All NBA First Team 2000 vs All NBA First Team 2010

[Lebron23]

Shaquille O'neal, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Gary Payton, Jason Kidd vs. Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Kobe Bryant. Who wins in a 5 on 5 game? All NBA First Team 2010 all played together for Team USA in 2008 and 2012.

[MrFonzworth]

2010

[Doranku]

2010. 2000 literally has no outside shooting.

[Whoah10115]

This is a great game. 2000 has big advantage with bigs, but 2010 has more wing play. But in 2000's favor is that their advantages at the bigs are much bigger than 2010's advantages on the wings. That version of LeBron is easily the third best player on that team, tho Kobe is also begininng a somewhat small decline, so even if 2010 is 3-2 in h2h matchups, it's much tigher in their advantages.

[iamgine]

2010 is more balanced shooting wise and brings a lot more experience with Kobe and Wade having won rings. Hack a Shaq is also a viable tactic against 2000s.

But I don't know if Lebron and Durant could handle the size of 2010s because at that point they were SFs while Duncan and Garnett were legit PF/C who could defend PFs and SFs.

[Wally450]

2010. 2000 literally has no outside shooting.

Don't need the outside shooting when you're shooting 65%+ in the paint.

[HoopsNY]

2010 is more balanced shooting wise and brings a lot more experience with Kobe and Wade having won rings. Hack a Shaq is also a viable tactic against 2000s.

But I don't know if Lebron and Durant could handle the size of 2010s because at that point they were SFs while Duncan and Garnett were legit PF/C who could defend PFs and SFs.

You could do Hack-a-Howard as well. I think having LeBron in 2010 is huge. But GP could guard Kobe and Kidd could guard Wade on the perimeter. Those guys can shutdown players. It ultimately boils down to what LeBron and KD could do, but I think the combo of Shaq-Duncan-KG ultimately gives the 2000 team the advantage.

[ArbitraryWater]

2010 would get feasted on without Howard.

But they do have Howard.

Ironically he might make the difference here, while being the least talented of the squad.

[imdaman99]

Shaq would still eat no matter how many DPOYs Dwight won. And they would have to figure out how to cover Duncan, prob double off Kidd and Payton and make them beat you.

[jlip]

This is the classic small ball vs big ball scenario. That 2000 front court is insane, especially when it comes to interior defense and rebounding. I'm wondering how the 2010 team would ever get one rebound even with Dwight.

Peak Shaq would probably dominate 2010 Dwight similar to how he dominated Mutombo in the 2001 Finals, albeit Dwight would probably be more physical. If Dwight guards Shaq, that would leave either Lebron or KD to guard Duncan which is a mismatch either way. Conversely, Duncan couldn't guard KD or Lebron on the perimeter either, but he could attempt to funnel either player to Shaq or Garnett for help at the rim. Garnett's versatility would make him better suited to guard one or the other outside the paint. The greatest advantage that the 2010 squad would have would be outside shooting. The question is, can that compensate for the size advantage of the 2000 squad.

This reminds me of the 2001 all star game. Everybody remembers the clutch 4th quarter performances by Iverson and Marbury leading to the East's comeback victory, but the turning point in the game was Mutombo coming into the game. The West's huge front line of Webber, Duncan, KG, etc. were eating the East's front line of T-Mac, Anthony Mason, and Antonio Davis alive. Mutombo started the second half, and his size, defense, and rebounding changed the whole trajectory of the game.

[iamgine]

You could do Hack-a-Howard as well. I think having LeBron in 2010 is huge. But GP could guard Kobe and Kidd could guard Wade on the perimeter. Those guys can shutdown players. It ultimately boils down to what LeBron and KD could do, but I think the combo of Shaq-Duncan-KG ultimately gives the 2000 team the advantage.

I think Kobe and Wade would shut down GP and Kidd much harder than vice versa. Howard was also much better at FT than Shaq.

But the KG/Duncan size problem was a pretty big one. They'd need to double quite a bit, pack the paint and let Kidd beat them with jumpshots.

[HBK_Kliq_2]

2010: Chris Paul, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James, Kevin Durant

VS

2000: Jason Kidd, D Wade, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Shaq

I take 2010 but it would be a good series. 4 shooters to 2000s 1 shooter

[HoopsNY]

I think Kobe and Wade would shut down GP and Kidd much harder than vice versa. Howard was also much better at FT than Shaq.

But the KG/Duncan size problem was a pretty big one. They'd need to double quite a bit, pack the paint and let Kidd beat them with jumpshots.

True, but I doubt you would be looking for significant scoring from Kidd an GP. The money is in the big 3 down low to dominate the post. Kidd and GP would just facilitate that while limiting the great perimeter scoring of the opposing team.

RS Free Throw Shooting
Howard 2009-10: 59%
Shaq 1999-00: 52%

Playoffs Free Throw Shooting
Howard: 52%
Shaq: 47%

Career Free Throw Shooting
Howard: 57%
Shaq: 53%

I think their free throw shooting is a lot closer than many realize.

[Phoenix]

That 2000 frontcourt is insane. Howard is completely negated by Shaq, not to mention Duncan and Garnett. 2010 would have to make it an up and down game while 2000 would seek to go half-court. You really aren't stopping the 2000 bigs, not with Howard alone. I like Garnett on Durant. That's a good matchup. Duncan really is the odd man out defensively if Lebron is his opposite number. That's a matchup that can be exploited. The guard matchup is great, the two best offensive guards vs the two best defensive ones.

[Carbine]

I think 2000 Duncan could defend LeBron decently enough. He's not going to go off on him or something unless he's hitting 30 footers. I've seen older Duncan in the 2013/2014 finals get switched on him and be OK.

2000 Duncan was very agile.