Why the Blazers will dominate: A brief comparison

by prezofdeath on May 20, 2008 2:37 PM PDT

David Robinson = Greg Oden
A rare dominant center. One of the few big guys who can run the court with grace and catch passes with his soft hands. Has the size and skill to dominate. Excellent leaping ability and timing. A real intimidator. Great finisher. Lateral quickness is unmatched. A solid rebounder with the presence of mind to quickly get the ball to a guard. Underrated passer. Humble.

Tim Duncan = LMA
Extremely smooth post player with a wide array of post-up moves. Excellent touch close to the basket, with the ability to step out for the long two. Soft hands and relatively soft-spoken. Knows how to get in position to rebound with the best of them. A fundamentally sound player who understands the game and could dominate the NBA for a long time.

Robert Horry = Travis Outlaw
A small forward in a power forward's body. Tall enough to play the four, but quick and versatile enough to play the three. A guy who can create mismatches. Not only is he big, but he can get his shot from everywhere, and is a guy his teammates look to when the game is on the line. Has a knack for hitting the big shot.

Bruce Bowen = Martell Webster
A small forward who can lock down the opposing team's main scorer. Fairly athletic, and can handle the ball if need be. Spreads the opposing defense with a solid three point shot.

Manu Ginobili = Rudy
A guy who possesses solid three point range on his jumper, and excels at catch and shoot. Can easily blow by most defenders by using a lightning-quick first step. If required, can play the point guard, and usually does so well. Solid free throw shooter who's silky-smooth European style of play makes your mouth water.

Tony Parker = Brandon Roy
A thinking man's player; shows excellent ball handling skills with the ability to create shots for himself and others. Can play the one or the two; excels in the fourth quarter. Has great composure and confidence. A true team leader.

Gregg Popovich = Nate McMillan

A no-nonsense coach who is respected by his players and assistant coaches alike. In addition to promoting classiness on all his teams and coaching most of them to solid records, the coach has also been a key figure on the USA Olympic Basketball Team coaching staff. A true winner.

Now the comparisons are slightly crude; I don't think we are the Spurs exactly.

But what matters is what you think. Are the comparisons bogus? Is there a team that we could more closely compare ourselves to? Is it an insult to Bruce Bowen to compare him to an unproven Martell Webster? Is Oden going to be better than D-Rob?

Personally, I think we have the advantage when comparing side-by-side, but that's just my thoughts. And we have all the players on the team at the same time. Bear in mind the Spurs never had all those ballers on the same team at the same time. Robinson was long gongFeel free to holler.

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my thoughts

Duncan>>>LMA. Duncan is the greatest PF of all time. LaMarcus is probobly a 1-2 time Allstar. Big difference folks.
Ginobili> Rudy until proven otherwise
Pop>Nate
Bowen>Martell
In prime Horry>>> Raw Outlaw

On the plus side
Parker
Old legs Horry

I don’t want to oversimplify, but our chances of getting anywhere near the Spurs level of success depend on Greg Oden. If he’s David Robinson-esque, we could win multiple titles and even accomplish what the Spurs haven’t (yet)—win back to back championships. The reason is that we’d have Oden and Aldridge in their primes together, which the Spurs never had. If Oden is Joel Przybilla-esque, we’re left a very nice nucleus but no dominant force at the heart of it the way Duncan is (no, not even Roy qualifies).

Our championship dreams rest on Greg and his knees. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Boomshakalaka

by jksnake99 on May 20, 2008 2:50 PM PDT reply actions

darn html

On the plus side, I meant to say Parker is not as good as Roy and the emerging Trout is better than the current decrepit old version of Horry.

