Vintage Adrian Dantley Highlights 

Jarrel Ely Mo was about 6 ft and AD was a forward.

Facts

Scoring isn't everything. Dantley couldn't defend or playmake and he was a huge ball stopper because of his isolations. There's a reason he was almost never on a good team, no one wanted him.

@@ucj7369 76 gold medal winner Dantley was missing piece that took Pistons to next level reaching 87 ECF and 88 finals.If not for bs foul call in game 6 of 88 finals Pistons would've won and Dantley would've definitely been finals MVP averaging 21ppg 5rpg 57%fg in series...Rebounds and steals being defensive stats and Dantley career 5.7rpg 1spg average made him good enough defender.

@@rob77793eleven how is rebounding a defensive stat? and that pistons team which he was on for 2 years traded him because he was a ball hog. Chuck Daly told him to switch up his playstyle to help the team, and he refused.

SOOOO accurately stated, Liam. He was all of that.

Dantley had one of the quickest first steps of any forward ever and blew by defenders. One thing you notice is how much space the man guarding him gave for precisely that reason. His quickness also allowed him to maneuver around defenders that were taller than him in the low post. Adrian could score on anybody.

and found time to average 3.0 apg for career.

Wilt once said, AD was the third best all time "down low" circa 1983. Either you foul him or he makes the shot. Then he's deadly from free throw line as well.

then i need to be assigned to guard him.

Ajeje Brazov some dude haven’t won shit either and people still talk about them I like Bernard but wtf they won ?

Ajeje Brazov He made the Pistons contenders, per joe Dumars

Him and Moses Malone are toe, the two most underrated players ever.

@@texas2547 yup. He was a beast for a long time. It's weird that he doesn't get more recognition

@@texas2547 I would add Mark Aguirre to the list too.

Yes, yes and yes. AD and Kiki Vandeweghe gave a clinic in their primes on how to score and take what the defense gave them. Neither was fast, great leapers, but SUPER crafty and deadly.

Your words showed a lot of of basketball intelligence many people don't realize that great ratings are given to basketball players many times because an entertainment value and not that basic fundamental basketball value that's why you heard for many years the Spurs being boring and Tim Duncan especially being boring that's the stupidest comment anybody can make about basketball because what are you playing basketball for but to win the game put in points in the basket and stopping the other opponent but Michael Jordan was giving a lot more credit anyways due simply because his game was very entertaining and very beautiful but that's a guy that couldn't beat magic bird or Isaiah in their Prime and yet they talk about him more than them for entertainment value Jordan was one of the greatest I agree but Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has the same amount of rings as Jordan they don't talk about that Duncan could have had seven rings Oscar Robinson was great fundamental they don't talk about him because people are immature when it comes basketball knowledge

N . successful

He couldn’t guard his position

He was a bad defender. That's why I will take a guy like Marques Johnson, who's going to give me 20 or 21 on 55 percent shooting, and play good defense over him.

Allen Wilson I didn’t say that weird shit. You got creative on that one.

more efficient than all of 'em. his efficiency was what made him particularly special as a scorer. nothing wasted

@@texas2547 I didn't say the results weren't spectacular.

He had a good shot. He just never got off the ground when he shot it

@SkyH23 He means by NBA standards

That’s yet another reason he reminds me of Alex English. He didn’t shoot many 3s, but was nearly automatic from midrange. That’s something sorely missing from today’s game.

He looks very quick and strong to me. I guarantee that if you saw him play up close, you would realize just how athletic he was.

Jimmy Butler plays a bit like him.

Jarrel Ely AD vs Mark Aguirre for Isiah’s heart.

Adrian dantley didn't contribute anything to winning. He can't pass, can't defend, can't make the right plays. All he does is be a ball stopper and shoot mid range shots. He's not even a top 100 player

Gervin was underrated too! The iceman & adrain dantley we’re scoring machines of their era!!!!🏀🏀👈🏀👈🙌🙌🏀🤟😎🤙🤙🏀

@@ucj7369 #41 all time in VORP, which takes all that into account except intangibles

Nope. Moses Malone and Dennis Johnson.

Very true. I recall a hockey coach saying "I can always find someone to check, I can't always find someone to score 40 goals." Scorers are indispensable, defensive players, not so much.

Kevin Huang After James Worthy blistered him in the finals

Bout my scrilla he never defended James Worthy. And nobody on the Lakers could come close to stopping AD. Dantley was double teamed more than all of the NBA centers

Dantley could score and that’s it. He was selfish, ball dominant player who you couldn’t win with. That’s why the Lakers dumped him when Magic there and that’s why the Pistons dumped him right before they won it all.

