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

[tsherkin]

So true about Bird. And there are a number of others who would thrive today. Rick Barry comes to mind.

Yeah, Rick Barry would probably have a field day in today's game.

[prophet_of_rage]

But you do know that the average NBA player was much bigger by position in previous decades under previous rule sets. And for a reason.

They were bigger at forward not guard. The NBA guards of yesteryear cannot keep up with todays guards. And yesteryear plodding centre's cannot defend three point shooting mobile bugs. There were two scorers in the 90s not 4 or 5.

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And if you played under the 90s rules todays big would get destroyed and guards have to get inside still and deal with that. Whats so hard to understand about that.

The guards of today would post up and be bigger and the biga would stretch the floor lifting the bruising bigs above the free throw line. If you play old rules you have to deal with the illegal.defence one area away rule, too.

Good luck old timers who couldn't stop 155 pound 5'10 in socks Iverson.

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[Roscoe Sheed]

They were bigger at forward not guard. The NBA guards of yesteryear cannot keep up with todays guards. And yesteryear plodding centre's cannot defend three point shooting mobile bugs. There were two scorers in the 90s not 4 or 5.

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And if you played under the 90s rules todays big would get destroyed and guards have to get inside still and deal with that. Whats so hard to understand about that.

The guards of today would post up and be bigger and the biga would stretch the floor lifting the bruising bigs above the free throw line. If you play old rules you have to deal with the illegal.defence one area away rule, too.

Good luck old timers who couldn't stop 155 pound 5'10 in socks Iverson.

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in what era were guards substantially smaller than they are now? In the 1980s there a lot of big guards

[JackZZ]

They were bigger at forward not guard. The NBA guards of yesteryear cannot keep up with todays guards. And yesteryear plodding centre's cannot defend three point shooting mobile bugs. There were two scorers in the 90s not 4 or 5.

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And if you played under the 90s rules todays big would get destroyed and guards have to get inside still and deal with that. Whats so hard to understand about that.

The guards of today would post up and be bigger and the biga would stretch the floor lifting the bruising bigs above the free throw line. If you play old rules you have to deal with the illegal.defence one area away rule, too.

Good luck old timers who couldn't stop 155 pound 5'10 in socks Iverson.

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Lol, ultimately, they did stop Iverson. Dude was iconic but inefficient scorer and on top of that 0 ring.

[Johnny Bball]

They were bigger at forward not guard. The NBA guards of yesteryear cannot keep up with todays guards. And yesteryear plodding centre's cannot defend three point shooting mobile bugs. There were two scorers in the 90s not 4 or 5.

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And if you played under the 90s rules todays big would get destroyed and guards have to get inside still and deal with that. Whats so hard to understand about that.

The guards of today would post up and be bigger and the biga would stretch the floor lifting the bruising bigs above the free throw line. If you play old rules you have to deal with the illegal.defence one area away rule, too.

Good luck old timers who couldn't stop 155 pound 5'10 in socks Iverson.

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None of what you are posting makes sense. Bigger guards still have to deal with yet even bigger shot blockers. And if you knew that you would also know there's no illegal defense real for ruleto hang around in the paint.

And guards aren't posting up unless they are elite players. And that with handchecking they can't just come off picks and get their shot off or get downhill the same way. They can't palm, they get zero gather step, and they can't rip through and bump into defensive players and get a call. So they sure better have more than one way to score and better be better passers.

Do you guys you have some real problems with the someone that's in the older generation that you know, or what. Or did you never even watch the prior game that you slag with so much effort.

And the tweeners of today? See ya.

Edit; Oh ya, **** that restricted area to get calls inside of.

Neither generation is beating the other in their own ruleset.

[bledredwine]

I'm sorry but if we had a Time Machine to place teams in any era with whatever rule set they use during that era,
no one beats the 96 Bulls except for maybe KD's warriors or the Bird Celtics, depending on the year.

But there are so many fake contenders like the Celtics that the 96 Bulls would slaughter even under today's rule set.

Unfortunately for you, the era's improving within a decade myth was debunked when the grandpa spurs slaughtered Miami big 3.... that Spurs line up was over a decade old since they had won their last championship and demolished everyone.

Time does not advance nearly as quickly as you believe it does, I'm sorry to say. Player testimony cross era confirms this. KG, Ray Allen, and Kobe all called the 90s a "tough era" or "stacked". And you know what? If you list the 20 top players from that time, it looks ridiculously impressive.

How could Kobe possibly score 60 at will in his retirement game, post achilles tear?


.... but sure, the Timberwolves with KAT and ANT and Jason Tatum would crush Larry Bird, Jordan and Magic's squads

[prophet_of_rage]

And if you played under the 90s rules todays big would get destroyed and guards have to get inside still and deal with that. Whats so hard to understand about that.

