Fab 5 Hold Off Spirited Runs by Stockton's Zags

 Michigan's 1993 Fab 5, actually in their sophomore seasons in the Value Add Basketball Game, blitzed 1984 Gonzaga with a 12-0 blitz to start a game but then had to survive spirited runs by John Stockton to advance 73-62. It was the second closer than expected game for the what appears to be one of the best teams of all time - as Dave Collins 1968 Florida State gave them a battle in their first game.

Stockton hit a 3-pointer with 10 minutes left in the game to get the Zags within 54-46, then with 8:54 to play (15 possessions left) stole it, scored and was fouled to gut it to 56-50.

Chris Webber then scored to make it 58-50 and blocked a Stockton shot to keep the 8-point lead, scoring again at the other end to get it back to double digits at 60-50.

The Zags had one more run left. Stockton scored consecutive baskets around the five minute mark to cut it to 64-58, and Michigan missed at the other end. However, Jalen Rose grabbed the offensive rebound and kicked it out to Chris Webber, who drained one of his surprising three 3-pointers of the game to put it away at 67-58 en route to the 73-62 win.

Webber averaged about one 3-pointer a game, and did that again a couple of years later in the NBA when he moved from NBA Center to Power Forward, and both in this college year and that NBA year shot it at better than 33%, but his incredible 68% on 2-pointers is what made him a 1st Team All-American to end his 2-year career en route to being one of the greatest NBA players of all time.

His 9 rebounds combined with Juwan Howard's 10 rebounds spurred the early 12-0 run. Michigan now awaits either the Glove Gary Payton's Oregon State team or the recent Tennessee 2023 team in this tournaments Sweet 16.

This is our third men's tournament. The late Bill Walton's UCLA team beat Michael Jordan's UNC team in our tournament of the first 96 teams we created, then Mario Chalmers Kansas team won the 2nd tournament of the next batch of teams we created before this tournament. 

 

Pos	Gonzaga 1984	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Hts	Season Actual
1-PG	John Stockton	22	2	7	2	3	1	7	1	1	6'1	20.9 Pts, 2.4 Reb, 7.2 Ast
2-SG	Bryce McPhee	11	0	4	3	4	4	1	0	1	6'3	18.2 Pts, 6.7 Reb, 2.7 Ast
3-SF	Jeff Condill	5	0	2	1	1	5	0	1	1	6'3	12.1 Pts, 4.3 Reb, 2.8 Ast
4-PF	Jason Van Nort	5	0	2	1	2	5	0	0	2	6'9	11.0 Pts, 4.6 Reb, 0.4 Ast
5-C	Tim Ruff	9	0	3	3	4	6	0	0	1	6'10	9.0 Pts, 6.6 Reb, 0.8 Ast
1-PG	Mark Matthews	2	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	1	6'4	4.8 Pts, 1.5 Reb, 0.9 Ast
2-SG	Jeff Reinert	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	6'7	6.7 Pts, 5.3 Reb, 2.4 Ast
3-SF	Dave Clement	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	6'6	3.1 Pts, 2.3 Reb, 0.5 Ast
4-PF	Danny Roe	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	6'7	1.2 Pts, 1.1 Reb, 0.5 Ast
5-C	Blair Anderson	2	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	2	6'9	7.3 Pts, 4.8 Reb, 1.0 Ast
	Zags Totals	62	2	23	10	14	28	8	2	13		1.0 Pts, 0.0 Reb, 0.0 Ast
Pos	Michigan 1993	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Hts	Season Actual
1-PG	Jimmy King	19	1	8	0	0	2	4	0	4	6'2	10.8 Pts, 4.4 Reb, 3.1 Ast
2-SG	Jalen Rose	8	0	4	0	0	2	1	2	2	6'3	15.4 Pts, 4.2 Reb, 3.9 Ast
3-SF	Ray Jackson	6	0	3	0	0	7	0	0	2	6'3	9.0 Pts, 4.1 Reb, 2.2 Ast
4-PF	Chris Webber	20	3	5	1	3	9	3	4	2	6'7	19.2 Pts, 10.1 Reb, 2.5 Ast
5-C	Juwan Howard	14	0	6	2	2	10	0	2	2	6'8	14.6 Pts, 7.4 Reb, 1.9 Ast
3-SF	Rob Pelinka	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	6'1	4.3 Pts, 2.1 Reb, 1.0 Ast
5-C	Eric Riley	4	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	2	6'0	5.6 Pts, 4.8 Reb, 0.4 Ast
	Wolverines Totals	73	4	29	3	5	32	8	8	15