@Chris Gatewood I didn't want to believe that about him, but the trade was necessary since he was a post player that was too slow for the offense the team wanted to run.

Yeah, he did make it look easy. His dribble seemed high and slow. And it always looked like he took his time when shooting. Yet somehow they couldn't steal it off him or block him. He made many defenders look flat-footed and silly. His moves were basketball's equivalent of a pitcher's Eephus pitch.

Aguirre had decent hops and dunked a lot more than AD.

Especially in his early years.

Kelvin Houston he was conscious of saving wear and tear on his knees. During his NBA playing days he came to speak at a summer basketball camp I was at as a kid and his honesty has always stuck with me. We all were asking him to dunk and he said, "these knees are worth a million dollars, so I save them for work." He said he only dunked when he had to, 2 points is 2 points.

NOOOO doubt about it. Deadly, efficient, consistent. He did what he had to do to get his shot off and was tough to figure out.

Does he need to be in Above the Rim player? I hope that's not what you're saying and that's basketball immaturity I caught your comments and had to bring that out cuz a lot of people think that and that's why some players are overrated like Michael Jordan and underrated like Adrian Dantley and overrated does not mean they're not good it's just that put higher than they need to be

Does look like they aren’t even guarding him. Strange...

Idk it was always that way with him it was wierd... idk wtf was going on... it always looked that way with him... it used to drive me crazy.. I think he must have lulled people to sleep.. and Scottie pippen said he was so strong it was just unbelievable..

I know your comment is old, but I thought I’d respond nonetheless to simply say the reason is, AD was STRONG 💪🏽 . It doesn’t look like it, but he was as strong as Charles Oakley, and solid like Ron Artest. Nooooo one wanted to D him up close and risk getting an elbow, lol

there's a kernel of truth here, but pistons teammates credited him with raising them to legit contender status. 41st in pro history in career VORP too, which is at least a passable stat. being a black hole ain't so bad when you're such an efficient scorer

Dantley was a very efficient scorer, not just someone who took a lot of shots. Utah's core players from Dantley's prime, Green, Eaton, Griffith, and Bailey, did not improve once he left. Stockton was already becoming a really good point guard without a lot of minutes in Dantley's last season. I'm not sure if Karl Malone would have fit well with Dantley. Utah was worse in 1983 when Dantley was injured. Detroit had improved with Dantley before they traded him.

miles more efficient than bernard

Most underrated player of all time is Moses Malone but nice try

Thanks for watching and enjoying the video. I'm going to guess that you like the basketball videos more than my football videos?

Not the worst, but VERY close (still have both trading future draft picks for mileage-heavy Steve Nash and shipping out a prime Caron Butler for Kwame "Mr. Small Hands" Brown battling for that distinction, heh) . They still had Jamaal Wilkes who was more versatile offensively and didn't really need the ball most of the time to be effective by comparison, but yeah trading Dantley for busted goods in Spencer Haywood was definitely not one of the Lakers' shining moments (lol).

but do they draft james worthy if dantley is around? you may be right, but only because the list of lakers mistakes is decidedly small

I didn’t like Dantley (hated the Pistons even more) yet I felt he got a raw deal When he got traded. That had to be a real slap in the face for him

Gotta love the 80s! The best below the rim players ever! And they say today's players are more skilled..... please 😄

I agree…they brought in Aguirre who was Zeke’s childhood friend. Aguirre fitted a ball movement offense, Dantley was all iso ball with 4 teammates standing around watching him. Chuck Daly wanted ball movement and Aguirre’s ability to shoot the 3 ball and ability in the open court was a perfect fit. Neither were great defenders but they didn’t have to be, they were acquired to score…but the bottom line to Dantley’s exit was his stubborness to admit it was Isaiah’s team and the icy relationship they had as a result. They woulda won the Championship the next 2 years with Dantley regardless. It was tough for me, he was such a fun player to watch and virtually unstoppable in the low post one on one. It was probably even tougher for him to be sitting home watching the Pistons win back to back not being apart of it. He still speaks about it today and the resentment towards Zeke is still there but in hindsight he just shoulda kept his mouth shut and played.

I'm really late to respond, but thanks for the compliment!

get real. top 5 in VORP, '83-'84: bird (7.15), magic (6.78)............................................doc (5.20), moncrief (5.07), dantley (4.71)

@@dice1296 and who had the best PER, winshares, and winshares/48 min? durrrrr

@@dice1296 who also led the league in PPG? ooof! yor pp to smol.

