The 1989 Pistons vs the 2004 Pistons

[D.Brasco]

The original Bad Boys vs Bad Boys II

Both hard nosed defense oriented teams, who do you take in a series?

[Slim Charlez]

04 since according to RealGm Isiah sucked.

[Tim Lehrbach]

The under.

[TheGOATRises007]

89 Pistons.

[MagicBagley18]

89 pistons and didn’t think twice

[VDT]

The 89 team was mentally, and probably physically, tougher. Laimbeer would have Wallace ejected in the first 5 min of the game probably.

[C3H6N6O6]

The 89 team was mentally, and probably physically, tougher. Laimbeer would have Wallace ejected in the first 5 min of the game probably.

lol
2004 Pistons were just as mentally tough while being better defenders. I think 89 pistons would still have won in 7 but 2004 Pistons were easily the better defensive team. They beat 2004 Lakers in 5.

[Liam_Gallagher]

The 2004 Pistons beat a star-studded team in the Finals. I’d think the 04 Lakers would smash the 89 Pistons.

I got 04 Pistons here.

[VDT]

The 89 team was mentally, and probably physically, tougher. Laimbeer would have Wallace ejected in the first 5 min of the game probably.

lol
2004 Pistons were just as mentally tough while being better defenders. 89 pistons would still have won in 7 but 2004 Pistons were easily the better defensive team.

I never said anything about defense. The 04 team team defense was of course legendary but 1. its hard to compared defense ( or offense) across eras 2. they had to be that good defensively because they were more limited offensively.

The 89 team also played a more physically intimidating brand of basketball and i still stand by what i said about the mental toughness. A player like Rasheed is not mentally tough and would have a hard time staying on the floor with Laimbeer and Mahorn randomly cheapshotting him and then flopping at the first sign of contract in the next play. The 89 team strikes me as the more cutthroat and win at all costs type of team, primarily because their leader (Isiah) and second in command (Laimbeer) were of that kind.

[OdomFan]

2004 Pistons in 5 rather comfortably imo. The 89 squad are one of the best teams in NBA history but the 2004 Pistons defense alone would be too much for them imo. They're one of the great defensive teams of all time period, and they have a answer for pretty much anything the 80s squad throws at them.

I think they have Rip Hamilton guard Zeek and put Chauncey on Dumars. and on the other side of the court Rasheed shouldn't have much issues scoring against Laimbeer. Plus they have a solid enough bench to be able to challenge the 80s squads back ups as well.

[HomoSapien]

It's actually a pretty close matchup. I think either team has a reasonable argument for winning this, but I'll give the edge to the 89 Pistons.

[Diop]

The 89 team was mentally, and probably physically, tougher. Laimbeer would have Wallace ejected in the first 5 min of the game probably.

lol
2004 Pistons were just as mentally tough while being better defenders. 89 pistons would still have won in 7 but 2004 Pistons were easily the better defensive team.

I never said anything about defense. The 04 team team defense was of course legendary but 1. its hard to compared defense ( or offense) across eras 2. they had to be that good defensively because they were more limited offensively.

The 89 team also played a more physically intimidating brand of basketball and i still stand by what i said about the mental toughness. A player like Rasheed is not mentally tough and would have a hard time staying on the floor with Laimbeer and Mahorn randomly cheapshotting him and then flopping at the first sign of contract in the next play. The 89 team strikes me as the more cutthroat and win at all costs type of team, primarily because their leader (Isiah) and second in command (Laimbeer) were of that kind.

Seriously, there is no way that rasheed stays on the court against the most hated bunch of **** to ever play the game.

I say it with fondness and admiration, but they were straight up ****.

I’d be worried for the welfare of skinny rip Hamilton if Detroit are allowed to play by the old rules.

That’s the big if in this scenario, is it the old rules or are refs told to protect the players?

[Duffman100]

What does the bench matchup look like?

[Jonny Blaze]

1989 Pistons.

A lot of people don't realize this, but the Pistons almost won three titles in a row. They got screwed during the 1988 Finals against LA in Game 6.
The Bad Boys came back and ran roughshod over everyone from the fall of 1988 to 1990....and yes that includes the Lakers, Bulls and Celtics.

[ThumbsUpBaby]

It's all a matter of mental games. Most physical game for sure, but that Bad Boy Pistons had some good number of crazies. Physically, I'm pretty sure 2004 Pistons are more than capable of playing through it (they had some hard-nosed, tough players). But it's the crazy dudes like Rodman, Mahorn, Laimbeer, Edwards who can make a mess of the situation for guys like Rasheed Wallace for example.

I probably have 89' Pistons in 6 games if not 7.

[ElectricMayhem]

What does the bench matchup look like?

Rodman was still coming off the bench for most of the year, so the Bad Boys had: Rodman, Vinnie Johnson, John Salley, and James Edwards coming off the bench. They also had an all-time names guy in Fennis Dembo on the bench.

Go-to-work Pistons had Okur, Corliss, Lindsay Hunter, Mike James, and Elden Campbell as the elder statesman.

Edge to Bad Boys.