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NBA's Greatest.

Started by Funguy81, May 12, 2012, 12:04:29 AM

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Funguy81

I don't know why, maybe because of the NBA finals and the fact I have been playing NBA 2k12 with the older teams. So I thought I go ahead and ask the world of E several questions.

1. If you can create the starting five of your personal team with the best players you can think of...who would they be?

2. Name the top 3 teams in your opinion in the history of the NBA?

I'm going first since I started this.  ;D

SF: Larry Bird.  The quintesential shooting forward. Not the fastest or strongest player, but he could shoot the ball damn near anywhere on the court. He has a nearly 50% shooting average from the floor, and nearly 40 percent from 3 point range.  Also one of the most versatle players in the fact his career average is over 20 ppg, 10 rpg, and 5 apg.  His defensive capabilities are known to be exceptional if not spectacular, though while not the most spectacular defender he had the ability to anticipate his opponents' intentions, and intercept the ball in between passes. One of his strongest capabilities though his his mental games on the court. Any player can trash talk, but he could do it in a way to get inside his opponent's minds, and break their concentration.

PF: Karl Malone: Truly one of the best power forwards in the NBA that have never one a championship. With a mixture of speed, power, and ball handling ability to get in close to the basket and get over 50 percent shooting ability from the field. most of this done by pushing past any defender trying to stop him, or utilizing the pick and roll with his partner John Stockton. In fact he is currently 2nd place by having the most career points in the NBA's history throughout his 19 year career.  A prolific rebounder and a physical defensive player, he was like playing a against a brick wall that would block and shut down any player that tried to charge for the basket.

C: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Considered one of the best players in the history of the NBA, he currently holds the the most career points in the NBA history. While most low post dominators are large players, Kareem body profile is tall but slender. His duribility is also one of his greatest strengths having played in the NBA for 20 years, and even in those late years he was still one of the strongest players on the feild. The quintissential center he was able to shoot within the low post with nearly 60% shooting average from the feild partially thanks to his legendary skyhook that was near impossible to block. On the defensive end, he was a prolific shot blocker with a career 2.6 blocks per game.   Fun Fact: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar studied the martial arts under the tutalage of Bruce Lee, which gave him the foundation for his personal training regiment.   

PG: Magic Johnson: The leader of "Showtime" Lakers, he had the ability to play at any position of the team with spectacular results, but he works best as the point guard. at 6'9'' he was considered one of the biggest players in this position, and he had the ability of full awareness of the game around him. As a testiment to his awareness he currently holds the highest career assists per game in NBA history (11.2 apg). With his ball handling skills, and unstoppable passing ability he could lead the team down the court confuse the defense on how to stop it as he could take the ball to the hoop itself, or pass it off to a teammate for an open and almost garaunteed shot. Magic had the ability to turn a great team even better. As a testiment to his ability he is currently has the 2nd most career triple doubles with only Oscar robertson placed higher.

SG: Micheal Jordan: I do not think there would be any team in the world that could be listed without Michael Jordan as one of the players. Considered the greatest player in the history of the NBA by many sources, his ball handling, durability, shooting accuracy, and clutch is legendary. He made a great impact to the game the moment he walked onto the league with the Bulls. He currently holds the highest point per game in the history of the NBA with 30.1 ppg as a true testiment to his skill with the ball, and also thanks to his skill with the fadeaway shot. Initially considered a selfish player in his early years, he grew to become a team player that brought to bulls to 6 championships. Along with with his considerable offensive play, his defensive ability is among one of the best iin the NBA.  He currently holds the 2nd most career steals in the history of the NBA, and have set records for seasonal and blocked shots for a guard. Magic Johnson was quoted in saying, "There is Michael Jordan...and then there is the rest of us."


Best teams.

1996 Chicago Bulls.   72-10 season record. Nuff said. lol.
1986 Boston Celtics
1987 Los Angeles Lakers

Just my opinion that the teams of today really does not hold a candle to those in the past.



Semantics

#1
Posting even though I'm not a huge fan of actually watching basketball just for the sake of watching basketball.  Stopped doing that after the Jordan era.  I am always in favor of Sports Talk, however.

