Obviously Finley in his prime. He average 22 ppg in his prime, great shooter and a good defender. Josh averages 16 ppg right now and his jumper still needs improvements. If the topic was "who will be better?" it would have made more sense.
Josh Howard is a better defender, better slasher, better rebounder, and more consistent shooter overall. Once again I'll have to disagree with you CB4.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (nba dogmatist @ May 13 2006, 05:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>you might as well post this in the Mavs section.</div>I did but someone told me to post it here instead.
Finley was a better shooter, and i think he will always be a better shooter than Howard. But, when it comes to defense, slashing, rebounding, etc. Howard takes it. Overall, because of the other categories, Howard is the better player.
Finley in his prime was better, he was even compared to Jordan, but the future of Josh Howard will eclipse Finleys talent. I think Howard is on the verge of becoming a superstar.
I'm going with Finley, because in his prime, he was a great defender, it was something he was known for in Phoenix before his offense. Something mavsfan probably doesn't know. And to add to that, was a good slasher to the basket. The only thing Josh now has over Fin in his prime is better rebounding. Fin was on par with slashing, defense(Josh is overrated by Mavs fans on defense), and Fin was the better scorer with range. Add in Fin was smarter with the ball, Fin in his prime. Now I'm hearing Howard in the future? He's 27, he's entering his prime now, I don't see a whole lot of improvement coming from him that I haven't seen now. The only improvement I see is his range and keeping his head on and playing smarter. But superstar level? All star level is the most likely.
Finley, in his prime he was a great and athletic shooting guard. He had that power attribute to his game which made him a force when he was playing. He had the ability to put up 20+ and climb down with some rebounds. He was also a very good dunker and defender. Very quick on both sides of the ball. I don't think Howard has the potential to put up some of the numbers Finley did in his prime. It was too bad he was surronded with horrible teams because I would have loved to see Finley win a championship. I see similarities with him and Paul Pierce on the pure fact that they both have done incredible things for their ball clubs but have got nothing in return.
I'm going with Finley in his prime too. He was the leader of the Mavs before Dirk even became a decent player...and his clutch shooting was something of Mavs lore.Now I do beleive Josh is a better allaround player, and will have the better overall player in a few years...but Finley in his prime, compared to a 3rd year Josh Howard isn't close.
Finley, although Howard will be up there when gets more experience. But Finley was/is a terrific offensive player who could also shut you down on the other end. Also, add that in with one of the top clutch performers in the league. But Howard is a rising star. I think he will be a future All-Star player. He need to work on his perimiter game but he can definitely score inside and defend as well as a damn good rebounder for 6'6''-6'7''. But to answer the question on one note: Michael Finley (prime) > Josh Howard (now)
