Speedy and Mookie comparisons

[pound4pound]

Last night Steve Smith kept on making the comparison of Speedy's defense to Mookie's. Those two strips of Randolph where classic. He does bring a defensive intensity that we haven't had at that spot since Mookie was here. We keep on hearing that Speedy isn't full strength yet and you have to wonder if we saw a glimpse of what that might look like last night. I think it is a pretty fair comparison. Offensively, T-lue is much closer to Blaylock than Claxton. We seamed to be at our best last night when both where on the floor and Joe moved over to the three.

[Popeye]

And yet some people on here that look at the box scores think that this guy is stealing money from us by faking injuries or something.

The guy is hustling and playing his ass off, there was at least three times where Speedy went to the floor for the loose ball. Sergio Rodriguez started soring on Lue and Woody brougth in Speedy to guard him and Sergio didn't even score anymore. If Speedy didn't play that 4th qtr we would of been in a lot of trouble.

[TexasPete]

Mookie smoked a lot more weed though. Cheech, Chong, and Mookie.

[exodus]

Speedy has been known as a tough defender his whole career. Last night he showed that as he did earlier in the year. I think his offense should come around soon.

But I would be hesitant to compare him to Mookie. Mookie was widely (and rightly) seen as the best man defender in the league at the point. Speedy has a ways to go to get to that level.

[jerrywest]

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Speedy has been known as a tough defender his whole career. Last night he showed that as he did earlier in the year. I think his offense should come around soon.

But I would be hesitant to compare him to Mookie. Mookie was widely (and rightly) seen as the best man defender in the league at the point. Speedy has a ways to go to get to that level.

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I wish we had Ramuel Robinson back. His Roland rating was better.

[sarcasm off]

[pound4pound]

This year we have seen one of our biggest weaknesses is the opposing point guard abusing us late in the Fourth. Although last night it was Randolph but I was thinking of Raymond Felton, Nate Robinson, and TJ Ford, as examples and the bigger names like Chauncey Billups and Gibert Arenas. Maybe a healthy Speedy in the Fourth would give us a better perimeter d to close out the tough games. Although some we won, I admit, I am looking at the bigger picture. Smitty's comparison to Mookie made me think how well we could do with these nasty 1's in the future. It could be the difference.

[CBAreject]

BTW, Sergio looks magic offensively. His assist rate is absurd. If he can play defense well enough to eventually start, he might someday lead the league in assists.

[Sothron]

Mookie was a great point guard. Claxton isn't even in the same league. I think Smitty must have found Mookie's old stash to make that absurd comment.

[chillzatl]

Mookie wasn't a great PG. He was a great defender and a solid PG.

[Sothron]

He was a great PG. The best on ball defender in the NBA for at least six to eight years, great passing skills and the only knock on him could be shooting. Add that up and you get a great point guard IMO.

[chillzatl]

a great PG needs to average more than 6 apg and Mookie only did that like 2-3 years, early in his career and early in his tenure with us. He was a great defender, but anyone who watched the Hawks knows he wasn't a great PG. That's not a slap in the face to him, it's just the facts. I also wouldn't call him "the best on the ball defender in the NBA for 6-8 years". He was top 2-3 for a good while, but the best? You're homering a little too much on this one.

[Sothron]

I watched or went to the games for all of Mookie's tenure here in Atlanta. I absolutely would call him a great point guard. He could deny ball entry, he could defend his man, he was fantastic in plying the lanes and snagging balls for steals and racing to the other end for an easy layup or an assist opportunity. The only point guard that is comparable to him (in his prime obviously) in terms of defense was Gary Payton.

Mookie had good handles. You also have to remember that Smitty got more than his fair share of assists in the slow down half court teams we had with Lenny on board. Mookie did his job extremely well.

[lunar]

i would agree that mookie was a good but not great point guard. to compare him to gary payton back then would be just about like comparing speedy claxton to chancey billups. actually, that is a pretty good comparison. mookie played great defense like speedy, but he wasn't a migician on the court and for the most part just did the essential things a point guard needs to do to earn an increase in salary over time. that doesn't make mookie anyless good, but it doesn't turn him into a hall-of-famer either.

[CBAreject]

Mookie was a great PG in '93-'94. That team had no business being the best in the Eastern Conference. We were projected to be a .500 team. The main reason for our improvement was a mature Mookie Blaylock playing lock-down defense.

I believe Mook was the best defensive PG in the NBA that year. I think he didn't age all that well, so he declined quickly.

[lunar]

nah, we just traded him for some dumb reason. (stupid babcock)

[jerrywest]

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i would agree that mookie was a good but not great point guard. to compare him to gary payton back then would be just about like comparing speedy claxton to chancey billups. actually, that is a pretty good comparison. mookie played great defense like speedy, but he wasn't a migician on the court and for the most part just did the essential things a point guard needs to do to earn an increase in salary over time. that doesn't make mookie anyless good, but it doesn't turn him into a hall-of-famer either.

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Mookie was one leaguy below Gary Payton. I'll say though Mookie was the 2nd best of the 90's unless you count Pippen as PG(mostly in the playoffs). He also shot the ball more than he needed to. Much better shooter that Claxton, but nothing to write home about. Had a lot of clutch shots for us. Stronger and bigger than Speedy but not as "speedy". Definitely not an injured. Smitty knows Mookie more than anybody in the NBA. If he saw traces of Mookie then there must be something there. I'll watch the game tonight on NBAtv. My guess is it has something to do with D. Smitty don't bullshit.

[jerrywest]

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nah, we just traded him for some dumb reason. (stupid babcock)

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Yes. We gave up nothing to get Mookie and then gave up EVERYTHING to get nothing.

[lunar]

payton

stockton

johnson

hardaway (tim and penny)

srickland

van exel

kidd

there were people with him and all of them had similar defensive abilities

[terrynoonan]

Smitty is turning into The Stinger. I think it was a combination of him trying to be nice, and reminiscing about the past. A guy gets two steal and he's Mookie? C'mon!

[lunar]

you can't say he doesn't play defense like him going for everything. he won't avg 17 pts and 9 ast, but he will pick your pocket if you aren't paying attention.