Jackson Jambalaya

"Tuohy"

Pistol Pete was the best these eyes have ever seen. He could do anything with a basketball.

After I saw an alley oop hit him in the back of the head once, he doesn't deserve to have his name spelled right.

Ah, to be as perfect as you, Kingfish. Geesh.

What makes a great player? It is the ability to lift the play of others on your team. Russell did that and the Celtics dominated the way no other team did or has since and it was because Russell lifted the ability of his teammates.

Magic, Bird, Jordan, all possibilities.

Maybe Russell, Chamberlain, Kobe.

No on Shaq.

Jordan--transformed the NBA, the game of basketball, became larger that the sport he played in and is now a team owner. Nuff said period.

Jordan transformed it.

Magic and Bird saved it. I also probably should've put McHale on the list as well.

Having trouble with the poll as comparing big men, guards and forwards is kinda tough.

Magic is the only guy to ever play all five positions in a pro game.

Jordan did transform the game and as one guy said the pro field got level again when he retired.

Pistol , for all his faults ( mostly his daddy IMHO) could win a game all by himself.

But, David Thompson , to this day is the best I ever saw. I've never seen anyone else leap over a defender to take a shot...literally. And MJ acknowledged his admiration by having Thompson on stage with him at the Hall of Fame ceremony. It was a tragedy that Thompson's pro career got cut short.

Walton shouldn't be there. He was just BIGGER than everyone else and was slow and didn't hustle.

I'd take Russell over Wilt but it's close.

The rest aren't contenders IMHO.

and if I don't include Shaq someone will complain about it. Also a case to be made for Bird. If I'm not mistaken, he was in the top ten of all categories when he retired, something Jordan didn't do. Gervin was great but couldn't play defense worth a damn and was a ball hog so I didn't include him either.

Yeah...
Shaq had great PR.

Tyler Hansborough reminds me of Jordan only MJ was always better coordinated. It's the drive and desire that made them.

I'll take Magic. Bird is a drive and desire guy too.

Gotta put natural athletic ability with desire. Magic has it and does something with it.

MJ isn't born with as much but his spirit and hard work overcome.

That's the problem, MJ had to work ten times harder than Magic...

If you look at MJ films freshman year of college vs Magic's , you can really see what I mean

By the way, it grieves me more than you know to predict this but MS State will beat UNC.

UNC has a raw talent without desire team this year and Roy can't fix it as no player is hungry enough to challenge the other player's egos.

If I were Roy , I'd be running off most of this bunch and go for a " do over".

Poor Pete...he actually thought his Daddy had HIS best interests at heart instead of his own selfish interests.

I think Pete did remarkably well under the circumstances.

If Coach Maravich had let Dean or anyone else coach Pete after high school...

THAT story is an American tragedy

Is MSU in the NCAA tourney??? I THINK NOT! Irrelevant.

Surprised Olajuwon didn't get votes. Dominated Shaq. Had real competition at that position in his prime: Ewing, Shaq, Parrish, Kareem, Divac, Robinson, Malone, McHale, Lambieer, Smits, and others.

The NIT ain't what it used to be, but it's not bad experience for a team and a title win can bode well for next year.
The Duke/UNC rivalry is pretty intense, too, but I'll guarantee you UNC fans will pull for an in state team over an out of state team and pull for an ACC team over any other conference.
A win makes the state and the conference look strong in the sport.
Try to think how good Ole Miss would feel next year if they beat the team that won the NIT and came within a point of beating the probable NCAA champ.
I really don't get why Mississippians would knock a Mississippi team or want a Mississippi team to lose. I just don't.