Author Topic: All time Unique Team  (Read 6596 times)

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All time Unique Team
« on: August 29, 2008, 11:43:21 PM »

Offline JBcat

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This 12 man team is not the best ever or the most talented but a collection of players where they are hard to compare to anything else you've ever seen.   So you won't see Shaq because of Wilt or MJ because of Kobe.  Here is my list and feel free to add or subtract any players.

Manute Bol.  Yes there have been other 7'6" or 7'7" players like Shawn Bradley or Yao Ming but has there ever been  a player this tall that actually took 3 pointers in the flow of the offense.   Remember he did that at times in his Golden State days.

Muggsy Bogues.  5'3".   I had to follow Manute with Muggsy.  Repeat that height a few times to yourself and he wasn't an aberration.   He played 14 solid years in the NBA!

Spud Webb.  Sticking with the short dudes this 5'7" player won a dunk contest.   The air between his feet and the ground on those dunks is just silly.

Pete Marovich.  Nobody quite played with the flair like Pistol Pete.  The league's really first showman. 

Oscar Robertson.  This 11 time all NBA first teamer was a true triple double machine at a time when the assists statistic was a little more stringent than today.   If you strung his first 5 years together he AVERAGED (sorry for the caps) a triple double 30.3 PPG, 10.4 RPG, and 10.6 APG with a record 181 career triple doubles that has never been approached.

Charles Barkley.  Round Mound of Rebound or whatever nickname you want to call him there was nobody like him.  Grandmama Larry Johnson tried but failed.  Sir Charles was only 6'4" and any power forward from any era would have his hands full with this dude.  Not many PFs can grab a defensive board run the break himself flying past everyone and slam it down over someone.   For you youngins out there old clips of him especially in his Philly days are fun to watch. 

Larry Bird.  People old enough from this neck of the woods who got to see Larry Legend play know what I'm talking about.  Nothing like him before or since. 

Magic Johnson. 6'9" all time best PG and had the famous 45 points, 15 boards, and 7 assists stat line playing center for the injured Kareem in game 6 of the finals.   

Kareem Abdul Jabbar.  The skyhook has been the single best move any one player has ever had and it's a wonder nobody has come close to duplicating it on a regular basis.

Rick Barry.  Named one the 50 greatest players in history years ago.   He had the gnads to shoot underhanded from the free-throw line and had the highest free-throw % 6 years in the NBA and 3 in the ABA.  Shaq should try this approach.  Nothing else has worked for him. 

Dennis Rodman. At 6'8" you think you would need at least a little bit of shooting ability to survive 14 years in the league but not Dennis.  Not only did he survive he thrived leading the league in rebounds per game 92-98 and twice a defensive player of the year. 

George Gervin,  The iceman made the finger roll an art form and nobody has quite done the same with the finger roll since.  When you think finger roll nobody else really comes to mind.

13th man from today's NBA Manu Ginoboli
A lefty extraordinare who some of his drives are so twisty turvy it's an amazement the ball is close to going in like that game winning shot against Greece in the Olympics.

tough omissions.
Allen Iverson.   Best scoring little guy I've ever seen
Kevin Mchale.   There are other great post players but none quite like the repertoire of Mchale's.
Dominque Wilkens.  Nobody could do an in game windmill dunk like him.
Lebron James.  Nobody has quite his physical package
Shawn Kemp.  I bet this is an eye opener for some but if you remember his early Seattle days no power forward before or since could sky and dunk in multiple ways like he could.  Too bad he wasted all his talent as he got older.
Bill Russell.  I don't have to explain myself and I feel bad enough he is not on my 12 man roster.
Gary Payton.  Yeah I know I have 2 Sonics from the same era however the Glove is the only point guard to ever win defensive player of the year.  Loved his game in his prime and was a great post player for a point guard. 
Dr J.  Put him in today's game and easily one of the top dunkers out there and his style was unique.  Forever known for that crazy reverse layup.
Tim Hardaway's crossover.  Just nasty and unique.
Shawn Marion.  I can't think of anyone else that has as goofy looking outside shot that he sinks with some consistency.  Josh Childress has a goofy shot but I wouldn't call him a threat from the outside like Marion is.
This last one is a little bit of a homer pick but really can you think of any player who has banged the ball off his head, bang his head against support under the net prior to tipoff,  nearly rip his shirt off displaying his emotion  for the name on the front of the shirt, raising both hands in the air to get the crowd going, and have sheer intensity like KG?  See I told you it was a little bit of a homer pick ;D

Feel free to add anyone else whose game or any facet of the game you think is very unique as I'm sure I missed several. 


