Create the Dream Team of the past 20 years

[Senser81]

I think he followed the Vin Baker style and got obese during the lockout.

I heard he had a few kids, and couldn't lose the pregnancy weight.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Huh?

Kemp in 1994 was in the middle of his "Reign man" phase. Nothing old and fat about him in 1994 IMO.

Zeke wasn't on the 1994 team.

Dream Team II:

PG: Joe Dumas, Kevin Johnson, Mark Price
SG: Steve Smith, Reggie Miller, Dan Majerle
SF: Dominique Wilkins, Larry Johnson
PF: Shawn Kemp, Derrick Coleman
C: Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning

Stop destroying my narrative.

Majerle was robbed of his legacy and multiple gold medals, and I choose to blame Shawn Kemp.

 

[Senser81]

Stop destroying my narrative.

Majerle was robbed of his legacy and multiple gold medals, and I choose to blame Shawn Kemp.

Celine looks pretty trashy in this one. One of those "before you were famous" moments.

 

[Villain]

I can't believe, after that video proved it really isn't even all that close, that you would not only draft '12 Kobe ahead of '92 Drexler, but that you don't even have Drexler on your list, while Kobe is 5th.

Laker fan.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

The issue is, at least with me, people are putting Magic and Bird on that 92 team like they are prime Magic and Bird. They aren't. It's like if the 2012 team put Shaq on there. Yeah, "Shaq" is on the team but he can't walk anymore. It's not really Shaq.

Bird was a non-factor and while Magic turned out to be pretty okay he was still very out of shape. So if you just do a quick roster glance, of course that 92 team is always going to look better. Not putting them down at all, just pointing out that they weren't nearly the factors someone like Chris Paul was for the 2008 team.

Bird nearly averaged 20 & 10 in 91-92, (9.6 reb), with almost 7.0 assists, and shot over 40% from 3. Granted, he was banged up that summer and never played in the NBA again.

But my biggest memories of that Olympic run, were teams having absolutely no answer for Barkley, and Larry Bird & Chris Mullin knocking down wide open 3 balls when teams desperately & haplessly collapsed the lane trying to stop Barkley & Jordan.

I'm going off straight memory here, but two players I have no recollection of doing anything meaningful (and meaningful is a tough word to define when every game was over within 10 minutes) are Stockton & Malone (not counting Laettner, who didn't play). IIRC, Stockton rode the pine more than any of the other pros, but again, could be fuzzy memories.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

I looked it up.

Stockton & Laettner rode the pine like I remembered. Stockton only played in four games. Laettner got garbage time. Was Stockton hurt? He barely played at all.

Malone was more of a factor than I remembered. Leading rebounder, played big minutes, third in scoring behind Barkley & Jordan.

Mullin & Bird led the team in 3-pointers, and Mullin shot almost 55%.

 

[NAHSTE]

Bird nearly averaged 20 & 10 in 91-92, (9.6 reb), with almost 7.0 assists, and shot over 40% from 3. Granted, he was banged up that summer and never played in the NBA again.

And in this match up he'd be forced to guard LeBron or Durant ... Yeah.

That's what people are failing to consider. Obviously, top to bottom the 92 team is stacked with HOFers, and the front court depth alone should be enough to destroy this current incarnation of Team USA. However, only 5 guys can be on the court at once, and this is a game of match ups.

Robinson, Malone, Ewing, Barkley, etc. sounds nice, but who among them is going to guard LeBron? Melo? Durant? Not to mention, you can't play them all at once, which somewhat diminishes that advantage.

MJ would guard Kobe, and Pippen would guard either Durant or LeBron ... leaving only guys who have no business guarding Durant or LeBron to guard the other one of them.

The '92 team is more stacked top to bottom, and has fewer glaring holes, but in an actual basketball game where athleticism and match-ups are taken into account, they would have their hands full.

 

[JimLeavy59]

I looked it up.

Stockton & Laettner rode the pine like I remembered. Stockton only played in four games. Laettner got garbage time. Was Stockton hurt? He barely played at all.

Malone was more of a factor than I remembered. Leading rebounder, played big minutes, third in scoring behind Barkley & Jordan.

Mullin & Bird led the team in 3-pointers, and Mullin shot almost 55%.

I think this is one of the key things the 1992 team has over the 2012 team. This current team lacks sharpshooters I mean you have guys you can shoot the 3 ball but they don't do at an efficient rate.

 

[MattD56]

There was some confusion over the 08 Kobe and 12 Kobe thing.

The underrating of Drexler Ewing and Robinson though is troubling. I'd personally take Drexler over Deron, Magic, and Love.

Using the same comparison that we saw earlier:

Kobe/Drexler
FGA:20.6/19.4
FG%:46/47
3p%:36/34
FTA:9/5
FT%:84/79
Reb:6.3/6.6
Ast:5.4/6.7
Stl:1.8/1.8
Blk:.5/.9
TO:3.1/3.2
PPG:28.3/25.0
PER:24.2/23.6
WS:13.8/12.8

You'd likely still have to take Kobe but it's close enough that if you have Kobe at #5 it would be tough to leave Drexler off a top 10 of the players available to draft from.

hmmm does this take into account the pace difference?

idk how much it would change the stats

actually looking at it,not a terrible amount: the 1991-1992 season was 20th in pace,2007-2008 was 25th

and the 1992 season averaged 5 more PPG

the trailblazers had a pace of 99,while the lakers had a pace of 95.6

so kobe might have looked a little better in portland..

plus kobe shared the ball a bit with pau,bynum,and odom

i don't think the two are far off from each other, but i'm taking kobe

 

[JimLeavy59]

hmmm does this take into account the pace difference?

idk how much it would change the stats

actually looking at it,not a terrible amount: the 1991-1992 season was 20th in pace,2007-2008 was 25th

and the 1992 season averaged 5 more PPG

the trailblazers had a pace of 99,while the lakers had a pace of 95.6

so kobe might have looked a little better in portland..

plus kobe shared the ball a bit with pau,bynum,and odom

i don't think the two are far off from each other, but i'm taking kobe

:kobe:

 

[Senser81]

Robinson, Malone, Ewing, Barkley, etc. sounds nice, but who among them is going to guard LeBron? Melo? Durant? Not to mention, you can't play them all at once, which somewhat diminishes that advantage.

