OK let's talk about it Roy VS Drexler Who was the better player

[dviss1]

Something tells me this has been brought up before. Even if it has I'll revisit it.
I'll probably not get any rep for this as Drexler is most Blazer fans favorite Blazer.
Here's my assessment from examining both of their entire careers closely.

Iso Offense Roy>>Drexler (Drex was a slasher not an Iso guy)
Ballhandling Roy>>>Drexler (Drex = no left hand. Why Roy is better at Iso)
Mid range Jumper Roy>>>Drexler (drexler's jumper got better but still)
3 point range Roy>>>Drexler (this one's easy)
On the Ball Defense Roy>Drexler (when Roy wanted to he was solid defender before the knee injuries)
Off Ball Defense Drexler>>>Roy (Drex avg'd 2 stls per game for his career)
Leadership Roy>>>Drexler (Without Porter we would have no leader)
Half court Offense Roy>>>Drexler (obvious)
Transition Offense Drexler>>>Roy (obvious)
Athletcism Drexler>>>>Roy (roy had 40 inch vert but never really used it)
Work Ethic Roy>>Drexler (Drex has been reported to be a lazy practice player)
Killer Instinct Roy>>>>Drexler (there is absolutely no debate on this)

In my conclusion I would rather have Roy than Drexler. Imagine Roy with Porter at PG. Porter RAN that team and IMHO was the major reason for our success (Drex leading scorer but IMHO did not have the BBIQ that Porter had).

And now I will await the I've just awakened!

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Greatness is measured in playoff wins.

Drexler was the 2nd greatest SG of his era only behind the greatest player of all time. Roy wasn't.

Drexler is one of the 50 greatest. Roy isn't one of the 200 greatest.

Drexler is in the hall of fame. Roy isn't and will never be.

 

[KingSpeed]

Greatness is measured in playoff wins.

Drexler was the 2nd greatest SG of his era only behind the greatest player of all time. Roy wasn't.

Drexler is one of the 50 greatest. Roy isn't one of the 200 greatest.

Drexler is in the hall of fame. Roy isn't and will never be.

This. Thanks for starting the thread, dviss. I look forward to more responses.

 

[OneLifeToLive]

Clyde Drexler.

Give Brandon Clyde's knees and see where he lands

 

[KingSpeed]

Drexler started on All-Star team right? It certainly wasn't Mitch Richmond. The last Blazer to be voted in by fans.

 

[Sinobas]

Roy was a notch above Drexler in the half court game. They are on the other hand, a world apart in terms of the fast break game. Drexler was one of the best of all time, not only and finishing the break but in finding the open man. He was a better passer than Roy, whose passing skills were always over-rated. Drexler actually created easy opportunities for his teammates.

Drexler was also better in every facet of defense. Not sure why you have Roy ahead of him in Iso? Roy was a liability on defense, whereas it was a strength for Clyde.

And what makes you say Roy had "leadership". He never even lead the Blazers out of the 1st round. And who really gives a fuck how a player practiced.

 

[dviss1]

Greatness is measured in playoff wins.

Drexler was the 2nd greatest SG of his era only behind the greatest player of all time. Roy wasn't.

Drexler is one of the 50 greatest. Roy isn't one of the 200 greatest.

Drexler is in the hall of fame. Roy isn't and will never be.

Roy never made it to his prime. And had he not been injured Who knows what he could have become. Drexler had a LONG career basketball wise. Bottom line Roy was a more skilled player.

 

[KingSpeed]

Roy never made it to his prime. And had he not been injured Who knows what he could have become. Drexler had a LONG career basketball wise. Bottom line Roy was a more skilled player.

But we're not comparing Drexler to who Roy might've become, are we? If Roy was more skilled, how come Drexler scored more, rebounded more, assisted more, and had more steals? Oh and his FG% was better.

 

[KingSpeed]

And Drexler having a longer career should matter when deciding who your favorite Blazer is.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Roy never made it to his prime. And had he not been injured Who knows what he could have become. Drexler had a LONG career basketball wise. Bottom line Roy was a more skilled player.

You just admitted you don't know what Roy could have done for the rest of his career. You can't then say it would have been better than Drexler's career.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

And Drexler having a longer career should matter when deciding who your favorite Blazer is.

