Let me first say that I love what al brings to the team and hes one of my favorite players but, IMO I believe Maxiell to be the greater talent. The talent your talking about is offensive talent, while he is a good passer and can create his own shot hes defense and rebounding r sub par for a 4. Maxiell on the other hand has time to imporve his already decent offensive game and become a good low post scorer while his defense and shot blocking skills have really developed. HArrington is by far more talented offensively but on the defensive end Maxiell has really developed into a good player.

Fair enough. I guess it's just a difference of opinion.

AL HARRINGTON
14.8 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.9 SPG, 0.2 BPG
Shooting 45.2% from the field, 40.7% for three, and 77.5% from the line
In 28.3 MPG

JASON MAXIELL
8.6 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 0.7 APG, 0.2 SPG, 1.2 BPG
Shooting 54.0% from the field, 00.0% for three, and 66.1% from the line
In 22.9 MPG

When you say "better defender", you're clearly talking about shot-blocking (and shot-blocking only), because Al averages over 3 times as many steals per game as Maxiell and stands 2 inches taller (allowing him to put a body on centers, as well as PF's). It should also be mentioned that Al isn't just one of those guys that "can hit the three"; he's among the league's best 3-point shooters. That's a huge skill, seeing as Jason Kapono and Kyle Korver got paid bank for being shooters with nothing else to add to their game. Harrington is also twice the passer that Maxiell is and shoots over 10% better from the free throw line.

To his credit, Maxiell puts up comparable rebounding numbers to Al in 5 less minutes per game. He's also a higher percentage scorer from the field, but moreso due to his offensive incapabilities than a higher shot-making rate.

Jason Maxiell is Al Harrington's superior in only two aspects of the game: blocking shots and rebounding. Everything else goes to Al. Which is why I regard him as the more talented player. Maxiell is 3 years younger than Al, so he does have "potential" going for him, but less than half the teams in the league can claim to have a better PF than us.

Defense is more than getting steals and blocking shots. Altering shots, putting a big body on people in the paint, and frustrating people on the defensive end. Maxiell does these things better than HArrington.

jimbob631 wrote:Defense is more than getting steals and blocking shots. Altering shots, putting a big body on people in the paint, and frustrating people on the defensive end. Maxiell does these things better than HArrington.

Have you seen what Al has been able to do against Centers that have 4 or nore inches on him? Thats frustration...

Yea I take back the frustrating, Al does that just as well.