Past NBA stars in today's game.

[atomicblue224]

when fran was getting technical and slamming chair i thought wow were going backs to 70`s basketball.today basketball is way way too lame.everyone is acting like a woman.

 

[hawktransplant]

Kurt Rambis would be the league MVP in todays game.

 

[RocknRollface]

Lebron is not better than Jordan. Jordan, Barkley, and Malone were all great players, but the teams they played against had a completely different makeup than they do now. Times have changed old man. Rik Smits would get tossed around like a wet noodle nowadays. But a guy like Serge Ibaka wouldve been too raw to play in the 90s. It goes both ways because its a different game.

.

Look at NBA rosters, things have really not changed much at all. There are just as many stiffs as there was 20 years ago, Luke Walton is the NBA for god sake.

There are slightly better athletes now but essentially overall there is little to no difference vs 20 years ago.

If anything the league has gotten smaller overall. Dwight Howard is about the only real center in the game today who could hold his own against the likes of Olajawon, Ewing, Robinson, Shaq, Mutumbo, Morning ect.

 

[woodyk1]

Kurt Rambis would be the league MVP in todays game.

Before or after McHale takes him out!

 

[hawktransplant]

Before or after McHale takes him out!

That cheapshot bastard celtic playing McHale. He would be in the All star game but Rambis would be on sportscenter highlights more often.

 

[woodyk1]

That cheapshot bastard celtic playing McHale. He would be in the All star game but Rambis would be on sportscenter highlights more often.

A Gopher can't change his spots.

 

[hawktransplant]

A Gopher can't change his spots.

good point.

 

[glnhawk]

I watched that live where Tommy Heinsohn said McHale was just trying to keep Rambis from falling. It was the biggest cheap shot I've ever seen in a sports game.

 

[RocknRollface]

Do you mean allowing, or calling? Because the NBA in the 70's and 80's was practically NFL football. The Detroit Pistons won two championships because they had a team that went around literally beating the crap out of everyone. Back in the 70's you didn't even get suspended for punching a guy on the court until Kermit Washington almost killed Rudy Tomjonovich.

The finesse era of the NBA began the year Chicago won their first title, '92 or '93 I think.

The 70s was pre Stern and no watched it, it was more like a fringe sport like Hockey. but the 80s you are way off on. That was total finesse other than the pistons and a very few others. Most teams would score over 100 ever game.

They began allowing the hand checking in the mid to late 80s with the bad boys but it didn't really change the game till the 90s when everyone started emulating the pistons.

The mid 90s were by far and away the most physical era. The east with the Knicks of Ewing, Oakley and Mason, the Pacers and the Bulls was as rough as the NBA will ever get.

 

[hawktransplant]

I was at the game when bad brad miller got in a fight with Shaq. It looked totally different live than what I saw later that night on sportscenter.

 

[woodyk1]

I watched that live where Tommy Heinsohn said McHale was just trying to keep Rambis from falling. It was the biggest cheap shot I've ever seen in a sports game.

Not great quality, but here's video of it.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7r6vXeOfyQ]Kevin McHale Clotheslines Kurt Rambis - YouTube[/ame]

 

[RocknRollface]

LOL wut? Maybe I am being too loose with the term "defense", but in the 70's, basketball was pretty much hockey on hardwood. They may not have been playing great defense, but they beat the hell out of each other.

Linked is an article from SI in 1977 about tough guys in basketball. It says that in 1976, there were 41 fights in NBA games. 41 freaking fights.

It is clearly a different game today.

I think your confusing dirty play, with defense.

There was tons of dirty play in the 70s and 80s, much more comon then, now it would get you suspended and fined.

But what we are talking about is hand checking bumping and shoving that is not called by the officals. That stuff would have goten you fouled out in the 80s.

 

[hawktransplant]

Not great quality, but here's video of it.

Kevin McHale Clotheslines Kurt Rambis - YouTube

That was clearly a cheapshot. Celtics suck.

 

[RocknRollface]

The New York Knicks - Miami Heat circa '95-'97 laugh at this. The current finesse era began in '03 and led to a proliferation of drive and kick offenses and an infusion of quality point gaurds into the league.

The defense in the 70's was nowhere near as tough as the defense that is played today, let alone the late 80's early 90's.

I knew I was forgetting some body it was the Heat. Good call, they were just as physical as the Knicks and Pacers

Alonzo Morning was a bad ***

 

[glnhawk]

Could the players of today play within the rules as they were called 30 years.

Dr J got a step and a half after dribbling. Jordan got 2 and a half. Today players can run down the court and dunk. They would have been called for traveling 30 years ago. I saw a highlight of Jeremy Lin where he did a spin and took 3 more steps before laying it in. What could Erving, Wilkins or Drexler do if they had 5 steps to work with.

Big men like Jabbar would back guys down with the dribble. If his defender held his ground Kareem with step back and throw in a sky hook. Shaq would dip his shoulder and knock his man back 4 feet and dunk over him. They never call an offensive fall.

The players today have it so much easier.

 

[hawktransplant]

Could the players of today play within the rules as they were called 30 years.

Dr J got a step and a half after dribbling. Jordan got 2 and a half. Today players can run down the court and dunk. They would have been called for traveling 30 years ago. I saw a highlight of Jeremy Lin where he did a spin and took 3 more steps before laying it in. What could Erving, Wilkins or Drexler do if they had 5 steps to work with.

Big men like Jabbar would back guys down with the dribble. If his defender held his ground Kareem with step back and throw in a sky hook. Shaq would dip his shoulder and knock his man back 4 feet and dunk over him. They never call an offensive fall.

The players today have it so much easier.

I agree. Plus, I think fundamentals were better 20-30 years ago. They played team bball.

 

[sportstalent]

What do you mean by the bolded? Kobe is a pretty athletic guy, not as athletic as Lebron, but no slouch either.

Jordan all things being equal is still a superior athlete to Kobe, but LeBron is the best athlete of all three with the mental toughness of a toddler.

 

[DuffMan]

I think its funny that a thread about a sport that so many profess to know nothing about has 157 posts and counting....

 

[hawktransplant]

I think its funny that a thread about a sport that so many profess to know nothing about has 157 posts and counting....

nothing? dude, we all know nothing about hawkeye sports too, but there is several websites dedicated to the subject.

 

[atomicblue224]

I think its funny that a thread about a sport that so many profess to know nothing about has 157 posts and counting....

fzzz me for being dumb, now if you quit worrying about how many posts there is you could have taught us what we dont know.instead of rambling on how many post there is, you can get oil change also...