Rick Barry on whether players back then could play today

[iamgine]

"People say Rick you guys couldn't play today. I said you're out of your mind I said you must be on drugs.

I said you know how much better I would be if I was playing today? Seriously, I had no weight lifting.

We had no strength coach. No agility coaches. We had no dietician. We did nothing to help us.

I'd be faster, stronger, quicker, more endurance, jump higher.

I'd be so much better a basketball player today than I was back when I played because of the training and the sophistication of what

goes on in every sport.

So to say that statement is insane. All of us would be way better"

[nayte]

He is right to an extent. The stars for sure. They end of the bench back then I doubt would make teams today

[HylianNightmare]

No shit

[light]

"People say Rick you guys couldn't play today. I said you're out of your mind I said you must be on drugs.

I said you know how much better I would be if I was playing today? Seriously, I had no weight lifting.

We had no strength coach. No agility coaches. We had no dietician. We did nothing to help us.

I'd be faster, stronger, quicker, more endurance, jump higher.

I'd be so much better a basketball player today than I was back when I played because of the training and the sophistication of what

goes on in every sport.

So to say that statement is insane. All of us would be way better"

He's readily admitting that they were far inferior in his time and that modern players are indeed faster, stronger, quicker with more endurance and jump higher. That's a first for an old timer.

[nayte]

Congrats you might just have had a bigger reach then 3ball.
A mighty effort indeed

[guy]

He's readily admitting that they were far inferior in his time and that modern players are indeed faster, stronger, quicker with more endurance and jump higher. That's a first for an old timer.

Yea bad answer. He's basically saying some hypothetical version of himself would be better and could play today. Problem is thats not actually him.

I'm in the middle. There's definitely some players in past eras that could play today and some that could not, but its not totally fair to judge them solely on that.

[Xiao Yao You]

a lot of players today wouldn't have made it back than because they lack fundamentals. There used to be a lot more to the game than hitting an open corner 3

[AlternativeAcc.]

a lot of players today wouldn't have made it back than because they lack fundamentals. There used to be a lot more to the game than hitting an open corner 3

Isn't it the same argument dumbass. If players today grew up in that time their games would reflect the era...

[Duderonomy]

They also wore those Chuck Taylor's that have no support where shoes today practically have Springs in them.

[Kblaze8855]

Isn't it the same argument dumbass. If players today grew up in that time their games would reflect the era...

Not exactly. There are a lot of reasons a good number of players today wouldn’t make it back then. They played under conditions considerably worse than players today find acceptable and had considerably less rest and accommodations. Take a guy used to load management because his foot has a small issue that will never be fixed and make him play back to back to back…take a train…then play a back to back. In shoes made of cloth. With no traveling team doctors. Or Gatorade. Playing 46 minutes a night. Sleeping in shitty beds or often on the bus built for 5’6” people. In gyms with no AC.

Lebron is near the peak of human condition but so well tuned he can barely handle a break in routine. He literally collapsed and had to be carried off in the one game of his career without AC. The Celtics didn’t have AC for 45 years. That was just basketball.

A lot of todays mild injuries would ruin your career back then.

Everything is much easier today. More more refined and setup to pamper the assets.

The players were treated like shit back in the day. They had to go on strike to get 7 dollars a day to eat on the road. Now they get team provided meals to their exact dietary rules on top of a massive buffet after every game before being flown on private planes to 5 star hotels.

These dudes being placed in cryogenic chambers to trick their cells into repair and guys when Barry played were taking 10 minutes to apply double wrapped Vaseline layered socks so their shitty shoes wouldn’t wreck their feet then wrapping their own ankles unless it was a home game so a players wife might be around to help a few of them out.

Theres plenty of reason to assume todays players wouldn’t make it back then.

Every one of them would walk out if you tried to make them play under those conditions now.

They literally wouldn’t show up. And even if placed back then with no knowledge of what it’s like to be treated well many of them can only maintain their current level because of modern science and conveniences. A lot of them literally would not make it through seasons if they have to play in 1968 conditions.

If the only change were removing air conditioning and Gatorade a lot of these musclebound giants would be literally collapsing trying to play playoff ball in May June and July.