Seed	Men's unbeaten	Player #All-Time Rank	Round of 32 & Sweet 16
1	Connecticut 2023, #7	Adama Sanogo	bye (next Gonz-TX)
2	Connecticut 1996, #14	Ray Allen #52	bye (next SMU-KS)
3	Western Kentucky 1966, #24	Clem Haskins	bye (next UNC-Xavier)
4	Houston 2021, #26	Quentin Grimes	bye (next Duke-Mia)
5	Purdue 2024, #35	Zach Edey	W 69-42 vs. UMass 1971, #219 (2nd R Gtown-ASU)
6	Michigan 1993, #36	Chris Webber #65	W 73-62 vs Gonzaga 1981, #216 (if W TN-Ore St)
7	Rutgers 1976, #39	Phil Sellers	W 84-82 OT vs. Duquesne 2024, #203 (Col-LSU)
8	North Carolina 1972, #40	Bob McAdoo #54	vs. Louisville 1968, #178 (if W UCLA-NC St)
9	UCLA 2008, #44	Russell Westbrook #46	vs. NC St. 2024, #153 (if W UNC-Lville)
10	Colorado 2021, #56	McKinley Wright	vs. LSU 1953, #147 (if W Rutg-Duqu)
11	Tennessee 2023, #59	Santiago Vescovi	vs. Oregon St. 1990, #140 (if W MI-Gonz)
12	Georgetown 1989, #63	Alonzo Mourning #69	vs. Arizona St. 2009, #139 (if W Purdue)
13	Duke 2015, #65	Justise Winslow	vs. Miami 2023, #131 (if W Houston)
14	North Carolina 2022, #67	Armando Bacot	vs. Xavier 2023, #86 (if W West KY)
15	SMU 2017, #70	Semi Ojeleye	vs. Kansas 2022, #79 (if W Uconn 1996)
16	Texas 2023, #71	Marcus Carr	vs. Gonzaga 2023, #76 (if W Uconn 2023)
17	Gonzaga 2023, #76	Drew Timme	vs. Texas 2023, #71 (if W Uconn 2023)
18	Kansas 2022, #79	Ochai Agbaji	vs. SMU 2017, #70 (if W Uconn 1996)
19	Xavier 2023, #86	Jack Nunge	vs. North Carolina 2022, #67 (if W West KY)
20	Miami 2023, #131	Norchad Omier	vs. Duke 2015, #65 (if W Houston)
21	Arizona St. 2009, #139	James Harden #33	vs. Georgetown 1989, #63 (if W Purdue)
22	Oregon St. 1990, #140	Gary Payton #48	vs. Tennessee 2023, #59 (if W MI-Gonz)
23	LSU 1953, #147	Bob Pettit #31	vs. Colorado 2021, #56 (if W Rutg-Duqu)
24	NC St. 2024, #153	D.J. Burns	vs. UCLA 2008, #44 (if W UNC-Lville)
25	Louisville 1968, #178	Wes Unseld #60	vs. North Carolina 1972, #40 (if W UCLA-NC St)
26	Duquesne 2024, #203	Jimmy Clark	L 84-82 OT vs Rutgers 1976 (Eliminated)
27	Gonzaga 1981, #216	John Stockton #25	vs. Michigan 1993, #36 Eliminated
28	Massachusetts 1971, #219	Julius Erving #19	L 42-69 vs. Purdue 2024 #35, Eliminated

Stockton, the Glove Payton Score 30 to Wrap Our Hoops Season of 234 All-Time Great Teams

 We have now played all 234 Value Add Basketball Game teams at least once, and we finished with two of our biggest offensive performances ever. "The Glove," Gary Payton, scored 31 points to lead Oregon State 1990 past Yale 2024 then John Stockton outdid him with 36 points to lead Gonzaga 1984 to an upset win over Grand Canyon 2024.(Box Scores Added at bottom from both games).

Click here for all our scores to date and our updated rankings.