Boomshakalaka

by jksnake99 on May 20, 2008 2:52 PM PDT up reply actions

Negative Nancy

"I never worried if there would be an earthquake or something in Oregon, but now I can do." amlmart1

by Sabonis4Ever on May 20, 2008 3:03 PM PDT up reply actions

I would argue that Nate will end up better than Pop

Pop basically pulled a coup in 96 and happened to stumble upon Robinson and Duncan, which all of a sudden made him great. Even with D-Rob, he pulled like a 23 win season in his first year! Nate is winning big with the likes of Seattle and a rebuilding Portland. With a legit team, Nate is better than Pop IMO.

Thanks PA, KP, Nate, BRoy, LMA, GO, 'Tell, Trout, JJ's, Buffet, Blake (not Blakey), Thrilla Hundred-dolla Billa, McBob (just 'cuz you're cool), Sergio (just 'cuz you've got flash), and Raef (ummm...just 'cuz)....and Dean Demo, Maurice, Monty (You rock Monty!), Bill Bayno (good luck with your new job), Bobby, Jay, and everyone else I'm forgetting (scouts, other front office people) who made the Return of Rip City possible, including the media (Mike B., Casey, Dave, Ben). And tominhawaii. Can't forget him.

by prezofdeath on May 20, 2008 2:55 PM PDT reply actions

ummm....

DRob was injured that whole season. That’s why they were bad enough to get Timmy. No doubt Pop’s been lucky, but he’s a heckuva coach also.

Boomshakalaka

by jksnake99 on May 20, 2008 3:01 PM PDT up reply actions

i thought

d rob was still in the military or something

(Woody)

by TheOdenator on May 20, 2008 3:09 PM PDT up reply actions

They had to wait a year or 2...

... for Robinson to finish his military service, but that was long over with by the time Timmay came along.

Boomshakalaka

by jksnake99 on May 20, 2008 3:21 PM PDT up reply actions

Not to mention a long time before Popovich came along

at least as head coach.

It’s also worth mentioning that I don’t believe the six guys above ever played together. 2002-03 was the Admiral’s last year, and Ginobili’s first; Horry was not a member of the team that year.

by EngineerScotty on May 20, 2008 3:34 PM PDT up reply actions

great point

the Spurs have done an unbelievable job at finding new players (stars like Manu and Parker as well as role players from Horry to Ime) to keep a championship contender around Timmy. They easily could have been stuck in “2nd round exit”-ville after Robinson retired, but their front office made the moves to insure that didn’t happen.

Boomshakalaka

by jksnake99 on May 20, 2008 3:37 PM PDT up reply actions

Fair point snake

Forgot about that. Bet they never guessed D-Rob getting hurt would be the best thing to happen to the franchise.

by prezofdeath on May 20, 2008 3:17 PM PDT up reply actions

Hopefully

Oden being out for a year and spending it getting super buff and working on his shot, and allowing LMA and Roy to blossom first, will be the best thing to ever happen to us as well.

I don’t think it’s too unreasonable, dammit.

Mortimer

by Mortimer on May 20, 2008 3:38 PM PDT up reply actions

Nah, Robinson was injured

but they still tanked that year. He should’ve been fine to come back by midway through the season.

Ever see that clip of Barkley that year talking about how pissed he was that they tanked that season, and how they’d be punished by karma or the basketball gods or something? They replayed it on TNT a year or two ago. I remember the Celtics fans being totally indignant too. After the fact of course.

by howlingfantods on May 21, 2008 11:01 AM PDT up reply actions

There are many blueprints to success

While the one the Spurs have undertaken is a fine one, it is not the only one.

Expanding on a prior point: The Spurs first title-the lockout year-featured only Duncan and Robinson from the above list; the other starters on that team were Sean (it hurts to remember that 3 in Game 2 of the WCF) Elliot, Avery Johnson, and Mario Elie.

Their second title, in ‘03 (after the Lakers ran off 3 straight with Shaq and Kobe), also had Robinson, but he was at the tail end of his career, and Duncan and Parker were the men. Ginobili was a rook that year, and came off the bench behind Steve Smith, but played awesome in the playoffs. Bowen was the starting SF, of course.