Not for favorite Blazer. People can have pretty random reasons for having a favorite player.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Something tells me this has been brought up before. Even if it has I'll revisit it.
I'll probably not get any rep for this as Drexler is most Blazer fans favorite Blazer.
Here's my assessment from examining both of their entire careers closely.

Iso Offense Roy>>Drexler (Drex was a slasher not an Iso guy)
Ballhandling Roy>>>Drexler (Drex = no left hand. Why Roy is better at Iso)
Mid range Jumper Roy>>>Drexler (drexler's jumper got better but still)
3 point range Roy>>>Drexler (this one's easy)
On the Ball Defense Roy>Drexler (when Roy wanted to he was solid defender before the knee injuries)
Off Ball Defense Drexler>>>Roy (Drex avg'd 2 stls per game for his career)
Leadership Roy>>>Drexler (Without Porter we would have no leader)
Half court Offense Roy>>>Drexler (obvious)
Transition Offense Drexler>>>Roy (obvious)
Athletcism Drexler>>>>Roy (roy had 40 inch vert but never really used it)
Work Ethic Roy>>Drexler (Drex has been reported to be a lazy practice player)
Killer Instinct Roy>>>>Drexler (there is absolutely no debate on this)

In my conclusion I would rather have Roy than Drexler. Imagine Roy with Porter at PG. Porter RAN that team and IMHO was the major reason for our success (Drex leading scorer but IMHO did not have the BBIQ that Porter had).

And now I will await the I've just awakened!

Also one could make a strong argument that Geoff Petrie was a better player than Roy.

 

[BigGameDamian]

Something tells me this has been brought up before. Even if it has I'll revisit it.
I'll probably not get any rep for this as Drexler is most Blazer fans favorite Blazer.
Here's my assessment from examining both of their entire careers closely.

Iso Offense Roy>>Drexler (Drex was a slasher not an Iso guy)
Ballhandling Roy>>>Drexler (Drex = no left hand. Why Roy is better at Iso)
Mid range Jumper Roy>>>Drexler (drexler's jumper got better but still)
3 point range Roy>>>Drexler (this one's easy)
On the Ball Defense Roy>Drexler (when Roy wanted to he was solid defender before the knee injuries)
Off Ball Defense Drexler>>>Roy (Drex avg'd 2 stls per game for his career)
Leadership Roy>>>Drexler (Without Porter we would have no leader)
Half court Offense Roy>>>Drexler (obvious)
Transition Offense Drexler>>>Roy (obvious)
Athletcism Drexler>>>>Roy (roy had 40 inch vert but never really used it)
Work Ethic Roy>>Drexler (Drex has been reported to be a lazy practice player)
Killer Instinct Roy>>>>Drexler (there is absolutely no debate on this)

In my conclusion I would rather have Roy than Drexler. Imagine Roy with Porter at PG. Porter RAN that team and IMHO was the major reason for our success (Drex leading scorer but IMHO did not have the BBIQ that Porter had).r

And now I will await the I've just awakened!

It's hard to give it to Roy because Roy had a short career, and that is what we are talking about right? Careers??? Now if your going to say Roy is better than Drexler then why can't we say Lillard is better than Porter?

 

[OneLifeToLive]

Something tells me this has been brought up before. Even if it has I'll revisit it.
I'll probably not get any rep for this as Drexler is most Blazer fans favorite Blazer.
Here's my assessment from examining both of their entire careers closely.

Iso Offense Roy>>Drexler (Drex was a slasher not an Iso guy)
Ballhandling Roy>>>Drexler (Drex = no left hand. Why Roy is better at Iso)
Mid range Jumper Roy>>>Drexler (drexler's jumper got better but still)
3 point range Roy>>>Drexler (this one's easy)
On the Ball Defense Roy>Drexler (when Roy wanted to he was solid defender before the knee injuries)
Off Ball Defense Drexler>>>Roy (Drex avg'd 2 stls per game for his career)
Leadership Roy>>>Drexler (Without Porter we would have no leader)
Half court Offense Roy>>>Drexler (obvious)
Transition Offense Drexler>>>Roy (obvious)
Athletcism Drexler>>>>Roy (roy had 40 inch vert but never really used it)
Work Ethic Roy>>Drexler (Drex has been reported to be a lazy practice player)
Killer Instinct Roy>>>>Drexler (there is absolutely no debate on this)

In my conclusion I would rather have Roy than Drexler. Imagine Roy with Porter at PG. Porter RAN that team and IMHO was the major reason for our success (Drex leading scorer but IMHO did not have the BBIQ that Porter had).