The guards of today would post up and be bigger and the biga would stretch the floor lifting the bruising bigs above the free throw line. If you play old rules you have to deal with the illegal.defence one area away rule, too.

Good luck old timers who couldn't stop 155 pound 5'10 in socks Iverson.

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in what era were guards substantially smaller than they are now? In the 1980s there a lot of big guards

The 80s and early 90s point guards and shooting guards were smaller and skinnier. Jordan was a physical outlier in the 80s and 90s. Then late 90s guards got bigger like Mike.

Look at Stockton, Isiah Thomas, Iverson. Mark Jackson was a big point guard. He is Jalen Brunson sized.



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[JackZZ]

Do you guys you have some real deep seated issues with the someone that's in the older generation that you know, or what. Or did you never even watch the prior game that you slag with so much effort.

And the tweeners of today? See ya.

They don't get this, movement and spacing are not going to be easy when defenders are allowed to play physically rough.
If people think all rounder multi talented Joel "Overcooked Spaghetti Legs" Embiid is going to have long career in 80s and 90s, i'd say they've been smoking too much weed.

One of the premier guard in this era, king of step back shot, James Harden is a flopper by trade, part time basketball player. His antiques wouldn't work in older era.

[prophet_of_rage]

And if you played under the 90s rules todays big would get destroyed and guards have to get inside still and deal with that. Whats so hard to understand about that.

The guards of today would post up and be bigger and the biga would stretch the floor lifting the bruising bigs above the free throw line. If you play old rules you have to deal with the illegal.defence one area away rule, too.

Good luck old timers who couldn't stop 155 pound 5'10 in socks Iverson.

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None of what you are posting makes sense. Bigger guards still have to deal with yet even bigger shot blockers. And if you knew that you would also know there's no illegal defense real for bigs to hang around in the paint.

And guards aren't posting up unless they are elite players. And that with handchecking they can't just come off picks and get their shot off or get downhill the same way. They can't palm, they get zero gather step, and they can't rip through and bump into defensive players and get a call. So they sure better have more than one way to score and better be better passers.

Do you guys you have some real problems with the someone that's in the older generation that you know, or what. Or did you never even watch the prior game that you slag with so much effort.

And the tweeners of today? See ya.

Neither generation is beating the other in their own ruleset.

I've been watching since Magic came in the league. I'm nearly 52 years old. You don't know how illegal defence works so I don't have to bother. You're trapped in the 90s like many people and think clogged paint is good defence and the handcheck was the greatest defensive weapon ever even though it didn't stop Thomas, Iverson Kobe Marbury or any other quick guard from scoring. I bet you don't even know that handchecking below the free throw line is still in the rulebook.

I'll see ya ... out yelling at clouds.

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[bledredwine]

Now, here's my take, which I'm completely convinced of. I wouldn't be as convinced if I hadn't literally called it twenty years ago.
People here won't like it but here it is and it's happened;

The quality of USA basketball is going down the toilet and international basketball is starting to dominate, due to:

1. the majority of outdoor hoops and parks being closed/taken down since the 80s. Gentrification has been a big part of this.

2. defensive rules which encourage a limited game (face up shooting and driving) and don't encourage need for any post game, bass line moves, or much midrange.... which is half of the offensive game.

3. the game becoming more popular abroad, naturally.

This is why the FIVE best players in the NBA are all international players and why we're struggling more and more in the Olympics. I get international ball improving, but having not a single US player in that list is proof enough......

Jokic
Luka
Embiid
Giannis
Shai (soon Wembanyama)

No joke, called this over 20 years ago after watching the BS open layups which has only gotten worse since.

What do those five players have in common and prevents them from being stoppable? A post game... what a coincidence. You can't just have a bunch of Steph Curry's come along in the future and even Steph has had his playoff struggles.
You're going to have more well-rounded players coming from abroad and whooping USA's *** until we encourage the post-up game again (yes, hand checking. Yes, no illegal defense and fake offensive-generating rules).

Despite it being obvious by now, no one will read this post and try to understand it because they're biased as they live in the US.... or want to believe that we have some unbelievable players that are better than ever (despite Tatum being a poor man's Kawhi, who is a worse Kobe/Jordan).

Lebron's generation was the last of the strong USA players and I hope this turns around. These five international players actually remind me of the 90s superstars, which is why I love every single one of them, with the exception of Embiid (clumsy movement and I just don't like his attitude).

By strong player, I don't mean today's version of all star.... I mean the very top- Jokic/Hakeem/Wade/Barkley level superstars. NONE of the US players are at that level right now. Zero.

And this doesn't even take into account the defensive end, which used to be considered so valuable. Watch Wemby absolutely crush everyone in three years.

On a side note, I'd just like to say that I can't anyone seriously who believes that 10-20 years of human evolution is so immense that
even the outliers of prior generations wouldn't dominate. It just shows me that they're easily fooled by the product and have a strong bias to X player.

