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No question lol
LOL, look man. I get it. People try in vain to convince me that the teams of the 80's and 90's were not especially good or tough but that would require me to deny everything I've seen for the last 30+ years in basketball. For me, when I look at a team like the Warriors I see an incredible shooting team, a super team even, but they are a finesse team. If you pressure guys like Staph and KD they aren't the same players anymore and that pressure defense was what those 80-90's teams were all about.
Check this out if you get time or maybe just watch the first couple minutes. The Pistons used to do shit to Jordan that in today's game would get you flagrant fouls, ejections, and even suspensions. At the time, they just considered it basketball.
thats cuz most of those bums didnt have skill so they were gooning.
its proof of a less talented, easier to score league. not the opposite.
i hear the same nonsense in hockey that no skill goons would make life hell today for Crosby types but the skill gap would be so big it wouldnt matter. Isnt it funny in both NBA and NHL in the pure goon era it was actually EASIER to score?? the defenses sucked.
I remember when Stephen committed to the UofA. We were stoked but then he was ruled academically ineligible. He would have been on the 97 championship team with Bibby, Simon and Terry.
Reposting since this is the last post in the other thread
From /r/NBA
LeBron when guarded by Durant in game 1: 45 possessions, 30 points on 10-15 shooting
LeBron also had 2 assists, 2-3 shooting from 3 and 2 turnovers.
LBJ guarded by Draymond- 9 possessions, 8 points on 4/6 shooting
The best defender against Bron last night was actually Looney-
9 possessions, 2 points on 1-4 shooting and 2 turnovers. Looney da GAWD.
Durant guarded by LeBron?
24 possessions, 7 points on 3-5 shooting
The Bad Boy Pistons were considered exceptional in their time for physicality. Ignoring the fact that people think every play looked like the handful of highlights they've seen over and over again (hint, they didn't, not even close), pretending that's what late 80's/early 90's NBA basketball looked like night in, night out is just retarded.
The 80's were non-stop offense, minimal defense and ridiculous levels of foul calls. The people who complain about whistles now would pull out their hair watching 80's ball.
I loved the 80's NBA. Magic/Bird is how I was introduced to the game as a kid watching with my dad. But claiming that the game was more physical or more defensive minded is just wrong. So is claiming that the talent pool was close to as good.If they pulled their hair out then they would be morons because the 1980's may be the best decade of basketball the NBA has ever had.
I loved the 80's NBA. Magic/Bird is how I was introduced to the game as a kid watching with my dad. But claiming that the game was more physical or more defensive minded is just wrong. So is claiming that the talent pool was close to as good.
Plus even just domestic population has increased greatly. So has the money involved, helping to pull in more and better athletes to the sport. Then you have the influx of foreign players, who also brought new aspects of play with them. But yes, the most important factor is they got to take what their predecessors had done, study it and improve on it. And while I know a lot of people hate analytics (they can certainly be overemphasized), anyone who played basketball at any level knows coaches have always emphasized 'high percentage shots'. Now that the actual data for that (and a million other aspects of the game) exists nearly in full, it allows coaches and players to optimize what they do well without any guesswork or false assumptions.To me the best argument against a previous era being better in any sport is this:
The current era is best because we can study the past era's. "We stand on the shoulders of Giants" and all that.
I loved the 80's NBA. Magic/Bird is how I was introduced to the game as a kid watching with my dad. But claiming that the game was more physical or more defensive minded is just wrong. So is claiming that the talent pool was close to as good.
Why? Because you listed a bunch of names? Half of whom wouldn't start in the NBA today. Every era has great players. The ones now are just better. But the biggest difference is how much better the role players are today than they were then.Hmmm, the talent pool wasn't close to as good?
The Lakers went to the Finals 9 times from 1980-91, featuring the likes of Magic, Kareem, Worthy, Cooper, and Scott and their rivalry with the Celtics is one of if not the most famous rivalry in NBA history. The Celts had Bird, Ainge, Walton, Parish, Johnson, and Mchale. The 1983 76'ers had Julius Irving, Moses Malone, and Maurice Cheeks. The end of the decade brought in the Bulls with the likes of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant and John Paxton.
The 80's also had the Twin Towers of Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson, the era also had Clyde Drexler and Dominique Wilkins, Bernard King, Charles Barkley, Alex English, George Gervin, Adrian Dantley, Isiah Thomas, Sydney Moncrief, Marques Johnson, Paul Pressey, Terry Cummings, Karl Malone, and John Stockton.
Then you have the forgotten teams of the 80's like the Dallas Mavericks who were road blocked by huge amounts of all time great players. They had Mark Aquirre, Sam Perkins, Detlev Schrempf, Dale Ellis, Derek Harper, and Rolando Blackman. They famously put up 151 on Seattle in the 1987 playoffs. That's 151 in regulation, no overtimes. In 87 that team averaged almost 115 points per 100 possessions.
For you to think that the talent pool of the 80's is not even close to now is MIND BOGGLING.
No question lol
I remember when Stephen committed to the UofA. We were stoked but then he was ruled academically ineligible. He would have been on the 97 championship team with Bibby, Simon and Terry.
Hell, we had Chris Mills just a few years prior. Dude was a GAnd probably on the FBI's most wanted list.