Barkley would prob be way worse honestly.

Game is just played above the rim way more now and he was a 6'4 fat. He would have to be some type of power-swingman who shoots 3's and posts up. And it would be way easier to exploit his lol D now. Besides white guys, he is probably the main guy I can think of that would be significantly worse today than he was.

Some guys games just don't translate to modern times, others do.

Not much different than college to pros.

charles barkley played below the rim? you should watch some of his sixers highlights

Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett were both playing in the NBA last season. I don't think the game has changed so much in the past 12 months that we can't just actually look at how they played to figure out how they would play now.

KG in Minnesota loved to spin away from defenders and take his fade away jumper, hence LMAesque, with about the same success rate. He did improve his efficiency in Boston where he could just take open jumpshots all day. Also this idea we have that players would just improve their range because the game asks them to has little basis in reality, Derozan seems incapable of adding a 3 point shot and it's not for lack of trying, certain players just can't do it.

I didn't say he played below the rim, I said his competition would be playing more above the rim now and finishing inside would be much more difficult for him.

Someone trying to score inside that much at 6'4 is going to have to deal with a lot more length and a lot more swarming from help defenders because of zone rules being what they are now.

yeah i agree. mechanics don't always translate well to 3s even for guys who have solid form, shoot fts well, or w/e other proxies we might use. also think release time also becomes more of a factor

Ehh, he was $ from 20 feet all day. Hard to think he isn't draining 3's if he comes up being given the green light to shoot that. Brook Lopez and Cousins aren't awful 3pt shooters now, so it works both ways. This idea that someone who shoots long 2's so well can't just step back a few feet and be more far efficient is unlikely.

KG did love to shoot fadeaway jumpers but it isn't like he didn't physically dominate too. Watch him in playoffs '04 against Sacto, it was a man among boys.

If KG plays for the GOAT coach Gregg Popovich, how many open jumpers is he getting a game? How much more PnR with Parker or Ginobili can he run? He wasn't a great post player, but it wasn't really his game either. He probably needed to be used more like Phx used Amare, but just never had the coach/teammates to make it work.

you're sleeping on barkley pretty hard here. he was explosive, agile, and had a good handle. wasn't just some fat guy bowling people over.

edit: maybe you didn't say he played below the rim, but you're implying he didn't play above it enough to score now which i think is kind of a crazy thing to say

I'm not really sleeping on him I don't think. I'm sleeping on his prototype of player. You can say he was rare but if a 6'4 guy is gonna lead the league in rebounding and dominate downlow vs the length/athleticism that we have now, then I'm probably going to need to see it to believe it. And again, he sucked defensively when he played.

Maybe he plays a different game where he is like a big wing who posts up 3's but guards 4's, I'm sure there are a lot of ways to make his skillset work but is he a top 5-10 player itl? I dunno, I'm usually dubious of guys that were rare skillset types or unathletic white guys.

Whereas elite athletes like Nique, Shawn Kemp or elite athletic bigs like D-Rob, Dream, Shaq, Malone it's just easier to see the transition.

A Faried with great on ball offensive skill would be a pretty good player, imo.

You're specifically sleeping on Barkley's athleticism imo. In particular it feels like you're evaluating him based on his Phoenix days

Only2Days,

If he played today they probably get him a personal chef and he isn't as fat, but I'm not sure he isn't just a 4 inches shorter Blake Griffin. Which seems like it would pose some challenges.

It sounds like you're calling Barkley a *****.

Both Gasols, amir Johnson, LMA, etc.

KG didn't want to shoot 3s because he didn't want to be known as a "stretch 4" or some crap like that.

if griffin could shoot like barkley he would be a terror offensively. would also say barkley is generally a more skilled offensive player, not that blake is unskilled

edit: maybe kg didn't "want" to shoot 3s b/c he wasn't good at them?

Grunching but if you're video game inclined get NBA Playgrounds immediately. Only $20 and an absolute blast.

lol at Barkley being unathletic, he was a freak. I used to think he was the most gifted athlete in the league when I was growing up watching him. I wonder what his wingspan is because it looks freakish.

I think he crushes in today's game tbh.

lol highlights. He was an automatic double team all day, which is why he averaged over 5 assists per game for 6 straight seasons. ~all from the post.

Barkley shouldn't have been able to to awesome in his era either as a short fat guy. But he was.

Damn, could you imagine him playing in The Triangle!?

Cuz I can.

The guy with by far the best TS% of these PFs couldn't compete today and the guy with the worst would be Steph Curry. Interesting takes.

Meanwhile no one wants to give the MAILMAN his due

Any time I want a good laugh, I can hop in here and read about the mythical exploits of Kevin Arnett and CP2.

Or I can read about Barkley not being able to play in today's era where Draymond Green is a "top 30" player.

Yeah the barkeley takes are lol. If anything he would be more effective today since theres more floor spacing and teams don't play 2 traditional bigs as often.