A collection of old ISH posts from 2004-2005

[Im Still Ballin]

Ben Wallace or Yao Ming? (9/16/04 9:33 pm)

Give your non-raptors fan perspective 2 cent on Bosh (9/20/04 2:10 am)

Is Ben Wallace a future hall of famer? (9/17/04 10:50 am)

Ray Allen or Peja Stojakovic (9/19/04 8:38 pm)

Will there be another Wilt Chamberlain (9/19/04 8:40 pm)

Patrick Ewing vs. David Robinson (9/16/04 9:48 pm)

Honestly.. How could TMAC not make the playoffs?? (9/18/04 4:30 pm)

Tracy McGrady owns Kobe (3/15/04 11:40 pm)

DIRK Fam #2 (Now with only 99% sarcasm) (11/11/04 11:38 pm)

Kobe's "street hunger" making a run for 11th seed (3/7/05 9:06 pm)

Pick em: Meka vs. Howard (3/4/05 6:46 am)

Who's the best athlete in the NBA? (3/3/05 6:21 am)

How much can shaq bench press? (2/28/05 5:24 am)

Bill Russell on Yao (3/1/05 12:03 pm)

top 10 PG....(needs to be revaluated for the new era) (3/1/05 7:42 pm)

MVP according to member of the NBA (2/28/05 4:53 pm)

Greatest Forward of All-Time (2/28/05 8:03 am)

SHAQ would be the best ever IF (2/28/05 6:45 am)

Marbury: "Kobe is the best player in the NBA" (2/28/05 12:00 am)

Magic or Bird...... (2/28/05 3:37 pm)

Better player I. Thomas or J. Stockton.... (2/28/05 6:39 pm)

Player Rankings from CBS Sportsline (2/28/05 7:52 pm)

Who is having a better year... Garnett or Bryant? (2/28/05 2:13 am)

Carter > Lebron,Tmac,Kobe (2/28/05 1:28 am)

BONUS:

kblaze888555
Shogon Ramel
Return of God of BBALL
eliteballer
Ev08
JohnnySic
Hateraid

[warriorfan]

bring back shogun

[1987_Lakers]

Jesus, how did you find this?

[3ba11]

interesting that there were Ewing vs Robinson debates

There would never be Pippen vs Robinson debate because Pippen was never on that level... But once upon a time before the fake GOAT debate that inflated Pippen, Ewing was infact on that level

As an elite 1st option, Ewing was always considered easily superior to Pippen.. the best playaers from the 90's are all 1st options that led their team to the Finals, aka Hakeem, Shaq, MJ, Ewing, Drexler, Barkley, Malone, Robinson

[Im Still Ballin]

Jesus, how did you find this?

Wayback Machine

[hateraid]

Magic vs Bird thread. I picked Magic as GOAT back in 2005 and I still stick by it

[highwhey]

nice find OP. sometimes i find it difficult to believe that this forum hosted serious basketball discourse at one point. i won't blame jeff solely for having driven away some great posters through the years, some of that is just a natural consequence of forums being a dying medium. and even on reddit or twitter (+ other social media plats), a lot of the discourse is intermixed with trolls. it parallels what happens here where people just post absurd opinions to get a rise out of other individuals. it just so happens that ISH is unmoderated so it breeds individuals that only troll.

(cue mr fonz "meltdown" reply)

[hateraid]

nice find OP. sometimes i find it difficult to believe that this forum hosted serious basketball discourse at one point. i won't blame jeff solely for having driven away some great posters through the years, some of that is just a natural consequence of forums being a dying medium. and even on reddit or twitter (+ other social media plats), a lot of the discourse is intermixed with trolls. it parallels what happens here where people just post absurd opinions to get a rise out of other individuals. it just so happens that ISH is unmoderated so it breeds individuals that only troll.

(cue mr fonz "meltdown" reply)

Yeah I miss those days. It also shows how etiquette and discipline is on the decline. Shit posters of todaybwould never fly back then. The board is horrible now and it's caused everyone to not take this place seriously. It is a joke of a forum.

[Im Still Ballin]

It's interesting to see what was being said 18 years ago. Opinions and perspectives can change over time.

Found another profile of someone who still posts here:

tontoz

[Im Still Ballin]

macmac

[Full Court]

The "How Much Can Shaq Bench Press" thread was awesome.

[ArbitraryWater]

bring back shogun

[Jasper]

nice find OP. sometimes i find it difficult to believe that this forum hosted serious basketball discourse at one point. i won't blame jeff solely for having driven away some great posters through the years, some of that is just a natural consequence of forums being a dying medium. and even on reddit or twitter (+ other social media plats), a lot of the discourse is intermixed with trolls. it parallels what happens here where people just post absurd opinions to get a rise out of other individuals. it just so happens that ISH is unmoderated so it breeds individuals that only troll.

(cue mr fonz "meltdown" reply)

10 4 ...
every argument had to have proof / documentation and valid debates.
About 10 years ago it went in the toilet

[jstern]

Things were different back then, because the internet was still relatively new. For example, if you were an NBA fan from the late 40s to the early 2000s, then your favorite team would be your home team, or the team closest to your city. And you might discuss a game the following day with a coworker. Discuss what Jordan is doing in Chicago during small talk, face to face conversation where socially one will accept other's opinions, and doesn't consume their day. In a way you saw things for what they were, because you weren't emotionally attached to a fanboy agenda. As a kid you might hear about Magic and Bird and enjoy the stories, now people that never saw them play will bash them. People had their own unique opinions.

But now it's a completely different animal. With the combination of social media, everybody having a loud opinion that is taken somewhat serious, (face to face, if a 12 year old gave you an ignorant opinion, you simply dismiss it) and people 12 to 22 year old talking with authority about eras that they never watched or can imagine. A sort of cult following develops against individual players, so less fans of hometown teams and more for the individual players. And instead of unique opinions and observations, it's talking point that are defended to the death.

It's been that way since probably the mid 2000s. Which is why I stopped posting in the main NBA forum. It's like a waste.

All that was a rough explanation.

Many years ago there was another of these threads with old posting from the 80s. People with computers were able to connect and post stuff, even before the internet. And it was just amazing how people talked about basketball then. For example, Bird and Magic fans in like 1987 could openly acknowledge that Jordan was the best, while giving an opinion on how he won't be able to win a championship.

And one post that I often think about was about the talk from the early 80s about how Bird will not succeed in the NBA because he's not athletic. And that pops in my head all the time, particularly when I hear a kid talking about how the 80s were bad because Bird wasn't athletic. They don't know anything about the league, but it sucked because he wasn't athletic. That's the logic. But they were saying the same thing back in 1980.