Michael Jordan in Today's League: Better or Worse?

[Levity]

surround him with shooters and a stretch 4, he'd excel substantially in this league. double him, and pay the 3 ball price. single cover him, and he'll score on you. sounds simple, but it sort of is. He'd midrange all over the NBA's face.

[DavisIsMyUniBro]

People REALLY need to stop looking at the tail end of an arguement and looking out of context,

Ralph said Jordan would still be great, just that he would not average 40.

Imo, considering he averaged 37 one year, if he fell to a worse team, then sure I could see it.

But ask yourself this, how much did mj, in the regular season, score per game at his peak?

[juju151111]

The thing is, the gap is probably closed when you factor in 3 point shooting, which increases the pace of most teams.

Hmm no they were still slow in the late 90s when 3s doubled from the 80s

[DavisIsMyUniBro]

Hmm no they were still slow in the late 90s when 3s doubled from the 80s

But it's still not used as much as it is today.

[SamuraiSWISH]

He would get more foul calls, that much is obvious. Spacing feels better today, so Im sure he would have developed a decent 3 point shot.

All true apart from the fact MJ did at worst have a decent three ball from 1990 forward. It's hyperbole when people want to make it sound like it was a visible weakness in his game. It wasn't. At worst it was average.

And what are you on about less minutes and more modern training? He didn't play THAT long ago. And his trainer, Grover, was ahead of his time. In fact he's still the best in the business. MJ didn't need to improve in that regard after he started weight lifting to build his upper body to sustain more late season physical punishment.

Some players today are too big or built or heavy for the fast cutting game they play. Thus excessive lower body injuries and poor stamina in some cases. Actually one of the negative effects of concentration on weight lifting.

It's basketball not football. Iverson and KD didn't need to be huge to dominate.

[Blue&Orange]

the paint is clogged

PGs are the main ball dominant guys now

HOw hard can it be to use the brain, paint is clogged but PG's are the main ball dominant guys?

Makes sense.

The rules have also obliterated post ups which were a big part of MJ's game, especially during the 2nd three-peat.

Too bad that everyone saw the corpse of Andre Miller multiple times rape people left and right at the post with these "new rules"

People don't post up because of the rules, they don't post up because they can't, they don't have the skills. This is the most dumbed down era of NBA basketball since the 60's.


Reading the first page was enough.


If we think Jordan averaged 37 points for a season and 33\8\8 another, it becomes almost hilarious to think what he would put up in such a fluffy era.

[Levity]

yeah, i also disagree with the "post ups" excuse. Are we talking big men or guards? If the latter, just look at kobe (dont care if he was efficient from there last season or not), he still plays 50% of his possessions in the post. why? because he has the ability to do so, both as a scorer and playmaker. MJ is the same way. he'll get his ISO's in the post if teams allow, but if they decide to hard double as soon as he touches the ball there, he'll kick or skip it to the open man.

More teams would incorporate that into their offense if they had players who could legitimately play from there

[3ball]

this is a 3-point shooters league

the paint is clogged

oxymoron

[Soundwave]

There's no era in the NBA where a prime Jordan wouldn't score his minimum 30+ ppg.

There's no magic defensive scheme or zone or Tom Thibodou voodoo that changes this fundamental fact:

There's no one at 6-6 or taller that can stay in front of Jordan (prime) laterally.

The man had the quickness of a extremely fast 6'0 or 6'1 player in a 6'6 frame with a large wing span to go with that.

So you can either put a taller defender on him and get blown past, or a smaller defender who's quicker but one he can easily shoot over.

If you can't stop the guy from getting his shot off, you're not going to stop him from scoring. Again. And again. And again.

Combine the speed with incredible agility and leaping ability means he could manufacture a quality shot virtually every time down the floor.

[Kvnzhangyay]

On a good team? Probably less ppg and more assists. Pretty sure a coach nowadays would utilize him differently nowadays, considering a lot hate midrange shots and emphasize on finding the open threeball

so maybe 31/5/9

[ClipperRevival]

There's no era in the NBA where a prime Jordan wouldn't score his minimum 30+ ppg.

There's no magic defensive scheme or zone or Tom Thibodou voodoo that changes this fundamental fact:

There's no one at 6-6 or taller that can stay in front of Jordan (prime) laterally.

The man had the quickness of a extremely fast 6'0 or 6'1 player in a 6'6 frame with a large wing span to go with that.

So you can either put a taller defender on him and get blown past, or a smaller defender who's quicker but one he can easily shoot over.

If you can't stop the guy from getting his shot off, you're not going to stop him from scoring. Again. And again. And again.

Combine the speed with incredible agility and leaping ability means he could manufacture a quality shot virtually every time down the floor.

I always say that his quickness is the most underrated and also the most devastating part of his game. As you said, his quickness for a guy 6'6" was simply off the charts. Looked more like an elite, 6'0" PG's quickness. From the triple threat position, a single defender really had no chance.

[dh144498]

he'd literally average 40-10-10 on 58% FG in this era.

[r0drig0lac]

There's no era in the NBA where a prime Jordan wouldn't score his minimum 30+ ppg.

There's no magic defensive scheme or zone or Tom Thibodou voodoo that changes this fundamental fact:

There's no one at 6-6 or taller that can stay in front of Jordan (prime) laterally.

The man had the quickness of a extremely fast 6'0 or 6'1 player in a 6'6 frame with a large wing span to go with that.

So you can either put a taller defender on him and get blown past, or a smaller defender who's quicker but one he can easily shoot over.

If you can't stop the guy from getting his shot off, you're not going to stop him from scoring. Again. And again. And again.

Combine the speed with incredible agility and leaping ability means he could manufacture a quality shot virtually every time down the floor.

word

[jstern]

No time to look at the stats, but you guys forget that when Jordan decided to make the 3 point shot a part of his game for the 1989 season, he shot 37 or 38%. He made it part of his game, unlike previous season only shooting around 20 to 30 3 pointers per season. That were probably mostly bailouts.

Jordan doesn't live in a vacume. He's abnormal drive to win is what developed his game, and if you put him in any era, especially one with permeter friendly rules, he's going to adjust to that style and dominate. Since it's all abuot winning for him.

Also remember a couple of years ago in the playoff, where the way the 3 point shot was called was modified, and we had record 4 point plays? Defenders now have to be more careful? Easier shots.

[HighFlyer23]

In this league where an effeminate mixed nikka is the MVP?

Jordan would murk this league