Where do you rank McHale among all time PFs?

[BoutPractice]

People usually have Duncan as the greatest PF of all time... then there's the giant mess of trying to rank KG, Dirk, Barkley and Malone (lately it seems KG and Dirk are more often than not placed above Barkley and Malone due to the spectacular second half of their careers, but it's still close enough to be debatable). Throw in Bob Pettit somewhere and you've got 6 PFs in the 25ish greatest players of all time.

But where do you rank Kevin McHale, who used to be seen as one of the all-time greatest at the position? Is he your next on the list? How would you round out your top 10 all time PF list?

Just to set the context, Kevin McHale is a 7 time all-star, 3 time champion, 2 time 6th man of the year, 3 time member of the all defensive first team, and widely acknowledged as one of the (if not the) greatest low post scorers in the history of the game, including a year scoring 26 ppg on 66 TS% (the words "second option" don't do him justice, and he probably would have been the first option on most teams... certainly he would be on most teams today).

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

Hes clearly behind KG, Dirk, Tim, Chuck and Karl. Dont know much about Pettit like most here but alot will pretend they do. Mchale has no argument whatsoever against the first 5 but hes prolly the best after em

[1987_Lakers]

#7 seems about right.

Peak wise I have him in the top 5. He had the 2nd greatest postseason run as a #2 option (behind '01 Kobe) in '86.

[Dragic4Life]

Below Kevin Love.

[SexSymbol]

top 5.

And top 5 WOAT coaches

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

#7 seems about right.

Peak wise I have him in the top 5. He had the 2nd greatest postseason run as a #2 option (behind '01 Kobe) in '86.

lmfao @ top 5 peak

03 or 04 KG
06 or 11 Dirk
02 or 03 Timmmy
90 or 93 Chuck
97 or 98 Mailman

all take unadulterated dirty chunky baby shits on the best of Mchale

[SHAQisGOAT]

Below Duncan, Malone, KG, Pettit, Chuck, Dirk, Hayes... So at 8th.

He was never a 1st option and his peak/prime lasted little also due to injuries, but he had just one of the greatest peaks for a PF ever... Arguably most array of moves in the post and pretty much close to unstoppable down-low, at least 1on1, could shoot too, plus a great defender, good rebounder and decent passer although too much of a blackhole sometimes.

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

Srsly some nikkas take the Mchale love too far sometimes
hes arguably the best 1on1 player ever when u look at O and D but he was the 2nd OPTION was getting alot of easy looks and iso opportunities b/c of how Boston had deadly wing shooters like Ainge and Larry drawing defense attention and finding him open

can u imagine Larry/KG thats almost perfect compliment

[East_Stone_Ya]

Below Kevin Love.

troll hard

[GimmeThat]

probably where most other posters have ranked him already.

I'll mention something about the whole 1 on 1 argument though. Saying a certain player is unguardable 1 on 1 for me is essentially a pointless argument. How long does it take for the guy to score and be unguardable 1 on 1, is he taking a lot of time off the shot clock? which generally means help is going to be on the way, so unless he could actually score fast enough, over double team, or play the inside out game, just imagine if he doesn't have players to create those spacing or give him the time to operate downlow to begin with. Can he REALLY score 1 on 1 THAT EASILY?

It's telling me a player who can really shoot the ball well as a 2nd or 3rd option because he fits that role perfectly, and it isn't his main responsibility to "create" those shots, but to execute/finish the play.


Of course, I could be wrong, if he was the magnificant downlow force that it was really difficult for teams to box him out, or that he just had such a quick release that by the time help gets there he had already released the ball.



6-10 210lbs

[Nowitness]

6/7 spot.

[Harison]

~7TH, give or take one spot.

[JellyBean]

For me, the greatest power forwards are:

1. Karl Malone
2. Tim Duncan
3. Charles Barkley
4. Bob Pettit
5. Kevin McHale
6. Kevin Garnett
7. Dirk Nowitzki
8. Elvin "Big E" Hayes
9. Dennis Rodman
10. Dave DeBusschere

*LeBron James is in a whole different category of players. He is a forward that plays like a guard. So I am not including him in this section.

[BoutPractice]

GimmeThat > In theory what you posted makes sense.

In reality, McHale was great at creating his own shot AND finishing, and he mostly did so quickly and efficiently: one dribble, fake, finish.

[Thorpesaurous]

McHale is tricky, because of the careers of other guys he can't possibly rank above 7 or so. But if I'm starting a team, I'd take him over most of the guys ranked ahead of him based on his peak and particular skill set.