and even then, their defense wasn't THAT good. it was mostly just a bunch of unnecessarily physical fouls and bullying tactics. their defense wouldnt do crap to any championship team of the past 20 years. they would just get worked. imagine them trying that crap against some of these spurs teams. it would go nowhere and they would just get mindscrewed to death.
2004 Pistons defense >>>>>>>>>>> any badboy pistons defense
the fact that duncan is still one of the best bigs in the league tells you that prime bird and magic would have been JUST fine in today's more athletic league tbh
Dr J, David Thompson, Michael Cooper, Worthy, Sampson, Olajuwon , Jordan, Pippen, Wilkins,Drexler, Spudd Webb
What an unathletic era
lefty's good work in this thread being undone by that ing avatar.
aaaaand thats about the extent of the athleticism. and those were all star players. maybe another few here and there, but not much more.
today? pretty much every team has a scrub or two who has athleticism on par with the stars of the league. then basically every team has another role player or two that also has comparable athleticism to star level players. the league is simply littered with athleticism today compared to back then.
I don't even know why you are trying to debate this.
1) Duncan is a transcendent player.the fact that duncan is still one of the best bigs in the league tells you that prime bird and magic would have been JUST fine in today's more athletic league tbh
2) he is a big man, in a league that doesn't have as much general compe ion at his position as there once was. heavily due to the fact that post play simply isn't nearly as easy or effective as it once was, due to the general increase in athleticism. its not nearly as easy to A) get post position B) control the ball in the post with the rule changes that allow zone and more double teams C) make the right decision on whether to shoot or pass when help defenders are so much faster and longer than they used to be. Oh, and most importantly of all, just a general increase in defensive strategy as well. It's becoming more and more effective for your big men to focus on defense/rebounding, and jumpshooting for spacing, as opposed to clogging the lane and trying to pound their way to the bucket.
3) Bird and Magic were wing players. They would have much different (greater) challenges to face than Duncan currently does.
4) No one said they wouldn't be great. In fact, I think my first sentence was "they would be great". But the two best players in the league for nearly a decade, as they were in their time? Strongly doubt it. They would constantly be overshadowed over the past 10-15 years or so by other transcendent stars like Shaq, Timmy, Lebron, Kobe, Dirk, Durant, etc... I doubt that they would ever be a top 2 player in the league while having to overcome the greatness of all those other players. One of those two guys going to basically every finals of the decade? Heck, lets replace Dirk with Bird, and Kobe with Magic, just to make it fair by eliminating 2 elite players. No way they accomplish anything close to what they did, while having to combat Shaq, Timmy, and Lebron.
Last edited by Phillip; 01-16-2014 at 02:33 AM.
Undersized and fat-assed 80's Barkley would whoop DeMonkey and Griffin's asses
Yeah, athleticism is betterz cuz they jump higherz and dunkz !!!!
The game has evolved, sports science has improved therefore impacting the players in a positive light. It's a different league and the game is just better for all of it, there's not much argument left. My only gripe is how some of the league's best players are resorting to flopping.
of course
Regarding the avy, I will change it soon since you seem to be losing sleep over it
of course
Regarding the avy, I will change it soon since you seem to be losing sleep over it
just disappointed son you rooting for the patriots. it's all good, you don't need to change it.
the monkeys today will be expose by fundamental teams that actually run plays for their production
monkeys and runngun system has been exposed by the spurs half court system
magic will have no problem playing today, whether he wins rings or not is another question depending what is built around him
as for bird, u can always hide him behind 4 other dependable defensive players, just like at dirk for example....he gets on for defense, but it is good enough to keep him on the floor...
Im not a Pats fan
just disappointed son you rooting for the patriots. it's all good, you don't need to change it.
Or am I ?
you started the season as a raider fan
you were legit too, mentioning lamarr houston and
Would Jordan have won 6 straight during the 2000s?
highly doubt it.
Wilt, Kareem, Hakeem, Jordan, and TIMMAH
Nah I just like their logo / jerseyyou started the season as a raider fan
you were legit too, mentioning lamarr houston and
wilt is overrated man
and hakeem to an extent....if he didnt win rings in those 2 years he peaked, he probably be below drob
just cause of those 2 years, they think his been playin like that his whole career....
big ghaz with the truth
remember how hakeem went no vaseline on d-rob? now, i know he was in the navy, but it didnt look like he enjoyed it
what a tough era...the 2nd best player is a mentally fragile beta-chucker, who gets 10+ free throws every game, the best big man doesn't even know how to post up.
Lebron's compe ion in the 2012 playoffs: NY Knicks
2013 playoffs: Milwaukee Bucks
Yeah, this era has been so tough, especially when the Eastern Conference is the tiest it has been in the last decade, definitely ter than in the late 80s/90s with the bad boy Pistons, Celtics, Pacers, Zo on the Heat, Ewing on the Knicks and Shaq and Penny in Orlando...MJ faced top 50 all-time players in the playoffs year in year out.
Not hard to see the agendas here, hh obviously hanging on leCrab nuts for dear life, lashing out at anyone trying to deflate his hero. Mavfan propping up leHype to make Nazi Dirk's single good run in his career more than it is, clearly, to cover up for all the choking he did prior.
and the Spurs, the most dominant team of the last 15 years, continue to win all the while lacking athletic players. Explain this, Philip.
Jordan, one the best athletes in the 80s couldn't win, because athleticism isn't everything bruh.
Last edited by 313; 01-16-2014 at 10:51 AM.
I'd take Magic over Maybe Kareem or Hakeem, but good list.
If Lebron gets a career ending injury tomorrow and quit the game of basketball, he would be ranked the same as Shaq. Similar number of alpha rings, similar level of dominance over a similar period of time, require another superstar and some timely shots from role players to win championships, similar career, really when you look at it overall with all the leave a weaker franchise and join another to win rings.
Now, the manner in which he wins his later rings will determine where he stands at the end of the day. If he continued to be the unquestionable alpha on his team and maintains the level of dominance, then his stock will go up. However, if he acts as a second banana or go and coattail rings ala Payton/semi-Shaq, then it's not going to affect his standings much.
The key for him is just to continue to dominant the league like he did in 2012, do that a few more years, and he will have a shot at the top 3 or 5. The GOAT dominated the league for 6 years, with no peers during that time. The only time somebody came close to him (Drexler), he annihilated him in the finals.
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