Official #54 NBA Player Of All Time According To ISH

[Miller Time]

Cool so your an oldtimer?

pretty much so, well most my dad who loved pete in college, so I follow his "footsteps" you can say ;) I was just a kid when Pete was a rookie.

[KempSonics]

Hal Greer

[LBJ 4 MVP]

I, once again vote for Earl "Black Jesus" Monroe.

[D-Fence]

I again vote for Hal Greer.

I haven't seen much of his game, but I've read up on what those who played with him or witnessed him play have said of him. He was one of the best shooters in the NBA. He could score from anywhere: outside, drive to the inside (he went to the charity stripe often), and he was an especially reliable mid-range shooter. He was what we'd call a shooting guard today, but he would also move to forward or point if needed. He was an all-around great player. He's also said to have been a good defensive player--maybe better than Sam Jones and Oscar Robertson in that department. The only guards of his era who were consistently better than Greer were Robertson and Jerry West.

Every great guard at that time needed a dominant center to win a championship, though. Robertson needed Kareem; Sam Jones and Bob Cousy needed Russell; West needed Wilt, and so did Greer.

Greer had a long career and a good share of playoff success. Later in his career, Greer was considered the leader of the 76ers. He was their best player for a few seasons but accepted secondary roles alongside great players like Dolph Schayes and then Wilt Chamberlain.

The highlight of Greer's career was that he was arguaby the best player in the playoffs when he led the only team to defeat the Boston Celtics dynasty and win a championship when Bill Russell was healthy. Chamberlain was great, too, but he also had some off nights where Greer stepped up huge. Chamberlain led the team in scoring during the regular season, but Greer eclipsed him in PPG during the playoffs by about 6 PPG. When Wilt's scoring went down even more agaist Nate Thurmond in the Finals, Greer scored more.

Here's what Greer averaged in the 1967 playoffs: 27.7 PPG, 5.9 RPG and 5.3 APG. And him and Chamberlain barely sat down the entire playoffs.

And the 1960s was a strong basketball era. A disproportiante number of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players come from Greer's era. It made pro basketball a major sport.

[otmtheshank]

Sidney Moncrief

During his 5 year peak,
- He made 5 All-Star Teams
- He received two DPOY's(the first two in the history of the award)
- He made 5 All-Defense Selections(4 First Team)
- He made 5 All NBA Teams(From 82-91, only Moncrief, MJ, Magic, and Thomas were All-First Team guards)
- His team(Mil. Bucks) won 50 games each season, went to 3 ECF's.(Only to lose to the eventual champions each year).
- The Bucks had a combined regular season record of 272-138.
- He finished top ten in MVP voting each year(4th, 7th, 7th, 8th, and 8th)
- He averaged over 20 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.5 assists a season.
- He averaged at least 1.4 spg each season
- He had over a 59% TS over these 5 years.

He also led the Milwaukee Bucks to the third best record of the 80's, behind only the legendary Larry Bird-led Celtics, and Magic Johnson-led Lakers.

I expect Hal Greer, DeBusschere, and Monroe to get in before Moncrief, but I still got to rally for Squid to get in soon. I'll vote for Hal Greer this round to ensure his spot.

[haterofhaters]

I like Dennis Rodman and all, but does everyone really think he deserves to be in the top 50 greatest of all time?

[Noob Saibot]

T-Mac? Good grief. Next Vince Carter is going to get on the list because kids like his dunks.

i agree man, the list is already messed up. I vote VC now. f**k it!

[Da KO King]

Ray Allen versus Tracy McGrady is not nearly as lopsided as you guys make it out to be.

Allen - 21 pts 4 boards and 4 assists over his career
McGrady - 22 points 6 boards and 4 assists over his career.

[Richie2k6]

i agree man, the list is already messed up. I vote VC now. f**k it!

If Vince Carter gets in the top 60 I don't know what I'll do.

I like Dennis Rodman and all, but does everyone really think he deserves to be in the top 50 greatest of all time?

Nope.

[LBJ 4 MVP]

I like Dennis Rodman and all, but does everyone really think he deserves to be in the top 50 greatest of all time?

I would put him in like high 60' to mid 70's honestly.

[D-Fence]

I like Dennis Rodman and all, but does everyone really think he deserves to be in the top 50 greatest of all time?

To literally answer your question, no, not everyone thinks Rodman deserves to be in the top 50. I, however, voted for him at that spot. He was a champion who won everywhere he went and was one of the greatest rebounders and defensive players in NBA history.

[Chalkmaze]

To literally answer your question, no, not everyone thinks Rodman deserves to be in the top 50. I, however, voted for him at that spot. He was a champion who won everywhere he went and was one of the greatest rebounders and defensive players in NBA history.

He had his moments in San Antonio, both good and bad... he caused a lot of problems there actually, everyone likes to forget about that. Guy was a basket-case and difficult to deal with, and San Antonio shipped him out after only two years.

[Noob Saibot]

where is Grant Hill on the list man?

replace Dirk with Grant Hill!

[NIGHTMARE]

Earl Monroe

[D-Fence]

He had his moments in San Antonio, both good and bad... he caused a lot of problems there actually, everyone likes to forget about that. Guy was a basket-case and difficult to deal with, and San Antonio shipped him out after only two years.

If that's the case, and I agree with you that Rodman had his problems, then it's also the case that everyone likes to forget how much Rodman improved the Spurs.

Here's what Sean Elliott said:

I liked what Dennis did for David Robinson's game. He pushed him. He pushed him on the court. You have to remember, before Dennis came to San Antonio, Robinson was the savior--he was making holy water, if you know what I mean. When Dennis came to the team--and was a fan favorite--it pushed David.

Pre-Rodman, the Spurs were 49-33, and with him went 55-27 and then 62-20. One thing you might not expect is that the Spurs immediately became a better offensive team with Rodman (from about top 10 in the league to top 5) and immediately fell back down after he left (back to about top 10).

In 1995, when the Spurs won 62 games, Rodman missed quite a bit of time. With him, they were 42-7 and without him they were 20-13.

The main problem was that Rodman didn't lead teams to championships, but, really, neither did David Robinson. Robinson is a good guy, but he wasn't a very intense basketball player. He had quite a few outside hobbies and interests. Isiah Thomas, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were much better leaders.

But, yeah, Rodman had some personality problems that didn't lend him to being a very good and consistent player and influence for very long on a merely good team.