I challenge everyone to a NBA 7-game series. I want to see how my twelve guys match up against yours. I won’t have who I think are the 12 best players although I definitely will have a few. I am starting 3 guards, but don’t think you can take advantage of me at the small forward spot. And I have a fortress in the paint, starting 2 centers.
Coach - Chuck Daly - Why? Because he coached the greatest team ever assembled - the 1992 Olympic Dream Team. He has also proven himself by winning back-to-back NBA championships with the Pistons.
Starters:
Guard - Michael Jordan - This is my killer. His competitiveness and will can carry an entire basketball team. MJ in my opinion is the best player ever to grace a basketball court, no question (Bill Russell is a close 2nd). Some may say that statement is debatable. And the main player people like to argue (not even close) is Wilt Chamberlain, since he is probably the only guy who would vote for himself as the greatest anyway. Just about every other hall-of-famer or greatest-ever comparable would tell you themselves that MJ is the best. That by itself should be enough to end that argument.
Guard - Oscar Robertson - This is my all-purpose stud. The big O spawned the bigger combo guard who can do everything. Score from everywhere on the court, rebound and dish. He did something that will never be duplicated EVER. Not only did he average a triple-double in a full season (1961-62 - averaging 30.8 points, 11.4 assists and 12.5 rebounds per game), but if you put together his first 5 seasons (400+ games), he averaged a triple-double from 1960 to 1965. That is freakin’ ridiculous! And people are in awe of King James…
Guard - Magic Johnson - My floor leader and the best point guard of all-time - and he was really a power forward at 6′ 9. Can play all 5 positions, sees all the passing angles and can thread the needle in every situation. At that size he can score on anyone and is the perfect guy to run the fast break with MJ (think 1992 Dream Team). Not to mention completely unselfish and all about winning.
Power Forward - Bill Russell - My second and third line of defense and the best big man and greatest winner in the history of the game. He matches up well vs. some of the quicker bigs because he was very agile for his size and clearly held his own against the bigger guys (Wilt Chamberlain) as well.
Side note: I have to take a moment to explain why The Big Dipper is not on my team. Think back to game 7 of the 1970 NBA finals. With a severely torn muscle in his thigh Willis Reed made a heroic appearance from the locker room to match up against arguably the most dominant big man ever. Reed went on to score the first two buckets of the game vs. Wilt and inspired his team to victory. An immeasurable display of leadership that in my opinion should never have happened. Basketball, and any sport, is about winning, taking advantage of every (allowable) edge you have and not giving anyone a free pass. And that is exactly what Chamberlain did in that game. He should have PUNCHED those two shots into the 3rd row seats sending a message to the Knicks that in no way, shape or form was it their day to win. That has always bugged me and for that reason I cannot have Wilt on my team.
Center - Moses Malone - This is my bruiser. My relentless rebounder, shot blocker and post defender. I had to start him because he was the missing piece that led the Sixers to the 1983 championship; he is my hometown guy. He is going to make sure nobody comes down the lane for any freebies and dominate the boards. This guy actually had 15 OFFENSIVE rebounds in a playoff game. Wow.
Bench:
Isiah Thomas - This was a tough pick for me. It was between Isiah and A.I. (check his career playoff numbers and you won’t be as surprised why this was a bit of a dilemma). Ultimately it came down to winning, and although Iverson is my dude, Isiah is the proven champion. Not that I would be losing much as Thomas was just as electric with the rock as the “Answer”.
Reggie Miller - In this day and age you can’t win without a consistent threat from beyond the 3-point line. You saw how the US team struggled in the last Olympics because they didn’t have a shooter. Well, here is the best in the history of the NBA. And if somehow I end up down 3 late you can be assured Reggie will be ready to nail that clutch triple at the buzzer. That is if MJ lets someone else shoot with the game on the line anyway!
Larry Bird - This quote sums up why Larry “Legend” (not to mention it’s Larry “Legend”) is on my team - “The one thing that always bothered me when I played in the NBA was I really got irritated when they put a white guy on me,” Bird said. “I still don’t understand why. A white guy would come out (and) I would always ask him: ‘What, do you have a problem with your coach? Did your coach do this to you?’ And he’d go, ‘No,’ and I’d say, ‘Come on, you got a white guy coming out here to guard me; you got no chance.’ For some reason, that always bothered me when I was playing against a white guy.” “Disrespect,” Magic said. Said Bird: “Yeah, disrespect.” Full 2-on-2 interview
Kevin Garnett - I had to have at least one current player on my team, and right now this is my favorite. His energy, unselfishness and ability to do just about everything from the power forward spot are the reasons he fits well on this team. I needed a strong passing big man to play the high-low game. As well as hit the pick-and-pop jumper when he sets perimeter screens.