The impressive 84-73 win for Oregon State moves them up from being ranked 170th to 140th in our all-time rankings, and they are now the 5th best of 11 teams who will compete in the Mountain West/Pac-12 next season. With Yale not able to repeat an upset like they had in the actual 2024 March Madness against Auburn, they dropped from 226th to 228th and to 13th of 18 all-time Mid-Major games.

Gonzaga is still 7th of 7 all-time West Coast Conference teams in the game, including three later teams from Gonzaga, but they moved up from 229th to 216th of the all-time teams in the game. Their 84-79 win dropped Grand Canyon 2024 from 217th to 225th overall, and one spot ahead of Yale in the all-time Mid-Major standings at 12th of 18.

The following is our all-time top 10 after all teams have played at least once and the better teams were in big tournaments we played. The biggest surprise is #10 Kansas 2008, who we ranked only at 51st overall before games were played. We do still have women's teams who have yet to play, and may pick that up later with the WNBA season starting May 14. Their scores and rankings are tracked here.

 

Rnk	Pre	Team	Year	Player(s)	W	L	Score	Allow	SOS	Rating	Conf	Conf Rnk
1	1	UCLA	1972	Bill Walton #64	6	0	72.0	62.0	2.8	16.2	B10	1
2	17	Kansas	1997	Paul Pierce #50	5	0	76.8	62.4	-1.0	12.8	B12	1
3	6	Ohio St.	1960	Jerry Lucas #72, John Havlicek #29	2	1	84.0	76.3	5.0	11.8	B10	2
4	7	Indiana	1976	Scott May	3	1	71.3	59.8	-0.8	11.3	B10	3
5	14	Houston	1968	Elvin Hayes #41	3	1	73.0	63.8	4.3	11.1	B12	2
6	4	Duke	2001	Shane Battier	3	1	78.3	72.5	3.5	11.1	ACC	1
7	8	Connecticut	2023	Adama Sanogo	2	0	78.5	58.0	-11.0	11.0	BE	1
8	12	North Carolina	1982	Michael Jordan #1, James Worthy #59	5	1	68.8	65.0	6.2	10.8	ACC	2
9	15	North Carolina	2005	Sean May	3	2	72.2	64.4	3.8	10.4	ACC	3
10	51	Kansas	2008	Mario Chalmers	5	1	74.7	56.0	-0.7	10.3	B12	3

Gonzaga (1984) 84, Grand Canyon (2014) 79

 

Pos	Gonzaga 1984	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Actual Stats
1-PG	John Stockton	36	4	11	2	2	2	2	0	4	20.9 pts, 6'1
2-SG	Bryce McPhee	19	0	8	3	4	5	3	0	4	18.2 pts, 6'3
3-SF	Jeff Condill	6	0	3	0	0	7	0	0	2	12.1 pts, 6'3
4-PF	Jason Van Nort	4	0	2	0	2	3	0	1	2	11 pts, 6'9
5-C	Tim Ruff	2	0	1	0	0	9	0	2	1	9 pts, 6'10
Pos	Bench Players	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Actual Stats
1-PG	Mark Matthews	4	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	1	4.8 pts, 6'4
4-PF	Jeff Reinert	3	0	1	1	2	1	0	0	2	6.7 pts, 6'7
5-C	Dave Clement	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	3.1 pts, 6'6
	Danny Roe	2	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	1	1.2 pts, 6'7
	Blair Anderson	6	0	3	0	0	4	0	0	1	7.3 pts, 6'9
	13 Turnovers	84	4	33	6	10	34	6	3	19
Pos	Grand Canyon 2024	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Actual Stats
1-PG	Ray Harrison	13	0	4	5	5	2	2	0	3	13.5 pts, 6'4
2-SG	Collin Moore	9	1	1	4	4	3	1	0	3	8.2 pts, 6'4
3-SF	Tyon Grant-Foster	24	3	6	3	3	5	1	5	2	20.1 pts, 6'7
4-PF	Gabe McGlothan	14	2	2	4	4	7	1	1	2	12.8 pts, 6'7
5-C	Duke Brennan	6	0	3	0	0	5	0	2	1	6.9 pts, 6'10
Pos	Bench Players	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Actual Stats
1-PG	Jovan Blacksher	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	4.2 pts, 5'11
2-SG	Josh Baker	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	2.6 pts, 6'4
3-SF	Isaiah Shaw	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	2.3 pts, 6'8
4-PF	Sydney Curry	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	2.9 pts, 6'8
5-C	Lok Wur	5	0	2	1	1	4	0	2	1	5.4 pts, 6'9
	15 Turnovers	79	6	22	17	17	30	5	10	17