Going to just let your breakdowns speak for those that are also on my list, because I'm lazy.  Another note.  While you said starting five to my personal team, this is more best-players oriented.  If I were building a team to win as best as possible, I think I'd make some changes.  And if I were building a team to win and play a style I like, it'd be different still.  Jut noting.

SF: Larry Bird.

PF: Karl Malone.  This was the hardest for me, just because I don't really have a strong opinion at PF.  But the main competitor in many people's minds, Tim Duncan, came along mostly after I'd become less a fan of watching it, so I can't really say much for him.

C: Wilt Chamberlain.  Every time I hear serious sports people say something like, "Before Lebron James, the NBA had never seen a guy that was as much  head-and-shoulders physically better than everyone else on the court," I scoff.  Chamberlain could throw people like rag-dolls, as he did Meadowlark Lemon in a Globetrotter skit.  He ran a 10.9 100-yard in high school, and even before high school he ran a 40.9 440.  Oh, and in high school he won the Big 8 Conference high jumping competition three years out of, well, three years, and triple jumped more than 50 feet.  Do you know that you can't, in basketball, dunk a foul shot?  The reason you can't, from a rules perspective at least, is because Wilt Chamberlain could, and the NBA outlawed it to keep him from just doing that every time.  Which would have pretty much erased the one weak spot in his game.  The widening of the lane, offensive goaltending, and various other rules.  He led the league in assists one year, and twice finished with 7.6 or more APG in an era when they were much harder to come by.  While blocked shots weren't recorded in his days, he was well-known for them, and once dislocated someone's shoulder with a block.  He often led the fast break, especially earlier on, but even did so against Kareem's Bucks in the '72 semi-finals in his mid 30's, several years after recovering from a knee injury that could have ended his career.  He never fouled out in a game despite his shot-blocking and high minutes, and later in his career was known for his defense.  One year he played more than 48 minutes a game.  Oh, yes.  Can't forget 100 points in a game, 50 for a season, and 65+ points 15 times to Everyone Else's 7.  There's always that.  Suffice to say, Wilt Chamberlain was a 7-1 guy who could block, rebound, pass, finesse shot or dunk, block, play defense, run up and down the court, and if they hadn't changed the rules to stop it, he could have been a yearly 100% FT shooter.

Sorry if this got long, I've just always thought Wilt doesn't get enough respect.

PG: Oscar Robertson.  The 181 career triple-doubles.  The only triple-double ever averaged over a year.  The triple-double he averaged over his first five years, during which he also averaged 30.3 points.  The first player to average more than 10 assists per game in a season.  And all of these done in a time before the three-point line (Which has more to do with points than his triple-doubles) and before, as with Wilt, the criteria for assists was relaxed.  He's still in sixth in career assists despite this, and with Kidd and Nash past him, nobody's going to bump him down a spot any time soon.  His 181 triple-doubles are first by 43 above Magic, and the only player with anything even remotely resembling a chance at it is LeBron, and he really doesn't have a chance.  It's just everybody else has Even Less Chance.

SG: Michael Jordan.

I don't really do teams, they're even harder for me than players.  It's even more unquantifiable.  But.

I'll agree with your Bulls and Celtics, but substitute in Russell's Celtics for Magic's Lakers.

I can't decide on the year.  I'm not even going to seriously try.  Havlicek is an all-time great, but started just as the bulk of the other players were retiring or aging, although many of them played good-great right up until the end.  Certainly, you could pick most years from their championship years and get a team laden with greatness.

Take 57-58, Russell's second year, for instance.  When they had 8 total players who are in the HoF.  Two, certainly, (Arnie Risen and Andy Phillips) were in their last year and playing backup minutes.  They had 11 players.  Of the three that didn't go to the HoF, Jim Loscutoff, was a solid player who put up a double-double (certainly easier to get back then, but still) the one year he got more than 25 MPG.  Another, Jack Nichols, had a double-double several years previous, and seems to have been a solid bench option, even if it was his last year.

Or you could just go 62-63, after they got Havlicek to add on to a team that had also added K.C. Jones, but still had the bulk of their early guys playing well.  Or you could go later.  Or you could just throw a dart, land on any year, and be satisfied.