Tag Archives: 2000s Pistons

H2H 156: Shawn Marion vs. Rasheed Wallace – Who was Better?

Today’s NBA game is all about versatility, making players who can do it all (score, rebound, pass, defend, etc.) valuable commodities in this new era of positionless basketball.  A generation earlier, two stars who fit this mold at the forward position were Shawn Marion and Rasheed Wallace – despite very different personalities and temperaments, each was a highly productive player on both ends of the court for some championship-contending teams; as perhaps borderline Hall of Fame-type players from the 2000s, let us compare this duo and pose the question:

Who was better – Shawn Marion or Rasheed Wallace?

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H2H 142: Chauncey Billups vs. Kevin Johnson – Who was Better?

Point guards act as the “floor generals” for a basketball team and often set the tone as the heart and soul of a team, thus serving as an imperative piece of a winning franchise.  For the Phoenix Suns in the 1990s and the Detroit Pistons in the 2000s, the two teams played very different styles of basketball (a fast-paced frenetic offensive style for the former, a more defense-minded, grind-it-out mentality for the latter), but were linked by the common factor of having an elite point guard in Kevin Johnson and Chauncey Billups, respectively.  Though neither was ever regarded as THE best point guard in the NBA, both were top-tier floor generals for roughly a decade for among the winningest teams of their eras, thus bringing up the comparison:

Who was better – Chauncey Billups or Kevin Johnson?

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H2H 73: Dennis Rodman vs. Ben Wallace – Who was Better?

Note: Updated for Ben Wallace’s 2021 Hall of Fame selection.

While the most glamorous part of playing basketball is scoring points, every championship team also needs players who can rebound, play defense, and do the dirty work necessary to win.  In the history of the NBA, perhaps no players better epitomize the role of an offensively-challenged, yet ferocious rebounder and defender better than Dennis Rodman and Ben Wallace. Both were relatively undersized, yet more than made up for it with their hustle and determination, transforming from unheralded prospects to All-Star and Defensive Player of the Year anchors for championship teams – as two of the greatest rebounding and defense specialists ever, the natural question is:

Who was better – Dennis Rodman or Ben Wallace?

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