Taking air out of MJ's 100-point claim

[Warhawk]

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/20458/taking-air-out-of-mjs-100-point-claim

Could Michael Jordan score 100 points in a game with today’s more permissive rules for driving ballhandlers? He said he could in a recent interview, but looking at things more closely sheds serious doubt on his claim.

more....

 

[Warhawk]

And then there is this:

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/20469/comparing-players-and-mjs-pride

Comparisons are often drawn between Jordan and Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, who won his fifth title last season. Where does Jordan think Bryant stacks up with the greats of the game?

"It's so hard to say," Jordan told the newspaper. "I think he is always going to be within the conversations of some of the greatest players who've played by the time he is finished. Where does he rank among those, if you are talking about positions? If you are talking about guards, I would say he has got to be in the top 10."

Awesome, Jordan thinks Kobe Bryant is top 10. Wait, did he say top 10 guards?

Wow, it’s good to know nearly a decade after MJ has stopped lacing them up, he’s still throwing out barbs.



more....

 

[dukeswh]

I like this one more.

Michael Jordan caused a little bit of a controversy earlier this week by proclaiming he could have scored 100 points in a single game in today’s NBA. Since his 69-point outburst against Cleveland back on March 28, 1990, revamped hand-checking rules give perimeter scorers a much better chance to do what they want with the ball, which is score points. MJ added that the current players are “less physical,” so he could have dominated opponents so badly just from a physical standpoint, he could have joined Wilt Chamberlain in the 100-point club.

I actually agree with Jordan, but I also think it’s a stupid argument. Allow me to explain myself on both fronts. I’ll get to the “stupid argument” part in my third point below.

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/clearly-michael-jordan-could-score-100-points-in-today-s-nba

 

[kingsboi]

MJ cracks me up.

 

[Bricklayer]

And then there is this:

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/20469/comparing-players-and-mjs-pride

Comparisons are often drawn between Jordan and Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, who won his fifth title last season. Where does Jordan think Bryant stacks up with the greats of the game?

"It's so hard to say," Jordan told the newspaper. "I think he is always going to be within the conversations of some of the greatest players who've played by the time he is finished. Where does he rank among those, if you are talking about positions? If you are talking about guards, I would say he has got to be in the top 10."

Awesome, Jordan thinks Kobe Bryant is top 10. Wait, did he say top 10 guards?

Wow, it’s good to know nearly a decade after MJ has stopped lacing them up, he’s still throwing out barbs.



more....

Well, it is close:

1) Michael Jordan
2) Oscar Robertson
3) Magic Johnson
4) Jerry West
5) Tyreke Evans
6) Isiah Thomas
7) John Stockton
8) Clyde Drexler
9) Mateen Cleaves
10) Kobe Bryant

And that's assuming you call Barry and Havlicek SFs, leave out guys like Wade and Iverson and Maravich etc.

 

[Warhawk]

Well, it is close:

1) Michael Jordan
2) Oscar Robertson
3) Magic Johnson
4) Jerry West
5) Tyreke Evans
6) Isiah Thomas
7) John Stockton
8) Clyde Drexler
9) Mateen Cleaves
10) Kobe Bryant

And that's assuming you call Barry and Havlicek SFs, leave out guys like Wade and Iverson and Maravich etc.

Finally getting the credit he deserves.

 

[uolj]

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/20458/taking-air-out-of-mjs-100-point-claim

Could Michael Jordan score 100 points in a game with today’s more permissive rules for driving ballhandlers? He said he could in a recent interview, but looking at things more closely sheds serious doubt on his claim.

more....

I saw this but it's a pretty lame argument. Explaining why his points per game average would be lucky to get to 44 isn't really all that relevant to whether he could score 100 in a single game.

 

[Peter_Gibbons]

Well, it is close:

1) Michael Jordan
2) Oscar Robertson
3) Magic Johnson
4) Jerry West
5) Tyreke Evans
6) Isiah Thomas
7) John Stockton
8) Clyde Drexler
9) Mateen Cleaves
10) Kobe Bryant

And that's assuming you call Barry and Havlicek SFs, leave out guys like Wade and Iverson and Maravich etc.

In all seriousness, I had a similar list

1) Michael Jordan (Greatest of all time by stats, rings, iconic moments... goes on & on)

2) Oscar Robertson (Unstoppable, this man avg a triple double in a season & was close in many others. Probably the only sports feat that will never be matched.)

3) Magic Johnson (One of the best real PG with rings & awards to show)

4) Jerry West (The logo)

5) John Stockton (All Time assist & steals leader, what else do you need?)

6) Isiah Thomas (Should've been on the Dream Team.)

7) Clyde Drexler (Clyde the Glide, great all around guard that rebounds, assist and scores. Too bad he played in the MJ era)

8) kobe bryant (Very good player, but has not lived up to hype in critical playoff moments which lowers his rating. Has not played D for the last 4 years)

9) Dwyane Wade (I'd take him Wade over kobe. But less rings and MVP puts him lower. If he wins a couple more with the Heat, he'll take over kobe.)

10) Tyreke Evans (reserved - 1 of 3 guards with 20-5-5 as a rookie. Unstoppable in many ways just like Big O. Could end up being in the top 5)

AI should be on there too. But I have to see what he does with his career before deciding which spot.

