Which NBA era wins...

[HFCS]

He's arguably the best offensive weapon the league has ever seen. Durant that is.

I remember when Oden already had old man knees, ran slow like an old man, struggled to score in the Big Ten, missed half his college season with those knees, and then told an interview his real passion was to be a dentist and basketball wasn't very important to him.

...and the consensus among GMs was this guy was better than Durant.

I thought being an NBA GM must be the easiest best paying job in the world because I was 100% sure Oden was a bust and Durant was most can't miss since LeBron easily.

 

[deadeyededric]

When did I say players today are subpar?

You claim teams from the 90s could mop the floor with today's players Let's all agree Jordan would still be great playing against guys even 50 years from now. I'm just saying the skill level and athletic ability of rosters top to bottom is astronomically higher now than ever before.

 

[deadeyededric]

I remember when Oden already had old man knees, ran slow like an old man, struggled to score in the Big Ten, missed half his college season with those knees, and then told an interview his real passion was to be a dentist and basketball wasn't very important to him.

...and the consensus among GMs was this guy was better than Durant.

I thought being an NBA GM must be the easiest best paying job in the world because I was 100% sure Oden was a bust and Durant was most can't miss since LeBron easily.

Im not sure I ever thought Oden would be one of the "greats" at Center, but I thought he be an all star half of his career and be a perennial 20 and 10 guy. Man that seems like it was 30 years ago when he was at OSU. I know I'm in the minority but if I could draft anyone from history as my first pick I'm taking Kobe Bryant. I can't stand the Lakers and was never a Kobe fan per say but he earned my respect. I've never seen a better player than Kobe. He was like Jordan but more polished.

 

[HFCS]

Im not sure I ever thought Oden would be one of the "greats" at Center, but I thought he be an all star half of his career and be a perennial 20 and 10 guy. Man that seems like it was 30 years ago when he was at OSU

I just thought he would be injured for sure and he would give interviews where he wasn't passionate about basketball before the draft. I'm sure people don't believe me but at the time I wouldn't have even taken him with a top 5-10 pick. Just seemed like a sure bust.

Then you've got Durant sitting there like some kind of alien shooting machine with a permanent smile on his face.

 

[deadeyededric]

I just thought he would be injured for sure and he would give interviews where he wasn't passionate about basketball before the draft. I'm sure people don't believe me but at the time I wouldn't have even taken him with a top 5-10 pick. Just seemed like a sure bust.

Then you've got Durant sitting there like some kind of alien shooting machine with a permanent smile on his face.

Durant lacked the 'killer instinct" that guys like Jordan and Kobe had. I know that's a rare trait but if he had that he would have been the absolute best player ever. I'm not saying he was soft either, but just didnt quite have that mindset like those guys had.

 

[HFCS]

You claim teams from the 90s could mop the floor with today's players Let's all agree Jordan would still be great playing against guys even 50 years from now. I'm just saying the skill level and athletic ability of rosters top to bottom is astronomically higher now than ever before.

The depth is definitely objectively better now. You only need to look at 1/3 of the draft being international compared to 1-2 picks in the whole draft. You can't say pro baseball was harder before integration and you can't say pro basketball was harder when it was basically just one country.

A lot of these eras maybe the top 5 guys might be a coin flip or some specialists would still excel at their specialty but the 10th-20th best player now is way better than it used to be.

 

[HFCS]

Durant lacked the 'killer instinct" that guys like Jordan and Kobe had. I know that's a rare trait but if he had that he would have been the absolute best player ever. I'm not saying he was soft either, but just didnt quite have that mindset like those guys had.

yeah I agree you could see that even his year at Texas.

His floor was just SOOOOO high. I knew he didn't have "IT" to be the generational player, but I also knew his absolute floor was effortlessly scoring 25 ppg.

 

[deadeyededric]

The depth is definitely objectively better now. You only need to look at 1/3 of the draft being international compared to 1-2 picks in the whole draft. You can't say pro baseball was harder before integration and you can't say pro basketball was harder when it was basically just one country.

A lot of these eras maybe the top 5 guys might be a coin flip or some specialists would still excel at their specialty but the 10th-20th best player now is way better than it used to be.

Which is why I get annoyed when people say they don't play defense in the NBA. Everyone in the league can score whenever they want and it's not because of a lack of defensive tenacity. The skill set, the floor spacing, etc... it's pretty much impossible to guard.

 

[HFCS]

Which is why I get annoyed when people say they don't play defense in the NBA. Everyone in the league can score whenever they want and it's not because of a lack of defensive tenacity. The skill set, the floor spacing, etc... it's pretty much impossible to guard.

They watch college hoops and don't realize how good these guys are even just at basics like free throws and open 3s.

Even our own guys, Tyrese and Georges are RIDICULOUS shooters now compared to when they were at ISU.

 

[deadeyededric]

They watch college hoops and don't realize how good these guys are even just at basics like free throws and open 3s.

Even our own guys, Tyrese and Georges are RIDICULOUS shooters now compared to when they were at ISU.

