You know what I think made the 1986 Celtics great?

[ChrisKreager]

Quality of competition.

If you put those 1986 Hawks/Bucks teams in a time machine and transported them to this year, they could win the East right now.

Deeper teams, lower salaries. Higher caliber of opponents. Even the lesser teams of that era were less horrible compared to today.

Couldn't take anyone lightly (the 23-59 Knicks tripped them up Christmas Day).

Imagine what a prime 1986 Dominique could do in today's game with the handcheck rules and less physicality.

[1987_Lakers]

My post from another thread...


To me Bill Walton made that '86 team the greatest ever. Boston already had the most prolific starting 5 in the league, maybe the greatest starting five ever and with the addition of Walton it made the Celtics even more dominant. Walton was Boston's best rebounder, & rim protector every time he was on the floor, not to mention his outlet passing improved Boston's fast break & his passing overall is arguably the greatest ever for a big man. Yes, Walton was past his prime in '86 but he could still rebound & pass at an elite level.


Watch this clip how Boston just dominates a 50 win team led by Dominique Wilkins in the playoffs by going on a 36-6 run.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ3I2iuaX-0


People don't understand how dominant that Boston team was, in 3 out of the 4 close out games in the postseason they were up by 30 points at one point. They were up 30 in game 3 vs Chicago, up 40 at one point in game 5 vs Atlanta, & up 30 in game 6 vs Houston in the Finals. The only game that they didn't go up 30 in a closeout game was vs the Bucks in game 4, but that was the same game when Larry Bird was swishing crazy threes in the 4th quarter. Chicago never dominated opponents like that in the postseason.

It is without a doubt the greatest mix of talent & chemistry the league has ever seen. I have the '96 Bulls as the #2 GOAT team, but lets be real, they didn't have the talent that Boston had in '86.

[Nowitness]

My post from another thread...

look at the way bird runs up the floor in that clip

teams today with their athletic ability would walk all over them.

[SHAQisGOAT]

80's Bucks are really overlooked/underrated... I believe they had the 3rd most wins of the decade, and in another (weaker) era they would've made the Finals at least.
Hawks also had a great squad for some years, plus the 76ers were amazing for some time, and then you had the showtime Lakers on the other end, which got beat by the Rockets in 1986, a terrific team with great potential (that fell apart though).

GOAT era when you talk about best players and best teams.




look at the way bird runs up the floor in that clip

teams today with their athletic ability would walk all over them.

:roll:

Those Hawks would be the most athletic team in the league TODAY.

[iamgine]

'86 Hawks? Well they had 'Nique...but who else. Would young Mike Fratello (38 yrs old at the time) be smart enough to coach in today's game? Can their big men adjust to today's small guys league? Their main bigs (Willis, Levingston, Rollins & Koncak) were already fouling at an ungodly rate back then, one can only imagine it will be a bigger problem in today's game. I'm not buying that this team would be considered a top contender in the East, maybe a secondary contender behind Cavs and Bulls, only to become top contender if Cavs and Bulls fall apart from their expectations.

[Marchesk]

look at the way bird runs up the floor in that clip

teams today with their athletic ability would walk all over them.

You mean like the Hawks? Or the 76ers a couple years earlier? Or for that matter, the Bucks with a healthy Moncrief (dude was Wade level athletic)?

I mean, there's no way Larry Bird and the nonathletic Celtics could compete with athletic teams that could run with guys like Dr J, Dominique, Moncrief, MJ, or Barkley on them in the 80s.

[97 bulls]

My post from another thread...
The Bulls weren't any good, the Hawks werent any good the Bucks best player was hurt, and the Rockets had no business being there.

Oh. And I remember the conversation we had about Brian Willaims stats. They were based off of if he played in the 80s.