Webber announced his retirement today after a 15 year career. He averaged a very impressive 20.7 points, 9.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists during his career but my question to you is do you think he is an HOFer? Ive always been a fan of Webber, he has to be one of the most athletic big men to ever play the game and his skills as a passer for a man his size is probably unmatched by anyone outside of Larry Bird. That said there is no denying his tendency to shy away from and shrink in big spots, he never won a championship on any level (well Im not sure about high school but you get my point) and never even got to a conference championship game in the NBA. Some would say that he never lived up to his potential but I think based strictly on the numbers he would have to be a HOFer. It will be interesting to see what happens with Webber over the next several years.

i never really watched him in his prime, cause i'm a little too young, but from my understanding he's like the bernie williams of the NBA. An excellent player who's as close as one can be to the HOF without being in.

I dont think anyone in their right mind would consider Bernie Williams anywhere close to an HOFer. Webber on the other hand is one of 6 players in the history of the NBA to average 20 points 9 rebounds and 4 assists for his career. If it werent for his long history of coming up small in big situations he would be a shoe in.

Terpy Wrote:I dont think anyone in their right mind would consider Bernie Williams anywhere close to an HOFer. Webber on the other hand is one of 6 players in the history of the NBA to average 20 points 9 rebounds and 4 assists for his career. If it werent for his long history of coming up small in big situations he would be a shoe in.

where do you get these ideas. i think many people would consider bernie as a players who is just a step below HOF caliber. He had a stretch of 8 good to awesome years. A few of them were batting title quality. He also played a very good CF and was a clutch hitter on 4 WS champions.

Another player i'd compare webber with, is jeff kent. in fact, i think Kent's credentials for the Hall are closer to webber's than bernie's.

Here's an off topic question- would you consider vizquel a HOFer?

Not even if hell froze over.

Nor is Jeff Kent.

According to baseballreference.com these are the most similar hitters to Bernie Williams:

1. Paul O'Neill (904)
2. Bob Johnson (897)
3. Bobby Bonilla (880)
4. Will Clark (880)
5. Ellis Burks (864)
6. Edgar Martinez (859)
7. Reggie Smith (858)
8. Garret Anderson (856)
9. Del Ennis (854)
10. John Olerud (853)


None of those losers are close to being HOF material.

will clark and edgar martinez are a step or two away. As is bernie williams. I question if you've ever watched him.

Terpy Wrote:Nor is Jeff Kent.

you do realize that kent has a very good shot? I guess you don't. One of the best hitting second baseman of all time and great at turning the double play.

I question how much you watched him when you said in this very thread that you were two young to remember Chris Webber's prime which was from about 98-2003 but you know all about Bernie Williams who began his career in 1991.

There are only 228 players in the HOF. Of that 228 61 are pitchers. Do you really think Bernie Williams is close to being among the top 167 position players in baseball history? As far as I can tell the only statistical categories in which Bernie Williams cracks the top 100 is Doubles, Walks and Runs. Im sorry but it takes more than that to make the HOF.

Terpy Wrote:I question how much you watched him when you said in this very thread that you were two young to remember Chris Webber's prime which was from about 98-2003 but you know all about Bernie Williams who began his career in 1991.

There are only 228 players in the HOF. Of that 228 61 are pitchers. Do you really think Bernie Williams is close to being among the top 167 position players in baseball history? As far as I can tell the only statistical categories in which Bernie Williams cracks the top 100 is Doubles, Walks and Runs. Im sorry but it takes more than that to make the HOF.

frankly, i thought his prime was earlier. I've never watched the NBA very much, but if you say that was his prime, i believe you. What's strange about that is, for a guy in his prime, he sure didn't play many games. Shouldn't a guy, who's being considered for the HOF, have played full seasons in his prime? At the beginning of the thread i admitted that i haven't watched him much, and that it was my understanding that he was just below the Hall, but when i look at the amount of games he played, i have to question how worthy he is. He only topped 70 games in a season 6 times. That doesn't seem like very much.

That being said, i do remember bernie's years very well. When i say he's close to the HOF, i don't mean, he has a shot at getting in from the veterans committee. i mean he's one to two steps below being a HOF player. Meaning, he was an excellent player, an all star caliber player, who doesn't deserve the Hall, but deserves to be right below it. For a 5 yr stretch, bernie was one of the best pure hitters in baseball.

i came up with this when reaching the tigers the other day. Do you think a fair comparison to C-webb, is Gary Sheffield? He's a guy i consider to be just below the Hall, because of a few things, one of them being injuries.

Terpy Wrote:Nor is Jeff Kent.

BTW, eduardo perez just called Jeff Kent a HOFer.

Semi-retired, there have been rumors that the Lakers may be interested in him.