Oregon State (1990) 84, Yale (2024) 73

 

Pos	Yale 2024	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Actual Stats
1-PG	Bez Mbeng	11	1	3	2	2	2	3	0	1	11.2 pts, 6'4
2-SG	August Mahoney	7	1	2	0	0	2	3	0	2	10.6 pts, 6'4
3-SF	John Poulakidas	10	2	1	2	2	3	0	0	1	13.6 pts, 6'6
4-PF	Matt Knowling	12	0	5	2	4	6	0	0	2	11.7 pts, 6'6
5-C	Danny Wolf	17	2	4	3	4	10	0	3	2	14.5 pts, 7'0
Pos	Bench Players	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Actual Stats
1-PG	Yassine Gharram	6	0	3	0	0	1	0	0	1	2.5 pts, 6'3
2-SG	Nick Townsend	2	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	2	5.8 pts, 6'7
3-SF	Casey Simmons	4	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	2	3.2 pts, 6'6
4-PF	Jack Molloy	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	1.2 pts, 6'8
5-C	Samson Aletan	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	1.7 pts, 6'10
	16 Turnovers	73	6	23	9	12	29	6	3	15
Pos	Oregon St. 1990	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Actual Stats
1-PG	Will Brantley	6	0	3	0	0	3	2	0	2	12.5 pts, 5'5
2-SG	Gary Payton	31	3	11	0	2	2	5	1	1	11.4 pts, 6'0
3-SF	Earl Martin	14	2	4	0	0	6	1	0	2	10.9 pts, 6'0
4-PF	Teo Alibegovic	8	0	3	2	2	3	1	0	3	17.1 pts, 6'4
5-C	Scott Haskin	8	0	3	2	2	11	0	2	4	15.2 pts, 6'7
Pos	Bench Players	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Actual Stats
1-PG	Charles McKinney	4	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	1	4.6 pts, 5'6
2-SG	Allan Celestine	8	1	2	1	2	1	1	0	2	4.8 pts, 5'7
3-SF	LaMont McIntosh	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	8.5 pts, 6'0
4-PF	Karl Anderson	3	0	1	1	2	2	0	0	1	2.2 pts, 6'2
5-C		0
	10 Turnovers	84	6	30	6	10	30	10	3	17

Based on each team's cards, we assigned them a preseason ranking based only on the cards. That is their preseason ranking. We then adjust for the result of each game played.

The first list below is the list of the 10 biggest disappointments - teams who played much worst in the games we played then how good we believe they actually are. For example, we thought Kareem's UCLA as the third best team in the game, and Florida's repeat champs were the 13th best. But Florida is only 5-3 in the season, and UCLA was stunned by DePaul's 1980 team.

That leads to the flip side, which is that DePaul 1980 heads the list of our biggest surprises. That win over Kareem and two other big wins moved them up from our 124th preseason ranking to 28th of all time. Beneath them is the top 10 nicest surprises.

Rnk after games	Rnk based on cards	10 Disappointments	Year	Player(s)	W	L	Score	Allow	SOS
202	83	Wake Forest	2005	Chris Paul #30	0	3	64.3	85.3	4.0
234	229	Princeton	2023	Tosan Evbuomwan	0	1	50.0	102.0	0.0
68	13	Florida	2006	Joakim Noah	5	3	74.4	72.0	-5.1
34	3	UCLA	1967	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar #3	2	1	83.0	87.0	0.7
194	122	Creighton	2014	Doug McDermott	0	3	66.3	80.0	-0.3
206	141	New Mexico	1974	Bernard Hardin	0	1	68.0	95.0	-3.0
218	181	Butler	2010	Gordon Hayward	0	3	54.7	76.3	3.7
222	193	Texas	2007	Kevin Durant #13	0	1	62.0	82.0	-13.0
18	2	Kentucky	2012	Anthony Davis #53	4	2	72.2	65.7	-3.5
190	121	Louisville	1980	Darrell Griffith	0	1	52.0	82.0	3.0
Rnk after games	Rank based cards/ how good we believe team is	10 Nicest Surprises	Year	Player(s)	W	L	Score	Allow	SOS
28	124	DePaul	1980	Mark Aguirre	3	1	76.8	68.8	5.3
56	182	Colorado	2021	McKinley Wright	3	0	82.3	78.0	1.3
22	98	Auburn	2019	Chuma Okeke	8	1	71.0	65.3	1.9
24	99	Western Kentucky	1966	Clem Haskins	4	0	79.8	69.3	-0.3
10	51	Kansas	2008	Mario Chalmers	5	1	74.7	56.0	-0.7
67	183	North Carolina	2022	Armando Bacot	2	0	80.5	68.0	-2.5
13	52	Baylor	2021	Jared Butler	2	2	86.0	78.5	6.0
39	100	Rutgers	1976	Phil Sellers	2	0	90.5	75.5	-4.0
26	70	Houston	2021	Quentin Grimes	1	0	102.0	50.0	-16.0
17	53	Connecticut	2004	Ben Gordon	5	2	74.7	66.0	0.6