When you post, you'll naturally include your biases. But at least try to post as objectively as possible.

[prophet_of_rage]

Do you guys you have some real deep seated issues with the someone that's in the older generation that you know, or what. Or did you never even watch the prior game that you slag with so much effort.

And the tweeners of today? See ya.

They don't get this, movement and spacing are not going to be easy when defenders are allowed to play physically rough.
If people think all rounder multi talented Joel "Overcooked Spaghetti Legs" Embiid is going to have long career in 80s and 90s, i'd say they've been smoking too much weed.

One of the premier guard in this era, king of step back shot, James Harden is a flopper by trade, part time basketball player. His antiques wouldn't work in older era.

We get John Starks was the third best shooting guard in the East and that it's a myth that every team was hugging and mugging. We get that Mitch Richmond and Latrell Sprewell were the best 2s in the West during the 90s. We understand that the handcheck only works against backdoor players. We understand freedom of movement has made the game more skilled and space eaters are no longer in the league and shooting specialists like a Steve Kerr are out of the game. Even the 6 foot point guard is gone. We know Embiid and Jokic are bigger than any centre's not named Shaq. We know Lebron at the 4 is too skilled for Malone and Barkley. We accept that things get better over time and that change can be scary but it's okay.

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[Johnny Bball]

Do you guys you have some real deep seated issues with the someone that's in the older generation that you know, or what. Or did you never even watch the prior game that you slag with so much effort.

And the tweeners of today? See ya.

They don't get this, movement and spacing are not going to be easy when defenders are allowed to play physically rough.
If people think all rounder multi talented Joel "Overcooked Spaghetti Legs" Embiid is going to have long career in 80s and 90s, i'd say they've been smoking too much weed.

One of the premier guard in this era, king of step back shot, James Harden is a flopper by trade, part time basketball player. His antiques wouldn't work in older era.

We get John Starks was the third best shooting guard in the East and that it's a myth that every team was hugging and mugging. We get that Mitch Richmond and Latrell Sprewell were the best 2s in the West during the 90s. We understand that the handcheck only works against backdoor players. We understand freedom of movement has made the game more skilled and space eaters are no longer in the league and shooting specialists like a Steve Kerr are out of the game. Even the 6 foot point guard is gone. We know Embiid and Jokic are bigger than any centre's not named Shaq. We know Lebron at the 4 is too skilled for Malone and Barkley. We accept that things get better over time and that change can be scary but it's okay.

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This has nothing to do with you BS insult of being afraid of change. It has everything to do with your takes on how the changing rules pretty much don't affect the modern players and its just pure skill development and how you presume everything new transfers backward and everything old does not transfer forward. And that's just dumb.

The rest of this argument has so many holes I won't even bother.

And imagine thinking that Gen X is generally afraid of change

[JackZZ]

Do you guys you have some real deep seated issues with the someone that's in the older generation that you know, or what. Or did you never even watch the prior game that you slag with so much effort.

And the tweeners of today? See ya.

They don't get this, movement and spacing are not going to be easy when defenders are allowed to play physically rough.
If people think all rounder multi talented Joel "Overcooked Spaghetti Legs" Embiid is going to have long career in 80s and 90s, i'd say they've been smoking too much weed.

One of the premier guard in this era, king of step back shot, James Harden is a flopper by trade, part time basketball player. His antiques wouldn't work in older era.

We get John Starks was the third best shooting guard in the East and that it's a myth that every team was hugging and mugging. We get that Mitch Richmond and Latrell Sprewell were the best 2s in the West during the 90s. We understand that the handcheck only works against backdoor players. We understand freedom of movement has made the game more skilled and space eaters are no longer in the league and shooting specialists like a Steve Kerr are out of the game. Even the 6 foot point guard is gone. We know Embiid and Jokic are bigger than any centre's not named Shaq. We know Lebron at the 4 is too skilled for Malone and Barkley. We accept that things get better over time and that change can be scary but it's okay.

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Handcheck only works against backdoor players? wow ... too much weed.
Freedom of movement hasn't made the game more skilled by much. It's merely the optic. The league made changes to rules and lack enforcement of certain rules to give stat obsessed players n fans something to brag about.

Lack of specialisation isn't exactly a great thing to brag about. Every teams are playing roughly the same way jacking up 3s. Viewership is tanking despite what you want to perceive as better product.

[DavidSterned]

Do you guys you have some real deep seated issues with the someone that's in the older generation that you know, or what. Or did you never even watch the prior game that you slag with so much effort.

And the tweeners of today? See ya.

They don't get this, movement and spacing are not going to be easy when defenders are allowed to play physically rough.
If people think all rounder multi talented Joel "Overcooked Spaghetti Legs" Embiid is going to have long career in 80s and 90s, i'd say they've been smoking too much weed.

