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View Full Version : Which fantasy American team would be better?



Shogon
08-17-2021, 09:08 AM
Assume all players are at their peaks/primes and not as they existed in said years...

1992 Olympic Dream Team

Magic Johnson / John Stockton
Michael Jordan / Clyde Drexler
Larry Bird / Scottie Pippen / Chris Mullin
Charles Barkley / Karl Malone / Christian Laettner
David Robinson / Patrick Ewing

2010 American Dream Team

Stephen Curry / Steve Nash (could replace with Jason Kidd)
Kobe Bryant / Dwyane Wade
LeBron James / Kevin Durant / Tracy McGrady
Tim Duncan / Kevin Garnett
Shaquille O'Neal / Dwight Howard

I'm not sure who you put as the token college guy in 2010... maybe John Wall?

Shogon
08-17-2021, 09:16 AM
I think it's a hard comparison to make because these eras are/were so wildly different and it's a bit unfair in reality... but I think the 2010 iteration is actually better, if everyone is at their peak, regardless of which era or ruleset they were to play under.

1992 can do absolutely nothing with O'Neal and Curry, and I think ultimately that's where the difference lies. The gravitational issues that these two players caused would probably make the team unguardable overall.

Kblaze8855
08-17-2021, 09:18 AM
the modern team could never play their peak ball on the floor at once. Couldn’t even get close to it. Lebron can’t be LeBron feeding Shaq in the post as much as would be necessary to take advantage of the natural mismatch he always has.

It doesn’t matter what Shaq could do when all those guys don’t play through him. And most of the modern team isn’t trying to play the give and go Curry game where he passes and immediately relocates for an open 3 either. They could do it….but it’s not their nature. Lebron gets the ball he’s looking to do Lebron things not see his touch as a formality to get it back to Steph.

The modern team is built to play one man army ball leading teams.

The dream team could play together at a higher level…..probably because most of them had symbiotic relationships on their own teams. They play off other talent. The modern stars have whole teams built to suit their talent.

Shogon
08-17-2021, 09:22 AM
You're probably right that the dream team was more well rounded and virtually able to do everything on the court, but do you not force feed O'Neal regardless of who is on the floor? He's going to eat the 1992 team for lunch regardless... and a wide open jumper for whoever he is playing with is getting a bucket anyways... even LeBron.

Shogon
08-17-2021, 09:29 AM
Funnily enough I think LeBron & Durant & Wade would cause the most chemistry issues from an on the court basketball standpoint, heh. For the reasons you mentioned. I don't know. I think they would adapt. But this all boils down to one of my original points which is that it's kind of an unfair comparison.

Kblaze8855
08-17-2021, 09:38 AM
How do you not force feed him?

Kobe was asking Del Harris to let him post up guards and move Shaq out of the way for him when he was a ROOKIE. You think peak Kobe wants to force the ball to Shaq because of a mild mismatch with a guy like David Robinson who can easily make him work? Add Curry and LeBron and plenty of other guys not from a “inside out” watch the bigman work era?

Nah. Shaq would not be getting the ball like the 2000 Lakers would. Those guys would be giving up too much of their games to do it and most have massive egos. Everyone loves a shooter….Curry would get the ball when he’s open from anyone. Modern players don’t love watching post ups when they feel they can go it alone….and are probably right.

Shogon
08-17-2021, 09:47 AM
Mild mismatch? Nah man. I don't know about that. Shaq was like 350 lbs in 2000. Robinson was like 240 / 250? Shaq would be more than a mild mismatch imo. He's in foul trouble in Q1. But idk, you would know better than me. Not like I was old enough to have watched D-Rob's career with any intelligent opinion. Kind of goes for the whole thread I guess.

If you're talking about an 82 game season, I don't know that either team "works" as well as they possibly could because of egos... does the 2010 team have more of an ego problem? Maybe. Maybe not. Bird, Magic & Michael at their peak egos? I don't know about that.

But... today's egos are probably a bigger issue. I gotta say I think at least part of that is technology driven and the fact that players today make way more money, even inflation adjusted, than they used to.

And :roll: @ Kobe as a rookie. No way that's real, right? Damn. I guess that's a big part of what made him who he ended up being. I can't imagine having that much confidence at such a young age. I was the most timid ***** around.

ScottieQuitting
08-17-2021, 10:00 AM
Shaq would be on the 92 team and better in that era than 2010s Shaq (huh?) and Nash isn’t even American, homeboy.

Shogon
08-17-2021, 10:09 AM
Shaq would be on the 92 team and better in that era than 2010s Shaq (huh?) and Nash isn’t even American, homeboy.

Ok here we go troll account, this is your one chance before you join the graveyard...

1) Obviously the Olympic Dream team is what it was and I am just using that for fun.

2) Shaq was not in the NBA in the 1992 season.

3) Yeah I messed up with Nash... replace him with Kidd or Paul, not going to change much.

4) Re-read the original post. It said as they existed at their peaks... not as they existed in said years. It's literally the first sentence in the entire thread.

Kblaze8855
08-17-2021, 10:27 AM
It is a mismatch it’s just not a “Abandon the game plan…ignore that we have 5-6 of the best players ever….get him the ball” mismatch. David at 35 could still defend absolute peak Shaq better than most:



https://youtu.be/1KfUy60IhwM



That is far from a slaughter. And it’s prime Shaq vs old David who can’t make him work on the other end.

The mismatch of 2000 Shaq vs peak David wouldn’t be such that you tell Kobe, Lebron, Wade, Curry and so on to be just feeding him at all times.

Shogon
08-17-2021, 10:43 AM
I mean that's probably fair but Shaq in 2000 was a different animal, even from 2001. He started gaining too much weight rather rapidly in succeeding seasons. He put on like 20+ lbs of fat between 2000 and 2001.

Kblaze8855
08-17-2021, 11:00 AM
Drob defended him decently most of the time any year. This is the one game Duncan missed in their 2000 matchups so he had nobody else(significant) to guard him:



https://youtu.be/hz4TZd5BVRw



Shaq would win the matchup….but by so much as to make peak Kobe, Lebron, and Steph play through him?

Eh.