You’d almost have to run a 4 man offense with him just roaming setting back picks. I honestly don’t think he’d be great at all rolling to the rim.
I’m coming around a bit envisioning it. It’s not an iso league with a bunch of stiff bigs anymore.
I mean it’s not like he’s playing against dudes shooting underhand free throws. He’s on teams with Jordan and Pippen – they could probably play in today’s NBA. Could Kerr play in the league today? Kukoc? Shaq? Sean Kemp? John Stockton? Reggie Miller? Karl Malone?
Rodman was a pretty explosive player. He seemed to have a good wingspan, being capable of guarding any power forward in the league and centers if he had to. Would players today give him problems? Maybe but why would they give him problems and not give Jordan problems? He was just as good at rebounding in his era as Jordan was at scoring. And for Rodman there are no comparable examples for his dominance before or since, which you can’t say for Jordan.
BONUS RODMAN FOOTAGE:
edit: fucking Bill Walton “awfully early in the game to be burning timeouts just for a solitary possession when you already have the lead”
Makes my point about Rodman being undervalued at the time exactly. Burn a timeout for a possession? OF COURSE! Jesus Christ.
Holy Shit!
I hadn’t watched forever. You can see him setting quasi picks in transition on offense and what a smart player he is.
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All the players you mentioned might need to do some adjusting, but they all showed they at least have the needed abilities. Rodman, I believe, was always a terrible offensive player. Not an under-utilized one [I’m open to being convinced otherwise in regards to his offense].
It’s not just Rodman. Someone like Mutombo wouldn’t survive in today’s league either. It just become much harder to hide certain problems. Boban is like the most efficient player in NBA history and he can’t step on the court.
Just wanna point out again that i’m in no way arguing that Rodman wasn’t extremely valuable for the Bulls (or any of his other teams)
You keep bringing up slow footed dudes tho: Mutombo, Reggie Evans, Boban.
It’s not apt at all.
Bring up someone who can guard what? 3-5? 2-5? 1-5 maybe even?
I wasn’t bringing them up to prove that Rodman can’t play, just that some players can’t adjust, no matter how good they were at certain things.
It’s hard to bring examples similar to Rodman as he was such a unique player at his time.
But players that can’t adjust are all bc they’re slow.
The league is smaller and faster, after seeing him guard Shaq again I have no idea why he couldn’t be a 5 now.
I think Rodman always just did what was asked of him. He never needed to score so he didn’t. But you watch that Magic video and it’s obvious he wasn’t intrinsically incompetent around the basket. He focused on rebounding because on the Bulls particularly he didn’t need to try to score (and that secondary role fit his personality, which is why he was happy to do that sort of role starting on the Pistons’ Bad Boys teams).
In his second and third seasons, he averaged 11.6 and 9.0 points mostly off the bench with an eFG% of .568 and .601. His eFG% in the third year lead the NBA. He surely could have been a reasonably effective scorer and Draymond Green type player if he choose to/had to.
This is a common trope, but it’s true here.
Why couldn’t he have learned to shoot a corner 3 like Bruce Bowen?
wat go watch it right now it’s great, lots of Rodman stuff speaking of
also the Jordan doc borrows a bit of footage heh
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I don’t know that you’d want him to necessarily but if all else fails?
He’s a higher career FT% shooter fwiw.
Can you think of a player anywhere near as bad as Rodman was at shooting and not a good passer or pnr’er, who is a successful NBA starter?
Big Ben and Bowen?
Strike Big Ben I guess bc I assume you’re asking in the more immediate era ldo.
I consider their era far closer to Rodman’s in terms of both offenses and defenses.
But again, Rodman was unique even in 90’s basketball, so I think it makes sense he’d be a category of his own here.
I don’t think he’s comparable to Tony Allen, but that’s getting closer to now.
I know GS ruined him by putting Bogut on him fwiw.
In the current NBA imo guards can’t play if they can’t score and bigs can’t play if they can’t defend/move.
I found it on usenet
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yeah but gobert is a big who can’t score. He’s a good PnR’er and decent finisher. We don’t really have a Rodman type. Maybe Biyombo which I haven’t seen play in ages, but that’s a backup on a bad team.
Why couldn’t Rodman be Draymond?