# How good was Penny?



## Nikos (Jun 5, 2002)

For those who have watched the magic faithfully since the early 90s (or even sooner). How good was Penny Hardaway in his best two years 94-96? Could he hold his own with Kobe/Tmac of today? Was he comparable?

Any opinions for those who remember him vividly, would be awesome.


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## Locke (Jun 16, 2003)

He was never as good a scorer as Kobe or McGrady, obviously, the stats will tell you that, and was never a great defender. Not terrible, but not great. His strengths were, (1) his height. He used it to abuse other PGs in the low post. (2) His court-vision/passing ability/unselfishness, which he still has and are what keep him in the league.

He was a good scorer in his prime but never really forced the issue; wasn't quite aggressive enough at times offensively in my opinion. He was actually more comparable to LeBron, just not nearly as athletic or explosive. Honestly, before Kobe came along, he was my favorite player, and it hurt to see him deteriorate the way he did due to his injuries.


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

Penny was awesome. Without the injuries, I'm almost sure he would be considered one of the top-10 PG's of all-time. 


He was an extremely talented and athletic player, but after his injuries it seems like he lost his passion for the game.


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## The MAgiC (Aug 3, 2003)

You can't compare him to T-Mac or Kobe because he was a PG, not a SG. He was a great scorer but being the playmaker was his main focus. He had great court vision. He was fast and agile, but he wasn't the athletic freak T-Mac is. He had an advantage over other PG's because of his height. A lot of people thought Penny was the 2nd best guard in the league behind Jordan, before he deteriorated. After Shaq left he had some impressive 40 point performances in the playoffs, so he could score and take over a game. Just not as easily as today's elite SG's. He sorta went downhill after that. He was the best PG the Magic ever had, but he wasn't able to reach his potential.


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## clhb1 (Feb 21, 2004)

Put it this way, in his prime I don't believe to many people would have wanted any other Point guard leading their team.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>Nikos</b>!
> For those who have watched the magic faithfully since the early 90s (or even sooner). How good was Penny Hardaway in his best two years 94-96? Could he hold his own with Kobe/Tmac of today? Was he comparable?
> 
> Any opinions for those who remember him vividly, would be awesome.


He'd still be a step below Kobe and Tmac. Not quite as athletic and not as good of a scorer. He was a better passer than both, although it appeared his creativity and playmaking ability got worse each year, at least IMO.

As the team got worse (post Shaq), they relied on Penny too much for scoring ... so it took away from other parts of his game, much like I think it kind of has with Tmac. 

I'd say he was a top 10 player in the game and would have ended up as maybe a top 5 - 10 PG in history if he had been healthy his whole career.

I'll never forget his one-handed fastbreak tomahawk over Patrick Ewing in Orlando.


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## Unlimitedgame (Jul 16, 2003)

*P*

Penny without the injuries would have been just as good if not better then Kobe and T-mac. He didnt put up huge scoring numbers because he was a superstar who was unselfish and deffered to shaq because thats what it took to win. Penny was ausome. He was an all around player that even Jordan himself said was the best player in the game back then besides himself.


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## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

He played a lot like Jalen Rose of today.. Don't look at Jalen's stats thsi season though.. He's having a bad year because of injuries. Anyways they play alike.. Penny use to always use his size to create mismatches against other PG's.. He would get inside post up and take advantage of his height.. Like Jalen he was never a good defender.. But they both have very good passing skills..


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Unfortunately, most of the memories of Penny that remain with me are the negative ones. The memories of him getting coaches fired, whining to the press, getting hurt all the time, and me burning the Orlando Magic #1 jersey after he left, especially the way he left. But nonetheless, in his first few years in the league, Penny was a great PG for the Magic, and a perfect player to play alongside Shaq. He was a good scoring PG, but he had great court vision and passing ability, and was not very selfish at all. He came up huge in the playoffs during the Magic's run to the Finals.


