Is Pistol Pete Maravich Overrated or Underrated?

[Round Mound]

http://i.cdn.turner.com/sivault/multimedia/photo_gallery/1002/this.day.sports.history.feb25/images/pete-maravich.jpg

From what i`ve seen in videos this dude was a genious. He was like Larry Bird at SG and not a Bad Athlete.

His Passing and Shooting Skills where Off the Charts.

Great Fundamental Ball Handling with BOTH Hands

Why is he not talked about much? Not winning a Ring?

He was White?

If you look at the Videos he did some unique things that i`ve only seen Bird do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5-J2Spj7kg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHmgWeY7heM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIu6t7VWzZI&feature=related

[TheAesirsFinest]

I'm way too young to have seen Pistol play, but watching highlight videos to analyze and judge a player's abilities is just :facepalm

[Round Mound]

I'm way too young to have seen Pistol play, but watching highlight videos to analyze and judge a player's abilities is just :facepalm

Among "All Time Skilled" Players, Pete must be in the Discussion

[Kblaze8855]

Being white? As a reason hes overlooked?

No.

Exciting white players generally get more props than black ones if only for being more rare and much more relatable to fans.

Bet your ass that if we get a white Baron Davis he would be a bigger star than the actual Baron Davis ever was.

[cuad]

Watched the first link.. Pete does about every iconic move you've ever seen except for Dr. J's reverse. Even Hakeem's dream shake is in there.

[Inception28]

Underappreciated for how he impacted the NBA, overrated for making the top 50 players of all-time in '97 though.

[Go Getter]

Way overrated dude has style in spades but wasn't a complete player/winner.

[Collie]

The Tracy McGrady of his time.

[Asukal]

Pete has skills way ahead of his time. Just watch his dribbling demonstrations, the guy can do a lot of things not many players today can do. He's under appreciated probably because looking back into history he didn't have the mentality of a winner and he was self centered. :confusedshrug:

[pete's montreux]

He is the 1970's LeBron in terms if scrutiny and overall hatred. He was the scapegoat for every professional team he ever played on.

Que the posters who will say his teammates were bad, and then Que the posters who will look up his teammates and find the highest scoring players and then post about how his teammates weren't bad, even though no one remembers a single player he ever played with.

[Psileas]

What's certain is that he was overrated as a collage player. A lot of strengths but also a lot of weak spots for him to be considered GOAT or strong candidate. Claiming that he is is like claiming that a guy like Gervin or Wilkins or Iverson has some case of being the GOAT in the NBA.
He had incredible range. He was quick and cunning. He was flashy. He rebounded OK. Huge scoring numbers. But:

He played for his father, who gave him the green light to do anything he pleased. He didn't play defense. He commited a lot of turnovers (true, his teammates were not always ready for his passes, but this should concern him, as well). He hogged the ball. He didn't care about his shooting percentages. And he never got his team too far in the tournament (or in the NBA for that matter).

[jlauber]

Pete has skills way ahead of his time. Just watch his dribbling demonstrations, the guy can do a lot of things not many players today can do. He's under appreciated probably because looking back into history he didn't have the mentality of a winner and he was self centered. :confusedshrug:

And Maravich was playing college ball in the 60's too (not just playing...but averaging 43.8 ppg, 44.2 ppg, and 44.5 ppg.) And, as you stated, he was doing things back then that even "White Chocolate" Williams couldn't duplicate. But even more interesting...for those that trash the players of the 60's and 70's...Maravich was never considered among the best guards of his era. Players like West (who has been laughingly accused of not being able to dribble with his left hand) and Oscar, and even "Tiny" Archibald were ranked way ahead of Pistol Pete.

[Rooster]

Pete has skills way ahead of his time. Just watch his dribbling demonstrations, the guy can do a lot of things not many players today can do. He's under appreciated probably because looking back into history he didn't have the mentality of a winner and he was self centered. :confusedshrug:

Yes his skills were way ahead of his time so did his ball hogging and showboating. Behind all those fancy passes were his selfish approach to the game. He was skilled but overrated. Not a type of player who made everyone look better like Magic or Nash. And that was the reason his team was mediocre.

[NastaMaverick]

probably overrated because he had kind of an underwhelming career, considering the hype he got...

but damn, he's gotta be a Top 5 most fun player to watch of all time...


:bowdown:

[pauk]

underrated... one of my fav players of all time...

drazen petrovich
pete maravich
yugoslavian pride
:bowdown:

[Asukal]

Yes his skills were way ahead of his time so did his ball hogging and showboating. Behind all those fancy passes were his selfish approach to the game. He was skilled but overrated. Not a type of player who made everyone look better like Magic or Nash. And that was the reason his team was mediocre.

Hence why he didn't have the winners mentality. He was all flash and no substance. But we gotta give him props for having so much skill, even players today can't really touch his skill set. :cheers:

[jlauber]

Pistol's 68 point game...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UTust5oFW4

[madmax]

definitely underrated and ahead of his time too...
probably the most skilled and definitely flashiest white guy of all time. His passing skills were simply unreal:applause: :bowdown:

[swi7ch]

Underrated.

He's the GOAT college player and was doing things that were ahead of his time. Too bad he played on bad teams during his prime and was washed up when he joined good teams.

[QuebecBaller]

definitely underrated and ahead of his time too...
probably the most skilled and definitely flashiest white guy of all time. His passing skills were simply unreal:applause: :bowdown:

This

But unfortunately, for many people these days, every players not named LeBron James are overrated :rolleyes:

[Rooster]

Underrated.

