Which team wins? Pre 2000s or Post 2000s

[mdonnelly1989]

Team #1


PG: Magic Johnson
SG: Michael Jordan
SF: Larry Bird
PF: Karl Malone
C: Hakeem Olajuwon

Team #2


PG: Stephen Curry
SG: Kobe Bryant (Prime came 2000 and after)
SF: Lebron James
PF: KG
C: Shaq (Peak of Shaq came in 2000)

[euroleague]

Shaq’s peak was 99-00. I think he can be on both teams

[An Unbiased Fan]

Team 2 should have TD

[falcolombardi]

I would rather run duncan + garnett for the 2000's team, i would consider kawhi 2016 version over kobe if i already got lebron and curry for offense

And in all honesty i may switch karl with pippen in the pre 2000's team as i already got bird/magic/jordan to handle the scoring and passing

[SickMother]

Magic vs Curry is interesting because they both impact offense to historic levels, but at completely different sizes & in completely different ways. On defense, I think I'd actually have Larry chasing Curry around all those screens since he's used to running around them himself & should know all the tricks.

Jordan vs Kobe is an easy edge for MJ.

LBJ over Bird same as above. Think I might try Mailman on LeBron for defense though. Would probably struggle on the perimeter, but one of the few players with the kind of size/strength/athleticism in the same zip code as LBJ.

I've got Garnett over Mailman because he's a better defender & can impact the offense more from a non-scoring perspective, which is more valuable in this context where both guys are essentially the #5 option on their teams. With the other defensive shifts that leaves Magic on KG, which kind of makes sense with Johnson's size and KG likely playing more of a point forward, off ball facilitator role in the half court given the composisition of the squad.

I've got Shaq over Hakeem on my all time list because he had a more dominant, impressive career to me. But for the purposes of something like this give me Hakeem for similar reasons as KG above, he impacts the game in a larger variety of ways, including having the defensive chops to slow down Shaq.

Think the fit is a little better on post-2K team, with Malone as kind of an odd man out here, but still picked the pre-2K team because I think their overall top end talent is better with four slightly higher Top Ten guys for me (01 Jordan, 06 Magic, 08 Bird, 09 Hakeem) vs only three for post-2K (02 LeBron, 07 Shaq, 10 Curry).

[falcolombardi]

Magic vs Curry is interesting because they both impact offense to historic levels, but at completely different sizes & in completely different ways. On defense, I think I'd actually have Larry chasing Curry around all those screens since he's used to running around them himself & should know all the tricks.

Jordan vs Kobe is an easy edge for MJ.

LBJ over Bird same as above. Think I might try Mailman on LeBron for defense though. Would probably struggle on the perimeter, but one of the few players with the kind of size/strength/athleticism in the same zip code as LBJ.

I've got Garnett over Mailman because he's a better defender & can impact the offense more from a non-scoring perspective, which is more valuable in this context where both guys are essentially the #5 option on their teams. With the other defensive shifts that leaves Magic on KG, which kind of makes sense with Johnson's size and KG likely playing more of a point forward, off ball facilitator role in the half court given the composisition of the squad.

I've got Shaq over Hakeem on my all time list because he had a more dominant, impressive career to me. But for the purposes of something like this give me Hakeem for similar reasons as KG above, he impacts the game in a larger variety of ways, including having the defensive chops to slow down Shaq.

Think the fit is a little better on post-2K team, with Malone as kind of an odd man out here, but still picked the pre-2K team because I think their overall top end talent is better with four slightly higher Top Ten guys for me (01 Jordan, 06 Magic, 08 Bird, 09 Hakeem) vs only three for post-2K (02 LeBron, 07 Shaq, 10 Curry).

What if we changed shaq for duncan for better defense as the offense already got lebron and curry duo?

Would you entertain reggie or pippen or robinson over karl malone?

What about 2016 kawhi over kobe since 2000's already got a ton of O and may need a bit more D? Would his defense make a difference against jordan?

[SickMother]

What if we changed shaq for duncan for better defense as the offense already got lebron and curry duo?

Would you entertain reggie or pippen or robinson over karl malone?

What about 2016 kawhi over kobe since 2000's already got a ton of O and may need a bit more D? Would his defense make a difference against jordan?

On the post-2K team I think Duncan for Shaq upgrades the team since they already have enough scoring as it stands & it improves the defense. Kawhi over Kobe makes sense to me for similar reasons for something like this, even though I've got Kobe a tier ahead of Kawhi on my all time list due to longevity.

Pre-2K team is trickier. I think Admiral/Hakeem would work together since they are both athletic/versatile on both ends, and both had success in Twin Tower lineups, Robinson with Duncan and Olajuwon with Sampson.

