Post by Rog on Apr 26, 2018 11:21:22 GMT
The 119th nominee for the NBN Hall of Fame, Malcolm Brogdon, was one of the biggest success stories when it comes to a 2nd round pick who killed G-League and then dominated the league. He was a scoring dynamo, who like the rest of the class it seems could also defend as good as anyone as well. He was dominant, but had a somewhat short career. Was his dominance enough, despite the brevity, to get him into the Hall of Fame or does he fall short? Lets take a look.
Career Stats
37.8 MPG, 27.7 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 4.4 APG, 1.9 SPG, 0.4 BPG, 1.3 TOPG on 46.6% from the field, 93.5% from the line, and 41.6% from three
Best Season
Jazz(2022) - 30.3 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 4.6 APG, 2.3 SPG, 0.3 BPG, 1.3 TOPG on 47.2% from the field, 93.5% from the line, and 43.2% from three
Career Highs
Points: 57
Rebounds: 14
Assists: 15
Steals: 7
Blocks: 4
Achievements
Championships: 0
Player of the Game: 162
Player of the Week: 1
Player of the Month: 0
Double Doubles: 96
Triple Doubles: 1
Career Leaderboard Rankings
Points - 36th
Awards
2018 - All-Star Game Participant
2018 - All-League Second Team
2019 - All-Star Game Participant
2019 - All-League First Team
2020 - All-Star Game Participant
2020 - All-League Second Team
2021 - All-Star Game Participant
2021 - All-League Third Team
2022 - All-Star Game Participant
2022 - All-League First Team
2023 - All-Star Game Participant
2023 - All-League First Team
2023 - All-Defensive Second Team
2024 - All-Star Game Participant
2024 - All-League Third Team
Arguments For Induction
- Brogdon played in seven All-Star Games and was named to two All-League Third teams, two All-League Second teams, and three All-League First teams. If you are an awards stickler, he meets the requirements and then some.
- Brogdon, even more than Karasev, was an absolute force offensively. His 27.7 points per game has to be top 5 All-Time, without looking or any basis to back that up. Eight seasons in his career he averaged over 27 points per game and seven of those were in a row. Remember he only played 12 seasons. Even further than that, four of those seasons was over 30 points per game, the true barometer for elite scoring.
- He wasn't just a volume shooter who made a lot of shots and also missed a lot of shots too, Brogdon was crazy efficient from the field. He shot 46.6% from the field for his career, a good number for any season. Four of his seasons he shot over 47%, taking 25+ shots in the process. His mid range jump shot was absolutely killer and he was automatic if left open from 15 feet. Even better was his free throws, where he shot 93.5% from the line. He had five seasons over 94%. Couldn't foul him, he was almost literally automatic from the line. This was a guy who took 6 threes a game on his career, and shot 41.6% from three doing it. Just incredible numbers.
- Brogdon was also elite defensively, carrying an A+ rating for most of his career. His defense took a bit of a hit later in his career, but in his prime he was always on the best defenders list as well. Not quite the theft that Karasev was, he still contributed with forced turnovers, averaging 1.9 steals per game, averaging over 2 four times in his career and coming close five or six other times.
- He was a crazy good distributor too, even better than Karasev. He averaged 4.4 assists per game, averaging over 5 a game in three seasons. The biggest difference here though is he never averaged more than 1.5 turnovers per game in his carer, sticking closer to 1.3 his entire career. That is a near 3 to 1 assist to turnover ratio, something you expect out of point guards but rarely see out of shooting guards.
- Overall, he'll pretty much only have two weaknesses, his lack of longevity and lack of title. But the twelve seasons he was in the league, Brogdon was an absolute force. He was an absolutely statistically dominant monster who could grab you 30 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals on 1.3 turnovers and insane percentages like it was nothing. That kind of player is a Hall of Famer, regardless of his early retirement or his lack of titles despite playing on some amazing teams that fell just short. Statistically dominant players deserve to be in the Hall of Fame, period.
Arguments Against Induction
- Seriously though, he only played 12 seasons and it really breaks down somewhat when you consider the numbers. His first six seasons were absolutely dominant, averaging over 27 points in each of them and just looking like the best shooting guard in the league doing it. But he falters after that, putting up seasons under 26 a game scoring in all but one of the last 6 seasons, and somewhat tapering off with his rebounds and steals. So seven seasons of statistical dominance, is that enough?
- Similar to Karasev, his rebounds just aren't enough. Again, not a detriment but certainly not what you hope for when it comes to your star player. Doesn't touch 6 rebounds a game for his career, and that is weak.
- As mentioned in the "overall" section above, his lack of a title is a negative. He played on many great teams and arguably was the best player on all of them. The best player who fails to provide great teams titles is generally to blame, so was Brogdon really that great in those pressure situations?
Vote carefully, and remember to throw out arguments regardless of which side you're on. This should be a discussion that eventually gets the league to the proper decision on him. Your vote can also be retracted after it's been cast if you feel like switching to the other side based on the arguments that have been made. To be inducted, a player needs 70% and to be considered in a later class they need 50%. Vote carefully.
***BONUS - Don't forget that everyone who votes gets $25 and the person that makes the best argument or contributes to the discussion the best will be awarded an extra $25***
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