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People forget how much of a beast Bird was on the boards.
In today's game environment - meaning more 3's and star treatment re fouls- Bird would easily avg over 30 ppg.Wow! LBJ plays one minute more and gets called for one foul less on avg. Also look at the FTA discrepancy - LBJ is taking more 3's and still has more FTA's.At 88% (assuming Bird got fouled the same amount as LBJ) nearly +3 ppg in FTM category alone. Thrown in another 3 pointer made and you're at +4.Also consider the game was much more physical then and Larry only avg'd 5.3 FTA's. What a joke the officiating has become.
Quote from: bcgenuis on June 26, 2013, 02:09:17 PMIn today's game environment - meaning more 3's and star treatment re fouls- Bird would easily avg over 30 ppg.Wow! LBJ plays one minute more and gets called for one foul less on avg. Also look at the FTA discrepancy - LBJ is taking more 3's and still has more FTA's.At 88% (assuming Bird got fouled the same amount as LBJ) nearly +3 ppg in FTM category alone. Thrown in another 3 pointer made and you're at +4.Also consider the game was much more physical then and Larry only avg'd 5.3 FTA's. What a joke the officiating has become.None of that should be surprising. James' has built his career taking it to the hole. That is where you get fouled. Bird was much more a jump shooter than James. Even inside the line he would take a lot of long 2's. Today's game that just doesn't happen. Bird would take a lot more 3's today though and thus would have upped his points per game by at least a point or two, though that might have effected his percentage a bit and may have possibly effected his offensive rebounding opportunities. Of course at 6'10" Bird would have been a PF had he entered the league today and would be molded more like Dirk in that regard.
I don't really think anyone who had the privilege of watching Bird ever overlooked/forgot his rebounding. Other than Russell, he's the Celt I'd want in the game most if I needed a defensive rebound.
Quote from: Moranis on June 26, 2013, 02:21:04 PMQuote from: bcgenuis on June 26, 2013, 02:09:17 PMIn today's game environment - meaning more 3's and star treatment re fouls- Bird would easily avg over 30 ppg.Wow! LBJ plays one minute more and gets called for one foul less on avg. Also look at the FTA discrepancy - LBJ is taking more 3's and still has more FTA's.At 88% (assuming Bird got fouled the same amount as LBJ) nearly +3 ppg in FTM category alone. Thrown in another 3 pointer made and you're at +4.Also consider the game was much more physical then and Larry only avg'd 5.3 FTA's. What a joke the officiating has become.None of that should be surprising. James' has built his career taking it to the hole. That is where you get fouled. Bird was much more a jump shooter than James. Even inside the line he would take a lot of long 2's. Today's game that just doesn't happen. Bird would take a lot more 3's today though and thus would have upped his points per game by at least a point or two, though that might have effected his percentage a bit and may have possibly effected his offensive rebounding opportunities. Of course at 6'10" Bird would have been a PF had he entered the league today and would be molded more like Dirk in that regard.I would be interested to see a shot chart comparing LBJ and Bird's shot selection. I don't think it'l be that different as you make it out to be.
For me, 1984-1986 Larry Bird is and will always be the greatest basketball player ever. He could do every primary skill at an elite level (shoot, rebound, pass, defend, move wihthout the ball, hit big shots, free throws, 3-point ragne, etc). I don't know that there are any other players you can say that about.Players like Jordan and eventually Lebron will likely have longer careers at a high level (which is why they will end up in front of Bird on lists), and are more athletic (though Bird was not un-athletic as people like to claim), but if I had to start a team today and pick a player at his peak, Larry Bird is my guy. I'm biased, but I'm also right!