Style of play in NBA Finals

[cuseincincy]

I'd need Kawhi on my roster. He's just too good. Really, I need all 3 (Lebron, Kawhi, and Durant). I'd dump Klay, and probably swap out Cousins for Davis.

This is what makes the comparisons of different eras so tough. Your playing 1 G lineup and still would get pounded on the glass against that team. To compete you might need to go Cousins, Davis, James, Durant and Westbrook. The other interesting mismatch is Bird v. Lebron. I've got to think Larry Legend would find a way to score, Lebron wouldn't have to look, he could just do what he wanted against Bird.

 

[jordoo]

I'd need Kawhi on my roster. He's just too good. Really, I need all 3 (Lebron, Kawhi, and Durant). I'd dump Klay, and probably swap out Cousins for Davis.

So you are going to take the 3 best two way forwards in the association, grab the best young big guy and run Curry at the point. I like it!

 

[jordoo]

This is what makes the comparisons of different eras so tough. Your playing 1 G lineup and still would get pounded on the glass against.

I don't know how true that is. You have 4 highly maneuverable guys all 6-8 or bigger with length and elite athleticism. The team would be a quick strike quick shot offense so not as much to run up and down the court and set up block outs for rebounds. Watch how often teams are out of position to rebound against the Warriors. I'm not saying they would dominate on the glass but I don't think they would get dominated on the glass either.

 

[Alsacs]

I'd need Kawhi on my roster. He's just too good. Really, I need all 3 (Lebron, Kawhi, and Durant). I'd dump Klay, and probably swap out Cousins for Davis.

Remember Michael Jordan 1988 was allowed to be hand checked by defenses.
Today's players can't be hand checked if you unleashed 1988 Michael Jordan into today's NBA he's probably averaging close to 40 game and he had 35 per game that year.

Kwahi and LeBron would have to guard Jordan.

Magic vs. Curry would be a mismatch.

Durant would expose Bird on the other end.

I would also like to see today superstars play one game against the bad boy pistons with their tactics they used.

 

[jordoo]

Remember Michael Jordan 1988 was allowed to be hand checked by defenses.
Today's players can't be hand checked if you unleashed 1988 Michael Jordan into today's NBA he's probably averaging close to 40 game and he had 35 that year.

Kwahi and LeBron would have to guard Jordan.

Magic vs. Curry would be a mismatch.

Durant would expose Bird on the other end.

Jordan would be a huge issue with today's rules!

 

[Eric15]

Remember Michael Jordan 1988 was allowed to be hand checked by defenses.
Today's players can't be hand checked if you unleashed 1988 Michael Jordan into today's NBA he's probably averaging close to 40 game and he had 35 that year.

Kwahi and LeBron would have to guard Jordan.

Magic vs. Curry would be a mismatch.

Durant would expose Bird on the other end.

MJ would get his points, but he's never had to deal with a 6'8", 250 lb superhuman guarding him who is just as quick as he is. Lebron isn't Joe Dumars.

I think Magic and Curry would be a mismatch for both players actually.

 

[Alsacs]

MJ would get his points, but he's never had to deal with a 6'8", 250 lb superhuman guarding him who is just as quick as he is. Lebron isn't Joe Dumars.

I think Magic and Curry would be a mismatch for both players actually.

If they played LeBron on Jordan he can't handcheck Jordan good luck.

Durant has been lighting up LeBron.

LeBron is good defensive player he isn't Kwahi.

LeBron is a great help defender with his block ability.
Man to man he isn't great.

Also Sam Smith's book Jordan Rules talks about how Jordan would light Scottie Pippen in practice and Phil Jackson had to get Jordan to back off so not to kill Pippen's confidence for the playoffs. Pippen is a better defender than LeBron.

 

[NYCorange]

Jordan would be a huge issue with today's rules!

Jordan would be a huge issue by any rules. But the today's rules cut both ways. Defense does have to be "cleaner", but it's also a lot more sophisticated and keeps a single driving player from beating you because you're allowed to double, rotate and play sudo-zones unlike in Jordan's era. Jordan never had to deal with the Tom Thibodeau style defenses that have made life difficult for teams without an abundance of 3 pt shooters.

 

[NYCorange]

Jordan would be a huge issue by any rules. But the today's rules cut both ways. Defense does have to be "cleaner", but it's also a lot more sophisticated and keeps a single driving player from beating you because you're allowed to double, rotate and play sudo-zones unlike in Jordan's era. Jordan never had to deal with the Tom Thibodeau style defenses that have made life difficult for teams without an abundance of 3 pt shooters.