One of the premier guard in this era, king of step back shot, James Harden is a flopper by trade, part time basketball player. His antiques wouldn't work in older era.

We get John Starks was the third best shooting guard in the East and that it's a myth that every team was hugging and mugging. We get that Mitch Richmond and Latrell Sprewell were the best 2s in the West during the 90s. We understand that the handcheck only works against backdoor players. We understand freedom of movement has made the game more skilled and space eaters are no longer in the league and shooting specialists like a Steve Kerr are out of the game. Even the 6 foot point guard is gone. We know Embiid and Jokic are bigger than any centre's not named Shaq. We know Lebron at the 4 is too skilled for Malone and Barkley. We accept that things get better over time and that change can be scary but it's okay.

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What? You claim to be 52 but don't know who Clyde Drexler was?

Shooting specialists are now being phased out of the game? That's also a joke, right?

[JackZZ]

They don't get this, movement and spacing are not going to be easy when defenders are allowed to play physically rough.
If people think all rounder multi talented Joel "Overcooked Spaghetti Legs" Embiid is going to have long career in 80s and 90s, i'd say they've been smoking too much weed.

One of the premier guard in this era, king of step back shot, James Harden is a flopper by trade, part time basketball player. His antiques wouldn't work in older era.

We get John Starks was the third best shooting guard in the East and that it's a myth that every team was hugging and mugging. We get that Mitch Richmond and Latrell Sprewell were the best 2s in the West during the 90s. We understand that the handcheck only works against backdoor players. We understand freedom of movement has made the game more skilled and space eaters are no longer in the league and shooting specialists like a Steve Kerr are out of the game. Even the 6 foot point guard is gone. We know Embiid and Jokic are bigger than any centre's not named Shaq. We know Lebron at the 4 is too skilled for Malone and Barkley. We accept that things get better over time and that change can be scary but it's okay.

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What? You claim to be 52 but don't know who Clyde Drexler was?

Shooting specialists are now being phased out of the game? That's also a joke, right?

Haiya, Stephen Curry is definitely a Scoring PG that specialized in 3 points.

There were lots of big guards back then. Penny was SG/PG, Nick Anderson, Reggie Miller, Grant Hill was SG/SF, Stevie Smith, Alan Houston, Drexler, Mitch Richmond, Kobe, Thunder Dan, Isaiah Rider, Brent Barry, Vince Carter, etc ...

Dude forgot Kobe was drafted on 96 ... lol. It was basically his personal mission to go after MJ every opportunity he got. Awesome stuffs lol. RIP Kobe.

[tsherkin]

Good luck old timers who couldn't stop 155 pound 5'10 in socks Iverson.

This is a somewhat clownish take, because AI wasn't even actually a tier one player to anyone who cared about anything besides raw PPG. He was quite athletic, he really pushed the refs on calling his various illegal dribbling moves, and he was a fairly inefficient volume chucker on teams which enabled that because he didn't play well with other scorers and didn't have the playmaking chops to be the kind of helio player we've seen over the last decade or so and have that be good for team offense. He was a floor-raiser of horrible offensive teams who has a single-season run in 01 backed by high-end defense and more help (on D and the glass) than most want to acknowledge because they enjoy their "little man makes it big" narrative.

AI was everything that was wrong with early-2000s basketball in one summary player.

[MavsDirk41]

The guards of today would post up and be bigger and the biga would stretch the floor lifting the bruising bigs above the free throw line. If you play old rules you have to deal with the illegal.defence one area away rule, too.

Good luck old timers who couldn't stop 155 pound 5'10 in socks Iverson.

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in what era were guards substantially smaller than they are now? In the 1980s there a lot of big guards

The 80s and early 90s point guards and shooting guards were smaller and skinnier. Jordan was a physical outlier in the 80s and 90s. Then late 90s guards got bigger like Mike.

Look at Stockton, Isiah Thomas, Iverson. Mark Jackson was a big point guard. He is Jalen Brunson sized.



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Clyde Drexler
Mitch Richmond
Penny Hardaway
Reggie Miller
Steve Smith
Jimmy Jackson
Jerry Stackhouse
Joe Dumars
Rolando Blackman
Michael Finley
Allan Houston
Dan Majerle
Vernon Maxwell

You consider these two guards small and skinny?

[dk1115]

If we didn't have hypotheticals, there would be a lot less sports talk.

[KembaWalker]

2017 Warriors were good for their era but no way they'd stand up to modern teams like the Thunder or Celtics

How long until this statement is accurate?

[Persi]

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.

Come on, man. Why do you have to be like this?

Put ANY modern team against Bad Boys and let them play by the rules of previous era = modern players would crawl into a locker room within 5 minutes crying for their mommas.