ESPN Speaks!!!: Gives their take on '92 Dream Team vs. '07 Team USA - Page 2 - Message Board Basketball Forum

dejordan · 09-05-2007, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abuC

The practice squad against the Dream Team actually stole a game, the 07 team is certainly much better than that USA select squad was.

true, and i don't think you could say that the 92 team would beat the 07 team every time out. redd or kobe could get insanely hot from three, and there's no way to stop that when it happens.

i think another aspect that we haven't seen yet is what will happen when the us team starts to face bigger front courts in 2008. last year the bron / melo front court allignment didn't work well against teams with nba sized pfs. hopefully coach k has found a solution for this.

IGOTGAME · 09-05-2007, 01:44 PM

Either Melo or Bron will be splitting minutes at 3 or one would have to guard Barkley or MAlone(Barkley would drop 40 or more on either one)...I just see the bigs absolutely dominating the boards, manhandling 07 team..I mean the 07 team is getting outrebounded by bad teams..Whats gonna happen when they see EWing, DRob, Malone and BArkley..

AI Nuggets3 · 09-05-2007, 04:54 PM

-92 DreamTeam excelled at MID RANGE SHOOTING, and DOMINATION IN THE PAINT. these 2 things have killed the US since 2002. there's no way that guys like Bosh, Amare, and Howard can compete with prime Barkley, prime Malone, prime Ewing, prime DRob. It's way too much to ask of them.

however....

Melo/Lebron >>> Bird/Magic. not sure why this an ongoing debate but i might as well state the obvious. Magic had come out of retirement for Barcelona. He was slightly out of shape and that helped him get injured. Bird had all but held his retirement press conference. He had already played his final NBA game. Both of them did well, but they were shells of their former selves. Lets not get crazy for nostalgia's sake.

1992 versions of Bird and Magic were like 2002 Jordan--still intimidating, still great skills, but way past their prime. throw the 1990 or earlier versions in there and they'd slaughter Melo and Lebron.

with that being said, this 08 Team is going to be great, but we should compare the to the 96 team before we compare them to the best team of all time.

abuC · 09-05-2007, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IGOTGAME

Either Melo or Bron will be splitting minutes at 3 or one would have to guard Barkley or MAlone(Barkley would drop 40 or more on either one)...I just see the bigs absolutely dominating the boards, manhandling 07 team..I mean the 07 team is getting outrebounded by bad teams..Whats gonna happen when they see EWing, DRob, Malone and BArkley..

And Melo or LeBron would drop 40 on Barkley if he had to guard them, it's a two way street.

Honestly, Bird, Barkley and Magic are a lot more of defensive liabilities than Melo. The interior on the 92 was great, but the perimeter on the 07 team in my opinion is superior.

disco · 09-05-2007, 05:29 PM

Magic and Bird were definitely past their prime - heck Bird barely play for dream team because of his injury and Magic came out of retirement to play in the olympics. In that sense I think Lebron/Melo just might >> Magic/Bird. But overall the 1992 team was way better than this year's team. Frontcourt like Barkley, Malone, Ewing & Robinson in their prime is miuch better than what the current team can offer. Jordan, Pippen and Drexler gave others too many problems in open court and dream team had shooters too. Mullin in 92 was much better shooter than anyone in the team today. And when evaluating Bird/Magic, don't forget that because it was the first time players from other countries played against them, they had psychological advantage over everyone. Players who were going to guard them took photos with them and asked for autographs before games.

disco · 09-05-2007, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abuC

And Melo or LeBron would drop 40 on Barkley if he had to guard them, it's a two way street.

Honestly, Bird, Barkley and Magic are a lot more of defensive liabilities than Melo. The interior on the 92 was great, but the perimeter on the 07 team in my opinion is superior.

Melo dropping 40 on Barkley? If that would happen Barkley would top that with scoring at least 50pts himself.

IGOTGAME · 09-05-2007, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by disco

Melo dropping 40 on Barkley? If that would happen Barkley would top that with scoring at least 50pts himself.

