Enough with the nostalgia - Modern NBA teams would DESTROY NBA teams of the past

[ConSarnit]

I keep seeing comparisons with modern stars vs stars from the 80s and 90s. Let's end these silly discussions now. The teams of the past would stand ZERO chance against modern players. This even extends to teams from the early 2010s.

Let's do an easy exercise. Teams from the 80s and 90s shot around seven (7) threes a game. Modern teams will shoot around 40 threes a game. How in the world would the old teams overcome that? It's simple. They can't. On top of that, offenses are much more advanced than in the past. It isn't even close. Defense is more advanced with zone, and it is much more difficult to guard players. Modern players are bigger and stronger than in the past.

Enough with these comparisons. Modern teams would DESTROY the teams from the past. I know we all love our nostalgia, but let's be realistic for a bit. The three balls disparity is too hard to overcome.

Which rules are we playing by? Modern rules or 80’s rules? Most “super stars” would just be role players in the 80’s if you could still hand check. How many 3’s would still be shot if the defender didn’t have to give the shooter room to land? Most stars today wouldn’t last if the game was played by the old rules.

And we won’t even get in to players resting.

Wait, so why aren't guys like Lebron and Kawhi allowed to hand-check? Do you think the guards of the 80's would have an easier time going against 6'3 220lbs Marcus Smart or 6'3 190lbs Joe Dumars? How well do you think it goes for Bill Laimbeer (6'11, 235lbs) if he tries to hard foul Lebron (6'8, 275lbs) when he's outweighed by 40lbs?

Why do the players of yester-year always get to hand-check in these scenarios but todays stronger players never get to?

[haosmoove]

I keep seeing comparisons with modern stars vs stars from the 80s and 90s. Let's end these silly discussions now. The teams of the past would stand ZERO chance against modern players. This even extends to teams from the early 2010s.

Let's do an easy exercise. Teams from the 80s and 90s shot around seven (7) threes a game. Modern teams will shoot around 40 threes a game. How in the world would the old teams overcome that? It's simple. They can't. On top of that, offenses are much more advanced than in the past. It isn't even close. Defense is more advanced with zone, and it is much more difficult to guard players. Modern players are bigger and stronger than in the past.

Enough with these comparisons. Modern teams would DESTROY the teams from the past. I know we all love our nostalgia, but let's be realistic for a bit. The three balls disparity is too hard to overcome.

I would certainly hope so. With 30 years of development from the Sport, we'd expect players to be better today compared to the 90s. Same can be said for 90s players vs. 60s players.

[zimpy27]

Agreed they would.

Everyone can shoot now. Those defenses prior to 00s would get slaughtered

[Tha Cynic]

Modern players are better now because they just have better data and equipment to work with. I'm more intrigued to see how some of those old school players would look today with this type of information and preparation at their disposal.

[MaxZaslofskyJr]

... Let's end these silly discussions now. The teams of the past would stand ZERO chance against modern players. ....

Dear ScrantonBalls ~ under whose rules?

[Stannis]

I don't know why these kind of debates are always like this.

Listen... yes, the NBA is technically better than the previous era. But that's just evolution. Players get smarter, faster, better. Coaches and management also get smarter and better. Better scouting. But you have to respect the past as well. Those players did not have the benefit of superior knowledge in the game, nutrition, physical health etc that players today have. That's how it's supposed to be.

Yes, if you just take a team from today's game and put them against a team from the 80s/90s, it would be like you said.

But that's really not a fair comparison. What would be more fair is taking a 80s/90s team, and say they have the same benefit that modern era teams today have. And vice versa. If you you have a team today, you have to theoretically take them back in time. You can't just assume they would have all the knowledge, nutrition, coaching, equipment, etc from today's game and be able to just bring that to a different era like the 90s.

Like I said, this is just sports evolution. I don't know why people can't just enjoy it.

You see this a lot in boxing theoretical match ups. There's people that think Ali would be too small, slow, weak to fight in today's heavyweight division. But assume he wouldn't benefit from the modern era. Yet, they also assume a Goliath from today's boxing would be just as good if they went and fought in the 60s/70s.

[DCasey91]

98 Finals had 6 illegal defensive violations called.

Nostalgia is a powerful thing.

Question do you want to see a chuck and go?

Or heavy press iso iso iso?

Nobody wants to see someone like Luc Fukn Longley guarded at the top or side weakside because your not allowed to double until GOD MJ gets the ball…

Guys please let’s stop this and be critical thinkers here

Don Bloody Nelson used to use a journeyman just to bring Robinson way out to the 3p line lol.

Teams have always tried to manipulate the game it’s always best practise

Thibs 08’ strategy of swarming strong in and out was the stuff of genius.

Takes the personell and philosophy to get something up and running

No secret modern or a chess equivalent of hypermodern started after 2015….

