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Message: [QUOTE="pj, post: 2801776, member: 2524"] Both Kemba and Maravich are excellent shooters whose efficiency is/was harmed by being on poor teams. But you could argue Kemba is plausibly a better shooter. A few aspects of this: [LIST] [*]Kemba's career free throw % is 83.4% vs Pete's 82.0%. This is the one stat that is era-independent, so it speaks heavily to shooting skill. [*]The addition of the 3 point line means that players take more shots far from the basket -- 3 pointers are more than 1/3 of Kemba's shots, and his career 3 pt shooting % of 35.8% drags his overall average down. Kemba's career 2 pt % of .445 is actually slightly better than Pete's career 2 pt % of .441. [*]When Maravich was in the NBA, league average FG% varied from .449 to .485, while during Kemba's time it varied from .448 to .460. So relative to league averages, give Kemba a bump of about 1% on his shooting. [URL='https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_stats.html']NBA League Averages | Basketball-Reference.com[/URL]. [*]In Maravich's time, about 70% of the players were white. Now white players are about 23%, and they are mostly bigs. There is more speed and athleticism in the NBA than there was in Maravich's time -- that translates to Kemba facing tougher defense than Pete did. [/LIST] You can truly say that Maravich stood out against the players of his time more than Kemba stands out against his peers. But that may indicate the lack of depth in Maravich's time, more than any deficiency in Kemba. Maravich was one of the most creative and entertaining players ever. But creativity doesn't necessarily translate into wins. Check out the article linked below by [USER=6164]@Lynyrd[/USER], [URL='https://www.nola.com/nbaallstar/index.ssf/2014/02/pistol_pete.html']NBA legends recall 'Pistol' Pete Maravich's lasting imprint on the game[/URL]. In Maravich's HORSE game against Ice Gervin, he was losing as long as they shot bank shots, because Gervin's shooting percentage was higher. But once Maravich got choice of shot -- sitting on the floor -- he was sure to win, because he could make crazy shots that Gervin had never practiced. I think in a head-to-head, Kemba against Pistol Pete, it would have been the same -- in actual shots that would be taken in an NBA game, Kemba would shoot better; in entertaining crazy shots, Pistol Pete would win hands down. If I had to have a player who could entertain fans and keep a game competitive going 1-on-5, I'd take Pistol Pete. But if I had to win a championship, I'd take Kemba. It would have been something to see Maravich with the Globetrotters. Too bad he died young. [/QUOTE]

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