100 Greatest NBA Players (The Ultimate List)

[bchaikin]

Dantley was never considered a sharp shooter

this is veritable proof you really have no business being in this discussion, most likely never even saw him play, and are in fact arguing for the sake of arguing...

dantley was considered one of the game's best midrange shooters in the early to mid-1980s:

http://www.nba.com/history/players/dantley_bio.html

which calls him a "deadeye shooter" and "was as smooth an outside shooter as could be"...

if you had ever seen him play you would know that he was so effective going to the basket as defenders could never play him solely for the drive because his midrange jumper (and he often shot midrange set shots) was sooo good. he would almost always pump fake - if they bit for the fake he drove by them, if they didn't he'd hit his midrange set shot (often not a jumper)...

but again, had you ever seen him play you would know this...

[Bobbofitos]

Bchai, I think it is you who is arguing just for the sake of arguing. My point about deadeye shooting and heat maps has to do with the # of points Durant gets from beyond the arc. Dantley's mid range game equates to that of a PF/post up player, not a stretch wing. But maybe you just have no business being in this discussion so that's all there is to say.

[Mike G]

The discussion could also involve the relative merits of set shots in the '80s vs anything in this decade. Nobody gets a 14-foot set shot these days.

It's already been mentioned that when Dantley was lighting it up with astronomical TS% and Usg%, he was with a Jazz team with almost no 2nd scoring option. While these conditions normally would depress a top scorer's shooting%, Dantley seemed to be impervious. He thrived on being the go-to guy.

In Detroit, he was still great, and he was the offensive star for a very good team. But he didn't have Durant-like numbers there.

Durant, in the prime of his life, is almost superhuman. With Westbrook out, he's just picked up the slack, and the team hasn't missed a beat. I don't think he can do this forever, but it's fun to watch.

http://bkref.com/tiny/4oNzu
At age 25, Durant has already done as much in playoffs as Dantley did in his career.

[BasketballJedi]

Back in the 80s, teams didn't have use for the guard/swingman who played like a big, especially since most actual bigs resided in the paint. And that was Dantley's game in a nutshell.

He was unique player who was also one of the best of his era on offense, but it wasn't the era for him.