I’ll give you 3 guesses as to who the 3 players are that has cracked the code on offence..

James, Curry, Harden

Seriously look at how players on ball play

Stack the pnr, stack the screening, pressure rim, foul hunt, pass or step back/pull up, shoot when space is available, pick my pops and have shooters in rotating corners for the swing swing hit the ding.

We are just lucky that no one is Jokic lmao but that’s fast changing.

[Darth Celtic]

I keep seeing comparisons with modern stars vs stars from the 80s and 90s. Let's end these silly discussions now. The teams of the past would stand ZERO chance against modern players. This even extends to teams from the early 2010s.

Let's do an easy exercise. Teams from the 80s and 90s shot around seven (7) threes a game. Modern teams will shoot around 40 threes a game. How in the world would the old teams overcome that? It's simple. They can't. On top of that, offenses are much more advanced than in the past. It isn't even close. Defense is more advanced with zone, and it is much more difficult to guard players. Modern players are bigger and stronger than in the past.

Enough with these comparisons. Modern teams would DESTROY the teams from the past. I know we all love our nostalgia, but let's be realistic for a bit. The three balls disparity is too hard to overcome.

If you transported teams from 1982 to the present they would get destroyed. Same thing with 2002. No question.

But the time machine method of comparing players and teams is silly. You have to ask yourself what would those players and teams look if they were all born in 1998 like today's players and received the same coaching as today's players.

If you transport this years Celtics team back to 1986 and have them play the 86 Celtics with 86 basketball rules, would be a bloodbath in favor of 1986. Nobody who is sane would claim otherwise.

[sp6r=underrated]

If you transport this years Celtics team back to 1986 and have them play the 86 Celtics with 86 basketball rules, would be a bloodbath in favor of 1986. Nobody who is sane would claim otherwise.

I tried to make that point earlier in this thread using Giannis as an example.

Why is the baseline for cross era player comparisons how would an old player do today if you transported him in a time machine? After all time machines don't exist, the players being debated didn't exist in the same time period and you just said we can't engage in fantasy. Accordingly cross era comparisons are pointless

If your response is "it is interesting to think about who is better" my counter is correct and to have a level playing field I am going to try to take into account environmental factors. As example, Giannis carry was illegal up until the late 80s rough. If you dribbled as he did you'd get whistled for carrying. Nor was the eurostep recognized as a legal handle.

If I said Giannis would be useless if he played in 1980 because he'd commit traveling violations on every play you'd be right to say if he was playing in 1980 he would have learned a legal handle and what constituted extra steps.

And that's true for old guys if they had been born in 1996 rather than 1965. Some of those old guys would have a 3 point shot. Some wouldn't. And if your trying to do player comparisons you try to think about which ones could and couldn't.

[Darth Celtic]

... Let's end these silly discussions now. The teams of the past would stand ZERO chance against modern players. ....

Dear ScrantonBalls ~ under whose rules?

Dude probably wasn't alive to know every modern screen set to get players open threes out at the line would basically be illegal screen, and every dude going around that screen would be impeeded with double hand checks that wouldn't be a foul and you can't double until they had the ball and would have to actually run to double, if you sit in the middle, even if not in the paint it was a technical foul shot. Under 80s rules, the 3pt shot was not the most efficient shot. The one on one post move was. Threes weren't always open and you didn't constantly get three free throws on slight contact.

[SichtingLives]

You can't put former players in the modern league without realizing they would now have all the same skills and training of the modern league, same as you can't take modern players back in a time machine and think Lebron James, Steph Curry etc would still have skills they developed in a time that doesn't exist yet. You can have these hypothetical matchups in whatever era you want but just realize all players would be on the same playing field or else the comparisons are illogical. Frankly this entire futile exercise can only exist in the fantasies of the mind and it's surprising people still debate this dopey nonsense.

[Jables]

Enough with the nostalgia.

Modern NBA teams would DESTROY the 1985 Chicago Bears in a best of 15 Stanley Cup series.

It is STATISTICALLY proven.

[Mr B]

I keep seeing comparisons with modern stars vs stars from the 80s and 90s. Let's end these silly discussions now. The teams of the past would stand ZERO chance against modern players. This even extends to teams from the early 2010s.

Let's do an easy exercise. Teams from the 80s and 90s shot around seven (7) threes a game. Modern teams will shoot around 40 threes a game. How in the world would the old teams overcome that? It's simple. They can't. On top of that, offenses are much more advanced than in the past. It isn't even close. Defense is more advanced with zone, and it is much more difficult to guard players. Modern players are bigger and stronger than in the past.

Enough with these comparisons. Modern teams would DESTROY the teams from the past. I know we all love our nostalgia, but let's be realistic for a bit. The three balls disparity is too hard to overcome.