Hakeem Olajuwon - This was a toss up between Hakeem and Shaquille O’Neal. The deciding factors were free-throw shooting and versatility. I didn’t want to have any weak links on this team. The Diesel opens this team up to the Hack-A-Shaq strategy and bigger defensive mismatches against pick-and-rolls. Really though, I just want the “Dream Shake” on my team!
Utility Guys:
There you have it. Can anyone think of a better, more well-rounded team?
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12 comments ↓
Im glad you still havent closed this post ,even with all the lame comments that have plaqued your blog as of late, but let me shine some light back on this great topic and present your team with the scare of their lives..ok i’m being modest..they will beat your team 7 out of ten times!!! lol
My starting five:
SG Kobe bryant: 6′7 , closest thing to jordan in the modern or any era. Even though he’s no jordan , he has an automatic mid range shot , can penetrate and post up and can defend almost as good,if not as good as MJ and is finally learning how to passs!!!!!..lol
PG Gary payton: The original glove!! , can defend exceptionaly well , even taller players such as Magic. He doesent pass the ball as well as stockton or kidd in the half court , or does he pass as good as nash in the open floor , but he is very close especially in the fastbreak. Can post smaller defenders ,( in your case isiah) ,and is more of a scorer then the above stated point guards , thus will make any one work, on both sides of the court. Ohhh and he is an excellant trash talker!!…if you ever played the game, you would know,constant trash talking sometimes gets players off their game , ofcourse i dont think it will effect magic or jordan , but the big O? who knows.
SF Lebron James : The premier small foeward now and maybe of alltime when its said and done. Does he choke? yes!!. Does his outside game need a little more work?? yes!!. Does his shot selection at times leaves a bad taste in your mouth?..sure!, but he sees the floor like a young magic and can run the offense from the 3rd spot, can post up,can play 4 spots, bigger and faster then almost any small forward and he has that aura of greatness around him , unselfish player and the glue of my team. By the way i’m not much of a lebron fan at all , but i have to admit he’s hard to stop , can The Big O stop him??..doubt it , can pippen? nah!
Power Forward: Tim Duncan: The best power forward of all time hands down!. Has super fundamentals , can pass out of the post like no one else and has the back to the basket game that would even give russell problems. Great match up , russell vs duncan..hmmm.
C Shaquille Oneal: Oh how i would have loved to have hakeem , but you already had him , fine!! , let me just get the most dominant center of all time. Yes he’ll probably be in foul trouble playing defense , but can moses malone stop him?? hell no!!. Will it be a layup situation everytime down because of shaq’s strength? yes!. I see moses malone’s power equal to a ewing and ewing could do nothing against Shaq. Do i see a double team situation here? you better believe it baby!!. Yeah Shaq is prone to foul trouble early , but i dont see malone powering him inside the paint too much , so after a few trys at pushing or powering the diesel down low , moses will ambandon that idea quick, thus allowing Shaq not to commit fouls.
Bench:
Stockton: Pure point guard when you need more of a team concept. No one runs the pick and roll better.
Iverson: Why iverson??? HAHA did you ever see MJ try to guard A.I? yeah he was up there in age , but he couldnt keep up , i doubt a young jordan can keep up , automatic matchup problem!
Nowinski: Did i say matchup problem?? lol , 6′11 version of bird!. yea, yea he is no bird , but most forwards on your team can guard him.
Rodman: Best rebounder ever inch for inch and one of the most stingiest defenders in history , can defend your whole starting line up (maybe not jordan, but hello! who can!?). Best role player you can have.
Mutombo: You say Russell , i say Mutombo. Insurance just incase Shaq gets in foul trouble , did you know that Mutombo is 7′4 and all your centers are 6′11 or shorter?? hmmm
Bowen : Stingy defender that will harass you out of your game
t.prince: If the glove doesent work , the long arm of the law will.
OK now that you see my starting lineup and my little tidbits on them ,besides the match ups , which i think based on the starting lineup, i’ll win 3 out of 5 , with only MJ and magic winning on your side, thats irrelavant , because that only counts on paper , and yea this is an email,but i’m going to take it a step further.