And now I will await the I've just awakened!

I don't disagree with you from this standpoint. Roy was the more fundamentally sound player. Had he had decent knees, the limitations we saw from him on the court wouldn't have been apparent and visible. Decent knees would have allowed for more athleticism in his overall game and in the end that would have made more potent as a player. If he had decent knees and was able to put in a good ten to 15 years more than likely we would have been saying that he was the better player.

The bottom line is, as it sits, Clyde Drexler is the greater player. And how quickly some of us forget how great he was.

 

[Hey]

I wonder if the reason Roy had so few dunks was because he knew he had to ration his knees for a longer career. We all know he was capable of a good one every now and then, but it seemed like he dunked only five times a year.

 

[Mote]

It's very obvious a few posters here never got to see Clyde play much.

 

[dviss1]

Roy was a notch above Drexler in the half court game. They are on the other hand, a world apart in terms of the fast break game. Drexler was one of the best of all time, not only and finishing the break but in finding the open man. He was a better passer than Roy, whose passing skills were always over-rated. Drexler actually created easy opportunities for his teammates.

Drexler was also better in every facet of defense. Not sure why you have Roy ahead of him in Iso? Roy was a liability on defense, whereas it was a strength for Clyde.

And what makes you say Roy had "leadership". He never even lead the Blazers out of the 1st round. And who really gives a fuck how a player practiced.

In Iso I meant iso offense mainly. I addressed on and off the ball defense. I already gave Drex his props in that area so I'm not sure why you need to make that point.

Now about Roy's D. Roy shut down Carmelo in the post In the clutch when we went on that 13 game win streak. He shut Joe Johnson in the clutch on that same run. Roy had better OTB defense than Drexler while drexler was FAR better off the ball. Roy's D BECAME a liability after his knees gave out but he was always a very solid on the ball defender. Drexler however was not and I'm not sure why you believe he was. You are hating on Roy's passing when he averaged 4.7 ast for his career. With season highs of 5.8 per.

If you think Drexler was a leader you are fooling yourself. Porter was the brains of that team and we are LUCKY he never got hurt.

 

[dviss1]

I don't disagree with you from this standpoint. Roy was the more fundamentally sound player. Had he had decent knees, the limitations we saw from him on the court wouldn't have been apparent and visible. Decent knees would have allowed for more athleticism in his overall game and in the end that would have made more potent as a player. If he had decent knees and was able to put in a good ten to 15 years more than likely we would have been saying that he was the better player.

The bottom line is, as it sits, Clyde Drexler is the greater player. And how quickly some of us forget how great he was.

This is exactly why I started this thread. I wanted there to be some genuine debate on who was the more skilled player. Roy was more skilled and Drexler was FAAAAR more athletic and faster than Roy. Roy shot WAY more jumpers than Drexler and that is why his FG% was lower. Drex was at the rim slashing and on the fast break dunking. My main point was that Roy was the more fundamentally sound player (on both sides of the ball). But It is true that Drexler put up the better numbers due to athleticism and play style. I would also argue that Roy had a better BBIQ than Drexler too.

I don't want you all to think I didn't love Drexler. He was my 2nd Favorite (I played PG so I tried to BE Tim Hardaway) player of all time. I love Drexler. I HATED when we traded him away for Otis fuckin Thorpe....

 

[dviss1]

But we're not comparing Drexler to who Roy might've become, are we? If Roy was more skilled, how come Drexler scored more, rebounded more, assisted more, and had more steals? Oh and his FG% was better.

That is a fair argument. I think Drexler rebounded and had more steals because he was bigger, longer and more athletic than Roy. I'm not sure how much boxing out I saw him do tbh so I won't downgrade Drexler in that area. As for Roy's assists vs Drexler's, if you look at my list above again I'm realizing I neglected to grade that area.

It's very obvious a few posters here never got to see Clyde play much.

I don't know what you're talking about. I've seen and been to MANY Blazer Games. I've been a die hard fan since the 85-86' season. I was 9. They didn't come on cable then remember? I saw and went to many blazer games in the late 80s up to today. In my lifetime (I'm 36) I'll say I've averaged at least 10 games per season. I saw lots of Drexler. I know his game.