Problem is taking out Malone puts Bird onto LeBron, unless you want to throw one of Robinson or Hakeem on him. Finding the right defensive match up for Curry/LeBron would be my number one priority filling in around Magic/Jordan/Bird/Hakeem. Think for that reason Pippen makes the most sense as the 5th guy on the pre-2K team, even if Malone was better in a vacuum.

Also know he doesn't have the best defensive reputation, but always thought peak-76ers era Barkley might be a good match up for LeBron on defense with his combo of size/quickness/side-eye.

[No-more-rings]

Not easy to pick, but go with post 2000s narrowly.

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

I would rather run duncan + garnett for the 2000's team, i would consider kawhi 2016 version over kobe if i already got lebron and curry for offense

And in all honesty i may switch karl with pippen in the pre 2000's team as i already got bird/magic/jordan to handle the scoring and passing

You want to give up peak Shaq for Peak Duncan?

[70sFan]

I would rather run duncan + garnett for the 2000's team, i would consider kawhi 2016 version over kobe if i already got lebron and curry for offense

And in all honesty i may switch karl with pippen in the pre 2000's team as i already got bird/magic/jordan to handle the scoring and passing

You want to give up peak Shaq for Peak Duncan?

Much better defense, more versatile offense, far less ball-dominant - why not?

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

Bird’s best position is power forward. Magic does not defend point guards well abd defends off guards and small forwards better. At least Curry does not have the kind of speed that bothers Magic.
I would play Hakeem, Bird, Magic, Jordan and a point guard.

What point guard? Gary Payton, Tim Hardaway, Young Pre championship Isiah, Norm Nixon who nws how to play with Magic. Mark Price who can shoot. Stockton, walt Frazier, Jerry West, Kevin Johnson.

Or should I go with Clyde Drexler or Reggie Miller.

I think that is it. Take Reggie Miller for Shooting or late 1990s Ray Allen. Then have Jordan guard Curry and call Jordan the point guard.
Magic at small forward and Bird t Power forward and Hakeem.

Magic has the athleticism to guard LeBron and Magic might rise to that challenge.
Magic’s defensive basketball IQ wasn’t the greatest and his defensive effort waa not the greatest.
Bird waa a good help defender. Maybe Bir can help Magic some with LeBron.

[penbeast0]

If we are rewriting the teams, I'd go with Russell at center rather than Hakeem. He was smarter, a better rebounder, and you don't need the scoring especially since Hakeem isn't super efficient anyway. Then use Bird at PF, Erving or Jordan at the 3, Magic or Oscar at the big guard slot, and West at the small guard slot.

For the 00s, I'd use Duncan at center, double down on modern offense with LeBron and Durant at the forward slots, and Curry and maybe Harden if you can stomach his defense (if not use Kobe in one of his good defense seasons) at the guard slots. Then you can still attack and abuse Larry Bird's weak perimeter defense unless the 20th century team switches Bird onto Duncan and uses Russell on LeBron (which Boston did with Wilt and Chet Walker in a key playoff matchup though not full time of course).

[mdonnelly1989]

If we are rewriting the teams, I'd go with Russell at center rather than Hakeem. He was smarter, a be

tter rebounder, and you don't need the scoring especially since Hakeem isn't super efficient anyway. Then use Bird at PF, Erving or Jordan at the 3, Magic or Oscar at the big guard slot, and West at the small guard slot.

For the 00s, I'd use Duncan at center, double down on modern offense with LeBron and Durant at the forward slots, and Curry and maybe Harden if you can stomach his defense (if not use Kobe in one of his good defense seasons) at the guard slots. Then you can still attack and abuse Larry Bird's weak perimeter defense unless the 20th century team switches Bird onto Duncan and uses Russell on LeBron (which Boston did with Wilt and Chet Walker in a key playoff matchup though not full time of course).

When you put it like that I should have made it clear this was a 1980s/1990s team.

[An Unbiased Fan]

More I thin about it, would rather have

CP3
Kobe
Lebron
Giannis
Shaq

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

If we are rewriting the teams, I'd go with Russell at center rather than Hakeem. He was smarter, a better rebounder, and you don't need the scoring especially since Hakeem isn't super efficient anyway. Then use Bird at PF, Erving or Jordan at the 3, Magic or Oscar at the big guard slot, and West at the small guard slot.

For the 00s, I'd use Duncan at center, double down on modern offense with LeBron and Durant at the forward slots, and Curry and maybe Harden if you can stomach his defense (if not use Kobe in one of his good defense seasons) at the guard slots. Then you can still attack and abuse Larry Bird's weak perimeter defense unless the 20th century team switches Bird onto Duncan and uses Russell on LeBron (which Boston did with Wilt and Chet Walker in a key playoff matchup though not full time of course).

