The Case for Pete Maravich - Best Guard... Ever??

[Stevenson]

No one was more fun to watch - before or since. No-one had his skill level, ever. No one put on a show like he did. Best passer, best finisher, best shooter? Oh, best dribbler too! He would still own the college scoring record if they had counted 3s back then.

I just loved watching the guy play.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

He certainly was ahead of his time. Two major weaknesses: low efficiency scoring and probably even worse D than Trae Young (who is maybe his closest comparison in the current league).

 

[riverman]

No one was more fun to watch - before or since. No-one had his skill level, ever. No one put on a show like he did. Best passer, best finisher, best shooter? Oh, best dribbler too! He would still own the college scoring record if they had counted 3s back then.

I just loved watching the guy play.

He was built for today's game. The guy was so smooth and effortless shooting the ball. Like Jerry West back in the day or Mark Price later on. Few guards played defense in those days when handchecking was allowed. Strong guys could move smaller guys around easily without the hand checking rules of today.

 

[tlongII]

Uh, didn’t MJ play guard?

 

[jlprk]

Few guards played defense in those days when handchecking was allowed. Strong guys could move smaller guys around easily without the hand checking rules of today.

There was a lot of guard defense. Jerry West was a great defender. Maravich was generally held in mediocre regard for ineffective empty stats.

Some players' reputations grow falsely long after they retire, like Barkley, Maravich, or Chauncey Billups. Others diminish and people forget, like Rick Barry.