Edit: I went to Clyde Drexler Basketball Camp in 7th and 8th grade at Benson HS too! He talked about free throw shooting and Isaiah Thoma's airball free throw in the finals (remember that?).

I know bout' some Drex and am really simply saying Roy was more fundamentally sound.

 

[BlazerBeav]

It's very obvious a few posters here never got to see Clyde play much.

Exactly - had Drexler's career not completely overlapped with Jordan's, he'd be so much more highly thought of. He was amazing on the court.

 

[dviss1]

Also one could make a strong argument that Geoff Petrie was a better player than Roy.

Skill wise? No. Stat wise? That's pretty fair.

 

[dviss1]

Exactly - had Drexler's career not completely overlapped with Jordan's, he'd be so much more highly thought of. He was amazing on the court.

What if he developed a left hand? What about a crossover? Drexler did straight line drives his career. He's never been an ankle breaker. He could have developed his handles a lot more. I guess that's sorta grasping at straws. I just love how Roy would COOK your ankles and pull up for a 17 footer right in your mouth after you stumbled back on your heels.

 

[Natebishop3]

The question is moot because we should have drafted Michael Jordan

 

[dviss1]

Oh, and for the record I still have the following:

Clyde Drexler Wheaties Box (with the tear in the corner and all. Wheaties haters did that on purpose. )

Clyde the glide poster of him with the Red Baron pilot hat, in the clouds, with that KANGAROOS on! (Yes it is a fact. I still possess this poster)

In my son's room he has the black and white "Uh Oh" Nike Poster With Terry, Buck, and Mercy Kersey.

One of these

I've been a fan for a long time.

 

[dviss1]

The question is moot because we should have drafted Michael Jordan

Then they would have played together. I don't see your point. Do you think Drexler would have taken a backseat to MJ? Drex was quiet.

He could have played Small Forward though!

 

[Natebishop3]

Then they would have played together. I don't see your point. Do you think Drexler would have taken a backseat to MJ? Drex was quiet.

He could have played Small Forward though!

Well, since we're living in an alternate universe where we drafted Jordan, Drexler is irrelevent. He either shuts up and plays second fiddle, or leaves, but the point of that draft was that you always draft BPA and you don't draft for need. That point should be hammered home to the extent that all Blazer fans understand it.

 

[PapaG]

It's closer than most would think, considering stats and prime.

Drexler was ~23 PER for a few peak years. Roy was as well.

Drexler was clearly he better player, though based on longevity.

 

[Natebishop3]

It's closer than most would think, considering stats and prime.

Drexler was ~23 PER for a few peak years. Roy was as well.

Drexler was clearly he better player, though based on longevity.

But if longevity wasn't a factor, and you could have a prime Clyde or a prime Roy, which would you take?

Honestly, I wish I could remember more of Clyde. I was pretty young when we were making our runs with Clyde, Terry, Jerome, etc. I didn't really start to understand and follow the league until 1993-1994.

I know that when Roy was healthy, he was as good as any other guard in the league. He was killer when the game was on the line. I really wish he could have stayed healthy because I think he would have set a legacy in the playoffs.

 

[Drttimmy]

Going off the premise that Roy played a full career and duplicated his best year for 6-7 more seasons, then I'd say Roy. They really are a superb contrast of style and play, so much, that its almost an apples and oranges scenario and impossible to really say. A little like comparing Joe Montana vs Steve Young. Just depends on what particular style of basketball you like.

I think, what's interesting, is the areas Drexler has the advantage (rebounding, defense, transition) it's an overwhelming one. They're pretty even otherwise, except for game closing ability, where Roy was one of the best in the last 20 years. But game closing is probably the most important measuring trait there is, and so I give it to Roy overall.

 

[Sinobas]

What if he developed a left hand? What about a crossover? Drexler did straight line drives his career. He's never been an ankle breaker. He could have developed his handles a lot more. I guess that's sorta grasping at straws. I just love how Roy would COOK your ankles and pull up for a 17 footer right in your mouth after you stumbled back on your heels.

Who cares? He was Clyde the Glyde, he was unstoppable in the open court, and nearly unstoppable if you game him a seam.

Roy could never lead a fast break, while it was Clyde's specialty.