Adding on to my above point, it wasn't long ago that everyone was bemoaning that defenses had just gotten too good and sophisticated because of the removal of the anti-zone rules. Point totals were dropping significantly and were WAY off from the 90's. What we're seeing now is the offensive adaptation, started by D'antoni, continued by Lebron's heat, and perfected by this Warrior team.

 

[cuseincincy]

Remember Michael Jordan 1988 was allowed to be hand checked by defenses.
Today's players can't be hand checked if you unleashed 1988 Michael Jordan into today's NBA he's probably averaging close to 40 game and he had 35 per game that year.

Kwahi and LeBron would have to guard Jordan.

Magic vs. Curry would be a mismatch.

Durant would expose Bird on the other end.

I would also like to see today superstars play one game against the bad boy pistons with their tactics they used.

You would see a lot of this:

 

[Knicks411]

This is what makes the comparisons of different eras so tough. Your playing 1 G lineup and still would get pounded on the glass against that team. To compete you might need to go Cousins, Davis, James, Durant and Westbrook. The other interesting mismatch is Bird v. Lebron. I've got to think Larry Legend would find a way to score, Lebron wouldn't have to look, he could just do what he wanted against Bird.

It's definitely a weird match up, but when in doubt, I'm going to take my best guys and make the other team match up with them.

Steph on Magic is obviously an issue, Magic is probably going to go on the block a lot, you can run some doubles against that and hope they don't have enough shooting to make you pay. I rotate Lebron/Kawhi on MJ, I think Durant is probably a little too big to put on him. I would think whoever is coaching the 87 team (Riley, right?) may stick MJ on Steph to save Magics legs, but then you have Magic/McHale/Bird trying to guard Lebron/Durant/Kawhi. I like my chances there

 

[Alsacs]

Adding on to my above point, it wasn't long ago that everyone was bemoaning that defenses had just gotten too good and sophisticated because of the removal of the anti-zone rules. Point totals were dropping significantly and were WAY off from the 90's. What we're seeing now is the offensive adaptation, started by D'antoni, continued by Lebron's heat, and perfected by this Warrior team.

The NBA made it harder to play defense because scoring was going down. Now talent today is the golden age of basketball as there's a lot more talent overall.
I just don't think defenses today are as difficult as the ones Jordan went against.
Again let 1988 Michael Jordan play without defenses being able to hand check them or give them hard fouls and see how many points he score per game. He drove the basket like crazy and he would be averaging 10+ FTA per game today.

 

[Alsacs]

It's definitely a weird match up, but when in doubt, I'm going to take my best guys and make the other team match up with them.

Steph on Magic is obviously an issue, Magic is probably going to go on the block a lot, you can run some doubles against that and hope they don't have enough shooting to make you pay. I rotate Lebron/Kawhi on MJ, I think Durant is probably a little too big to put on him. I would think whoever is coaching the 87 team (Riley, right?) may stick MJ on Steph to save Magics legs, but then you have Magic/McHale/Bird trying to guard Lebron/Durant/Kawhi. I like my chances there

I think Jordan guards the best player. He always took the best guard defensively in his prime.

Also Hakeem being the back line is being ignored. He is the best defensive center of alltime IMO(David Robinson 2nd).

He would take whosever the modern big to school down low. If LeBron was a big problem the 80s team could throw Hakeem on him and put Magic on Anthony Davis.

Magic wasn't a great defender but he could guard any position due to his height.

 

[Knicks411]

The NBA made it harder to play defense because scoring was going down. Now talent today is the golden age of basketball as there's a lot more talent overall.
I just don't think defenses today are as difficult as the ones Jordan went against.
Again let 1988 Michael Jordan play without defenses being able to hand check them or give them hard fouls and see how many points he score per game. He drove the basket like crazy and he would be averaging 10+ FTA per game today.

I think defenses are definitely more sophisticated now. There is so much more information out there. Jordan would obviously be a terror in any environment though.

 

[NYCorange]

The NBA made it harder to play defense because scoring was going down. Now talent today is the golden age of basketball as there's a lot more talent overall.
I just don't think defenses today are as difficult as the ones Jordan went against.
Again let 1988 Michael Jordan play without defenses being able to hand check them or give them hard fouls and see how many points he score per game. He drove the basket like crazy and he would be averaging 10+ FTA per game today.

That may be true, but he'd have to play with very different teammates, otherwise they'd just overload the strongside and help off of all the non-shooters that the Bulls had. It's why Tony Allen is borderline unplayable in the playoffs, same with any guard or small-forward who can't shoot 33% from 3.