The Spurs teams since have featured a Przybilla-esque hunk of meat in the post alongside Duncan—it seems each year the Spurs deploy a different journeyman center to haul down rebounds and stay out of Tim’s way.

There is much we don’t know about next year’s team. Assuming good health, we know three of the five starters, and can make a reasonable guess about the fourth; but we may not have a roster comparable to San Antonio.

Besides-the 60s Celts may be a better model, if Oden is as advertised. While the Admiral is a fine player, he never did squat in the playoffs until Duncan arrived. Much of that isn’t his fault; as the Spurs front office was inept through the early 90s (and suffered through a run of incomptent coaching by the likes of Bob Hill, Tark the Shark, and John Lucas-ew), but you think that the Spurs coulda broken through at least once. Of course, it wouldn’t have mattered-Jordan would have squashed them in the Finals anyway, but hey…

by EngineerScotty on May 20, 2008 3:51 PM PDT reply actions

Are you referring to the falling-out-of-bounds shot?

Where his foot was on the line. Yah. That hurt.

by prezofdeath on May 20, 2008 4:31 PM PDT up reply actions

Well said

David Robinson was a great player but more finesse than power. GO can be both so I am hoping he will eventually be much better than David.

Aldridge said. "We feel like we can beat any team. We feel like we can beat the Spurs, Suns, Lakers, Mavericks, whoever any night right now, and we'll still be here when those teams get old and their guys retire. We're going to be here for a long time."

by lee3022 on May 20, 2008 7:52 PM PDT up reply actions

Here's mine...

Greg Oden>David Robinson…

I’m starting to jump back on the Oden bandwagon. I think he is going to be what we think he is and better. He is a low-post dominant center and a winner. He has some of the best timing on his shot-blocking I have ever seen and his freakish athletecism will only improve over the years. I think his offense is already underrated, and he can improve so much on it, it’s not even funny. He has a chance to be Dwight Howard but 2 inches taller, bigger, with a more refined offensive game, and a better defender/shot-blocker. Scary. Plus, he has a much better philosophy than David. He likes to bang inside whereas Robinson was more finesse. I think given health, Oden will go down as better than Robinson.

Verdict – Superstar center

LMA

Sorry, but I don’t think Aldridge will ever reach Duncan’s level. Aldridge may put up Duncan’s career scoring numbers, but won’t ever have his rebounding or shot-blocking skills (The beautiful thing with having Oden though, is he won’t need to) or overall intangibles. I do think Aldridge will be a multi-time all-star though.

Verdict – All-Star Power Forward

Travis>Horry

Travis can be so much better than Horry it’s not even funny. He’s currently better than Horry, though probably not as good as Horry was in his prime. Horry was never more than a role-player at best. Whereas Travis can be a deadly scorer and has already shown Horry-esque clutchness.

Verdict – Solid Role player; possible All-Star potential

Martell=Bowen

I have no doubt that Martell will be the better offense player than Bowen, he already is. But I don’t think he will be a better defensive player. Not even close. Bowen is one of the best perimeter players of all-time. I think overall they cancel each other out.

Verdict – Solid Role Player

Manu>Rudy

For now. I’m not crazy enough to say Rudy is going to be Ginobili yet. Does he have the potential to be? Possibly, but I think we need to see more of what he can do before putting him on that level.

Verdict – Exlplosive Role Player; Possible All-Star potenial

Roy>Parker

I think Roy is already arguably better than Parker. He has a much more complete offensive game and is a better defender and shooter. Plus he is a better leader and I think that puts him over the top. He is going to improve as well.

Verdict – All-Star Shooting Guard; Possible Superstar potential

Pop > Nate

I think Nate has a lot to prove before he can be mentioned in the same breath as Popovich. I like Nate’s mentality, though, and it is quite possible he can reach his status.

Verdict – Hard-nosed coach that will get the most out of his players.

Oden+Roy+Aldridge+Rudy=Dynasty. Believe

by OdenRoyLMA on May 20, 2008 9:49 PM PDT reply actions