Which rules are we playing by? Modern rules or 80’s rules? Most “super stars” would just be role players in the 80’s if you could still hand check. How many 3’s would still be shot if the defender didn’t have to give the shooter room to land? Most stars today wouldn’t last if the game was played by the old rules.

And we won’t even get in to players resting.

Wait, so why aren't guys like Lebron and Kawhi allowed to hand-check? Do you think the guards of the 80's would have an easier time going against 6'3 220lbs Marcus Smart or 6'3 190lbs Joe Dumars? How well do you think it goes for Bill Laimbeer (6'11, 235lbs) if he tries to hard foul Lebron (6'8, 275lbs) when he's outweighed by 40lbs?

Why do the players of yester-year always get to hand-check in these scenarios but todays stronger players never get to?

I believe I said most “super stars” (or just stars) in today’s game wouldn’t be able to handle the 80’s rules. Labron and Kawhi would be able to handle the 80’s rules because of their stature. Even Marcus Smart might be able to handle the rules. As for Laimbeer, have you ever seen him play? He was a mean SOB. If you think he wouldn’t clobber Labron or anyone else that drove into the paint you’re crazy. And how would Labron act when it’s called a common foul and not a flagrant?

Or how would the best shooters in today’s game fair if Bruce Bowen was standing under them when they took a jump shot? Guys like Curry, and Klay would constantly be out with ankle injuries. Most times that was not even called a foul much less a flagrant like it’s called today. Even a guy like Luka who scores at will in the paint would have head hunters like Charles Oakley waiting for the chance to clothesline the crap out of him as soon as he got in the paint, and again it would just be a common foul.

[Mr B]

I keep seeing comparisons with modern stars vs stars from the 80s and 90s. Let's end these silly discussions now. The teams of the past would stand ZERO chance against modern players. This even extends to teams from the early 2010s.

Let's do an easy exercise. Teams from the 80s and 90s shot around seven (7) threes a game. Modern teams will shoot around 40 threes a game. How in the world would the old teams overcome that? It's simple. They can't. On top of that, offenses are much more advanced than in the past. It isn't even close. Defense is more advanced with zone, and it is much more difficult to guard players. Modern players are bigger and stronger than in the past.

Enough with these comparisons. Modern teams would DESTROY the teams from the past. I know we all love our nostalgia, but let's be realistic for a bit. The three balls disparity is too hard to overcome.

Which rules are we playing by? Modern rules or 80’s rules? Most “super stars” would just be role players in the 80’s if you could still hand check. How many 3’s would still be shot if the defender didn’t have to give the shooter room to land? Most stars today wouldn’t last if the game was played by the old rules.

And we won’t even get in to players resting.

Wait, so why aren't guys like Lebron and Kawhi allowed to hand-check? Do you think the guards of the 80's would have an easier time going against 6'3 220lbs Marcus Smart or 6'3 190lbs Joe Dumars? How well do you think it goes for Bill Laimbeer (6'11, 235lbs) if he tries to hard foul Lebron (6'8, 275lbs) when he's outweighed by 40lbs?

Why do the players of yester-year always get to hand-check in these scenarios but todays stronger players never get to?

When talking about 80’s players playing against todays generation why do they always have to play by todays rules?

[Mr B]

Modern players are better now because they just have better data and equipment to work with. I'm more intrigued to see how some of those old school players would look today with this type of information and preparation at their disposal.

They also have rules that allow them to shoot freely. That wouldn’t happen in the 80’s or 90’s.

[Harry Garris]

I keep seeing comparisons with modern stars vs stars from the 80s and 90s. Let's end these silly discussions now. The teams of the past would stand ZERO chance against modern players. This even extends to teams from the early 2010s.

Let's do an easy exercise. Teams from the 80s and 90s shot around seven (7) threes a game. Modern teams will shoot around 40 threes a game. How in the world would the old teams overcome that? It's simple. They can't. On top of that, offenses are much more advanced than in the past. It isn't even close. Defense is more advanced with zone, and it is much more difficult to guard players. Modern players are bigger and stronger than in the past.

Enough with these comparisons. Modern teams would DESTROY the teams from the past. I know we all love our nostalgia, but let's be realistic for a bit. The three balls disparity is too hard to overcome.

So, some assumptions you're making:

1) They'd play with modern rules
2) The older teams wouldn't have any prep time to change their strategies, work on their 3pt shooting, etc



And you expect this to be a meaningful, productive conversation?

The second they claimed “defenses are more advanced” I knew they weren’t even attempting to be reasonable.

In fairness I think defensive strategy today IS more advanced than it used to be, but not because we're smarter today or something. We just have access to way more information because of technological advancement.

Also, defenses today are playing at a disadvantage due to the ruleset and they're forced to be more innovative just to try to keep up with the offense (which is a losing battle).

