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I keep hearing MJ would average 40 ppg today, but how come he didn't average 40 against this type of defense?

Demar by far.

I just want to point out that taking a random game from a previous era to showcase how bad the defense was is silly. Like, I could post Embiid dropping 70 on the putrid Spurs defense and use it as an argument for why defense today sucks. It obviously would not be true but that's my point, one team playing trash defense in a random game isn't really an indicator of anything

The people that claim Jordan could average 40 today are probably not far off either. With his style of play he would absolutely live at the FT line in the freedom of movement era. Not to mention the fact that he can now take an extra step to "gather"

You’ve got a Neanderthal man’s Jordan like SGA averaging 30+ the last two years against this modern defense. Jordan would average 40 in his sleep.

Did you all get that agenda alert on your phone too?

The average professional athlete today is better than they were 30 years ago. This isn't a controversial sentiment in any other sport but among some basketball fans.

This doesn't mean that past stars weren't great and wouldn't be today but most NBA players past and present are not stars.

Worse athlete has to make tougher shots to score 50 than better athlete? There's a good case to discuss the quality and differences in defense from era to era. And the 90's defenses are overrated. But this isn't how to do it.

Bornstellar wrote:The people that claim Jordan could average 40 today are probably not far off either. With his style of play he would absolutely live at the FT line in the freedom of movement era.

Jordan absolutely lived at the FT line in his own era.

What is this nonsense about Jordan not getting calls?

EmpireFalls wrote:

Bornstellar wrote:The people that claim Jordan could average 40 today are probably not far off either. With his style of play he would absolutely live at the FT line in the freedom of movement era.

Jordan absolutely lived at the FT line in his own era.

What is this nonsense about Jordan not getting calls?

Exactly. When did I say he didn't calls? He already shot a lot of FTs and would shoot even more in this era, that's what I meant

He definitely got a ton of FTs early in his career but that tapered off a bit at the start of the 90s. As far as I can tell he was never higher than 4th in the league in FTA per game after 1989

Man, MJ would be a total scrub in this era of "advanced defense".

Imagine what he would do in a game like this one for example (you know, since we're picking "random" games). He'd be played off the floor!

https://www.espn.com/nba/game/_/gameId/401585262/mavericks-hawks

Seeing a 90s Warriors team being called a "tough defense" must be some kind of joke,

Yep, comparing a game were MJ plays against the living legend Jeff Grayer on a Warriors team coached by Don Nelson against a game from Derozan vs a Clippers team loaded with good defenders really makes a lot of sense.

Let me know what you think of this type of defense.

Derozan objectively

Mj played in an era where Mailmen and Navy Admirals and worms were getting All-Star nods.
Of course it is Derozan!

Bornstellar wrote:

EmpireFalls wrote:

Bornstellar wrote:The people that claim Jordan could average 40 today are probably not far off either. With his style of play he would absolutely live at the FT line in the freedom of movement era.

Jordan absolutely lived at the FT line in his own era.

What is this nonsense about Jordan not getting calls?

Exactly. When did I say he didn't calls? He already shot a lot of FTs and would shoot even more in this era, that's what I meant

He definitely got a ton of FTs early in his career but that tapered off a bit at the start of the 90s. As far as I can tell he was never higher than 4th in the league in FTA per game after 1989

Later in his career he was taking fade away jumpers...I'd hope he wasn't racking up free throws.

GSWFan1994 wrote:Seeing a 90s Warriors team being called a "tough defense" must be some kind of joke,

But weren't all the 90's just nothing but guys right off the mean streets who could build a car, pull oil from the earth, do your taxes, squat 1,000, and would walk their cars back to their homes on their back if they ran out of gas?

But yeah, nobody has ever called those guys tough defenders lol.

bkkrh wrote:Yep, comparing a game were MJ plays against the living legend Jeff Grayer on a Warriors team coached by Don Nelson against a game from Derozan vs a Clippers team loaded with good defenders really makes a lot of sense.

Let me know what you think of this type of defense.

Watch on YouTube

The most painful of this is you have a guy standing WIDE open at the 3 point line and MJ doesn't even appear to think about passing it to him. Like...yeah, this is TERRIBLE defense...if shooting is a thing.

dhsilv2 wrote:

GSWFan1994 wrote:Seeing a 90s Warriors team being called a "tough defense" must be some kind of joke,

But weren't all the 90's just nothing but guys right off the mean streets who could build a car, pull oil from the earth, do your taxes, squat 1,000, and would walk their cars back to their homes on their back if they ran out of gas?

But yeah, nobody has ever called those guys tough defenders lol.

Kinda like every player in the league today is an offensive AND defensive savant

Quattro wrote:

dhsilv2 wrote:

GSWFan1994 wrote:Seeing a 90s Warriors team being called a "tough defense" must be some kind of joke,

But weren't all the 90's just nothing but guys right off the mean streets who could build a car, pull oil from the earth, do your taxes, squat 1,000, and would walk their cars back to their homes on their back if they ran out of gas?

But yeah, nobody has ever called those guys tough defenders lol.

Kinda like every player in the league today is an offensive AND defensive savant

I missed that...I think every TEAM vs the 90s could be argued for that...not sure it's true. Detroit lol.

Hair Jordan wrote:You’ve got a Neanderthal man’s Jordan like SGA averaging 30+ the last two years against this modern defense. Jordan would average 40 in his sleep.

This.

We know Jordan’s athleticism and skill set are more superior to plenty of guys today who’ve had no issues pouring in buckets.

It’s a valiant effort but just looks ridiculous to try approaching it from this angle.

40 a game, easy.