tyson Chandler had his best offensive years with a great point guard in Chris Paul and was near All-Star caliber with FG% near league leading heights when playing with him. Without him he's pretty much a stiff. Now look at Dwight Howard and think just how much better would he be with a true play making, passing first, floor general type PG like Williams or Rondo?

I say Stockton made Malone better, not the other way around.

Without a guy with the physical tools and toughness to be the second leading scorer in NBA history, would Stockon's passing ability be remembered as well? Without as dominating a presence rolling to the basket would Stockton have had as much room to get his shot off?

The idea that Malone was even comparably as limited a scorer as Dwight Howard, let alone Tyson Chandler, is just not one I can even remotely buy into. Those two made each other great, neither of them would be as successful without the other.

[nickagneta]

Nick: Karl Malone didn't make JohN Stockton better?

I would argue it was the other way around.

Without Stockton pushing a pace complimentary to Malone's presence and without Stockton to deliver him the ball in the best position for Malone while also getting it at the exact time Malone would be most effective with the ball, would Malone be who he was.

Look at Tyson Chandler and Twight Howard as examples. Tyson Chandler had his best offensive years with a great point guard in Chris Paul and was near All-Star caliber with FG% near league leading heights when playing with him. Without him he's pretty much a stiff. Now look at Dwight Howard and think just how much better would he be with a true play making, passing first, floor general type PG like Williams or Rondo?

I say Stockton made Malone better, not the other way around.

Without a guy with the physical tools and toughness to be the second leading scorer in NBA history, would Stockon's passing ability be remembered as well? Without as dominating a presence rolling to the basket would Stockton have had as much room to get his shot off?

The idea that Malone was even comparably as limited a scorer as Dwight Howard, let alone Tyson Chandler, is just not one I can even remotely buy into. Those two made each other great, neither of them would be as successful without the other.

And I would argue that does Deron Williams and Chris Paul have dominant scorers that make them get better shots or increase their assist numbers? No. So why would Stockton need Malone to still be a dominating PG?

I am not putting Malone in the same category as Howard and Chandler. All I am pointing out is that with and without great PGs they were better and worse because of it. Malone was definitely better because of Stockton but I just don't see that Malone made Stockton better as the very best point guards are great no matter who they play with.

Look at Marion's career with and without Nash. What was KG's best year in his prime? The one with the best PG.