Haliburton is fully capable of doing the flashy moves Tinsley pulled off against weak competition—anyone can look flashy when the competition isn’t strong.
Jamaal Tinsley opinion..
- Thread starter t-noah
- Start date
I think the main thing was that he didn't play the major AAU circuits, so he was missed. Once his local AAU team played in Vegas will all the major AAU circuits, he absolutely blew up.
I don't know, all three of those posts you quoted seem to be against you - it's 3 against 1...
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I am sorry but this is one of the single most “wrong” posts I’ve ever seen on this board comparing Cyclone greats. Hali isn’t in the same universe as Mel Mel The Abuser as a ball handler. At his peak, Jamaal was widely considered the best ball handler in professional basketball. Absolute elite ball handler and passer. There are clips out there of all time greats putting JT up there with all-time legends. Isaiah Thomas - who some claim is the best dribbler ever - coached Jamaal and couldn’t believe the things JT could do. He truly was THAT good as a dribbler. The debate vs. Kyrie is interesting and the younger generation obviously won’t “know” the true depth of Jamaal’s legend because there’s just not enough tape/exposure. Honestly even the YouTube clips don’t even do Jamaal justice. And the key differentiator is Tinsley wasn’t a world class athlete like Kyrie. So while Kyrie can absolutely do things that no other guard on the planet can do, he is ABLE do to those things because of his impressive athleticism and quick twitch muscle. Jamal had to use world class craftiness and streetball techniques to consistently make plays, and he did this at every level. Jamaal is THE reason for 99-01 success. A top 5 (maybe top 3) player to ever play at Iowa State. Yes, he was that f*cking good. A New York street ball legend.
I’m honestly pissed reading stupid sh*t like this. No, Hali is not capable of doing what Jamaal did. And Jamaal did it against all competition, including top 10 teams, consistently.
Jamaal had the best handle ever. Haliburton's best asset is his court vision and anticipation. They are both great - but different - Cyclones.
Haliburton is probably also the best decision maker and passer who breaks the cardinal rule that you don't leave the floor if you don't know what you are going to do with the ball. Haliburton regularly jumps and makes a decision in the air if he is going to shoot or pass - and to whom - and almost never makes a mistake doing it. It is unreal. You can't coach that. In fact they usually coach that out of players because you can't survive doing that - but he does.
I don't know why it has to be one or the other. But the conversation was about handle, and the way I understand handle, Mel is the best I have ever seen.
Amazing! Some of those were just a little more incredible than the others too.
Here's a good one..
Eh, he's still just bent that he weirdly felt the need to tear Tinsley down to build Hali up over a month ago. No one agreed then and he's apparently been holding on to that for a while.
I can't remember...did you have another player you held some sort of weird grudge against or was it just JT?
I had a buddy who was a scout for the Trailblazers at the time. I suggested he take a close look at JT.
No idea how that filtered up the line in Portland, but clearly they preferred Zach Randolph. Guess it worked out.
No idea how that filtered up the line in Portland, but clearly they preferred Zach Randolph. Guess it worked out.
Tinsley didn't just have the amazing ball handling skills to make those crazy plays, he also had the audacity to attempt them. That's what I loved about him the most, he played with absolutely no fear.
Jamaal "It's just another gym" Tinsely
I’ve been a Cyclone for over 50 years and a Pacer fan for about 30 years. Obviously Tinsley was the better college player, but Haliburton is a far better pro. What makes Haliburton special is that he makes the players around him significantly better just with his style of play. He is the reason they were this good this year. They are going to struggle next year no matter who they get to play PG.
Tinsley was special at Iowa State. He should have played for a National Championship. It would have been fun to see what Haliburton could have done with 4 years at Iowa State. We have been really blessed to have some great PGs.
Tinsley was special at Iowa State. He should have played for a National Championship. It would have been fun to see what Haliburton could have done with 4 years at Iowa State. We have been really blessed to have some great PGs.
I don’t think it’s THAT ridiculous to point out that the overall talent has increased tremendously over time in the NBA, but it’s also true that the game has changed a lot.
Hali probably doesn’t do as many of the crazy dribbling/handling that Tinsley did.
It also doesn’t mean that he is incapable of doing so, in the same way that Tinsley wouldn’t be incapable of doing more of the “floor general” stuff if he grew up today.
The Pacers have such insane tempo that doing slower iso/tons of pick and roll showing off ball handling isn’t really Hali’s style.
Hali probably doesn’t do as many of the crazy dribbling/handling that Tinsley did.
It also doesn’t mean that he is incapable of doing so, in the same way that Tinsley wouldn’t be incapable of doing more of the “floor general” stuff if he grew up today.
The Pacers have such insane tempo that doing slower iso/tons of pick and roll showing off ball handling isn’t really Hali’s style.
