if we drop morant, dame, klay into 90s are they not 2nd best guard easily?

[And1AllDay]

answer is [x] yes

[Real Men Wear Green]

Morant may not play the same style if he was getting knocked down the way that defenders could back then without getting a flagrant. It changed things. Would be interesting to see what KJ could have done if defenders ate hamstrung by modern rules. 6 players are averaging 30 this season. In the entire decade of the 90s only Jordan managed to average 30 even once (Karl Malone did average 31 in 89/90). As a Celtic fan I often wonder what Tatum's scoring average would be in 2003. 26 points? It's impossible to quantify the individual impact on scoring numbers of modern officiating.

[j3lademaster]

Not easily, but they’ll be up there all the same.

The 90’s wasn’t particularly strong at the guard spots, but the bigs in that era were ridiculous. Shaq and, to a lesser extent D-Rob, would bully Giannis. Giannis would be taught to play in the post and wouldn’t be handling the ball.

[Real Men Wear Green]

Not easily, but they’ll be up there all the same.

The 90’s wasn’t particularly strong at the guard spots, but the bigs in that era were ridiculous. Shaq and, to a lesser extent D-Rob, would bully Giannis. Giannis would be taught to play in the post and wouldn’t be handling the ball.

Robinson was strong but he never took over the postseason like Shaq did. Olajuwon famously dominated him in his mvp year. I can't put a statistical value on it but Giannis takes over in a way that Robinson did not which is why I would have more faith in him regardless of the era. He would not be able to stop Shaq, no one could do that, but no one combines quickness power and size like Antetokuonmpo does either. If we still assume that he makes it to the NBA and finds the weight room he would be a great player in any era.

[Xiao Yao You]

Not easily, but they’ll be up there all the same.

The 90’s wasn’t particularly strong at the guard spots, but the bigs in that era were ridiculous. Shaq and, to a lesser extent D-Rob, would bully Giannis. Giannis would be taught to play in the post and wouldn’t be handling the ball.

maybe the guards weren't good because they didn't have the freedom of movement that players today have. Putting up big numbers as a guard today is expected since the D can do little about it because of the rules

[And1AllDay]

ja, dame, klay vs reggie, hornacek, porter

:oldlol::roll:

[Real Men Wear Green]

ja, dame, klay vs reggie, hornacek, porter

:oldlol::roll:

It would not surprise me if you have never heard of Sprewell, Houston, Drexler, or Mitch Richmond.

[Reggie43]

Would love to see Payton, KJ and Penny matchup with those guys

[MrFonzworth]

If we drop OP he won't be able to get up

[ImKobe]

These guys wouldn't be used the same nor would they have the space to get their shot off as they do in today's era. Idiots here think the game & the rules haven't changed at all. You don't have the same benefits in the past eras.

[Spurs m8]

Op has a very simple way of looking at everything...

It's a trend I've noticed

[Manny98]

Drexler and Stockton were better than all of those guys

[Soundwave]

Dame could be, Morant and Klay I'm not sure about.

Drexler, Penny (pre-injury) could hang with those guys though, so could Dominque (although technically a 3 I guess).

The reason the game is so much more guard oriented today is in no small part due to Jordan though ... basketball was for the majority of its history based around having a dominant center. Jordan is really when that started to shift fundamentally and he popularized being a scoring guard so much so that you have successive generations all wanting to be scoring guards.

No one wants to be a post big, it's not "sexy" or "cool" enough, Jordan made being a scoring guard cool.

So saying "there's so many more scoring guards today!!" isn't the flex people think it is. Like yeah ... and? That's Jordan influence on the game. Every guard wants to put up 30 ppg if they can.

[BigShotBob]

Dame could be, Morant and Klay I'm not sure about.

Drexler, Penny (pre-injury) could hang with those guys though, so could Dominque (although technically a 3 I guess).

The reason the game is so much more guard oriented today is in no small part due to Jordan though ... basketball was for the majority of its history based around having a dominant center. Jordan is really when that started to shift fundamentally and he popularized being a scoring guard so much so that you have successive generations all wanting to be scoring guards.

No one wants to be a post big, it's not "sexy" or "cool" enough, Jordan made being a scoring guard cool.

So saying "there's so many more scoring guards today!!" isn't the flex people think it is. Like yeah ... and? That's Jordan influence on the game. Every guard wants to put up 30 ppg if they can.

And they changed the rules to try and manufacture the next Jordan. But in Jordan's time the rules favored big men for the most part. No defensive 3 seconds hampered team USA in Euro basketball for instance