The thing that people need to understand is that Jordan watched or knows about the older generation which included Walt Frazier, George Gervin, Lenny Wilkens, Nate Archibald, Dr J just to name a few. Who is to say that MJ doesn't truly believe that some of those players were better than kobe.

The younger generation and casual bball fans wouldn't even know about many of these guys or had the opportunity to watch these guys. So they jump to conclude that MJ is "hating" on kobe. For kobe, top 10 guard of all time is a big compliment already.

 

[est.1999]

Ok I dislike kobe just as much as anyone and think he's been very fortunate to have the teams he's had and he hasn't always performed well in big games but to put Stockton ahead of him is ridiculous.

 

[Bricklayer]

Ok I dislike kobe just as much as anyone and think he's been very fortunate to have the teams he's had and he hasn't always performed well in big games but to put Stockton ahead of him is ridiculous.

Kobe is likely #4 or #5 on the guard's list, somewhere in the range of #10-#14 of all time overall, if you are beng no fun and serious.

MJ
Wilt
Kareem
Russel
Magic
Bird
Oscar
Shaq
Duncan
Kobe
Hakeem
Erving
Mailman
West
Moses
Barkley etc.

Before this recent idiocy, LeBron was on pace to up in that Top 10 as well.

 

[Peter_Gibbons]

Ok I dislike kobe just as much as anyone and think he's been very fortunate to have the teams he's had and he hasn't always performed well in big games but to put Stockton ahead of him is ridiculous.

It depends what a great player is to you. The things that Stockton did... not many players will ever be able to do.

Two All Time records on major statistical catagories is no joke. You don't get those being just an all star. As far as pure pg, he is as good as Magic, though they are different players. Magic is higher because of his rings and awards. But you tell me who is a better PG than Stockton with the exception of Oscar and Magic.

The Dwills and CP3s of today does not compare.

 

[Superman]

I saw this but it's a pretty lame argument. Explaining why his points per game average would be lucky to get to 44 isn't really all that relevant to whether he could score 100 in a single game.

QFT.

Wilt didn't average 100 points a game. Kobe didn't average 81 points a game. That's not the question or the point. I don't know if Jordan would be able to score 100 points in a game, and even if he did, he'd have to do it with no three pointers for it to truly compare to Wilt's 100, but that's not the point either. I do know that the rules today encourage scoring, and for someone as fundamentally sound and explosive as MJ was, he would definitely be able to make a run at it. Put 27 year old Jordan in today's NBA, and tell him to go for it, and I bet the over/under is somewhere in the mid to high 80s.

 

[Superman]

I like this one more.



http://www.opposingviews.com/i/clearly-michael-jordan-could-score-100-points-in-today-s-nba

Actually some good insight and perspective in that article.

A couple things I didn't know about Wilt's 100 point night:

It was the end of the regular season and Chamberlain’s Sixers were great (49-31) while the Knicks were terrible (29-51), so no one cared on the way to a 22-point Philly win. ... New York was playing without their top two big men, which was huge back then since teams only had a couple half-decent bigs anyway. ... As was the case for most of Wilt’s career, he did all the shooting (63 field goal attempts, 32 free throw attempts – think about those numbers, seriously), plus the Sixers went into intentional foul mode in the fourth quarter so he could score more points.

Pretty much every part of this contest tells you he was not scoring within the flow of the game; it was a farce to stroke his ego.

 

[Peter_Gibbons]

One of the articles out there talks about how there is less possessions per game nowadays... so what if MJ got to play against run & gun Warriors with todays touch foul rules?

 

[dukeswh]

QFT.

Wilt didn't average 100 points a game. Kobe didn't average 81 points a game. That's not the question or the point. I don't know if Jordan would be able to score 100 points in a game, and even if he did, he'd have to do it with no three pointers for it to truly compare to Wilt's 100, but that's not the point either. I do know that the rules today encourage scoring, and for someone as fundamentally sound and explosive as MJ was, he would definitely be able to make a run at it. Put 27 year old Jordan in today's NBA, and tell him to go for it, and I bet the over/under is somewhere in the mid to high 80s.

Agreed. Seems like those who says Jordan wouldn't be able to score 100 points today make it sound like he claimed to average 100 points today.

 

[Gary]

Ok I dislike kobe just as much as anyone and think he's been very fortunate to have the teams he's had and he hasn't always performed well in big games but to put Stockton ahead of him is ridiculous.

Stockton is one f the greatest (if not the greatest) PGs of all time. Definitely one of the top 10 in my book.

 

[Showtime]

I don't see what's the big deal. Hollinger's first article is BS. It has massive holes in his arguments and logic. I don't have the energy to point out the obvious ones, because they are clear as day.

If Kobe can put up 55 in a half of basketball, then MJ could certainly put up 100, but it would have to be a perfect storm of circumstances with him being super hot, super selfish, and against one of the worst defensive teams in the league.

 

[Lockehead]

He definitely would.

 

[Superman]

I don't see what's the big deal. Hollinger's first article is BS. It has massive holes in his arguments and logic. I don't have the energy to point out the obvious ones, because they are clear as day.

If Kobe can put up 55 in a half of basketball, then MJ could certainly put up 100, but it would have to be a perfect storm of circumstances with him being super hot, super selfish, and against one of the worst defensive teams in the league.

In other words, he'd have to do what Wilt did when he scored 100.