In the start of the game with your starting 5 , you’re basically trying to take advantage on a mismatch with spots one thru three , with russell and moses basically cleaning up the garbage.
MJ doesent need mismatches or anything to get off, he just will and he will get his points, no matter what,i understand that but MJ will play most of the minutes at SG, because r.miller would be at a disadvantage against either kobe or iverson. So he might get a bit tired by the fourth quarter , has it ever happened , no!..but i can only hope so!. Kobe will match MJ’s minutes , will he match his points? I doubnt it, but it’ll be close, something like 28 to 24 type of thing. But if he is off or MJ is getting out of hand ,i can come in with t.prince to slow down MJ or i can come in with iverson and make u shake up your whole lineup!. How you miht say? well i can use A.I at the pg spot with kobe on the floor and basically run the point with James. Jordan cant keep up with iverson , but who on your team can? isiah?..lol. then that puts pressure on Magic , because he cant guard kobe , do you keep him in and get burned or put pippen in?..and with pippen , even in his prime,can he stay with kobe?..i doubt it
I ran out of time and space , i will get back to you tommorrow and see what you have to say, other mismatches i would have exploded , are James vs the Big O, Shaq vs anyone on your roster , Nowinski vs bird,or The Big O , Duncan vs russell (Small but yes significant enough). Your advantages would be Magic vs my point guards ,Your outside shooting (even though you wont have any post up play to set them up, yeah hakeem is good, but they wont leave double him), Basically you’ll be forced to use a eight man rotation of the starying five , larry,hakeem and pippen and i would be able to use more,because i have more ROLE PLAYERS!!, ok one more guy,but its something, i have the defense, the mismatches and the hussle factor, you have more ball control, more intangibles, i think i win, what do you think?
CUMON GUYS!!!…WHERE YALL AT???!!..I’M ESPECIALLY TALKING TO YOU DANNIE!!..LOL
Top 12…
Can’t argue with Magic, Jordan and Oscar…I’d add Kobe, Duncan, King James, Jerry West, Shaq in his prime, Kareem the Captain,
Here’s my team. To make it a bit tougher, I won’t use a single player that you use.
PG - Oscar and Magic are the two best PGs ever. I guess I’ll have Jason Kidd. Terrific rebounder, defender, distributor. Career averages of 14 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds and 2 steals. He’s not a great shooter, but I’m ok with that.
SG - Elgin Baylor. He made 10 all-NBA 1st teams and advanced to 8 NBA Finals, but never won a championship or MVP, and is underrated as a result. Great Scorer; he averaged at least 34 points three consecutive seasons.
SF - Wilt Chamberlain. Your choice to leave Wilt off your team because he didn’t “punch [Reed's] shots into the 3rd row seats” is a little bit confusing. Bill Russell won more championships than Wilt because he had better teammates. In Wilt’s two championships seasons with the 1967 Sixers and 1972 Lakers, he set the record for regular season wins by going 68-13 with the Sixers and then broke that record by going 69-13 with the Lakers. He was the centerpiece for some of the greatest teams of all time. Wilt was a track star in high school, and I think he had the athleticism to be a small forward, even at 7’1”.
PF - I read your article a few times searching for just a mention of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Remember him? 6-time MVP, 19-time all-star, 10 all-NBA 1st teams, all-time leading scorer. Any of that ring a bell?
C - Shaq. More dominant than Olajuwon in his prime.
Bench:
PG - John Stockton. Less turnover-prone than Isiah Thomas. Lifetime .515 FG% and had 7 seasons shooting better than 40% from 3-pt range. Averaged over 10 assists and less than 3 turnovers. That is amazing.
PG/SG - Jerry West. Finished 2nd in MVP voting 4 times. Had 11 consecutive seasons averaging over 25 points and is the NBA logo.
SG/SF - Kobe Bryant. Closest thing we currently have to Michael Jordan.
SG/SF - T-Mac. I hope no one forgets his 2003 season when he averaged 32 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and a combined 2.5 steals and blocks on .457 FG shooting (.386 on 3-pt shooting). He is just as great as Kobe if not better. The difference is that he never had a teammate of Shaq’s caliber.
SF - LeBron. Averaged 30, 8 and 7 this season and only finished 4th in MVP voting. Physically overwhelming player.
PF/C - Tim Duncan. I’m kind of surprised you would take Moses Malone and Kevin Garnett over Duncan.
