Horace Grant vs. Dennis Rodman

[Reggie43]

Who was better in their time with the Bulls?

Grant being a more mobile/athletic defender and also an offensive contributor I thought he was better or does Rodman's smarts, defensive iq, superior post defense and tougher personality/mind games make him easily better?

[Phoenix]

The most vital cog in the wheel between the two is 96 Rodman, but over the course of the two 3peats they trended in different directions. Horace was 25 in 91 and he got better year over year. He basically played into his prime over the first 3peat. Rodman after 96 started becoming more erratic and not as reliable, not to mention he was like 35 when he joined the Bulls. They got the last bit of gas in the tank from him but by the 98 finals, he was coming off the bench grabbing like 8 boards a game, showing up on WCW shows and being too much of a sideshow distraction as his on-court prowess slowly deteriorated before our eyes.

[Reggie43]

The most vital cog in the wheel between the two is 96 Rodman, but over the course of the two 3peats they trended in different directions. Horace was 25 in 91 and he got better year over year. He basically played into his prime over the first 3peat. Rodman after 96 started becoming more erratic and not as reliable, not to mention he was like 35 when he joined the Bulls. They got the last bit of gas in the tank from him but by the 98 finals, he was coming off the bench grabbing like 8 boards a game, showing up on WCW shows and being too much of a sideshow distraction as his on-court prowess slowly deteriorated before our eyes.

Thanks, you probably nailed it on the first reply.

[RogueBorg]

Who was better in their time with the Bulls?

Grant being a more mobile/athletic defender and also an offensive contributor I thought he was better or does Rodman's smarts, defensive iq, superior post defense and tougher personality/mind games make him easily better?

The one thing, of all the things you failed to mention is the rebounding. Rodman was world's better than Grant. On top of that Grant thought more highly of himself than the rest of the world thought of him. This isn't even close.

[Phoenix]

The one thing, of all the things you failed to mention is the rebounding. Rodman was world's better than Grant. On top of that Grant thought more highly of himself than the rest of the world thought of him. This isn't even close.

Rodman was definitely the more transcendent rebounder/defender. The main issue with him was how much value he provided relative to all the off court shit you needed to deal with. When he was grabbing 15 boards and could play Shaq defensively straight up, he's worth his weight in gold. When he's kicking the camera man and feuding with mormons and grabbing 8-9 boards like he did in 97 and 98, finals, much bigger question about his worth. If all he's going to give you is 8 boards and 4 points which is already 4 on 5 basketball offensively at that point, I wouldn't take that over the 14/10 Horace was doing in 92. He was much more of a dependable entity over the three peat than Rodman as time wore on. But per my first post, the most impactful out of both guys was Rodman in 96. But he was only '96 Rodman' both in terms of regular season and playoffs for one year.

[Reggie43]

The one thing, of all the things you failed to mention is the rebounding. Rodman was world's better than Grant. On top of that Grant thought more highly of himself than the rest of the world thought of him. This isn't even close.

His rebounding edge is pretty obvious and i wasnt trying to make a strong case for either player because i wanted to see other people' opinions. Thats why i barely said anything about Grant but got carried away and said more things describing Rodman's game.

[PP34Deuce]

Horace was more talented than Dennis Rodman. While he has won 5 titles, Horace could score, pick and pop, play good defense, athletic, but was more of a cry baby on the court.

A young upcoming team takes Horace Grant. An older mentally in tact team takes Rodman. Easy.

[light]

Who was better in their time with the Bulls?

Grant being a more mobile/athletic defender and also an offensive contributor I thought he was better or does Rodman's smarts, defensive iq, superior post defense and tougher personality/mind games make him easily better?

They were both great. People probably do not realize that Horace Grant was thought of by many as the best defensive forward in basketball by 1993.

I think they were equally significant.

[RogueBorg]

People probably do not realize that Horace Grant was thought of by many as the best defensive forward in basketball by 1993.



Horace Grant was never thought of as the best defensive forward in the NBA. He never had a 1st Team All Defensive award, and was usually finishing second to Rodman and Pippen up to '95-'96 after which they (Grant and Rodman) both fell off.

