Was Okur the greatest Stretch-5 in History?

[ewing]

Sabonis is a great answer, but so is Bill Laimbeer. He could drop a three like nothing. And Sam Perkins is in the conversation, though he was as good a rebounder as Laimbeer.

I give Laimbeer the edge, because he could shoot the three, but he was also an amazing rebounder and great defender.

Laimbeer was a foward as was Perk- though i guess he was closer to a center.

[Il Mago50]

Robert Horry?!?

Channing Frye?

A bunch of other guys?

[JasonJohnHorn]

Laimbeer was a foward as was Perk- though i guess he was closer to a center.

When you correct somebody, it's a good idea to know what you are talking about first.

I grew up watching the Pistons, and I don't remember Laimbeer ever playing forward. The Pistons had a lot of bigs (MaHorn, Edwards, Salley), and sometimes had two on the court at the same time, but Laimbeer was their starting center.

Check out his BBR page:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...laimbbi01.html

Clearly listed as center.
Likewise Wikipedia has him listed as a center:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Laimbeer


Perkins generally played Center, though he played PF as well.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...perkisa01.html


Anything else you want to correct me on?

[ewing]

When you correct somebody, it's a good idea to know what you are talking about first.

I grew up watching the Pistons, and I don't remember Laimbeer ever playing forward. The Pistons had a lot of bigs (MaHorn, Edwards, Salley), and sometimes had two on the court at the same time, but Laimbeer was their starting center.

Check out his BBR page:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...laimbbi01.html

Clearly listed as center.
Likewise Wikipedia has him listed as a center:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Laimbeer


Perkins generally played Center, though he played PF as well.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...perkisa01.html


Anything else you want to correct me on?

I always considered James Edwards the center on the Pistons and Rich Mahorn/Spider his backup.

[JasonJohnHorn]

I always considered James Edwards the center on the Pistons and Rich Mahorn/Spider his backup.

Chuck Daly had a lot of success with two big men on the court at the same time. He liked the big line-ups. But you'll see it's Laimbeer that is tangling with Kareem and Parish and the like.

Daly also preferred MaHorn to Edwards I think, but the Pistons gave MaHorn up in the expansion draft, so Edwards got his spot in the starting line-up the following year.

[ewing]

Chuck Daly had a lot of success with two big men on the court at the same time. He liked the big line-ups. But you'll see it's Laimbeer that is tangling with Kareem and Parish and the like.

Daly also preferred MaHorn to Edwards I think, but the Pistons gave MaHorn up in the expansion draft, so Edwards got his spot in the starting line-up the following year.

I'll take your word for it. I guess i always consider Edwards a starting center b/c he was taller and played in the post on O.

[Kao Sorn]

Sabonis was a good shooter and great passer...definitely the best.
Divac, Brad Miller, and Lafrentz had longer careers.

[Andrew32]

Yao Ming had beautiful form on his jumper and it was pretty reliable out to about 15-20 I think.

Young Sabonis would also probably be in contention.

[Bishnoff]

LOL at Bol. He actually caught fire one random night. But still, no


Not sure I would rate Sikma up there considering he didn't start bombing away till he was out of his prime. Memo was an actual ALL-STAR while bombing away.

Yeah, it was against the Suns. I remember that game lol.

[Bruno87]

I think it was Sabonis. Although it's difficult to be absolute on, Sabonis didn't start playing in the NBA until he was in his 30's. Okur was better from three during his NBA years, but Sabonis could spread it, and was probably better at everything else.

[ChiSox219]

Dirk Nowitzki when Don Nelson was coaching the Mavs.

[Hellcrooner]

When pistons had two bigs, it used to be Mahorn at PF and Laimbeer at C.

then aftert a while and with Mahor gone with the expansion Rodman woudl play most of the time at PF and bill at center.

The only minutes Bill played PF was with Edwards or Bedford ( yep the whole 5 minutes of that drughead in the league )

[Trueblue2]

Lefrentz, Sabonis

[NoahH]

Andrew Bynum guys

[Chronz]

Brad Miller comes to mind

Definitely a better player than Okur in his prime but in terms of filling the role I think its a closer argument. Okur had the range, but Brad struck me as more consistent with his midrange-deep2 game.

No love for Wang zizi?

or more seriously for Ming?

Yes to Wang, no on Ming. Yao played on the inside and didn't have the range on his J. He has a nice touch from in between but thats not stretching the D much. Even Pau is a better stretch-5.

Yao Ming had beautiful form on his jumper and it was pretty reliable out to about 15-20 I think.

Young Sabonis would also probably be in contention.

Yao was primarily an inside scorer. He had a nice touch but he lacked the deep2/corner game. And as minor as a point as it is, teams rarely feared closing out on him from deep. Its a minor point because plenty centers didn't put it on the floor but Yao is a special kind of slow. Even for a primary set shooter he wouldn't really headfake you out of your shoes to set you up for a J. He could still shoot over you, he just wasn't very efficient at it from deep.

Robert Horry?!?

Channing Frye?

A bunch of other guys?

Horry was more of a 4. Same with Frye but in this day and age hes becoming a defacto 5. I guess that would count but hes definitely several tiers below Okur