PF/C - David Robinson. What a great all-around player. San Antonio was a championship contender with him and crap without him. Is it a coincidence that Robinson was the main reason for two of the three biggest turnarounds ever? He’s underappreciated because he wasn’t quick enough to guard Olajuwon one on one. I may be underrating him by not putting him in starting lineup.
Your team has a better backcourt, but I’m pretty sure my frontcourt would overwhelm yours since you left off Shaq, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and the Big Dipper for Moses Malone, Bill Russell, and Hakeem Olajuwon. I don’t know why I’m making this a competition.
Miguel i see what you are doing trying to make mismatches by bringin in size,but what you actually did is make it even easier to dominate your team.
The big o would go by the big dipper, time and time again, track star or not, he never had to guard anyone off the dribble and he wont start now…
jason kidd..hmmmm, i was close to putting him on my team, but nahhh!!…he cant shoot which kills everything!! ,his size is good and he sure can run a offense , but his size wont help him guard magic and his offense will not help your team fend off all of magic’s points.
I agree moses cant guard shaq, but thats all you have…
he has jordan vs your baylor, advantage dannie
his magic vs your kidd.. advantage dannie
his big o vs your wilt…Advantage dannie
you would win with jabber vs russell and shaq,but not enough to compensate the points raining down on you by jordan , magic and roberston
My team would put the wooping on your team too!!
payton vs kidd… kidd cant score , payton can put up 20+, kidd plays ok defense , payton plays the best defense at pg, kidd runs an offense way better then payton buttt, i say advantage payton
kobe vs baylor… baylor had a nice turn around and is a flyer,but never had someone who can play defense like kobe stick him,or did he ever have to guard someone more athletic then him no need to explain any further
, advantage me
james vs wilt… see above with the big o vs wilt.. advantage me
duncan vs jabber… i’ll give u this one,even though duncan would go by a young jabber almost at will, it’ll be a classic battle , and jabbber usually wins those
shaq vs shaq.. even
the point advantage payton , james and kobe put up alone will leave your team in the dust, plus i can plug in my holes at pf with mutombo or rodman , or improve my offense with stockton..
your bench has alot of stars ,but no complimentary players, like a t. prince, a rodman, bowen, or mutombo…and remember most of the above named players are defensive stoppers!..they didnt just play defense,they played it the best at their respected positions, who on your bench or line up,plays above average defense, nooooooo oneeeeee!!!!…mmm do i see a weakness??…sure do!
and who do you have to guard iverson?..stockton?..kidd??..nope!…how about nowinski???…if i plug him in at sf,it’ll be all over,he’ll keep wilt out of the paint,or kill him with threes all day,can you imagine wilt guarding someone outside the three point line??..yeah me neither…advantage nowinski with more then a half dozen threes!
You had the right idea miguel by going right at dannie with something different , but it left you wide open ,plus no one on your team plays good defense, and against a team of jordan , magic, the big o, etc, you need great defense,and you definitly dont have that , my team on the other hand has the best stoppers in history on the bench and enough scores(payton, kobe, james)to compensate his big three of magic ,m.j and the big o , plus i also have the shaq adavantage , nice try, but you blew it with the big dipper at sf, i dont know, but to me,he doesent seem like the type to go out of his way to play defense and thats what he’ll have to do against faster quicker opponents.
Dannie!!!…my team is still waiting on ya!! and will beat your team in 7!!!, by the way miguel, verses your team, my team in 5!
PG – Jason Kidd > Gary Payton. Jason Kidd has as many rebounds as Payton has assists. He also has more assists than Payton has assists. Payton is the superior defender, but not by much. Kidd has made 9 consecutive all-Defensive teams, and he has the same size as Payton.
SG – Elgin Baylor > Kobe. Ugh. Kobe is overrated. He was never as dominant as Baylor in his prime. Baylor was considered the ultimate high flyer in his day, kind of like Julius Erving before Julius Erving was born. I doubt Kobe was more athletic than Elgin.
SF – Wilt > LeBron. Actually, you have point on this one. I put Wilt at small forward because I couldn’t leave arguably the greatest player ever off my team, and I think he could transition better to SF than Jabbar or Shaq. LeBron will have a quickness advantage, and Wilt would have trouble guarding him on the perimeter. However, I can live with that since, as you pointed out, LeBron isn’t much of an outside shooter, and Wilt makes up for the quickness deficiency with his size advantage. How is LeBron going to defend Wilt? Wilt was famous for backing smaller guys down in the post and then hitting a little fade away from 5 to 10 feet. I don’t know why a 7’1”, 280 pound giant relied on fade aways, but he did, and he was probably the greatest scorer ever (him and Jordan).
