Kobe Bryant Suggests 2012 U.S. Team Could Beat 1992 ‘Dream Team' what do you think?

Originally posted by LA9erFan:
I know people think I'm just a hater, but watching MJ being guarded by Dan Majerle or Kevin Johnson with the old illegal defense rules makes me shake my damn head. ('93 Finals on NBA TV right now)

Watching NBA TV again?



(I was too, Barkley's 56 point game against Whack Webber and the Warriors in '94 FTW!)

BTW, when we're done with this, I was wondering if we could go and revisit that whole 'Could the '05 USC team beat the 2-14 Niners team' argument

Originally posted by StOnEy333:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:
I know people think I'm just a hater, but watching MJ being guarded by Dan Majerle or Kevin Johnson with the old illegal defense rules makes me shake my damn head. ('93 Finals on NBA TV right now)

What would it have been like seeing Jordan vs the zone...........

And defenders with size & decent footspeed. Last night I watched him murder John Starks, Dan Majerle, & Kevin Johnson. Guys like Battier, Bowen, Artest, etc. weren't around yet.

Originally posted by LA9erFan:
I know people think I'm just a hater, but watching MJ being guarded by Dan Majerle or Kevin Johnson with the old illegal defense rules makes me shake my damn head. ('93 Finals on NBA TV right now)

would Jordan, in his prime, not be the best player in the NBA today?

Originally posted by vrabbit:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:
I know people think I'm just a hater, but watching MJ being guarded by Dan Majerle or Kevin Johnson with the old illegal defense rules makes me shake my damn head. ('93 Finals on NBA TV right now)

would Jordan, in his prime, not be the best player in the NBA today?

It would be a coin flip with LeBron, IMO.

Originally posted by vrabbit:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:
I know people think I'm just a hater, but watching MJ being guarded by Dan Majerle or Kevin Johnson with the old illegal defense rules makes me shake my damn head. ('93 Finals on NBA TV right now)

would Jordan, in his prime, not be the best player in the NBA today?

Yes.

Originally posted by LA9erFan:
I'm not entirely sure that an almost 33 year old Magic Johnson who hadn't played professional basketball in over a year was better than any of the PGs on the 2012 team. If I took a stab at naming the 12 best players from a combination of these two teams at the time they played on the Olympic Team, it would probably be...

1) Michael Jordan
2) LeBron James
3) Kevin Durant
4) David Robinson
5) Kobe Bryant
6) Scottie Pippen
7) Karl Malone
8) Charles Barkley
9) Chris Paul
10) John Stockton
11) Deron Williams
12) Patrick Ewing

The original dream team overall is better. I tend to agree on Lebron. He is at least #2 even with that team in it's prime included. He would no doubt start IMO as he can play 4 positions. They would find somewhere for him. That's for sure. Durant is unbelievable too. He may start including that team too. He would at least play a lot.

Originally posted by TheSixthRing:
BTW, when we're done with this, I was wondering if we could go and revisit that whole 'Could the '05 USC team beat the 2-14 Niners team' argument

Ken Dorsey would throw for 400 yards against USC

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

I know people think I'm just a hater, but watching MJ being guarded by Dan Majerle or Kevin Johnson with the old illegal defense rules makes me shake my damn head. ('93 Finals on NBA TV right now)

I think Jordan would thrive even more in todays NBA. No hand checking and things of that nature. You could get away with assault back then. He would be murdering guys even more so with todays rules, imo.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

I'm not entirely sure that an almost 33 year old Magic Johnson who hadn't played professional basketball in over a year was better than any of the PGs on the 2012 team. If I took a stab at naming the 12 best players from a combination of these two teams at the time they played on the Olympic Team, it would probably be...

1) Michael Jordan
2) LeBron James
3) Kevin Durant
4) David Robinson
5) Kobe Bryant
6) Scottie Pippen
7) Karl Malone
8) Charles Barkley
9) Chris Paul
10) John Stockton
11) Deron Williams
12) Patrick Ewing

That's still original dream team overall. So it's easy to see who is better. I tend to agree on Lebron. He is at least #2 even with that team in it's prime included. He would no doubt start IMO as he can play 4 positions. They would find somewhere for him. That's for sure. Durant is unbelievable too. He may start including that team too. He would at least play a lot.

With 5 new players added and a different starting lineup, how is it the same team overall?

After struggling to beat Lithuania there is no chance the 2012 team could even hang with the Dream Team. The only thing that could keep the 2012 team in the game is the 3 ball.

Originally posted by zomg_its_ryan:
After struggling to beat Lithuania there is no chance the 2012 team could even hang with the Dream Team. The only thing that could keep the 2012 team in the game is the 3 ball.

I don't think it would be real close. 1992 would win by quite a lot.

Originally posted by Hoovtrain:
I think Jordan would thrive even more in todays NBA. No hand checking and things of that nature. You could get away with assault back then. He would be murdering guys even more so with todays rules, imo.

I very much disagree. Firstly, the talent & size on the defensive end is night and day. In individual matchups, Jordan was going up against guys that are 6'4" and under on a nightly basis. Now, those guys look like Thabo Sefolosha, Tony Allen, Andre Iguodala, etc. Much bigger and faster. Secondly, and more importantly, the help defense rules are so different that it's not even comparable.

There's a reason that everyone scored more back then, not just Jordan. Case in point...



Watch this first play. Under the rules in Jordan's era, both Pierce & Allen are playing illegal defense. They had to be within an arms length of the player that they were guarding. This spread the floor, and put help defenders out around the three point line, too far away to help. The old NBA involved a ton of post catches. That doesn't happen anymore. Take this video for example (and notice who's guarding him in these ). These passes are fronted now, with the guys on the help side being in a position to intercept the lob. Back then, that was illegal. This two man game, with the other 3 guys on the weak side just standing there, doesn't exist anymore. For some reason people think it's logical that post-up players just disappeared, when in reality they've been largely legislated out of the game.

^You def bring up good points, but i think we are still going to disagree. I firmly believe that todays D is so much softer than that of the Jordan era. Yes, players may be bigger and faster now, but that does not equate to being a better defender, imo. I think the reason everyone scored back then had more to do with them being far more fundamentally sound than todays players. I thought these were good articles.

http://blitzsportsnetwork.com/2012/01/the-michael-jordan-era-defenses-vs-the-kobelebron-era-defenses/

http://hoopshype.com/articles/defense_lazenby.htm

After watching the 2012 USA team play a bunch of games now, can we all conclude that Kobe's statement was laughable?