 

[Knicks411]

I think Jordan guards the best player. He always took the best guard defensively in his prime.

Also Hakeem being the back line is being ignored. He is the best defensive center of alltime IMO(David Robinson 2nd).

He would take whosever the modern big to school down low. If LeBron was a big problem the 80s team could throw Hakeem on him and put Magic on Anthony Davis.

Magic wasn't a great defender but he could guard any position due to his height.

Hakeem was awesome, but I think he would struggle to check Lebron.

Look, both teams would have their strengths. We're talking about ten of the 20 or 25 best players ever here maybe? (McHale and Steph maybe are outside that group. I think when all is said and done Kawhi and Durant will be considered legendary, top 15 type guys. Lebron is obviously already there).

 

[Melancer46]

Hakeem was awesome, but I think he would struggle to check Lebron.

Look, both teams would have their strengths. We're talking about ten of the 20 or 25 best players ever here maybe? (McHale and Steph maybe are outside that group. I think when all is said and done Kawhi and Durant will be considered legendary, top 15 type guys. Lebron is obviously already there).

I think Steph is pretty much a lock to be top 25 by the time he retires too.

 

[jordoo]

I think Steph is pretty much a lock to be top 25 by the time he retires too.

One thing shooting is that it translates to all eras of basketball.

 

[Knicks411]

I think Steph is pretty much a lock to be top 25 by the time he retires too.

I think so too, but I didn't want to push it too much, so to speak. Only 13 guys have won more than 1 MVP. Of those, setting Steph aside, the only 2 I wouldn't consider in this group are Nash and Bob Pettit, and Pettit is more because he played so long ago.

It's insane Shaq has just 1 MVP.

 

[OrangeDW]

That is true. I'm not saying he wasn't near the top of the league in makes. I'm just stating that he did not make them at a very high clip (save the year he hit 38%). You said he was taking and making a lot of them. In that era, yes, he was taking a lot of them. But when you're hitting just over 30%, you're not going to make defenders change the way they play you.

Guys like Curry & Thompson are not only making them at high rates, they are hitting extremely difficult shots. And because of that, defenders have to be attached to them at all times, which creates more open space and allows their offense to flow more easily. Magic is an all-time great player & 1 of the best passers of all-time, but his 3 pt shooting (in his later years) was very average by today's standards.

My point was not that he was an amazing 3 point shooter, just that he was a guy that rarely shot them early in his career, and by the end he shot and made quite a few - in comparision to the league. If he played now, he'd probably shoot and make even more. Cooper is another guy who came in the league at a time the 3 was barely used and so he barely ever shot them. By the end of his career, the 3 was used more and he was a guy who suddenly shot and made a good amount. And he's a guy that if he played today he'd probably take 5-6 of them per game. And if JR Smith and Lebron came in the league in 1979, they would've been barely shooting any 3's...by 88,89, 90, they'd be shooting 2 or 3 per game. In today's game they shoot 4-5 in Bron's case, 6-7 in JR's case.

 

[Knicks411]

My point was not that he was an amazing 3 point shooter, just that he was a guy that rarely shot them early in his career, and by the end he shot and made quite a few - in comparision to the league. If he played now, he'd probably shoot and make even more. Cooper is another guy who came in the league at a time the 3 was barely used and so he barely ever shot them. By the end of his career, the 3 was used more and he was a guy who suddenly shot and made a good amount. And he's a guy that if he played today he'd probably take 5-6 of them per game. And if JR Smith and Lebron came in the league in 1979, they would've been barely shooting any 3's...by 88,89, 90, they'd be shooting 2 or 3 per game. In today's game they shoot 4-5 in Bron's case, 6-7 in JR's case.

My only disagreement is that JR smith would shoot too many 3's no matter what the circumstances are.

 

[OrangeDW]

MJ would get his points, but he's never had to deal with a 6'8", 250 lb superhuman guarding him who is just as quick as he is. Lebron isn't Joe Dumars.

I think Magic and Curry would be a mismatch for both players actually.

Thing is, Lebron isn't as quick as Jordan IMO. He might be just as fast, or faster. But I don't think he's as quick.

 

[Knicks411]

Thing is, Lebron isn't as quick as Jordan IMO. He might be just as fast, or faster. But I don't think he's as quick.

Especially if we're comparing 1987 MJ to 2017 Lebron

 

[skurey]

I strongly urge people to watch a game from the 80s and watch the so called great defense being played. I think nostalgia is a big factor here.

 

[Eric15]

I think nostalgia is a big factor here.

This is the single most accurate sentence of this thread.