You need to beat Bird with drives. You want a player that can hit outside shots if Bird sags towards the paint and drive best Bird if Bird comes out to defend the outside shot.

I do not want Bird to guard LeBron because LeBron can can drive too easily on Bird. If Bird must guard LeBron than maybe I have Bird concede some outside shots to LeBron because LeBron is an inconsistant outside shooter and LeBron can't play the drive and kick game if LeBron is shooting outside shots.

I definitely want Bird to be the power forward. Bird rebounds almost as well as Karl Malone and Bird can really score inside as well better than Malone if guarded one on one or if guarded by a small man. I do not want Bird guarding good small forwards.

Now what is KD? He is more of a small forward than a power forward. I fear KD's outside shooting more than I fear KD's drive. I don't think Bird will do worse than the average defender on KD. KD does not have a LeBron level drive.

Duncan and KG also don't particular scare me if Bird has to guard them. Duncan and Kevin Garnet won't go off on Bird. Bird would be a good defender on them because he can make up anything he gives away in size with high basketball IQ and heart. Celtics did not want Bird on Kevin Willis but I think Kevin Willis might be better at scoring on smaller men than Duncan or KG were. (Intentionally sort of provocative, but maybe true. Of course very few gere know who Kevin Willis was). Bird has no man to man defensive problems when he gaurds power forwards. It is an idiosyncrasy of the Celtics team that made Bird guard small forwards some. Bird's weakness is guarding speed and Duncan and KG don't have enough speed to get into Bird's problem area. Young KG had sone speed but I don't think he had enough speed to bother Bird. Warriors version of Kevin Durant did not have enough speed to really bother Bird. If you turn KD into a driver then you are altering KD's game and that isn't good. Bird's high defensive basketball IQ will be a factor against Durant. Bird is a big man. Bird's arms are a little short but I don't think Bird is small enough for KD to get comfortable shooting over Bird. I don't see Bird as the defender as being an easy macht up for KD.

Kobe would eat Bird alive if Bird had to guard Kobe. KD is not LeBron or Kobe.

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

More I thin about it, would rather have

CP3
Kobe
Lebron
Giannis
Shaq

LeBron wants the Ball in his hands and CP3 wants the ball in his hands.
Giannis is OK with the ball in his hands. Even Shaq can pass.

Kobe can play point guard. Curry can play point guard. CP3 is not needed.

I think I replace CP3 with Curry. CP3 is a significantly better point guard than LeBron but LeBron is good enough to play the Draymond point forward role plus some CP3 style drive and kick.

Curry's outside gravity opening things up for teammates even when Curry does not touch the ball really is something real. To make that outside gravity and off the ball chaos creation work it's best, everybody needs to set screens for Curry. These screens are effective even if nobody passes to Curry because it makes the thinking part of the defesive responsibility more difficult.

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

If we are rewriting the teams, I'd go with Russell at center rather than Hakeem. He was smarter, a better rebounder, and you don't need the scoring especially since Hakeem isn't super efficient anyway. Then use Bird at PF, Erving or Jordan at the 3, Magic or Oscar at the big guard slot, and West at the small guard slot.

For the 00s, I'd use Duncan at center, double down on modern offense with LeBron and Durant at the forward slots, and Curry and maybe Harden if you can stomach his defense (if not use Kobe in one of his good defense seasons) at the guard slots. Then you can still attack and abuse Larry Bird's weak perimeter defense unless the 20th century team switches Bird onto Duncan and uses Russell on LeBron (which Boston did with Wilt and Chet Walker in a key playoff matchup though not full time of course).

What do you think would happen to Magic if Magic tried to guard LeBron?
Why wasn't Magic a good defender?

I think part of the problem for Magic is the same problem that Bird had. Bird had power forward foot speed so there is a problem when Bird guards a small forward. Magic had small forward or swing man foot speed so there is a problem when Magic tries to guard a point guard.

[An Unbiased Fan]

More I thin about it, would rather have

CP3
Kobe
Lebron
Giannis
Shaq

LeBron wants the Ball in his hands and CP3 wants the ball in his hands.
Giannis is OK with the ball in his hands. Even Shaq can pass.

Kobe can play point guard. Curry can play point guard. CP3 is not needed.

I think I replace CP3 with Curry. CP3 is a significantly better point guard than LeBron but LeBron is good enough to play the Draymond point forward role plus some CP3 style drive and kick.

Curry's outside gravity opening things up for teammates even when Curry does not touch the ball really is something real. To make that outside gravity and off the ball chaos creation work it's best, everybody needs to set screens for Curry. These screens are effective even if nobody passes to Curry because it makes the thinking part of the defesive responsibility more difficult.

They worked well on team USA. Curry is too big of a defensive liability for me.

[jdzimme3]

I will take:

Stockton
Jordan
Pippen
Bird
Hakeem