He's the GOAT college player and was doing things that were ahead of his time. Too bad he played on bad teams during his prime and was washed up when he joined good teams.

Kareem is the greatest college player ever. He could have scored 50 a game in college if he wanted too. He was so great that in his freshman year, he singlehandily massacred the varsity team who was the defending college champ.

He changed the game. Dunk was disallowed in college until 76 because of him. But he was grateful for that because later in his NBA career, he was able to developed a lethal shot which is his signature sky hook.

[Big#50]

He'd have tons of stans if he was playing now. Look around.

[AngelEyes]

I think he's rated about right. He's credited as being extremely influential in regards to his ball handling ability and passing. He's also seen as one of the greatest college players of all time and regarded as a very good, but not great NBA player.

[oolalaa]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5-J2Spj7kg&list=FLYj4ooDrBWViuxKsLRw18xQ&index=103&feature=plpp_video

The greatest maravich video ever made :bowdown: :bowdown:

[billyhoe]

I thing that Pete is wrongly considered by many people has underrated the guy didn't had players around him that could Play ,in a sad way his creative a fresh style of play overshadowed is real talent has a legitimate competitve in the league. In asense his problem was a common one for ball players mainly the globtrators that were only conceived has being entertainers and show man . Let's not forgot this guy was areal ball Player, and a guy that still holds the all time leading scorer record in college with more then 43 points agame, his without a doubt has to have in his arsenal more then just behind the back passes and between the legs dribbling skills .

[L.Kizzle]

He is the 1970's LeBron in terms if scrutiny and overall hatred. He was the scapegoat for every professional team he ever played on.

Que the posters who will say his teammates were bad, and then Que the posters who will look up his teammates and find the highest scoring players and then post about how his teammates weren't bad, even though no one remembers a single player he ever played with.
Lou Hudson and Walt Bellamy were pretty good.

[goldenboy_smith]

deffinately bor in the wrong era, soooo much potential

[Patrick Chewing]

Ask Magic Johnson about how overrated or underrated the Pistol is and he will laugh at you. Pistol was Showtime before there was Showtime

[magnax1]

He is the 1970's LeBron in terms if scrutiny and overall hatred. He was the scapegoat for every professional team he ever played on.

Que the posters who will say his teammates were bad, and then Que the posters who will look up his teammates and find the highest scoring players and then post about how his teammates weren't bad, even though no one remembers a single player he ever played with.
No one remembers a player he played with? Truck Robinson maybe? Gail Goodrich? (albeit a pretty old Goodrich)
Though maybe not everyone remembers that those two played with Maravich, or some probably don't know who Robinson is, they were both good players. There are some years you can't really discount Maravich's team mates.

[MiseryCityTexas]

probably overrated because he had kind of an underwhelming career, considering the hype he got...

but damn, he's gotta be a Top 5 most fun player to watch of all time...


:bowdown:

Averaging 30 points per game for a season is considered having an underwhelming career these days?:facepalm

[MiseryCityTexas]

Lou Hudson and Walt Bellamy were pretty good.

As well as Bill Bridges and Walt Hazzard also. Bridges used to be Rodman like with the rebounding numbers, and he a had a nice post up game also, and Walt Hazzard was lowkey a nice very underrated point guard during the 60s too.

[Lebron23]

Yes his skills were way ahead of his time so did his ball hogging and showboating. Behind all those fancy passes were his selfish approach to the game. He was skilled but overrated. Not a type of player who made everyone look better like Magic or Nash. And that was the reason his team was mediocre.

I agree

[dankok8]

Pete's lack of winning impact is overstated. His peak seasons were in 1975-76 and 1976-77 when he was 1st Team All-NBA. His team in 1975-76 was 32-30 (42-win pace) with him and 6-14 (25-win pace) without him. His team in 1976-77 was 34-39 (38-win pace) with him that year and 1-8 (9-win pace) without him. His best teammates were E.C. Coleman, Otto Moore, Freddie Boyd, Jim McElroy, Nate Williams and way past his prime Gail Goodrich. Other than Goodrich I don't even know who these guys are. He may not have had much team success but to ignore that he played with nobodies seems wrong.

[John8204]

Underrated...like most players that have passed away Maravich isn't really brought up as a top ten SG(even though he clearly was). He was a 30PPG shooter as a perimeter shooter before the 3 point line...had the 3 point line existed he would be up there with Kobe, Wilt, and Jordan as a massive scorer. He was also used to launch an expansion team that used him up and released him.

[PistolPete]

What makes his career and life all the more impressive was that he was able to play with a congenital heart defect as he was missing his left coronary artery. He died on the court. But in his 40 short years here on Earth, he is arguably the greatest Collegiate Basketball player of all time, and made it to the NBA Hall of Fame.

[noonereal]

Is Pistol Pete Maravich Overrated or Underrated?

Forgotten.

[Druckenmiller]

Two things can be true at the same time.

His impact on the game overall is underrated. He was the only player in his time that did the stuff he did and it inspired a generation of players that came after him and the way the game was played.

His impact as a player in the games he actually played in is probably a little overrated. He was a great player, but he played before the 3-point line and shot 30 footers, played at LSU before the basketball team was integrated and his defense and commitment to team basketball is sketchy at best.

Confusing, sure. But it's kind of like the And1 mix tapes and tour. That stuff impacted the game and inspired a generation of ball handlers. But the And1 guys, with I guess the exception of Skip to my Lou, didn't ever win a game that mattered.

[TheGoatest]

Overrated as a basketball player
About properly rated as a basketball icon