What makes you think Melo would drop 40 on Barkley...For one guarding Barkley would get gim in immediate foul trouble...Two if he started going off Pippen would guard him and d him up...

Dream Team would get so many offensive and defensive rebounds that it would demoralize the 97 team... Do you think at times when Howard is on the bench that a frontcourt od Melo and Amare can rebound with any combo of DRob, Ewing, Barkley and Malone...

Out Of Shape · 09-05-2007, 06:05 PM

The thing about the 92 dream team is that they were smart, savvy, experienced and poised. No situation could rattle them. They would run circles around this 07 team and make them look like fools. Besides Kidd, and to a lesser extent Kobe and DW, there is not a smart, poised player in this bunch.

AI Nuggets3 · 09-05-2007, 06:24 PM

Melo and Barkley would simply cancel eachother out. They're identical on offense and defense (rebounding is the only divider here between the two).

They both score the same ways --agressive to a fault, strong midrange and post games, not afraid to take open 3's. And defensively they're both athletic enough to have their moments (yes kids, once upon a time Chuck was pretty quick) but they won't shutdown anyone.

Dream Team would win by 15. It would be close for 3 quarters, but the poise of having so many MVPs and championship rings on the same squad beats young athletic freaks with 2 vets.

im telling you guys, 1996 vs 2008 is a much more intriguing matchup. even 1994 vs 2008 is.

Thorpesaurous · 09-05-2007, 06:34 PM

Quote:

however....

Melo/Lebron >>> Bird/Magic. not sure why this an ongoing debate but i might as well state the obvious. Magic had come out of retirement for Barcelona. He was slightly out of shape and that helped him get injured. Bird had all but held his retirement press conference. He had already played his final NBA game. Both of them did well, but they were shells of their former selves. Lets not get crazy for nostalgia's sake.

I agree Melo and Bron are better now. But Bird was really playing the role Mike Miller has on this team, and in that role clearly the 92 team has a huge edge. Magic wasn't at his peak, but he plays a unique role. His strengths multiply when he's surrounded by better players, and his persona was even more contagious than he was at that point. He may not have been at his all time level, but he was only two years removed from back to back MVPs, and had just won an all star game MVP. And with Stockton on the team, he's really more aligned with Kidd, or more likely Chauncey or Deron. In which case the 92 team has an edge again.

Noob Saibot · 09-05-2007, 07:36 PM

Quote:

im telling you guys, 1996 vs 2008 is a much more intriguing matchup. even 1994 vs 2008 is.

yeah that's a better matchup right there. but 1996 team would win because Shaq played on the 96' squad.

2008 vs 2000 would be even more interesting. I could see the 08' squad beating the 2000 squad(even though the 2000 team won gold).

RedBlackAttack · 09-05-2007, 07:38 PM

New article on ESPN about the subject:

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/...etermined.html

Some very interesting snippets...

Quote:

This is important. In spite of iffy footwork and a perimeter touch that comes and goes, someone like LeBron James can get off a solid 3-point look on the basis of his jumping ability and height alone. Spurred on by that, and an improving stroke (LBJ isn't fading before the release), James hit an astounding 23 out of 37 looks (62 percent) from long-range.

The rest of his team followed suit, nailing an average of about 15-of-31 three-pointers per game. The Dream Team hit on about 7-of-17 per game, still nice, but nowhere near the sort of internationally-inspired barrage the 2007 model mustered.

Da KO King · 09-05-2007, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedBlack

This is important. In spite of iffy footwork and a perimeter touch that comes and goes, someone like LeBron James can get off a solid 3-point look on the basis of his jumping ability and height alone....

Did I really just read something tied to ESPN acknowledge that LeBron James has crappy footwork????

I think I need to go look out the window to make sure the sky is not falling.

RedBlackAttack · 09-05-2007, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Da KO King

Did I really just read something tied to ESPN acknowledge that LeBron James has crappy footwork????

I think I need to go look out the window to make sure the sky is not falling.

"Iffy" and "crappy" are two completely different tiers. LeBron has very good footwork in some instances (on the break or attacking the hoop). His footwork when shooting USED to be "iffy". It wasn't over the summer, though.