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## PistonFAN81 (May 30, 2003)

Penny was the man and all but I think that the one thing he had going for him was that shaq played with him and all


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## texan (Jul 10, 2003)

kinda like kobe huh? but penny wasnt a scorer like tmac or kobe. he had a pgs mentalit, always findin the open man and great court awareness. He also had the great advantage of bein a 6ft7 legit PG. he could also score when he wanted to but easily could have avged 19 and 10. it pained me to see him deteriorate and become the mediocre player he is today.


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## c_dog (Sep 15, 2002)

I remember he was very dominant. Sure you look at the stats and he seems to be a level below Kobe and T-Mac, but that's not the case. He just had a quality. He may not score as much but he brings a lot of leadership to the team(something T-Mac and Kobe both lack, leadership), and was the most dominating player in games.


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## John (Jun 9, 2002)

Penny was so much skiller than Kobe and T-mac. Kobe and T-mac scored more points because of the oftenly used in-between shots. Penny was all skills even when he was in his prime.


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## Slasher (Jul 11, 2003)

If I had to compare a player of today to the Anfernee Hardaway of the min-90s, I'd have to compare him to Shawn Marion.


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## John (Jun 9, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>Slasher</b>!
> If I had to compare a player of today to the Anfernee Hardaway of the min-90s, I'd have to compare him to Shawn Marion.


LMAO, wat exactly they have in common?

marion doesnt have a decent handle to be a shooting guard, let aline to be a full time point guard.


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## c_dog (Sep 15, 2002)

YEAR TEAM G GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% OFF DEF RPG APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG 
93-94 ORL 82 82 36.8 .466 .267 .742 2.30 3.00 5.40 6.6 2.32 .62 3.56 2.50 16.0 
94-95 ORL 77 77 37.7 .512 .349 .769 1.80 2.60 4.40 7.2 1.69 .34 3.35 2.10 20.9 
95-96 ORL 82 82 36.8 .513 .314 .767 1.60 2.70 4.30 7.1 2.02 .50 2.79 2.00 21.7 
96-97 ORL 59 59 37.6 .447 .318 .820 1.40 3.10 4.50 5.6 1.58 .59 2.46 2.10 20.5 
97-98 ORL 19 15 32.9 .377 .300 .763 .40 3.60 4.00 3.6 1.47 .79 2.42 2.40 16.4 
98-99 ORL 50 50 38.9 .420 .286 .706 1.50 4.20 5.70 5.3 2.22 .46 3.00 2.20 15.8 

I think FG% is very important in Penny's case. Kobe and T-Mac are scorers, who does everything to score, while Penny is a passer, and takes good shots when he's given the chance. While he may not score as much, his FG% indicates he is a more effective. That is until his game deteriorates anyway. I don't think ANY guard in the league can shoot over 50% anymore. Cassell is about as close as it gets. Penny's assist numbers are also pretty impressive. Penny was easily a HOF player on the rise. Had he not gotten injured, who knows how good he would be right now?


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## The MAgiC (Aug 3, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>John</b>!
> Penny was so much skiller than Kobe and T-mac. Kobe and T-mac scored more points because of the oftenly used in-between shots. Penny was all skills even when he was in his prime.


Did you just say _skiller_?


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>John</b>!
> Kobe and T-mac scored more points because of the oftenly used in-between shots.


What?

Penny was a better passer than both and better at posting up. Other than that, Tmac and Kobe are/were better in every other way.


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## John (Jun 9, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>JNice</b>!
> 
> 
> What?
> ...


What else do u do in basketball then?

Score, rebound?


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## The MAgiC (Aug 3, 2003)

Uhhm yes, the last time I checked scoring is a part of basketball. Like all other sports.  And yes, so is rebounding....


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## John (Jun 9, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>The MAgiC</b>!
> Uhhm yes, the last time I checked scoring is a part of basketball. Like all other sports.  And yes, so is rebounding....



Good post!! I know The Magic will come back at me.


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