Can this team win it all?

[SHAQ32]

(All players are in prime)

G Jason Kidd
G Penny Hardaway
F Tom Gugliotta
F Shawn Marion
C Clifford Robinson

Bench: C Luc Longley, F Rodney Rodgers, G Kevin Johnson

[Owly]

Obviously prime covers a lot of groundif defined loosely and it's the worst year of the prime that makes a difference, and people regard these questions differently (some people are doing time machine ... here they're all somewhat of a common era so thinking aroung then) but ...

Yes.
That team has six guys who made an all-star team. Plus two more players that are conservatively, acceptable starter/quality rotation pieces.
Robinson, Gugliotta were one-timers, more marginal.
But the guards, though not absolute top tier were really great.

The frontline has some athletic tweener forwards who can give you different looks and matchups.

Can a team with 8 quality rotation pieces, of which 6 made ASGs, 3 are superstars at peak and another is a top 100 guy doing off ball stuff (getting to play with ... some quality passers) win it all ... it can, that is possible.

[SHAQ32]

Obviously prime covers a lot of groundif defined loosely and it's the worst year of the prime that makes a difference, and people regard these questions differently (some people are doing time machine ... here they're all somewhat of a common era so thinking aroung then) but ...

Yes.
That team has six guys who made an all-star team. Plus two more players that are conservatively, acceptable starter/quality rotation pieces.
Robinson, Gugliotta were one-timers, more marginal.
But the guards, though not absolute top tier were really great.

The frontline has some athletic tweener forwards who can give you different looks and matchups.

Can a team with 8 quality rotation pieces, of which 6 made ASGs, 3 are superstars at peak and another is a top 100 guy doing off ball stuff (getting to play with ... some quality passers) win it all ... it can, that is possible.

Not sure if KJ quite fits the superstar bill, but he's close.

But yeah, let's do worst prime seasons. That might make it more interesting.

[SHAQ32]

Could that team beat, for instance, the 2005 Pistons? Or what about the 2008 Lakers?

[penbeast0]

Do they have enough 3 point shooting to make it in the modern era? Maybe; especially if they stay healthy as it seems players miss a lot more time today. Do they have enough big man defense and post scoring to make it in the 20th century? Probably not. There may be a window in there that they are a legit contender or maybe a weak year. Having Uncle Cliffie as a center seems problemative in terms of holding guys out of the post and defensive rebounding, not his strengths even as a 4. Googs and Marion not guys you want on a Shaq/Embiid type big man either. That's the question mark for me, again, at least until the last 10 years where the question is more their ability to spam the 3 enough for a modern offense.


That many guys that think of themselves as stars might cause problems with touches as well, particularly if they don't win right away.

[henshao]

Honestly I would start KJ instead of one of the forwards and play Penny at 3 (Kidd at 2)

[Owly]

Honestly I would start KJ instead of one of the forwards and play Penny at 3 (Kidd at 2)

I probably wouldn't, for the most part.

Whilst they are, per above the three stars and probably the best players ... there's 8 named players. I assume they are the rotation players and the rest are replacement level-ish or would have been mentioned.

Start all 3 and it gets harder to rotate. Start with the principle that all 3 play 32 guard minutes and maybe do spot minutes with all three (end games probably) and you don't have to run anyone into the ground or play replacement guys.

Named frontcourt guys get an average of 28.8 mpg without Penny eating any of it. Take out much more and everyone's unhappy or one rotation worthy guys is out of the rotation.

And Penny and KJ's bodies might benefit from a lesser load.

Playoffs-wise, if you think, say, Longley is too limited, or whatever and you're just trying to play your best players more, then I think one sees more of all three on at once.