PF – Kareem > Duncan. You’re right. Jabbar would win this.
C – Shaq = Shaq. I think we can agree on this one.
Both Stockton and Kidd could effectively guard Iverson. I already pointed out that Kidd is a great defender, and Stockton was named to 5 all-Defensive 2nd teams and averaged over 2 steals for his career, leading the league twice in that category. Iverson is overrated anyways. He’s a 6-foot shooting guard who isn’t a good shooter. He has a lifetime FG% of .426 and a 3-pt% of .314. That is awful. By comparison, Stockton has a lifetime FG% of .515 and a 3-pt% of .384. When talking about Iverson, people always focus on the games when he scores 50 or when he does a sick crossover. Everyone ignores the games when he jacks up 35 shots and misses 20 of them. I have nothing against Iverson personally, and I think he’s a good player and a leader. He’s not a great player though. Notice how Philadelphia improved this season without Iverson.
You asked me who on my bench plays above average defense. Robinson has made 8 all-Defensive teams (4 1st teams) and was named Defensive Player of the Year in 1992. Duncan…do I have explain why I consider him a great defender? I don’t have to explain Kobe either. You already said he was good enough on defense to shut down Baylor. All-Defensive teams were introduced in 1969. Jerry West was named to the first 5 all-Defensive teams (4 1st teams). Contemporaries obviously considered him a great defender, although defensive stats were not kept during his time.
Neither T-Mac nor LeBron are considered great defenders, but they’re not bad. Both of them have the size and athleticism to be very good defenders if they focused just on that aspect of their games. I don’t have them on my team for their defense anyway. Everyone on my team but those two, who aren’t bad defenders by any stretch of imagination, are great defenders. I won’t have a problem on that end. My team’s probably the best, although we’ll never know.
You didnt clear up anything there , except saying stockton and robinson had a few defensive awards. Wilt is a liability at small forward , point blank , ask anyone that knows anything about basketball. if that was the case everyteam would put the biggest guys on the court and kill the small guys,it doesent work like that , the game is all about skill. Does wilt have skill ? sure he does…skill enough to guard 6′8 forwards with explosive first steps??..no way!, lebron can be an inconsistent shooter his whole career, but when you are being guarded by an akward 7ft center , playing out of position, you can get wide open shots from 12ft out, 13ft out, 15 ft out,etc..and trust me he can hit those all night! and dont even mention nowinski, he would murder wilt…to make a long story short, you’ll be forced to bench him.
Now saying kidd would outrebound payton, i wont argue that, saying he has more assists then payton , i wont argue that either, but what are we talking about?.. 7rebounds to 5rebounds?… 10 assists to 8 assists?..what about points miguel??..did you overlook that veryyy important stat?..payton scorers 20+ and kidd barely goes over 13 a game , thats a huge differnce, add that with the fact , that he is wayyyyyyy better at defense then kidd, and no its not close and i will explain why,then payton gets the edge.
Payton is a on the dribble defender, that can stick the fastest of the fastest, and the best of the best , thats why he is the glove, he can stick shooters by the 3pt line and not let them get their shot off, just like he can stick jordan and not let him penetrate… no sorry! kidd can not stick iverson, never could, and never will,and stockton??..hahaha!..listen,just because he has his hand in the passing lanes , and gets steals doesent make him a stopper by any means, he is an opportunist thats all, can he stop anyone?..no, does he stay in front of you,most times and thats it….
Let me ask you this,would you ever consider putting kidd on jordan and feel good about it?..no!!!..why? because he doesent take anything away,not the post,not the drive,not the shot.
is he fast enough to stay with jordan,negative! he gets taken to the rack constantly…does he have size,sure…does he make it difficult to post? yeah, but thats it
Everyteam needs a on the ball defender, to stick the fastest perimeter players of another team ,Dannie has jordan , I have payton and kobe. Kidd sorry isint that type of guy.
Robinson is a huge fly swatter, can he do anything against shaq??..ofcourse not, is he a feared shot blocker,i’ll give u that,but he never gave any of the great ones any trouble.. never gave hakeem trouble, shaq trouble, or even ewing.