38 in NBA Playoffs Also On All-Time Great College Team

 Only 1% of Division I college players make the NBA, so just sitting on an NBA bench in the playoffs is a huge accomplishment. The following are the 38 players who were on one of the all-time great college teams featured in our Value Add Basketball Game AND were on the floor for one of the last few NBA games as one of the 16 teams still alive. 

The earliest team represented is the 2006 Florida Gators with Al Horford still playing for the No. 1 seed Boston Celtics. Two of the all-time greats from 2007 teams in our game put up amazing numbers 17 years later with Kevin Durant of Texas putting up 25 points and Mike Conley of Ohio State having 15 points and seven assists for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Obviously it is more likely a more recent team will still have players in the NBA, and the 2018 and 2019 NCAA champs from Villanova and Virginia are the only two all-time great college teams with three players alive in the NBA playoffs. The best of those is Nova's Jalen Brunson who just put up 39 points and 13 assists.

The other great teams in our game with two players still alive in the NBA playoffs are UCLA 2008 (Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook still under the big lights 16 years later), Marquette 2011 (Jae Crowder and Jimmy Butler), Iowa State 2014 (Monte Morris and Georges Niang) and finally UConn 2023 (already Jordan Hawkins and Andre Jackson since most stayed around for the 2024 title run).

Some players just got on the court (0 points), others did not get in the game either because they were injured (Jimmy Butler) or just didn't get on the rotation, but all of these are in the elite group that is coming out to warm up as one of the remaining 16 NBA Playoff teams and a member of an all-time great college team in our game.

The first 230 All-time great teams have already played at least one games, leaving only our 25th greatest player of all time John Stockton with his 1984 Gonzaga against the 2024 Grand Canyon team with Danny Wolf, and our 48th greatest player of all time Gary Payton leading his 1990 Oregon State team against the Yale 2024 team and Tyon Grant-Foster. 

While this is not as issue for the players alive in the playoffs below since they all played witha. College 3-point line, you will notice we include 3-point shots even for players who played before the line was there. This was estimated in various ways such as later mapping of Pistol Pete Maravich's shots to see which would have been 3-pointers to Stockton's card above based on him hitting more than 40 percent if his 3-pointers in 7 NBA seasons from the deeper line.

