Paige vs Pistol Pete

[Jmsdawg]

Watched the Paige highlights in the DePaul game. She reminds me of Pistol Pete. Pete was a scoring machine but he was an amazing passer. I was privileged to see Pete play in a LSU MSST game. He scored over 50 points but what I remember most were those incredible passes he made. Watching the Paige highlights she scored a lot of points but what impressed me were those passes. To me she is Pistol Paige!

 

[eebmg]

Skills maybe but never sacrificed or tried to make his team better, Flash and more Flash but forget team building.

 

[MD#12Fan]

I love the PB Pistol Pete analogy!
Both thin, long, and deceptively strong. Both somewhat tall for their position. Pete was 6'5", obviously having no trouble getting his shot off. PB same.
I notice the long strides they both take with the ball in their hands. Shows a wonderful handle, but also court vision that enables them to do so much on the floor in full stride.
I think it is fascinating watching PB learn her role on the team. An 18 year old (?) visibly working to find that perfect balance between scoring and playmaking. Pistol didn't have to do that in college. To me, it's similar to Larry Bird, in that he could have shot every possession and averaged 35 a game, but he was able to find that balance.
I do not know Pistol's pro career so well. He wasn't on National TV so much. Was he ever an "All-Pro" playmaker? I know he was burdened with knee injuries.

 

[Jmsdawg]

I love the PB Pistol Pete analogy!
Both thin, long, and deceptively strong. Both somewhat tall for their position. Pete was 6'5", obviously having no trouble getting his shot off. PB same.
I notice the long strides they both take with the ball in their hands. Shows a wonderful handle, but also court vision that enables them to do so much on the floor in full stride.
I think it is fascinating watching PB learn her role on the team. An 18 year old (?) visibly working to find that perfect balance between scoring and playmaking. Pistol didn't have to do that in college. To me, it's similar to Larry Bird, in that he could have shot every possession and averaged 35 a game, but he was able to find that balance.
I do not know Pistol's pro career so well. He wasn't on National TV so much. Was he ever an "All-Pro" playmaker? I know he was burdened with knee injuries.

I really do not know much about NBA BB. Pro ball has never been exciting to me and I seldom watch either the NBA or WNBA. I never lived in an area where Pro BB was readily available, never developed any team loyalty so just did not watch. So for Pete’s Pro career I am not a good source.

 

[JonathanXIV]

Maravich's best season for assists was 6.9, and average 5.4 for his career. Five time all-star. Spectacular passer, but not a playmaker.

 

[tkaes]

Maravich took way too many shots to make a comparison to Paige valid regardless of his passing skills.

 

[eebmg]

Maravich took way too many shots to make a comparison to Paige valid regardless of his passing skills.

And even then, Maravich passes were designed to keep the spot light on him.

 

[huskeynut]

Just don't let Paige go to those sagging wool socks!!!!!!!!!

 

[Biff]

We did this back in December

Pistol Paige

I know many people are trying to compare Paige to Diana. Watching her play her game seems much more like Pistol Pete Maravich. The way she switches hands, scoops the ball, spins in the lane and drops a mid range shot. For those not old enough to have seen highlights of Pistol Pete look them up...

the-boneyard.com

 

[MD#12Fan]

Maravich took way too many shots to make a comparison to Paige valid regardless of his passing skills.

Pros? or College? College he averaged 46 pts a game his senior year. Obviously he shot more than PB, he shot more than anybody. Do you remember him in the Pros?

 

[chrissaran]

Skills maybe but never sacrificed or tried to make his team better, Flash and more Flash but forget team building.

How do you know? Did you see Pete play? Obviously he was an incredible passer, which suggests he did care about his teammates. Like Paige, if you're the best player, you should take the most shots.

 

[npignatjr]

Skills maybe but never sacrificed or tried to make his team better, Flash and more Flash but forget team building.

Was a great passer, if hitting teammates with great passes isn't team building what is. Played most of pro career with crummy teams.

 

[npignatjr]

Pros? or College? College he averaged 46 pts a game his senior year. Obviously he shot more than PB, he shot more than anybody. Do you remember him in the Pros?

No 3 PT at that time. He like many top draft picks got drafted by a crummy team. Never got to a good team, Celtics, until injuries had slowed him. Part of his last year 1980.

 

[MD#12Fan]

No 3 PT at that time. He like many top draft picks got drafted by a crummy team. Never got to a good team, Celtics, until injuries had slowed him.

I saw him in Washington when he was with the Celtics. A mere shell of what he was. Similar to Bill Walton in Boston.

 

[Carnac]

Watched the Paige highlights in the DePaul game. She reminds me of Pistol Pete. Pete was a scoring machine but he was an amazing passer. I was privileged to see Pete play in a LSU MSST game. He scored over 50 points but what I remember most were those incredible passes he made. Watching the Paige highlights she scored a lot of points but what impressed me were those passes. To me she is Pistol Paige!

Maravich saw the entire floor, and could see plays developing BEFORE they happened. The thing about Pete and Paige is that they were/are not afraid to pull the trigger on a difficult pass, like the one Paige threw to a cutting Westbrook to start the DePaul game. A thing of beauty, and it got UConn on the board right away.

 

[npignatjr]

35 pro games scoring 40+. Team record 29-6

 

[Cecil9]

I love the PB Pistol Pete analogy!
Both thin, long, and deceptively strong. Both somewhat tall for their position. Pete was 6'5", obviously having no trouble getting his shot off. PB same.
I notice the long strides they both take with the ball in their hands. Shows a wonderful handle, but also court vision that enables them to do so much on the floor in full stride.
I think it is fascinating watching PB learn her role on the team. An 18 year old (?) visibly working to find that perfect balance between scoring and playmaking. Pistol didn't have to do that in college. To me, it's similar to Larry Bird, in that he could have shot every possession and averaged 35 a game, but he was able to find that balance.
I do not know Pistol's pro career so well. He wasn't on National TV so much. Was he ever an "All-Pro" playmaker? I know he was burdened with knee injuries.

I like the Larry Bird comparison---great vision, passing, and shooting

 

[npignatjr]

Watched that game on TV, he was unbelievable. At the time the Knicks had the distinction of being the team that that highest scoring games by the 3 positions guard, forward and center had been scored against them.

 

[my2cents]

An LSU coach went back and watched all Pete's college games and figured out that if there was a 3 pt line, Pete would have avg'd 53 pts a game. He was easily one of the top 5 shooters of all time. ( Jerry West, IMO was the best.)
Paige is way more controlled and gets more excited for her team mates. For her team mates there is no one else they would rather play with.

 

[Aluminny69]

Pros? or College? College he averaged 46 pts a game his senior year. Obviously he shot more than PB, he shot more than anybody. Do you remember him in the Pros?

There was no 3 point line for Maravich. Someone went back and estimated Maravich would have averaged an additional 13 points per game with a 3 point line. Similar situation for our own Wes Bialusuknia.

 

[Ukonnfan]

Like Paige alot, but it’s not even close. Nice try.

 

[willtalk]

Pete was way ahead of his time in his style of play in respect to the NBA. That and the money and publicity he generated as a rookie created resentment among his teammates so that they often froze him out of the offense.

What is often forgotten is that Pete played his entire career with a congenital heart defect. He was missing his right coronary artery that supplys blood to the heart. His skin always looked a bit gray and he was dark around the eyed. In retrospect it is understandable since he had one artery attempting to do the work of two. It was surprising that he could even play basketball.