Now you say you have stockton and kobe and robinson on the bench and they are your defensive guys, but they dont get starter minutes, meaning they’ll play but 20minutes max, meaning i’ll be too far ahead by the time they get in. Why will i be ahead?…Becauseeeeee!
Kidd’s points < paytons points.. this is a no brainer.
Baylor’s points < kobe’s points..Closest thing to jordan,even you said it,so enough said,no matter how good baylor looked, he’s no jordan.
Wilt’s points duncan’s points.. we discussed this
Shaq verses Shaq would be a draw
Now the only clear advantage you have is jabbar. is that enough to win, hell no!!…but lets just say,wilt had an advantage in points,would you have a chance??..hell no again..why? because my perimeter players are always touching the ball and all three of them are creators , meaning they can create their own shot, while your guys would have to get position first and then proceed with their post moves, which also takes time, in other words they depend on the guards to feed him the ball, my perimeter players dont have to wait on no one,theres no,i’ll post here and you post there,or its my turn to post, three second violations,its just dribble in and do my thing.. in other words, the permemter players always have control of the ball and have the ball in their hands, while the centers on your team need to be fed, who on your team out of the perimeter players that you have passes the ball?…wilt?..hell no!… baylor?? doubt it,maybe thats why he never won anything… kidd!..thats it.
Ask people about that line up and they will tell you, that it would leave you at a huge disadvantge especially against the quicker,faster players of today. Then ask them if Kobe would score more then baylor..by the way, baylor was more of a small forward/off guard then a shooting guard,which even makes it easier for kobe,because he’ll blow right by him,well anyway,you’ll get the picture…
like i said my team in 5!…Dannie we need your input!
I’ll try to address each of your points:
“You didnt clear up anything there, except saying stockton and robinson had a few defensive awards.”
You asked me earlier who on my bench played above average defense. I pointed out that Kobe Bryant, Jerry West, John Stockton, David Robinson, and Tim Duncan are great defenders. The other two bench players – McGrady and LeBron – are also above average defenders. I win this point.
“lebron can be an inconsistent shooter his whole career, but when you are being guarded by an akward 7ft center , playing out of position, you can get wide open shots from 12ft out, 13ft out, 15 ft out,etc..and trust me he can hit those all night! and dont even mention nowinski, he would murder wilt…to make a long story short, you’ll be forced to bench him.”
Why do you think LeBron would get wide open shots from 12 to 15 feet? If anything, Wilt would shut down those types of opportunities more any other shot. It’s true that LeBron could drive past Wilt at times, but he would only be confronted by one of the greatest defensive centers of all time in Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Shaq is a pretty good defender as well when he’s motivated, and he will be motivated to prove himself worthy of being on the all-time team. LeBron struggled big time against Boston’s great defense, and Wilt, Shaq and Kareem are great defenders. LeBron won’t be getting to the hoop against this team. I win again.
“what about points miguel??..did you overlook that veryyy important stat?..payton scorers 20+ and kidd barely goes over 13 a game , thats a huge differnce, add that with the fact , that he is wayyyyyyy better at defense then kidd, and no its not close and i will explain why,then payton gets the edge.”
Look at the starters on my team. All of them have averaged over 25 points several times. They are the greatest scorers ever. Jason Kidd is one of the greatest passing point guards ever. Kidd is perfect for this team. I have no clue why you think Payton is a much better defender than Kidd. Both of them were considered the best defensive PGs in the league during their respective primes. Are you related to Gary Payton?
I don’t think Kidd can effectively guard Michael Jordan. I don’t think Gary Payton can guard Michael Jordan. Jordan is going to get his. If it makes you feel any better, I would have Elgin Baylor, my shooting guard, defend Michael Jordan. Baylor has awesome size and athleticism and should do a relatively good job on Jordan. Jordan will still score, but Baylor would make it hard on him. That’s all you can really ask for when defending Jordan.
“who on your team out of the perimeter players that you have passes the ball?…wilt?..hell no!… baylor?? doubt it,maybe thats why he never won anything… kidd!..thats it.”
Not trying to be rude, but this is the dumbest statement you made out of many dumb statements. Wilt led the league in assists and finished in the top 5 in assists 4 times. Wilt passes as well, if not better, than LeBron. He passes better than Kobe. Kidd sees the floor and delivers better than Payton. My team is better at passing than your team.
