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I just wanted to get some input to what you guys(and gals) think about the game now as opposed to how it was played back then. I'm 35 and my cousin who's 27 get into this debate quite often.
His Arguement:
Everyone is just so much more athletic nowadays and can do things that the old guys couldn't. Jordan would've had a hard time playing against todays athletes at the 2. The defense is just so much better beacuse of the athletes. His guys are KB and LBJ.
Note: Everything is tied to athleticism.
My Arguement:
I wish you could've have seen what I saw. The players were so much more well rounded and fundamentally sound. You get up on a guy and he goes by you, you lay-off and he'll stick the mid-range jumper. Plus the teams were so loaded back then. There were more than few teams I liked who my fav's were coming off the bench. I miss the days of only playing man/man d having Barkley call out the illegals. I miss seeing the Bad Boy Pistons being able to lock you down on d and still be able to put up 120 if needed. My guys Pip, Rodman, and Hakeem. So having said that my fellow "old heads' and "young bucks" tell me which school was better.
My argument is that the players are no more athletic now then they where, training methods and technology in addition to rules changes are the difference. Take a guy like magic, wilt, Jordan whom ever and train them like lebron or Kobe now and you see their game expand. Today's players vs those days is not a good match up but put the old guy in today's "systems" and you see athleticism is no different, only methods.
I've always believed that the old school players were alot better at playing when not 100%...Other parts of their game would come to the forefront...For example if Lebron were to blow a knee, who would he be? He's obviously a great talent and a tremendously gifted athlete but, he still has a lot of holes in his game. I realy believe an old hard A$$ coach is what he needs and not the yes men coaches like he's had up to this point in his career.
Everyone is just so much more athletic nowadays and can do things that the old guys couldn't. Jordan would've had a hard time playing against todays athletes at the 2.
His argument sucks. For one, Michael Jordan at 40 back in 2003 when most of today's greats like Kobe, Duncan, Garnett, Pierce, Tmac( when he was healthy), Kidd, Dirk were all well-established stars, was still an all-star player, and that was with most of his athleticism gone.
Let's take a look at arguably today's best shooting guard, D.Wade( I give him the nod over Kobe as of NOW). Jordan in his prime, was just as quick, taller, more athletic, shot better, finished better, and slashed just as well. Why would Jordan struggle today? The guy, if playing today, would still be one of the great athletes. Skill-wise, it's no question that he dominates today, even if his athleticism doesn't stand out 'quite' as much as back in the 90's. Your cousin is delusional. And at his age of 27, obviously saw little of Jordan and probably thinks the NBA started when Kobe Bryant was a rookie.
Look, the best players from the 80's and 90's would still be great today. Jason Kidd at 38 is still a legit NBA starting point, hell he just won an NBA championship and was a solid contributor. Grant Hill at 38 is STILL a quality NBA starter. These guys are relying on skill and guile amongst today's super athletes and hold their own. There's been plenty of great athletes that didn't have the skill to make it big. Where's James White? The guy can dunk between the legs from the foul-line, is he even IN the NBA now? Athleticism isn't everything.
This arguement doesn't even make sense- or is not well defined, what exactly is being disputed? Is he saying that he enjoys the style of play today more than the early 90s, or is he sayng the quality of play is higher now than it was then? In one way your cousin is right, there are guys today playing a style of ball that didn't exist 20 years ago in the NBA (LBJ, Dirk).
If the disagreement is he is saying "the NBA has more skilled players today than it did in the 90s," I would not agree but it's an unanswerable question. This comes up in baseball all the time, comparing eras is damn near impossible and you can make a compelling case for either side.
Also, I'm not sure how I feel about a 35 year old writting off a 27 year olds POV because of "what he saw..." That should be for a disagreement between a 60 year old and a 27 year old
Personally, the big difference between then and now is the rules. Flopping is allowed. Hand checks are huge fouls now. People in the 80s were allowed to play defense.
As for players, they are OVERALL way more athletic today. Who in the 80s had a build like Dwight Howard? The amount of players with insane verts outway the few from before... guys like Robinson, Josh Smith, JR Smith, ...
This arguement doesn't even make sense- or is not well defined, what exactly is being disputed? Is he saying that he enjoys the style of play today more than the early 90s, or is he sayng the quality of play is higher now than it was then? In one way your cousin is right, there are guys today playing a style of ball that didn't exist 20 years ago in the NBA (LBJ, Dirk).
If the disagreement is he is saying "the NBA has more skilled players today than it did in the 90s," I would not agree but it's an unanswerable question. This comes up in baseball all the time, comparing eras is damn near impossible and you can make a compelling case for either side.
Also, I'm not sure how I feel about a 35 year old writting off a 27 year olds POV because of "what he saw..." That should be for a disagreement between a 60 year old and a 27 year old
Lemme simplify for you...My cousins feels it's a better a game today because of the athletes playing even though they can't think their way through the games as much... Yes DHoward is a dunking/shot-blocking machine yet is very limited offensively and can be checked by guys who in no way should be able to stop him and he gets that lil fb look on his face.To me that's a lack of mental fortitude on his part and laziness by not working on his game.
I simply stated that because of the more stringent rules back then that you couldn't just rely on a 40in vert and think you had it made...Who do you think would've fared better in that era from today Dirk or Lebron? I will agree that diff eras are difficult to compare however most 27yr olds think the league started when Lebron was drafted...hope that helped
most 27yr olds think the league started when Lebron was drafted..
No, we don't, at least not me and my basketball watching circle. Then again, we also all grew up in chicago-- and we ate, drank, slept everything Michael and Scottie.
But I do indeed disagree with your cousin, but I also disagree with you to some extent. I don't think the game is "better" today, nor do I think that the stars of todays NBA would be helpless against the players of the previous era in question.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ncopus99
Personally, the big difference between then and now is the rules. Flopping is allowed. Hand checks are huge fouls now. People in the 80s were allowed to play defense.
This is a good point. The game is officiated very differently now as compared to say, 1990.
Yes DHoward is a dunking/shot-blocking machine yet is very limited offensively and can be checked by guys who in no way should be able to stop him and he gets that lil fb look on his face.
I like Dwight Howard, but he's less dominant in this era of few really good bigmen, than the great centers of the 90's were playing in a much better era for bigmen. I mean seriously.... You had Hakeem, Shaq, David Robinson, Ewing at the top. Then you had guys like Alonzo Mourning and Mutumbo on the next tier, right down to guys like Rik Smits, Rony Seikaly, Vlade Divac,Kevin Willis who were 'decent' bigs. The center position had far more quality bigs 20 years ago.
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...hope that helped