The '92 team is more stacked top to bottom, and has fewer glaring holes, but in an actual basketball game where athleticism and match-ups are taken into account, they would have their hands full.

LOL at this.

Who's going to guard a fat Melo? Hmm. How about Karl Malone kicks his ass for 48 minutes? Who's going to guard a rail-thin Durant? How about Charles Barkley kicks his ass for 48 minutes?

You make it sound as if the 2012 team is athletically superior, but I don't think thats the case at all. Guys like Robinson, Malone, and Barkley were superior athletes, especially when compared to Anthony and Durant. Gimme a break.

 

[Senser81]

Was Stockton hurt? He barely played at all.

He had a leg injury, IIRC.

 

[jaxjaggywires]

LOL at this.

Who's going to guard a fat Melo? Hmm. How about Karl Malone kicks his ass for 48 minutes? Who's going to guard a rail-thin Durant? How about Charles Barkley kicks his ass for 48 minutes?

You make it sound as if the 2012 team is athletically superior, but I don't think thats the case at all. Guys like Robinson, Malone, and Barkley were superior athletes, especially when compared to Anthony and Durant. Gimme a break.

Also, who will Melo be guarding? Because that will be the other team's leading scorer...

This discussion has taken a bit of a hit after that crap game against Brazil, with the team really struggling. The 1992 team did not struggle, but they also did not have to face the level of international competition like there has been for about a decade now. I also wasn't expecting to see such a strong Drexler v. Kobe debate.

As for who guards whom, Pippen would take LeBron, and do well. Malone and Barkley would dominate at the 4, Robinson would shut down anyone who tried to drive the lane. The real question would be who would take Durant hovering around the 3-point line? His shooting could be negated with Mullin (and the occasional Bird). Paul and Williams would be a real problem, with an old Magic and a broken Stockton to guard them, since Jordan would be busy with Kobe.

In short, the 1992 team would probably handle the current team fairly easily in a one-game situation. In a best-of-7, the '12 team might get a game or two off the backs of the point and Kobe/LeBron going off, but would not really stand a chance.

 

[ralaw]

As for who guards whom, Pippen would take LeBron, and do well.

What do you mean by do well? I'm not sure Pippen could handle LeBron James. He'd probably do better than anyone else we've seen, but athletically, strength and skill wise James is on an entirely different level.

 

[Fight'On]

forget who is guarding melo, bron, durant. who is guarding jordan, ewing, robinson, barkley, malone? The dream team would wipe the floor w/ this years verison

 

[jaxjaggywires]

What do you mean by do well? I'm not sure Pippen could handle LeBron James. He'd probably do better than anyone else we've seen, but athletically, strength and skill wise James is on an entirely different level.

Certainly, James would still get points...but I think you're forgetting just how great defensively Pippen was (8 straight years 1st team All-Defense between 1992 and 1999). He might not shut down James (who can, aside from James himself?), but I'd be willing to bet he would do the best defensive job we have ever seen against him.

 

[ralaw]

Certainly, James would still get points...but I think you're forgetting just how great defensively Pippen was (8 straight years 1st team All-Defense between 1992 and 1999). He might not shut down James (who can, aside from James himself?), but I'd be willing to bet he would do the best defensive job we have ever seen against him.

As I said, Pippen is my favorite player of all-time, so I'm aware of how great of a player he was, but he never faced a player like LeBron James. James has Karl Malone's size, Barkley's strength and the quickness of a 6'1 guard and when you add in his ability to put the ball on the floor and create I don't think Pippen could handle him. I do think Pippen would do better than anyone we've seen, but IMO that wouldn't be saying much.

 

[JeremyHight]

LBJ would be harshly negated by the fact that you have a center in the key who wouldn't even come close to having to worry about Chandler, but could still get rebounds. LBJ has shown that when his inside presence is gone (Bosh or when he was back in Cleveland against teams with an inside presence), he isn't that huge of a factor. Yes, he is still an all-star and could probably still get 20+ points, but it would be a pain-staking process, especially when the other side could rotate in physical guys like Barkley and Malone to pound him on the defensive side of the game.

 

[ralaw]

LBJ would be harshly negated by the fact that you have a center in the key who wouldn't even come close to having to worry about Chandler, but could still get rebounds. LBJ has shown that when his inside presence is gone (Bosh or when he was back in Cleveland against teams with an inside presence), he isn't that huge of a factor. Yes, he is still an all-star and could probably still get 20+ points, but it would be a pain-staking process, especially when the other side could rotate in physical guys like Barkley and Malone to pound him on the defensive side of the game.

That could be said for anyone, because it is basketball 101......even the great Michael Jordan would have to adjust dealing with that (The Jordan Rules).

 

[Senser81]

That could be said for anyone, because it is basketball 101......even the great Michael Jordan would have to adjust dealing with that (The Jordan Rules).

But I think Jordan's mid-range game was/is much stronger than LeBron's mid-range game. I think LeBron would have more difficulty adjusting to a clogged lane than Michael.