Dream Team vs 2012 Team USA

[_Steve_]

lol KD playing defense.

Yeah, after all this seems like a bad idea.

[shadowgrin]

But if any, today's team also deserves some credits as they consist of 3 of the best players in today's era(Bron, Durant, Paul)

Based on top 15 PER of their recent season, 2012 team have 5 (or 6 if you count Kobe) top players in the team.
But Dream team had 9 top players on their team.

[Sauru]

Individually, what those 92 players did was monstrous and legendary. Possibly the best players ever positionally at PG, SG, and C.

the had the best pg is history and the best "pure" point guard ever. i would take either of them over any other point to ever play the game. at sg they had jordan so they win there and the center is laughable how much better the 92 team was. the pf slot which you didnt mention, had the 2 best pf's to play before duncan came on the scene. sf is the only position you can this team is better at. in the end lebron will retire as the best sf ever i think but i think pippen would be able to slow him down a huge amount. hell much lesser defenders have slowed lebron down he would hate to go against a player like scottie. the 92 team also had much better shooters really its a no contest

I don't think it'd be a sweep but the Dream team in 5 or 6.

i think its 4 straight for the 92 team. better points, centers, and power forwards by far. the spots where this team is the strongest the 92 team had jordan and pippen. better shooters, people more willing to use theirs teammates? its a no contest imo. hell i think anyone who thinks this team could beat that team dont know shit about basketball. then again it depends on the rules right? todays players are really good at flopping so maybe they get 194 free throws and pull it off by a couple points?

[The X]

Didn't see Magic play, before I started following NBA. With his size, did he have problems defending smaller, quicker guards? If so, Chris Paul & Russell Westbrook would give him fits. Obviously it becomes a problem at the other end though too.

If I was 2012 squad, I'd play Love at centre for rebounding & outside shooting, to try & bring Ewing/Admiral away from the hoop & open it up a little.

It wouldn't make a difference & Dream Team would win, but without Dwight in there, you've got to play Love to spread the floor.

[NovU]

Individually, what those 92 players did was monstrous and legendary. Possibly the best players ever positionally at PG, SG, and C.

the had the best pg is history and the best "pure" point guard ever. i would take either of them over any other point to ever play the game. at sg they had jordan so they win there and the center is laughable how much better the 92 team was. the pf slot which you didnt mention, had the 2 best pf's to play before duncan came on the scene. sf is the only position you can this team is better at. in the end lebron will retire as the best sf ever i think but i think pippen would be able to slow him down a huge amount. hell much lesser defenders have slowed lebron down he would hate to go against a player like scottie. the 92 team also had much better shooters really its a no contest

I don't think it'd be a sweep but the Dream team in 5 or 6.

i think its 4 straight for the 92 team. better points, centers, and power forwards by far. the spots where this team is the strongest the 92 team had jordan and pippen. better shooters, people more willing to use theirs teammates? its a no contest imo. hell i think anyone who thinks this team could beat that team dont know shit about basketball. then again it depends on the rules right? todays players are really good at flopping so maybe they get 194 free throws and pull it off by a couple points?

I wouldn't be surprised with a sweep either. But perhaps I'm giving the benefit of doubt to 2012 Team. And yeah. Imagine how stunned Barkley would be with flurries of Ts thrown in his face. Lolz. Miss those days when the ball game was a mens sport.

[shadowgrin]

Didn't see Magic play, before I started following NBA. With his size, did he have problems defending smaller, quicker guards? If so, Chris Paul & Russell Westbrook would give him fits. Obviously it becomes a problem at the other end though too.

Doesn't matter. Zone defense.

If I was 2012 squad, I'd play Love at centre for rebounding & outside shooting, to try & bring Ewing/Admiral away from the hoop & open it up a little.

It wouldn't make a difference & Dream Team would win, but without Dwight in there, you've got to play Love to spread the floor.

Without the injuries to 2012 team I'd go with this:

C Dwight
PF Love
SF Durant
SG Kobe
PG LeBron

I'd like to go with Wade at SG but the size disadvantage against either Jordan, Magic, or Pippen would give the 2012 team trouble and Kobe's shooting is more needed than Wade's game. The key would be Durant for the 2012 team to even pull out a win.

then again it depends on the rules right? todays players are really good at flopping so maybe they get 194 free throws and pull it off by a couple points?

I'm amused at the wrong assumption on how the current NBA rules are supposed to give an advantage to the current players and not to some players of the past.

Just imagine Jordan, Magic, and even Pippen going to the basket and fishing some fouls along the way with ease with the current NBA rules.

[Andrew]

I'm amused at the wrong assumption on how the current NBA rules are supposed to give an advantage to the current players and not to some players of the past.

Just imagine Jordan, Magic, and even Pippen going to the basket and fishing some fouls along the way with ease with the current NBA rules.

Agreed. Jordan got his fair share of calls back in the day; with some of the calls they're making now, I think he'd easily be topping 40 ppg in his prime.

[NovU]

The assumption has more to do with level of comfortability with the rules the players have grown to play with. Though it's always a fun speculation how 92 players would have fared in today's rules. I for one believe those players would have done quite well, especially Jordan.

[shadowgrin]

While it may be uncomfrotable for the 92 team in the defensive end with the current rules they'll be more than comfortable in the offensive end that it might surprise the 2012 team and make them uncomfortable playing defense.

[NovU]

Perhaps. But zone defense also might be a factor against 92 players. They certainly have to make adjustment in their offense against zone defense. For instance, wing players will face clogged lanes, the bigs will have to adjust their usual position and style.