They aren’t built for it. They’re built to play under perfect conditions with million dollar staff and billion dollar facilities. I’m sure virtually nobody 50 years ago could guard Zion but let him jump 45 inches at 300 pounds in some Chuck Taylors before microfracture surgery and before they knew how to fix broken feet and see how long his career lasts.

A lot of people would be out of the league going both ways if we don’t allow for massive changes.

[rmt]

I get Rick Barry's point about the past players' lack of benefit from technology/advancement/funds in general.

So what's today's players excuse? Why are they all not learning basketball fundamentals/skills - those haven't changed and are well documented - they have no excuse but that the NBA has made the rules so that they don't have to. Have they benefitted so much PHYSICALLY from medical advances, training, hyperbaric chambers, nutrition, physical therapy, (computer) data, private planes, expensive medical staff, etc. that they've gotten lazy and aren't becoming SUPER basketball players by adding available knowledge of basketball fundamentals/skills to their repertoire?

[Round Mound]

IMO ...the game has gotten better in terms of far range and 3-point shooting but not in terms of fundamentals. As rmt says they have made the rules so anyone or any position can handle the rock today and there is hardly any contested shots or rebounds. lack of mid range game and post game also etc

[Wally450]

Rick Barry wore a wig while he played in the 70s.

[8Ball]

"People say Rick you guys couldn't play today. I said you're out of your mind I said you must be on drugs.

I said you know how much better I would be if I was playing today? Seriously, I had no weight lifting.

We had no strength coach. No agility coaches. We had no dietician. We did nothing to help us.

I'd be faster, stronger, quicker, more endurance, jump higher.

I'd be so much better a basketball player today than I was back when I played because of the training and the sophistication of what

goes on in every sport.

So to say that statement is insane. All of us would be way better"

Give some of the guys in the 60s all the weightlifting they can handle, they still probably don't even get drafted in the NBA today.

[8Ball]

I get Rick Barry's point about the past players' lack of benefit from technology/advancement/funds in general.

So what's today's players excuse? Why are they all not learning basketball fundamentals/skills - those haven't changed and are well documented - they have no excuse but that the NBA has made the rules so that they don't have to. Have they benefitted so much PHYSICALLY from medical advances, training, hyperbaric chambers, nutrition, physical therapy, (computer) data, private planes, expensive medical staff, etc. that they've gotten lazy and aren't becoming SUPER basketball players by adding available knowledge of basketball fundamentals/skills to their repertoire?

The game is more difficult now and players actually are more skilled.

If you can't shoot 3s you almost don't make it into the league nowadays. Back to the basket basketball has been proven not to yield the best offence. It's all in the numbers. NBA Coaches today don't make players start an offensive possession in the post anymore because starting the offence on the perimeter yields higher points per possession.

[TheMan]

The game is more difficult now and players actually are more skilled.

If you can't shoot 3s you almost don't make it into the league nowadays. Back to the basket basketball has been proven not to yield the best offence. It's all in the numbers. NBA Coaches today don't make players start an offensive possession in the post anymore because starting the offence on the perimeter yields higher points per possession.

Three point shooting hasn't really improved though, it's just shot at a much higher clip. You can't argue players are more skilled today if the 3pt % is the same as in past eras, the only difference is that more players are shooting it more often because they are given the green light to do so.


https://youtu.be/Yw22uDHy8-Q

It's an interesting video but skip to the 9:45 mark...

[3ba11]

Curry and Lebron wouldn't have teammates spacing the floor for them back in the day

If we took away the threes and spacing, today's game would look just as cluttered and unskilled as prior eras..... except today's players lack the scoring touch or pure/instinctive scoring ability to score in traffic..

Today's players cry like babies if a big man posts up in their driving lane - they're far less skilled at 2-pointers than prior eras..

Ultimately, prior eras have the same advantage on 2's that today's era has with 3's.. you don't have to be good at 2-pointers in today's game, whereas you had to be a master of 2's in prior eras

[kawhileonard2]

Carlos Arroyo outplayed Lebron in the Olympics.