Re: All time Unique Team
« Reply #1 on: August 30, 2008, 01:03:17 AM »

Offline fairweatherfan

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Great post, I like the list, but I think Nate Robinson about cancels out Webb at this point if you're going for true uniqueness. I might swap him for my favorite unique player, the one and only John Bagley.  Maybe he was similar to older throwback players, but I've never seen a point guard get that much out of that little athletic ability and general fitness level.  He looked like he should be starting for a Y team, and every shot he hit almost looked like an accident, but he actually did pretty well for himself.

Re: All time Unique Team
« Reply #2 on: August 30, 2008, 01:27:38 AM »

Offline BrickJames

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Re: All time Unique Team
« Reply #3 on: August 30, 2008, 03:37:30 AM »

Offline jackson_34

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Not so much in real life obviously but in NBA live 2004 I always used put Pau Gasol at point guard because he had a really good handle rating, absolutley unstoppable apart from when my friends got angry at me for it and stopped playing....

Re: All time Unique Team
« Reply #4 on: August 30, 2008, 06:34:28 AM »

Offline wedman8

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Worthy, his elegance going coast to coast.

Olajuwon, he looked like a 7 ft Bolshoi dancer.

Mo Malone, a small center who could grab all the rebounds against bigger guys and score once and again.

Re: All time Unique Team
« Reply #5 on: August 30, 2008, 08:43:29 AM »

Offline cdif911

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C'mon Guys - Wes Unseld - 6'6 Hall of Fame Center, unreal on the boards

White Chocolate in his first few years played like no one else

Our own Sherman Douglas, with the floater!

Your pick, Thomas Hamilton or Oliver Miller

and finally another guy who should be in the hall of fame, and maybe someday..... the Worm, Dennis Rodman, perhaps the most unique player of alltime both on and off the court

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Re: All time Unique Team
« Reply #6 on: August 30, 2008, 08:47:28 AM »

Offline wdleehi

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Re: All time Unique Team
« Reply #7 on: August 30, 2008, 09:02:45 AM »

Offline ma11l

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How about Rondo?  I've never seen anyone play the point quite like he does. 
"Take this down," said O'Neal. "My name is Shaquille O'Neal and Paul Pierce is the (expletive) truth. Quote me on that and don't take nothing out. I knew he could play, but I didn't know he could play like this. Paul Pierce is the truth."

Re: All time Unique Team
« Reply #8 on: August 30, 2008, 10:24:23 AM »

Offline Brickowski

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The initial post is just an all star team.  The all-time "unique" team has to have, well, some uniqueness. Here's my starting five:

1. Power forward: Dennis Rodman-- how can you pass on Rodman's sense of style?



2. Small Forward: Wendell Ladner-- "Mr. Excitement" from the old ABA. Enforcer and certified fruitcake.



3. Center: Bill Walton, the NBA's most famous Deadhead



4. Shooting Guard: Pete Maravich, who else?



5. Point guard: World B. Free, the "Prince of Midair"








Re: All time Unique Team
« Reply #9 on: August 31, 2008, 12:22:57 AM »

Offline guava_wrench

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Don't forget John Amaechi!

Re: All time Unique Team
« Reply #10 on: September 04, 2008, 10:56:12 AM »

Offline Michael Anthony

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Manute Bol. Yup

Muggsy Bogues. Nope, Ses Tyrone Lue

Spud Webb. Nope, See Nate Robinson

Pete Marovich.  Nope, See Harlem Globe Trotters

Oscar Robertson.  Nope, See Magic Johnson

Charles Barkley.  Yup

Larry Bird.  Yup

Magic Johnson. Nope, See Oscar Robertson

Kareem Abdul Jabbar.  Yup

Rick Barry. Yup

Dennis Rodman. Nope, See Reggie Evans

George Gervin. Nope, See Julius Erving

Manu Ginoboli. Nope, See Anderson Varejao

------------------------

Great list by the way - I think in some cases uniqueness is confused for quality.