Team in Game	Year	Player	NBA Playoff Team	Last Playoff Game
Florida	2006	Al Horford	Boston Celtics	9 pts, 6 reb, +15
Ohio State	2007	Mike Conley	Minnesota Timberwolves	15 pts, 4 reb, 7 ast
Texas	2007	Kevin Durant	Phoenix Suns	25 pts, 4 reb, 5 ast
Stanford	2008	Brook Lopez	Milwaukee Bucks	14 pts, 4 reb
UCLA	2008	Kevin Love	Miami Heat	2 reb
UCLA	2008	Russell Westbrook	Los Angeles Clippers	1 pt, 3 reb
Arizona State	2009	James Harden	Los Angeles Clippers	21 pts, 5 ast
Butler	2010	Gordon Hayward	Oklahoma City Thunder	4 reb
Weber State	2010	Damian Lillard	Milwaukee Bucks	28 pts, 8 ast
Duke	2010	Mason Plumlee	Los Angeles Clippers	7 pts
Marquette	2011	Jimmy Butler	Miami Heat	did not play
Marquette	2011	Jae Crowder	Milwaukee Bucks	0 pts
San Diego State	2011	Kawhi Leonard	Los Angeles Clippers	7 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast
Kentucky	2012	Anthony Davis	Los Angeles Lakers	33 pts, 15 reb
Creighton	2014	Doug McDermott	Indiana Pacers	did not play
Iowa State	2014	Monté Morris	Minnesota Timberwolves	2 pts
Iowa State	2014	Georges Niang	Cleveland Cavaliers	2 pts
Oklahoma	2016	Buddy Hield	Philadelphia 76ers	0 pts
SMU	2017	Shake Milton	New York Knicks	did not play
Oregon	2017	Payton Pritchard	Boston Celtics	7 pts, 3 reb
Villanova	2018	Jalen Brunson	New York Knicks	39 pts, 13 ast
Villanova	2018	Donte DiVincenzo	New York Knicks	5 reb, 4 pts
Villanova	2018	Collin  Gillespie	Denver Nuggets	0 pts
Virginia	2019	Mamadi Diakite	New York Knicks	did not play
Virginia	2019	Jay  Huff	Denver Nuggets	0 pts
Virginia	2019	Braxton Key	Denver Nuggets	0 pts
Auburn	2019	Chuma Okeke	Orlando Magic	3 pts
Dayton	2020	Obi Toppin	Indiana Pacers	15 pts, 6 reb
Iowa	2021	Luka Garza	Minnesota Timberwolves	0 pts
UCLA	2021	Jaime Jaquez	Miami Heat	12 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast
USC	2021	Evan Mobley	Cleveland Cavaliers	14 pts, 9 reb
Duke	2022	Paolo Banchero	Orlando Magic	9 pts, 4 reb, 5 ast
Kansas	2022	Christian Braun	Denver Nuggets	5 pts, 2 reb
Duke	2022	Wendell Moore	Minnesota Timberwolves	0 pts
Connecticut	2023	Jordan Hawkins	New Orleans Pelicans	1 reb
Connecticut	2023	Andre Jackson	Milwaukee Bucks	2 pts, 3 reb
Michigan	2023	Caris LeVert	Cleveland Cavaliers	5 pts, 1 reb
Gonzaga	2023	Julian Strawther	Denver Nuggets	did not play

New Cards for 22 of Greatest 75 Players for New Teams

Click here for the google sheet or on the images below for the 22 all-time great players for the new Value Add Basketball Game teams we are now creating.

The four other new teams we are adding are from the www.kenpom.com era, so I can make them based on those stats and do the whole team at a time. The coincidentally are based on four incredible players in four consecutive seasons who made the Athletic list of the greatest 75 players of all time;

Texas 2007 Kevin Durant #13 player of all time.

UCLA 2008 Russell Westbrook #46 player of all time.

Arizona St. 2009 James Harden #33 player of all time.

Weber St. 2010 Damian Lillard #68 player of all time.

The process for the 20^th century teams takes much longer, and one step we always do is compare the NBA stats of the great players, particularly for stats not kept on college when they played (minutes played, three point shots, steals, blocked shots etc).

We basically took each players best NBA season (obviously against much tougher competition than they faced in college, and assumed they’d draw more fouls and hit 10% more of their 3-point shots (much closer arc) and 2-point shots (much easier defenders).

Below are the cards we created for each player. Note the dunk range and adjusted defense range are all the same, 51-56 and -6. These are usually for the whole team to adjust for level of competition, however since these players cards are based on playing against NBA players we don’t need to adjust the cards down for the ones who played lighter competition.

Durant, Westbrook, Harden and Lillard will be created with the rest of their teams from www.kenpom.com, but we will later add the 22 teams that go with these players.

Do note on the cards below that some great players from the days when front line players played inside, often with their backs to the basket, and would never have taken a 3-pointer, have no 3-pointers but do score and get fouled on a "1" on the 20-sided die roll instead.

Blue numbers on these stats were estimated using various methods because those stats were not kept then.

Here are the College Basketball links to the players above.

Jason Kidd Robert Parish Ray Allen Dave Cowens Allen Iverson Alonzo Mourning John Stockton Karl Malone Wes Unseld Bob Pettit Hal Greer Julius Erving Chris Webber Bob McAdoo Billy Cunningham Dolph Schayes Gary Payton Lenny Wilkens Steve Nash Walt Frazier Reggie Miller Tiny Archibald