[Bergmaniac]

Or how would the best shooters in today’s game fair if Bruce Bowen was standing under them when they took a jump shot? Guys like Curry, and Klay would constantly be out with ankle injuries. Most times that was not even called a foul much less a flagrant like it’s called today.

So are you saying players used to have much stronger ankles? It's not like they started taking plenty of jumpshots in 2010 after decades of being afraid to do due to Bruce Bowen style shenanigans.

Also, of course the defences are much more advanced today, ask any longterm coach in the league. Teams have access to way more data and spend way more time analysing film. The schemes are way more complex than they used to be in the 80s or even the infamous late 90s and early 2000s.

[Mr B]

Or how would the best shooters in today’s game fair if Bruce Bowen was standing under them when they took a jump shot? Guys like Curry, and Klay would constantly be out with ankle injuries. Most times that was not even called a foul much less a flagrant like it’s called today.

So are you saying players used to have much stronger ankles? It's not like they started taking plenty of jumpshots in 2010 after decades of being afraid to do due to Bruce Bowen style shenanigans.

Also, of course the defences are much more advanced today, ask any longterm coach in the league. Teams have access to way more data and spend way more time analysing film. The schemes are way more complex than they used to be in the 80s or even the infamous late 90s and early 2000s.

That’s what you took from what I said, that guys had stronger ankles back then? I’m sure you also have seen that there were much fewer 3 point attempts back in the 80’s. And yes defenses are more advanced now, like the zone defense. That wasn’t allowed in the 80’s. So therefore there were not as many 3 point attempts and when someone did take a 3 they had a guy in their face (most of the time) or a guy standing under them. So if they played by 80’s rules you wouldn’t see nearly as many 3 point attempts.

In today’s game a guy like Hubert Davis would have been a superstar.

[Bergmaniac]

Or how would the best shooters in today’s game fair if Bruce Bowen was standing under them when they took a jump shot? Guys like Curry, and Klay would constantly be out with ankle injuries. Most times that was not even called a foul much less a flagrant like it’s called today.

So are you saying players used to have much stronger ankles? It's not like they started taking plenty of jumpshots in 2010 after decades of being afraid to do due to Bruce Bowen style shenanigans.

Also, of course the defences are much more advanced today, ask any longterm coach in the league. Teams have access to way more data and spend way more time analysing film. The schemes are way more complex than they used to be in the 80s or even the infamous late 90s and early 2000s.

That’s what you took from what I said, that guys had stronger ankles back then? I’m sure you also have seen that there were much fewer 3 point attempts back in the 80’s. And yes defenses are more advanced now, like the zone defense. That wasn’t allowed in the 80’s. So therefore there were not as many 3 point attempts and when someone did take a 3 they had a guy in their face (most of the time) or a guy standing under them. So if they played by 80’s rules you wouldn’t see nearly as many 3 point attempts.

My point is that Bruce Bowen style shenanigans are dangerous on jumpshots from inside the arc too. Numerous players took plenty of such shots before Curry came to the league and somehow didn't get their ankles injured 5 times per season.

[ScrantonBulls]

Which rules are we playing by? Modern rules or 80’s rules? Most “super stars” would just be role players in the 80’s if you could still hand check. How many 3’s would still be shot if the defender didn’t have to give the shooter room to land? Most stars today wouldn’t last if the game was played by the old rules.

And we won’t even get in to players resting.

Wait, so why aren't guys like Lebron and Kawhi allowed to hand-check? Do you think the guards of the 80's would have an easier time going against 6'3 220lbs Marcus Smart or 6'3 190lbs Joe Dumars? How well do you think it goes for Bill Laimbeer (6'11, 235lbs) if he tries to hard foul Lebron (6'8, 275lbs) when he's outweighed by 40lbs?

Why do the players of yester-year always get to hand-check in these scenarios but todays stronger players never get to?

I believe I said most “super stars” (or just stars) in today’s game wouldn’t be able to handle the 80’s rules. Labron and Kawhi would be able to handle the 80’s rules because of their stature. Even Marcus Smart might be able to handle the rules. As for Laimbeer, have you ever seen him play? He was a mean SOB. If you think he wouldn’t clobber Labron or anyone else that drove into the paint you’re crazy. And how would Labron act when it’s called a common foul and not a flagrant?

Or how would the best shooters in today’s game fair if Bruce Bowen was standing under them when they took a jump shot? Guys like Curry, and Klay would constantly be out with ankle injuries. Most times that was not even called a foul much less a flagrant like it’s called today. Even a guy like Luka who scores at will in the paint would have head hunters like Charles Oakley waiting for the chance to clothesline the crap out of him as soon as he got in the paint, and again it would just be a common foul.

Lmao this has to be a joke. Imagine Laimbeer trying to get tough with Giannis. Giannis would literally destroy that bum.