Greatest power forwards of all time

[DavorCroatiaFan]

First, for me Tim Duncan is a center. Period. I don't care if his name is on a forwards all-star ballot, Tim D. is a center. With that said, the 5 greatest PF in the history are Bob Pettit, Kevin McHale, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone and Kevin Garnett.
Would banner #18 bring KG in top spot? I think it should...
Pettit was a great scorer and rebounder but not so good passer and defensive player
McHale was perfect PF. Greatest post moves of all-time, could guard all 3 frontcourt position...
Barkley was unique, lacked the drive of Larry, Magic or MJ to be the best...
Malone was Wilt of PF's. Champions of meaningless games and big time choker...
KG was a beast in Minny, now is finally healthy and i hope can lead us to #18 and his place as the greatest power forward of all-time.
What do you guys thinks?

[Roy H.]

I'm totally biased, but I'd rank them:

1. Duncan (played PF the majority of his career)
2. McHale
3. KG
4. Malone
5. Barkley

I don't think I'd move KG up, no matter how this season finishes.

[Fafnir]

KG is top 5 to me, even if you consider Duncan a PF.

Duncan, Malone, Barkley, KG, McHale would be my top 5 in no particular order. Though due to his very short peak I could easily be persuaded to move McHale down a few slots to make room for older players.

[Edgar]

Kevin McHale


Duncan





Garnett,Malone and Barkley,  Isnt Worthi pf considerable.

[slamtheking]

I'm totally biased, but I'd rank them:

1. Duncan (played PF the majority of his career)
2. McHale
3. KG
4. Malone
5. Barkley

I don't think I'd move KG up, no matter how this season finishes.

Based on players I've personally seen play (80's through now), I'd go along with this ranking.  I'd only consider Duncan ahead of Mchale because of his durability and his being the main cog on 4 titles (Robinson was a big factor but Timmy was the prime piece of the early titles). 

Not to mention, I do have a bias for that last name too   

[DavorCroatiaFan]

Mister Roy, i'm not so sure that Duncan played majority of times at PF. Since Admiral retired, only legit center on Spurs team was Nesterovic, who logged 20-25 minutes...Last couple of years Duncan partners were Bonner, Blair, McDyess...all PF's. And remember in clutch situations it was Horry at PF and Duncan at C. But i agree with McHale being ahead of Chuck and Mailman...
Peace

[hardlyyardley]

Call me crazy but I always thought Karl Malone was overrated....lived off of John Stockton

Elvin Hayes or Wes Unseld deserve consideration

[DavorCroatiaFan]

Unseld was maybe 6-5, but played center all the time. Hayes is definitly a top 10.

[drza44]

1. Garnett
2. Duncan
3. Malone

Next tier holds many greats, including Petit, Barkley, Mchale, Dirk, and possibly a few others.

Garnett and Duncan are very close, but I think Garnett peaked a bit higher.  Malone was awesome as well, but a step behind the other two due to their awesome defensive abilities.  Malone was a good defensive 1-on-1 player, in the mold of but not as good as Mchale.  Mchale was an excellent 1-on-1 defender of several positions.

But Garnett and Duncan have demonstrated an ability to anchor a team defense unprecedented for the power forward position.  To not just hold down their individual assignment, but to also be dominant help defenders and rebounders as well.  It's supposed to be the center that anchors the defense, but both KG and Duncan did it from the 4 (depending, of course, on how you characterize Duncan.  Here, I'm lumping him with other PFs and not centers).

KG was unique in that he also demonstrated a similar team-impact effect on offense as well.  While Malone and Barkley were better scorers, KG's offensive impact was much larger than his gross scoring numbers due to his ability to pass, initiate the offense, space the floor, or just pick-the-heck-out-of-everyone.  It's why his team's tend to look so much stronger offensively with him on the court.

If your criteria is based on accolades, obviously Duncan with his 4 rings trumps the competition.  But based on who impacted games more, these would be the top of my rankings

[Redz]

probably a little biased but I'd take McHale over anyone at his position since he retired,

[Roy H.]

