The Greatest Scorer In NBA History---John Drew?

[adallastiger]

Well, believe it or not, not quite. But close. As a Hawk fan since 1970 a few years ago I wondered...John always had lots of points every game, how did he compare to the all time greats none a POINT PER MINUTE BASIS.

So about a year ago, I went back and studied many, BUT NOT ALL, of the great scorers in NBA history. And the ONLY stat I looked at was POINTS PER MINUTE. Based on that, if memory serves me correctly, only Michael Jordan, Wilt, and Rick Barry ever scored more points that John Drew on a POINTS PER MINUTES BASIS.

For the record, Michael Jordan scored at a .78 points per minute basis. John was at .70. And believe it or not, Dominique Wilkins, probably considered the greatest Hawk ever, was at .6985 points per minute.

Maybe it was because of his drug use, which certainly hurt his career, but I believe if you look at the above state closely, Drew is PERHAPS the most under - rated player ever.

He was, with the probably exception of Moses Malone, the absolute quickest person I have ever seen on the offensive boards. Always got to foul line. Never seem to greatly elevate his game in the playoffs, and never for that matter could guard Bobby Dandridge. But that aside, if you go by POINTS PER MINUTE, he is without question in the leagues top ten of all time even though I can't quite say that's a 100% researched fact.

Now, I don't mean to compare John to Michael or Kobe or anyone else that is an all time great. But all I am saying is that he was going to score about as much as anyone else in any given game. And has to be considered one of the great SCORERS (as opposed to players) in NBA history. I hope one day he gets that recognition.

Thoughts?

[lethalweapon3]

Saw a John Drew reference on the ESPN ticker yesterday (Re: a record surpassed by Jeremy Lin) but missed what the record was. It may have been something along these lines.

~lw3

[Admin]

Very interesting stuff and excellent 1st post! Welcome to Hawksquawk BTW.

[coachx]

Interesting stat line...............of course Drew's drug addiction caused him to play his last game at only 30 years old. In fact he only played in 19 games after the age of 29. He was not even a full time starter his last 5 years in the league (or for half of his career). He also only played more then 31 mpg in 1 of his 10 NBA seasons.

To say Drew is one of the most underrated players of all time is a stretch for a player with warts like those above. Though Charles Barkely loves the guy and gives him dap every time he gets the chance.

None the less.........that is an interesting stat that no one on earth new until you enlightened us. Thanks for that bit of Hawks / NBA trivia.

Edited February 16, 2012 by coachx

[adallastiger]

Here you go!

The numbers as a starter, though, have put him in rarefied air. USA Today reports that Lin is in august company just three points behind John Drew (a sparkling scorer and former All-Star from Atlanta) with the most points scored in his first five games as an NBA starter (136). He's ahead of Charlie Scott, scoring machine Dan Issel, and a pretty fair big man in the oddly named Shaquille O'Neal.

Did not say John Drew was one of the most under-rated players of all time. However, I do think he is THE MOST UNDER RATED SCORER OF ALL TIME.

[Diesel]

I remember going to watch John Drew. It was always a show with him, Roundfield and fast Eddie Johnson. I remember, they used to have cheerleaders called the fastbreaks. It was a different game back then though.

[Vol4ever]

• I saw John Drew play many times. Drew was only 6-6 and about 210. He was a low post scoring machine and could hit the offensive boards with the best of them. The only other player of that time I can remember right off hand was Adreian Dantley. Number 22 was my favorite player for years, he brought his lunch pale everynight.
  

Diesel is right, the game was different back then. We had real Centers and Power Forwards back then. Today we have players 1-5 shooting three pointers at will. Today, they run and gun up and down the court. Back then it was a chess match and all about matchups. I miss those days........

[AHF]

Top 5 in points per 36 minutes in NBA history (players with at least 1000 minutes):

Michael Jordan 28.3 pp36

George Gervin 28.1 pp36

Freeman Williams 25.8 pp36

John Drew 25.2 pp36

Dominique Wilkins 25.2 pp36

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=combined&type=per_minute&per_minute_base=36&lg_id=NBA&is_playoffs=N&year_min=1947&year_max=2012&franch_id=&season_start=1&season_end=-1&age_min=0&age_max=99&height_min=0&height_max=99&birth_country_is=Y&birth_country=&is_active=&is_hof=&is_as=&as_comp=gt&as_val=0&pos_is_g=Y&pos_is_gf=Y&pos_is_f=Y&pos_is_fg=Y&pos_is_fc=Y&pos_is_c=Y&pos_is_cf=Y&qual=&c1stat=pts_per_mp&c1comp=gt&c1val=1&c2stat=mp&c2comp=gt&c2val=1000&c3stat=&c3comp=gt&c3val=&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&c5stat=&c5comp=gt&c6mult=1.0&c6stat=&order_by=pts_per_mp

[Diesel]

• I saw John Drew play many times. Drew was only 6-6 and about 210. He was a low post scoring machine and could hit the offensive boards with the best of them. The only other player of that time I can remember right off hand was Adreian Dantley. Number 22 was my favorite player for years, he brought his lunch pale everynight.
  

Diesel is right, the game was different back then. We had real Centers and Power Forwards back then. Today we have players 1-5 shooting three pointers at will. Today, they run and gun up and down the court. Back then it was a chess match and all about matchups. I miss those days........

Not exactly. Back then, there was little defense played that was played. The Detroit Bad Boys and the Chicago Bulls and Knicks ushered in defense. Back then the game was higher scoring because there were no defenses.

[Watchman]

Top 5 in points per 36 minutes in NBA history (players with at least 1000 minutes):

Michael Jordan 28.3 pp36

George Gervin 28.1 pp36

Freeman Williams 25.8 pp36

John Drew 25.2 pp36

Dominique Wilkins 25.2 pp36

http://www.basketbal...r_by=pts_per_mp

Interesting that the bottom three players on the list were all involved in the trade that brought Nique to Atlanta. Drew and Williams for Nique.

Edited February 17, 2012 by Watchman

[lethalweapon3]

Crazy that in his rookie season, the 6'6" Drew led the entire NBA in Offensive Rebounds.

~lw3

Edited February 17, 2012 by lethalweapon3

[macdaddy]

Might as well have a picture.

[AHawks89]

[benhillboy]

Informative post. I knew nothing of the guy.

[sturt]

John Drew was king of the old-school 3-pointer... I've never seen a guy so able to draw contact and hit the 15-20 footer like he did.

[Endy9]

I loved Drew when he came into the league. His rookie year he played his heart out. Defense, rebounding, steals and points .

I still remember him blocking the great Rick Barry's shot 5 times in one game and Rick finally just giving up on shooting and passing when he got the ball. Rick never passed <grin>.

But then in his second season it seemed that Drew learned the lesson that he could score a lot more if he didn't play defense and became a horrible defender. He elevated his offense from about 19 pts to 26, but would give up 30 plus as his man just drove around him. If he had remained the player he was his rookie year he could have been up there with the greats like Walt Frazier. Complete players.