Weekly Debates

by Marty Mart on Jul 12, 2011 10:19 PM PDT

So, I think I may start up a weekly conversation piece in which I post a topic and everyone here can discuss how they feel about it. I'd love feedback for new topics or for a restructuring of questions.

Couple things:

1. Rec only arguments that you feel really convince you of reasoning. At the end of the week, I will post which were the most convincing arguments based on recs. And in the new post, I will have a poll to gauge the feelings of people on the topic.

2. Don't result to name-calling or insults to make your points. It's only makes you look insecure in your own arguments. If someone makes a statement that is wrong, just show the evidence of why it is wrong. Do not respond with assumptions of the OP's intelligence

Without further ado, here's our first topic this week.

In a recent article on The Painted Area, Jay Ach compared the careers of different international players and whether they were worthy of the Hall of Fame (Here is the article: Hall of Fame Candidates: International NBA Standouts). Our very own Pau Gasol of this current Laker squad appears on this list. Interestingly, Ach attempts a comparison between Showtime Laker James Worthy and Pau Gasol to exhibit why Pau should be included in the Hall of Fame. Here is an excerpt of that portion:

James Worthy got rewarded for being the third-best player on three NBA title teams, so why shouldn't Pau get rewarded for being the second-best player on two NBA title teams.

This brings us to the debate of the week. Are the careers of James Worthy and Pau Gasol comparable? In what ways? Is there any merit to the notion that Pau Gasol is a better player than James Worthy? Is the picture of James Worthy painted in the article a fair portrayal of his career?

(Full disclosure: I'm a little on the young side and have few memories of Worthy as a player, so that is why this is even a debate for me and not clear cut in favor of either way.)

Have at it people.

(Sorry for the lame poll question. I couldn't figure out how to word the question into one)

Poll

Who would you pick if you were picking a basketball team?

Pau Gasol

18 votes

James Worthy

15 votes

33 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 14 comments | 0 recs |

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Comments

THAT'S WHAT YOUTUBE IS FOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111111!!!ELEVENTYONETWELVE

I’m a little on the young side and have few memories of Worthy as a player, so that is why this is even a debate for me and not clear cut in favor of either way.

In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different. - Coco Chanel
Tweetness

by SoCalGal on Jul 12, 2011 10:35 PM PDT reply actions

lol

that’s still not comprehensive enough. lol

These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world... and then we fucked up the end game. - Charlie Wilson

The key to championships = SIGN LUTHER HEAD!!!!!!!!

by Marty Mart on Jul 12, 2011 10:46 PM PDT up reply actions

youtube cant quantify a career into something tangible

Chukwudiebere Maduabum FTW!!!!!!!
twitter

by shaqfor3 on Jul 13, 2011 12:54 AM PDT up reply actions

the twelve gets me everytime

"That took some ovaries to do" ~ Danica Patrick

by Cup Noodles on Jul 14, 2011 11:17 AM PDT up reply actions

Hee hee.

In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different. - Coco Chanel
Tweetness

by SoCalGal on Jul 14, 2011 12:18 PM PDT up reply actions

We did something similar over at PSA.

This should be fun.

jus waggin along son

by Jeterian 2 on Jul 13, 2011 4:39 AM PDT reply actions

Well the answer is Pau Gasol.

They’ve both have over 700 games played. Worthy has played about a season and a half more than Pau has, but I figure they both have a big enough sample size to say you would rather take.

Pau comes in as a 7 foot forward and Worthy comes in as a 6-9 forward. According to bball reference Pau has two pounds on Worthy. Doesn’t mean much, but they were similar in terms of stature.

The numbers will point out that Pau is the better player though. I’ll post both career numbers below.

Pau- 18.8 PPG, 9.1 TRB, 3.2 AST, .522 FG%, 22.1 PER, .579 TS%, 98.0 WS, .179 WS/48

Worthy – 17.6 PPG, 5.1 TRB, 3.0 AST, .521 FG%, 17.7 PER, .559 TS%, 81.2 WS,
.130 WS/48

Pau wins most of these important categories. Points, rebounding (by a large margin), TS% (which measures how efficient a player is), and the WS (win share – measures how many wins he’s worth to a team.) Speaking of that he has about 17 more WS than Worthy even playing less games.

While they were similar in AST and FG%. Which isn’t a big deal when Pau won the TS%. Pau sometimes gets the soft tag, and from the way my Dad talked about Worthy it make him seem like a bad dude. I mean bad in a good way here. But the stats just say Pau > Worthy.

jus waggin along son

by Jeterian 2 on Jul 13, 2011 4:55 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs

I will say this Jeterian

Look at Worthy’s last 2-3 seasons and just how much they drop the averages. He should have retired 2 years earlier as far as career statistics go. (not that I think he should have, saying if he cared about them that would have been the time).

Nothing would make me happier than seeing CP3 traded to the Lakers. Mitch, make it happen!

by Vmuse on Jul 14, 2011 5:53 AM PDT up reply actions