ZRX1200 wrote:Numbers don't bear it out, you had to watch them.
exactly. And sabonis was truly a great all around center who was almost used up by the time he got to Portland, sad but true.
I think you (and I) may appreciate Leonard more than alot of younger fans do because we cut our basketball teeth on totally selfless teams...vintage 60's Celtics and vintage Blazers of Steele, Hollins et al.
It's the eye test that matters, but many today have been raised on all kinds of stats and metrics and stuff I don't even get and that don't answer the question "who was better tonight, or this year, or for a career?" Perhaps this has been born from fantasy leagues?
Consider the perception of many fans as to an actual difference between 9 and 10...would a player receive anything close to the attention given Westbrook (deserved for sure) if said player averaged 26/9/8.4? Such a minor difference over 80 games.
When Oscar played, the term triple double did not exist, or if it ever was used it was in a literal sense, not in the sense that 10 was so much greater than 9, or as a goal to attain. No one would ever beg his coach to leave him in for one more possession to get that 10th assist or rebound, it just wasn't a marketed perception sold to the fans/public yet.