I also don't see the rules being that drastically different in terms on contact allowed. The shot clock reduction and extended 3 point line(a long with players skills) is why the game looks different. It's true you can't hand check off the ball much as much, but guys handling the ball get dogged pretty much the same way. If you take the ball to the hole your gonna get pounded. Doing that as a defender is just as much about sending a message as anything which has been a part of game forever. Draymond is as physical of a player as the league has ever seen.

 

[HFCS]

I also don't see the rules being that drastically different in terms on contact allowed. The shot clock reduction and extended 3 point line(a long with players skills) is why the game looks different. It's true you can't hand check off the ball much as much, but guys handling the ball get dogged pretty much the same way. If you take the ball to the hole your gonna get pounded. Doing that as a defender is just as much about sending a message as anything which has been a part of game forever. Draymond is as physical of a player as the league has ever seen.

Yeah watching majority NBA outside of Cyclones. The ncaa players basically dribble around a lot in unproductive ways and they miss open shots. That's the huge difference I see. Not that NBA players aren't physical or that college players are somehow better at defense.

We're also really spoiled at ISU having Monte/Haliburton/Tamin, a lot of these NCAA teams have absolutely horrible point guard play or like the Hawkeyes under Fran no point guard play. That makes a TON of difference for an offense if they have a smart low turnover ball handling and passing expert running the team. When a team does have dominant point guards they often win it all or make a final four run, every NBA team has 3-5 guys who can run the offense at that level, lots of times it's a forward or even a center.

 

[Gonzo]

You claim teams from the 90s could mop the floor with today's players Let's all agree Jordan would still be great playing against guys even 50 years from now. I'm just saying the skill level and athletic ability of rosters top to bottom is astronomically higher now than ever before.

I do think the best teams from the 80s and 90s would beat today's teams. But I never called today's players sub-par. That's you attributing words to me that I never said.

And to say that today's players' skill and athleticism is astronomically higher than guys like MJ, Pippen, Drexler, Magic, Dominique, Malone, D Robinson, Bird, Barkley, Hakeem, Miller, Worthy, Isiah, Rodman, etc etc etc is just delusional.

 

[JohnnyFive]

View attachment 149269

Boomers first followed by X in second. Gen Z goes winless. I dont know how anyone could possibly guard the Boomer team.

 

[deadeyededric]

I do think the best teams from the 80s and 90s would beat today's teams. But I never called today's players sub-par. That's you attributing words to me that I never said.

And to say that today's players' skill and athleticism is astronomically higher than guys like MJ, Pippen, Drexler, Magic, Dominique, Malone, D Robinson, Bird, Barkley, Hakeem, Miller, Worthy, Isiah, Rodman, etc etc etc is just delusional.

JFC dude nobody is saying elite plers from then couldnt play in today's.NBA. I think a person could.make.the case many of them wouldn't be as big of stars today as they were then. Jordan wasn't your average player. I think a lot of the 4s and 5s from that era would struggle. The overall talent of the league, positions 1-5 and roster spots 1-15 is way higher now though. It's really not even close. Yeah I think Jokic.would absolutely abuse someone like Ewing.

 

[Gonzo]

JFC dude nobody is saying elite plers from then couldnt play in today's.NBA. I think a person could.make.the case many of them wouldn't be as big of stars today as they were then. Jordan wasn't your average player. I think a lot of the 4s and 5s from that era would struggle. The overall talent of the league, positions 1-5 and roster spots 1-15 is way higher now though. It's really not even close. Yeah I think Jokic.would absolutely abuse someone like Ewing.

Lol, I'd love to see him try to "abuse" Ewing, and Kareem, and Hakeem, and Robinson, and Shaq, and Parish. Delusion.

 

[deadeyededric]

Lol, I'd love to see him try to "abuse" Ewing, and Kareem, and Hakeem, and Robinson, and Shaq, and Parish. Delusion.

Yeah I'd love to see anyone stop Bob Cousy, etc... Those low block, ass to the.basket players would get beat bad by players today. It's nuts to think someone like Robert Parrish is going to pick up someone who is top of the key and 30ft from the basket. Talk about an.easy.dunk.

 

[Gonzo]

Yeah I'd love to see anyone stop Bob Cousy, etc... Those low block, ass to the.basket players would get beat bad by players today. It's nuts to think someone like Robert Parrish is going to pick up someone who is top of the key and 30ft from the basket. Talk about an.easy.dunk.

I admire your zeal, lol.

 

[Drew0311]

Baby boomers. Those 5 dudes were straight ruthless. Step on your throat dudes

Gen X would be next

 

[HFCS]

Lol, I'd love to see him try to "abuse" Ewing, and Kareem, and Hakeem, and Robinson, and Shaq, and Parish. Delusion.

Robinson, Ewing and Shaq struggled against Hakeem, at times comically.

If you’re comparing all those big guys I think I’d take Jokic or Hakeem at every skill and stat. I think Jokic is the best passer at any position.

I wasn’t old enough to watch prime Kareem, just his late years.

 

[Gonzo]

Robinson, Ewing and Shaq struggled against Hakeem, at times comically.

If you’re comparing all those big guys I think I’d take Jokic or Hakeem at every skill and stat. I think Jokic is the best passer at any position.

I wasn’t old enough to watch prime Kareem, just his late years.

Kareem IMO is the best 5 ever.