He's not being a hater nor a homer. Just being a realist. The reason most people think Juan Howard is a bum is because of the contract he signed.
Howard
16.7 ppg 7.2 rpg 2.7 apg FG% 46.9
Worthy
17.6 ppg 5.1 rpg 3.0 apg FG% 52.1
Production wise they are close.
the career averages standout for starters.
i honestly don't know as much about howard. but i don't recall him being a first option of course. but worthy was able to score the way he did playing w/magic and kareem too. there was lots and lots of offense to go around w/those teams.
They were similar in production only because Worthy sacrificed his stats for the good of helping a dynasty stay a dynasty. Meanwhile Juwan put up okay numbers on god-awful teams. Worthy is easily a 22ppg scorer anywhere else. And that's then. In today's game he's putting up 25 ppg and scoring ain't close to his only dimension.
Yes. What started the discussion was Jordan putting Worthy on his team of the best at each position he played with. Obviously it was a Tarheel homer pick.
Then he said Worthy was no better than Juwan Howard.
I never said Howard was Worthy's equal. Simply pointed out that Howard is far better than people give him credit for. Only reason he's called a bum is because of the contract he signed all those years ago.
If he never signed that deal he'd be called a quality player/fringe all star.
Then he said Worthy was no better than Juwan Howard.
I assume after this you gave him five across the eyes. And if this was an online altercation, you found out where he lived, flew there via commercial air travel, gave him five across the eyes, returned home, and had a beer. Because anything short of that isn't acceptable. Unless you downgraded from beer to soda. That's fine. I actually like soda better anyway. Black Cherry/Vanilla coke is my new shit.
Juwan Howard is more of a physical banger. His game consists mostly of jumpers and post-ups. Worthy is more of a fluid player; his game consists mostly of slashes to the basket for scoop shots, floaters, and the occasional dunk.
Worthy had an incredible economy of motion in his game - by which I mean he never wasted a move, which made him seem even quicker than he was (and he was darn quick). Worthy was big enough to play power forward on the Lakers' "greyhound" team but quick enough to slide down to shooting guard when the situation warranted it (e.g., 1989 Finals vs. Detroit when Magic and Byron were both hurt).
James was capable of taking over a game on his own, and was regularly asked to do so with the Lakers because he was such a matchup nightmare (he overpowered quick guys and out-quicked big guys). Juwan was not capable of single-handedly taking over.
As mentioned, Juwan put up most of his numbers as the #1 or maybe #2 option on some bad teams. Worthy put up his numbers as the #3 option (behind Kareem and Magic) on some championship-caliber clubs. So while the production was the same, the circumstances - and the way they produced - were vastly different. Juwan is a classic banger/jumpshooter - a slightly undersized PF, while Worthy is a classic slasher/finisher who had power around the hoop... a SF in a PF's body.
It's not that Juwan is a BAD player... he's a slightly above-average PF who amassed big numbers in big minutes. Nobody ever worried about Juwan Howard killing their team though.
James Worthy was a Hall of Fame player whose numbers are depressed because he (a) gave up some of his numbers for the team and (b) the Laker starters usually sat 4th quarters in their heyday because they were up by 20 points already... and people DID try to stop James Worthy (of course in doing so, it usually opened things up for Kareem or Magic to kill them). Remember, he does have a Finals MVP to his name (1988).
Last edited by Sound and Fury : 06-13-2006 at 03:14 PM.