[shadowgrin]

But zone defense also might be a factor against 92 players. They certainly have to make adjustment in their offense against zone defense. For instance, wing players will face clogged lanes, the bigs will have to adjust their usual position and style.

Nope. They already were familiar with that in college, like James Worthy mentioned.
92 team's wing players can shoot. Also bigs that know how to run pick and roll perfection. That Jordan guy can be triple teamed and yet still go the the basket (zone defense hold him down, lol nope) unless the 2012 team conceive a defense scheme just for him like the Pistons did but with his teammates Jordan probably won't hesitate to pass the ball because they can get the job done.
2012 team's best player doesn't even want to beat a zone defense as he had shown in the 4th quarters of the 2011 Finals.

[NovU]

Fair enough. I just thought it was a fair point to consider. Because under 90's rule, the 2012 team would have close to zero chance imo. 92 players would constantly abuse with handchecking and iso by along the likes of MJ would have been unstoppable. There would be no way 2012 players would adjust their game quickly enough to play at the level they're used to. But I think at least it's fair to say they'd stand more chance under today's rule.

And another discussion(though this being my last post for tonight)

C Dwight
PF Love
SF Durant
SG Kobe
PG LeBron

I'd like to go with Wade at SG but the size disadvantage against either Jordan, Magic, or Pippen would give the 2012 team trouble and Kobe's shooting is more needed than Wade's game. The key would be Durant for the 2012 team to even pull out a win.

Would makes some sense to put Kobe on MJ as with Kobe's taller height(than Wade) but I am inclined to agree only if Kobe agrees to focus entirely on defense. At this stage of their careers, Wade's game is just superior overall and it'd be enough to make up for Kobe's three pointers game, especially when Kobe tries to bring much more than that.

[koberulz]

Zone defense has always been legal in international basketball.

[shadowgrin]

I still prefer Kobe with that lineup. It's not just shooting threes, like Wade Kobe can post but better than Wade. 2012 needs everything they can get especially post play to help ball/player movement and open up shots and I think Kobe just happens to be a better fit in that lineup.


Comment made by Barkley was also interesting. He said that only LeBron, Durant, and Kobe would make it in the Dream Team.

If I were to remove players from 92 Dream Team and replace them with players from the 2012 team I would replace Laettner with Love, Mullin with Durant, Bird with LeBron, and Drexler with Paul.

[Andrew]

I don't think it matters who they put on MJ, to be honest. As recounted in Bill Simmons' The Book of Basketball:

Craig Hodges told Michael Wilbon about a 1990 incident in which Pippen made the mistake of challenging Jordan in practice, when Michael "proceeded, literally, to score on Scottie at will. It was incredible. I mean, Scottie Pippen even then was one of the best players in the league and Michael just rained points on him. Scottie had to step back and say 'Slow up, man.'"

He rained points on one of the best defenders in league history, someone with the perfect tools to stop him and who played and practiced with him every day, to the point where that player had to ask him to ease up. The 2012 team has some players who could do a good job on him, make things tough for him at times and definitely have their moments defensively. But I don't see any of them shutting him down completely.

[_Steve_]

I agree with Andrew. There were some pretty good defenders in the league in '92. Still most teams used double- or even triple-team defense on Jordan because of his ability to score. And as someone mentioned above, he also could pass the ball very well to his teammates when he created space for them...

[Sauru]

I'm amused at the wrong assumption on how the current NBA rules are supposed to give an advantage to the current players and not to some players of the past.

Just imagine Jordan, Magic, and even Pippen going to the basket and fishing some fouls along the way with ease with the current NBA rules.

Agreed. Jordan got his fair share of calls back in the day; with some of the calls they're making now, I think he'd easily be topping 40 ppg in his prime.

i am just saying that todays played have had much more practice at it. it was meant to be way more sarcastic than it came off. i thought starting it with the whole "depends on the rules" thing would have made it more clear

[shadowgrin]

Oh Sauru explaining your sarcastic post as if it's needed. Silly old man.

[NovU]

Poll would have been suitable for the thread. No doubt 92 team would win but by how close/far?

Nonetheless was a fun discussion provided by Kobe. Now he needs to go out there and win a gold to back it up a bit. Other than USA and Spain, which team do you think has the talent to make a run?

[_Steve_]

Poll would have been suitable for the thread. No doubt 92 team would win but by how close/far?

Nonetheless was a fun discussion provided by Kobe. Now he needs to go out there and win a gold to back it up a bit. Other than USA and Spain, which team do you think has the talent to make a run?

The game against Argentina was a close one. From what I've seen, I expect them to play a good tournament as well.

[air gordon]

its a no contest imo. hell i think anyone who thinks this team could beat that team dont know shit about basketball. then again it depends on the rules

Quote of the year worthy. We still have those? It's going in the sig

[Andrew]

We can always bring them back.

[Andrew]

MJ weighs in again.

[SoF'nAwesome]

"Debates won't end because we'll never know"

It should end. 'cause the 2012 Team is better

The whole article was rounded up on making MJ & the Dream Team look good.

But good to know about that feature in 2K. But what's up with Pippen? For a little money, that just made him look bad.

[_Steve_]

"Debates won't end because we'll never know"

It should end. 'cause the 2012 Team is better

The whole article was rounded up on making MJ & the Dream Team look good.

But good to know about that feature in 2K. But what's up with Pippen? For a little money, that just made him look bad.

It's still the old feud between Chuck and Pip. Appearing in a sports video game is not only about money but also about the player ratings. Maybe Chuck pushed and said something like: "I'll be in the game but only second to MJ and not third to MJ and Pip", or the other way round. But that's only what I'm guessing...