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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 1238861, member: 289"] Here's a question: factoring in style of play, guys who used to stay for 4 years, the growth over taime of players and the coahcing of the game, modern training methods and anything else that seems relevant, how far back can you go in searching for teams that woudl beat Kentucky or teams that you'd consider "greatest ever"? Jim Boeheim tlaks about the Indian teams of the mid 70's that lost one game in two years, (when Scott May was out with a broken arm and thyey lost by 2 to the Kentucky team that beat SU in their next game). He recalls one game vs., a good Virginia Tech team where Indian had 20 ppints beofre Tech could even get off a shot. (And to think that that team could have had Larry Bird on on it if he didn't get homesick for French Lick). i recall the '67-68 UCLA team that lost by two to Houston and Elvin Hayes when Lew Alcindor, (Kareem Abdul- Jabbar before his conversion), had a scratched eye, then played the Cougars again when they were 31-0 and ranked #1 in the national semi-finals and crushed them 101-69. At one point they had a 78-34 lead in that game. I remember thinking that there never has been or ever will be a better team than that UCLA team. That UCLA team had a 7-1 center and forwards who were 6-8 and 6-7, so they had decent size. Their backcourt was small by modern standards, 5-11, 6-2. But they would have looked scrawny next to modern players. Indian's front line in 74-76 was 6-7, 6-11, 6-7 and probably physically stronger than the UCLA guys but not this year's Kentucky team. The Hoosiers had a big backcourt at 6-3, 6-7. Yet I'd favor the SU teams of the late 80's onver the SU teams of the early 2010's, even though both had great runs and a generation ahd passed. We've had no one I'd compare to Coleman or Ownes or even Washington or Douglas. And Seikaly is better than any center we've had in this era. So how far back can you reasonably go, looking for the best team ever? When do you stop comparing players and just compare accomplishments? [/QUOTE]

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