“baylor was more of a small forward/off guard then a shooting guard,which even makes it easier for kobe,because he’ll blow right by him,well anyway,you’ll get the picture…”
Well I guess you have a point here. Paul Pierce is more of a small forward/off guard, and Kobe blew right by him all the time in the NBA Finals…oh, wait. I forgot that Pierce basically shut down Kobe.
I don’t know why you think your team is so good My team is better at every position. Iverson is the most overrated player in the NBA.
Ok miguel, i finally figured you out!….you havent played much bball in your life have you??
…and when i mean bball, i mean basketball of course…why do i make such a statement??..because it seems that all you look at are stats,i guess from a basketball almanac,cnnsi, espn.com, who knows , but if you are a real bballer , 90% of what you said ,makes little sense!!…
by the way you ever saw that espn commercial , when the guy was talking out of his butt??…you remind me of him..lol
Ok point number one… Kidd and stockton getting awards doesent make them great defenders , it just makes them the tallest midget , especially when you are saying 2nd and 3rd team all defensive teams
Kidd plays good defense , how do i know??. because ive seen him in several games, playoff games, home games, road games , i dont go by what some guy on cnnsi might say about him,or go to the almanac and check his stats to tell me if he is average or above average, etc…if you know anything about basketball, you can tell by watching a guy , does he have quick feet?..does he move laterally??..does he get back, or back peddle fast enough??..does he hand check??..if he is shutdown caliber or just a stingy defender , kidd was a stingy defender!..he stays in front of the guy, he plays physical and he steals a pass here and there ,he doesent have fast enough feet or move laterally quick enough to get in the guy’s face all nightlong , especially small fast guards,and he isint in the guys front pocket like say…payton is.
By the way he never !!!!! everrrrr!! scored more then 25 in any year ,so throw that out the window!!!( by the way your almanac could have told you that).
Listen he won first team defense in the east , what 5 times straight or something, do me a favor,think real hard, keep thinking , ok…who in the east , in the past 8 years or so, at point is a good to great defender?????..steve kerr?..nope..billups??..nope..tinsley?..nope..greg anthony??..nope…EXACTLY!…so like i said,he just wins the tallest midget contest, in other words, he got it, because the rest of the field stinked!…
ohh and then theres stockton , one of the dirtyest players in the game, you can see it, in every game he plays , no the almanac wont tell you this.. he holds on to guys shorts, he pushes off, he uses his off hand at times ,he flops, he goes thru picks to get calls , etc etc, he knows all the tricks..dont get me wrong , its smart, real smart, especially when you are playing against more athletic players , but does it make you a great defender..mmm no sorry… he does have quick hands , and he does read passing lanes , but when he got all those awards , its just like kidd, everyone just stinked at defense at his position.
David Robinson is a great defender that is a definite yes, but if you ever saw him play, especially against the great ones , he falters, especially against physical guys..shaq would eat him alive , like he always did!
Jerry west?..great defender??…he might be back in 1967 , against 1967 players, which were all skinny bean poles and non athletic as hell , sure…can he guard anyone on my team???..hell no!..just like elgin baylor cant guard anyone these days and why wilt can maybe stick small forwards or even guards in his day,but in todays game..not a chance!!..back in those days every team might have had one guy or maybe two that can actually dunk , that might be an irrelavant statement to a person that doesent play basketball, but if you played organized ball , one game with non dunkers and one game with dunkers,is a huge difference…i’m not going to get into,the whole players nowadays are better then players back then,etc etc crap,because we’ll be here all day,but times were different.
So no sorry west can not guard lebron james , no matter if he averaged 15 blocks in prep school basketball like your almanac says , he is not as fast, as strong,or as tall…done deal!
Ok here is another, if you ever played basketball question… If you are wayy faster and wayy quicker then the person guarding you , can you pick your spots and practically have him at your mercy??….meaning if i broke your ankles taking you to the rack more then once, wouldnt you be reluctant to stick me close,since i blew by you??..ofcourse you would be , damn one step back,i still blew by you,two steps away , i still blew by you, three maybe…ug oh! i poped a jumper on you from the outside,get a step closer cumon you know you want to , ohhh hit you with the crossover created space!..let me say it again, created space and poped it on you again…oh whats that, a hesitation dribble,oh no am i goin to take it in, am i going to take it right,left,all you can do is back peddle,then when i created space, bam! i poped a j on you again and looky its 13ft out.. and that concludes the lesson for today kids, any questions??..now thats how lebron can pop j’s from almost any distance on a akward center , sure wilt will get a block here and there , but he wont be able to stay with him, and forget that weakside help thing, james has better vision then point guards, if anyone did come to help out while he was taking it in, it’ll be an automatic layup for the next guy, especially now that he actually has some one with skill to pass it to, a guy with his vision taking it in, is a catch 22, you either dont help and let james get a basket or you go help and risk being on a poster!..point blank!!!..and that statement about wilt passing better then lebron..wow!!!!..hold on hold on!