It was. He was a VERY underrated mid range jump shooter. Not a 3 pt shooter, but 18 feet and in, deadly.

E Appleby .....Come on brother Appleby.....This is one player in a 11 minute highlight package...... Their is millions of millions of minutes in the 80s that was recorded and not recorded..... Some of the roughest games in the 80s living in Detroit were not nationally televised games.... They were local broadcasts.... And the brutality was serious at times! But I want to give out a shout out to an even more physical decade then the 80s..... The 70s! I have watched some games....and them brothers DIDN'T HOLD THEM UP! QUITE NASTY AT TIMES.

dantley career TS% 61.7, english a pedestrian 55.0

That is because D Wade got hurt often and missed games. D Wade is also a scoring machine and a great defender.

@@thespaceram2879 ya i know d wade is better. was just providing some perspective, most ppl havent heard of adrian dantley.

Dantley point total 23177 Wade point total 23165 The difference of points is not by much.

@@thespaceram2879 cool. what are you trying to convince me of? i know d wade was better lol. my only point is he is underrated and more people should know him. why do you keep responding with things that are beside the point?

because his prime was in utah and he never won a title

The NBA, not just the Pistons, should declare AD eligible for the 1989 Championship ring. He spent half the season with Detroit.

Marquis Bowie 100x more efficient than Harden lol

Nope. Harden is the next Arian Dantley…...

Both wrong. Kawhi Leonard

@@flappyturtle472 you're kidding right LOL.

I will note he averaged 30 on less than 20 shots a game 3 times!!

Yeah A.D. just shot about 12 percentage points better.

Who was better: Dantley or Alex English? They are the only two players since the MVP was introduced who won a scoring title, and couldn’t finish top 5 in an MVP vote at any point in their career.

@@fortynights1513 dantley obviously, both players were pretty much only scorers who werent great at anything else, but dantley was slightly better on defense, a better rebounder and way more efficient

Basketball is better to watch now. Players have more skills, stronger, quicker. Hand checking is not defense and take no skill smh. Players such as kawhi have great on ball defense without hand checking. That really take skill

Wane Walker it’s not better now.. n there is no proof the r more skilled.. or stronger . The height is identical the vertical is identical ... imo the players in 80s n 90s were far better these guys today can’t even run a proper 2 on 1 fastbreak it’s pathetic.. they miss so many open layups it’s disgusting.. a flop fest 3 jacking fest wow!! Where they cry all game

Wane Walker Hand checking is no skill but try scoring with physical defense vs someone like today can’t touch you... that takes waaay more skill!!! Wake up dummy.. if they allow a little physical play today u see these player lose it n fall apart... look what happens to curry in finals he alway plays shitty

The Pistons played 45 games with Dantley in the lineup during the 1989 season, and they went 32-13 in those games (71% win percentage). They won their next game without him, and then when Aguirre joined them, they lost the two games in which Aguirre didn't start. From then on, once they'd returned from the road trip and Aguirre had practiced with the team, they went 30-4 with Aguirre in the starting lineup (88% win percentage). They also jumped from six games behind the Cavaliers in the division to first place. Including the playoffs, they were 45-6 in games Aguirre started that year (88% win percentage). That's a decent sample size with both men in the lineup, and there's no reason to think the Pistons flip the switch without the Aguirre trade being made. AD required everyone to retreat to one side of the floor so he could take his man one on one, and it gummed up the Detroit offense. Without him, they were able to spread the floor with two post men (Aguirre and Mahorn) two small guards who could shoot and blow past defenders (Isiah and Dumars), and a big man who could shoot from long range to bail them out (Laimbeer). This allowed them to run their offense from either side of the floor. When they rotated in people from the bench (Vinnie, Edwards, Rodman, Salley), things stayed pretty much the same; they always had two mobile guards on the floor who could shoot, at least one solid post-up threat, and a big man who could shoot outside jump shots and cause matchup problems. Using that method, there wasn't much the opposition could do to prep for them, whereas having AD in the lineup meant everyone on earth knew he was going to go one on one. AD made their offense far too predictable, whereas Aguirre helped to make the offense both unpredictable and extremely efficient, with everyone getting involved. Nine different players averaged 7 points or more per game, on a team that was famous for its defense.

@@iandouglass7135 You either are a really old Pistons fan or a sports journalism major. Good shit lol

@@hansolo913 Both. ;)

@@iandouglass7135 makes sense

@@iandouglass7135 man preach. Those that know know…