Reggie Evans is no Dennis Rodman, but they play a very similar game. Dennis is just much, Much, MUCH better at it. Same goes for the Muggsy and Spud comments.
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Re: All time Unique Team
« Reply #11 on: September 04, 2008, 10:59:30 AM »

Offline Redz

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Re: All time Unique Team
« Reply #12 on: September 04, 2008, 12:06:13 PM »

Offline Eja117

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Yow Ming

That fan that didn't get into a hawks game as part of a promotion

Goerge Muresan

The woman that was drafted

Phil Jackson

Isiah Rider

Korleon Young for being the first mega high school flop

Arvydas Sabonis

Re: All time Unique Team
« Reply #13 on: September 04, 2008, 12:13:20 PM »

Offline Big Ticket

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I'm actually surprised Kevin Garnett hasn't been mentioned.  I know players "like" him are more common nowadays (Bosh, Dirk, Aldridge, etc...), but that is because of him.  Prior to his entry, 9 out of 10 power forwards would more likely resemble Charles Barkley or Charles Oakley... bruisers that use their power more than their height.  KG came around and showed that a 7'1" player didn't have to be a center and featured one of the more unique combinations of size and skill that we'd ever seen.


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Re: All time Unique Team
« Reply #14 on: September 05, 2008, 07:23:45 PM »

Offline JBcat

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Manute Bol. Yup

Muggsy Bogues. Nope, Ses Tyrone Lue

Spud Webb. Nope, See Nate Robinson

Pete Marovich.  Nope, See Harlem Globe Trotters

Oscar Robertson.  Nope, See Magic Johnson

Charles Barkley.  Yup

Larry Bird.  Yup

Magic Johnson. Nope, See Oscar Robertson

Kareem Abdul Jabbar.  Yup

Rick Barry. Yup

Dennis Rodman. Nope, See Reggie Evans

George Gervin. Nope, See Julius Erving

Manu Ginoboli. Nope, See Anderson Varejao

------------------------

Great list by the way - I think in some cases uniqueness is confused for quality.

Reggie Evans is no Dennis Rodman, but they play a very similar game. Dennis is just much, Much, MUCH better at it. Same goes for the Muggsy and Spud comments.

Thanks for the compliment.  However Tyrone Lue is officially listed at 6'0" while Muggsy is 9 inches shorter at 5'3".   Pete added his flair in actual games while the Globetrotters games did not count.   I think that makes both of these guys a little more unique.  Maybe Magic and Oscar a little too similar.  Gervin is known for his finger rolls and had a very unique style.  Dr J wasn't really a similar player.  Maybe is Evans is a very very very poor man's Rodman however you could say Barkley had some poor man's out there like Larry Johnson however once you start including everyone's poor man's you start negating alot of people on this list.  I don't see the comparison with Ginoboli or Varejao other than they are from the same country. 

How about these unique players or some people have decided to include unique personalities or unique circumstances. 

Danny Ainge.   The only player to play MLB before coming to the NBA. 

Charlie Ward.  The only Heisman winner to play in the NBA.

Bill Bradley.  The only politician I can think of that played in the NBA.

Alaa Abdelnaby.  I think the only player with the initials AA.  Could be wrong though.

Dikembe Mutombo.  I have to include him as I love the guy.  In 1999 one of 20 winners to receive the president's service awards, the nation's highest honor for volunteer service.  I think he is the only player to ever receive this .  Athletes donate money but nowhere close to Dikembe.  He personally donated somewhere in the vicinity of 20 million of his own money to his native country.

Addul-Rauf formerly known as Chris Jackson refusing to stand up for "the star-Spangled Banner".

Darryl Dawkins.  known for naming his dunks.  Chocolate thunder, Rim Wrecker, the Go-Rilla, the Look out Below, the Yo Mama and few more. 

Rafer Alston The only And1 player to play in the NBA.