[light]

Horace Grant was never thought of as the best defensive forward in the NBA. He never had a 1st Team All Defensive award, and was usually finishing second to Rodman and Pippen up to '95-'96 after which they (Grant and Rodman) both fell off.

1993:
https://s7.gifyu.com/images/grant-walton.png

1992:
https://s7.gifyu.com/images/Grant-Best-Defender.png

[Xiao Yao You]

Grant

[PP34Deuce]

Horace to me was like Chris Bosh. He was great at switching, and weakside defensive blocks. Certainly not the scorer Bosh was, but a similar effect. those 91-93 Bulls could switch and run because Horace got easy buckets and could block shots weakside. Horace should have been a lot better than just 14-10. Always felt like he played to his paycheck while Rodman played mostly like it was a game 7 every night (Until 97ish)

[Axe]

Grant was more disciplined as a player while rodman used to be more 'chaotic'

[Reggie43]

Great cases for both players. I hope other people realize how good these players were in their respective playoff runs with the Bulls.

[Whoah10115]

The most vital cog in the wheel between the two is 96 Rodman, but over the course of the two 3peats they trended in different directions. Horace was 25 in 91 and he got better year over year. He basically played into his prime over the first 3peat. Rodman after 96 started becoming more erratic and not as reliable, not to mention he was like 35 when he joined the Bulls. They got the last bit of gas in the tank from him but by the 98 finals, he was coming off the bench grabbing like 8 boards a game, showing up on WCW shows and being too much of a sideshow distraction as his on-court prowess slowly deteriorated before our eyes.

You got it right, tho OP made a mistake with athleticism. The Word was freaky. That's why the 4 of them below Longley could do so much switching.

[aceman]

Grant was more disciplined as a player while rodman used to be more 'chaotic'

I disagree with that - a lot of his antics were to put off opponent.

[aceman]

Grant doesn't get credit he deserves - strong low post scorer, open shooter & rebounder. Fine athleticism to trap & press guards. Rodman gets my vote tho simply because he was more entertaining - his running battles with match ups were a great subplot to proceedings

[Phoenix]

Grant doesn't get credit he deserves - strong low post scorer, open shooter & rebounder. Fine athleticism to trap & press guards. Rodman gets my vote tho simply because he was more entertaining - his running battles with match ups were a great subplot to proceedings

What do you mean by strong low post scorer? Most of his interior points came off putbacks and MJ/Pippen dump offs. He wasnt a low post scorer in terms of dumping the ball into him and hes going to generate offense for you.

[oldtimer28]

The most vital cog in the wheel between the two is 96 Rodman, but over the course of the two 3peats they trended in different directions. Horace was 25 in 91 and he got better year over year. He basically played into his prime over the first 3peat. Rodman after 96 started becoming more erratic and not as reliable, not to mention he was like 35 when he joined the Bulls. They got the last bit of gas in the tank from him but by the 98 finals, he was coming off the bench grabbing like 8 boards a game, showing up on WCW shows and being too much of a sideshow distraction as his on-court prowess slowly deteriorated before our eyes.


Maybe he did but I don't remember rodman coming off the bench for the championship bulls. Thought kukoc was 6th man?

[Phoenix]

Maybe he did but I don't remember rodman coming off the bench for the championship bulls. Thought kukoc was 6th man?

'By the 98 finals he was coming off the bench'.

Rodman was benched in that finals with Kukoc starting in his spot. Otherwise yes, Toni was the 6th man. I was saying that Rodman at the end of that run was becoming too much a distraction and he was becoming less reliable in terms of what he gave you on the court.

[RogueBorg]

1993:
https://s7.gifyu.com/images/grant-walton.png

1992:
https://s7.gifyu.com/images/Grant-Best-Defender.png

Bill Walton is your source?

Really?

https://media0.giphy.com/media/26FPxFeuN8UA7nqGQ/source.gif

[PP34Deuce]

Horace wasnt a low post back to the basket guy but he was a good face up post player. I remember him taking advantages of mismatches. He was a very good pick n pop/roll player. Growing up In chicago in 90s... horace had people wearing his jersey as much as pippen. He was instrumental to first 3 peat and then prevented the bulls from having the chance to repeat again with the magic even if jordan wasnt 100% percent in