Another if you ever played basketball, you’d know this question!!!!….now you saying wilt passes the ball better then lebron, now thats totally almanac talk, because i know you never ever saw a wilt game in your life , but yet quick to dismiss the king, incredible!..if you know basketball, you would know what typeof court vision some players have, like “wow,he threaed the needle”, (that means he passed the ball in a very tight spot) , or “how did he see the trailor from that angle!” (trailor means , a teammate that is trailing the play) , or “how did he anticipate that he’d be open at that time!”, those are all statements that i myself have said , seeing lebron play, he has the court vision of a elite point guard, he’s no nash,but very very close!…
wilt???..cumon!,the guy is a notoriously selfish player, he might have had a year or two where he paded up his stats on assists just to make himself look better,does that mean he’s a great passer,no!…how easy is it to pass the ball when you are the only seven footer and all five defenders run at you when you get the ball???…veryyy easy!!….miguel dont be fooled by stats,they dont tell the whole story,if they did, the suns would win it every year and the patriots would be world champions.
Now the iverson point!!….i see miguel that not only dont you play basketball, you are also a bigtime hater!, you dislike payton, you dislike kobe and you dislike iverson and the list probably goes on and on. anyways iverson is on my team because he is thebest penetrating guard of alltime even better then isiah, he is listed at 6′1,but he’s closer to 5′10 and he takes it in relentlessly over and over and right at the tallest guys and tell me how many times have you seen his shot blocked a game?? maybe one..cumon for a guy that is 5′10 and that takes it in the paint 20 times a game,its unheard of!!
the guy is incredible, ofcourse he chucks 35 shots a game, he has to,no one else on his team is worth passing the ball to , his shot is sometimes off and he isint much of a three point shooter,but he really cant be stoped, did you ever see what he did to jordan??..one of the best defenders of our time??..if he does that to him,he can do that to anybody, only knock on him is that he is selfish and he does force alot of shots,but he is a great scorer , one of the best of alltime when its said and done and he is arguerbly one of the hardest guys to guard of alltime, if you dont want a guy like that on your team then you dont know basketball…oops! you dont do you???
Now this concludes todays lesson, any questions?? didnt think so…later hater!!
andddd…oh yeah , i forgot, my team in 5!! still!!!
Dude, I won. Accept it and move on.
YAWNNN!!…i was hoping for a intelligent comeback, but i guess i was asking for too much. we’ll just leave the arguement for the next guy,hope there is a next guy….and dannie,do you ever check your columns??
Fredda - I have three blogs. My main blog is http://www.reclinergm.com which is focused on Philly Sports. And I am sure you know we just got Elton Brand and have been in the midst of free agency so all my time has been allocated there.
You seem pretty set in your ways and we may just have to agree to disagree. My team clearly has an advantage with MJ and Magic depending on how you match up.
I put Moses on Duncan and Russell on Shaq (Bill is used to guarding Wilt so Shaq fits in that bigger center he had to deal with mode).
Kobe guards Jordon I assume - I win.
Payton guards the Big O - I win.
I will be matching up Magic on Lebron so the size factor doesn’t come into play. Magic in his prime was a good defender and very agile. Fact of the matter these are the greatest players of all time so no one is shutting anyone down.
Russell on Shaq will make him work his ass off.
Moses and Duncan will be a wash for me with Moses dominating the boards because, well that’s what he does.
Dirk vs. Bird - really do we even need to discuss that?
The dream vs. Mutombo - come on, no chance there. Hakeem’s agility will cause tons of problems for Mutombo in both face up and pick and role situations.
Who guards KG? Rodman is too short.
Your role players I like but your overall bench lacks a lot of scoring. So I think the game would be determined by who coaches and takes advantage of mismatches the best. If you make the mistake of having too many non scorers in the game you run the risk of a drought and I don’t think your defense will be able to hold my team for any length of time.
Fredda - good stuff. Sorry for not getting around to responding but I am fired up about the Sixers right now and the conversation over on http://www.reclinergm.com is ridiculous you should check it out.
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