Mister Roy, i'm not so sure that Duncan played majority of times at PF. Since Admiral retired, only legit center on Spurs team was Nesterovic, who logged 20-25 minutes...Last couple of years Duncan partners were Bonner, Blair, McDyess...all PF's. And remember in clutch situations it was Horry at PF and Duncan at C. But i agree with McHale being ahead of Chuck and Mailman...
Peace

Duncan was definitely a hybrid of the two positions, but according to 82games.com, he played more minutes at PF than C in 2003 (the earliest season they have data for), 2004 and 2006.  In 2005, the minutes were split pretty much identically.  From 2007 on, Duncan has been more of a primary center, although he still sees minutes at PF.

I think that pretty much meshes with my recollection.  Duncan has played both positions, but he had his most success at PF.

[Neurotic Guy]

Offensively, it's a tough call, probably as follows:
Duncan
McHale
Malone
Barkley
KG

Rebounding, Barkley did more to impact a game than any of the above, IMO, and was inch for inch (not pound for pound), the best at the position. 

Defensively, KG gets the nod -- I think the only Defensive Player of the Year award winner of the bunch.

TD - 2 MVP awards
Mailman  -  2 MVP awards
KG - 1 MVP award


Impossible to decide.  Suffice it to say that if you started a team with any of the above, you'd be off to a great start.
 

[pearljammer10]

First, for me Tim Duncan is a center. Period. I don't care if his name is on a forwards all-star ballot, Tim D. is a center. With that said, the 5 greatest PF in the history are Bob Pettit, Kevin McHale, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone and Kevin Garnett.
Would banner #18 bring KG in top spot? I think it should...
Pettit was a great scorer and rebounder but not so good passer and defensive player
McHale was perfect PF. Greatest post moves of all-time, could guard all 3 frontcourt position...
Barkley was unique, lacked the drive of Larry, Magic or MJ to be the best...
Malone was Wilt of PF's. Champions of meaningless games and big time choker...
KG was a beast in Minny, now is finally healthy and i hope can lead us to #18 and his place as the greatest power forward of all-time.
What do you guys thinks?

Duncan is definitely a Power Forward, no question about it, and with that said he is number one of all time when putting talent, winning, and leadership into a combination vote.

Others: Barkley, Mchale, Malone, Garnett

[KobeShesNotConsenting!]

guys, something i think that gets really underrated by people, is LONGEVITY.  I think right now it's clear to me that KG's giving his team more than TD is. Again, Longevity. It's crazy that Bird was cooked at 33 but yet look at what Kg's still doin a year older than that. He might get Defensive Player of the Year again! Longevity is the reason why i think that Pierce might be able to be considered as good as bird at the end of his career. Cus if he can win these next couple years (big if, i know) he'll have as many, and he will have lasted longer as an effective player. But back to KG. I think that if he's able to get a ring this year and a third one next year, he should not only be on duncan's level as greatest ever, i think he should get the nod OVER duncan. Because if KG wins the next 2 years, your talkin about 3 rings vs 4 rings. And KG will have done that at the END of his career, past what his prime should be. While Duncan had the fortune of bein put on great teams his whole career (yes, he made them great as well but still) KG only got a real chance at the end of his career. (besides that injured team back in 04). For the record, I already think KG's better just based off how great he still is defensively and the potential of winning the next couple years.

[Fafnir]

Mister Roy, i'm not so sure that Duncan played majority of times at PF. Since Admiral retired, only legit center on Spurs team was Nesterovic, who logged 20-25 minutes...Last couple of years Duncan partners were Bonner, Blair, McDyess...all PF's. And remember in clutch situations it was Horry at PF and Duncan at C. But i agree with McHale being ahead of Chuck and Mailman...
Peace

Duncan was definitely a hybrid of the two positions, but according to 82games.com, he played more minutes at PF than C in 2003 (the earliest season they have data for), 2004 and 2006.  In 2005, the minutes were split pretty much identically.  From 2007 on, Duncan has been more of a primary center, although he still sees minutes at PF.

I think that pretty much meshes with my recollection.  Duncan has played both positions, but he had his most success at PF.

82games trolls from game logs of ESPN I believer, or something like that. So its positional settings aren't the best. Duncan choosing to call himself a PF likely heavily influences what must be a judgement call by them. (along with listings of ESPN)