Game being played by today's rules, D'Antoni is the coach Hakeem 93/94 Harden 17/18/19 Drexler 95 Paul 18 Artest 09 (he did not change his name till 2011) Bench Francis 01 (40% from 3 point range) OR Mobley 02 OR Beverley 13 Capela 19 Ariza 16 OR Parsons 13 OR Battier (No Stats All Star) Tomjonavich 74 or Present Day PJ WHAT NO MOSES, YAO OR TMAC? Moses and Yao seem like creatures of their era, I don't see Moses or Yao being as good in a pace & space NBA. I would leave them, though of course I certainly could be wrong. I am guessing that Rudy T can be a stretch 4, but at least he can rebound off the bench if needed. TMac - f that guy, his best days were past when he was here anyway. His 3 point shooting was suspect. PASS, even though no videos of him doing this, and , even though he would clearly average 40 if he played today It's weird to have Metta World Peace on this team but I think we underrate how good he was. It's weird to have Francis/Mobley but those guys were actually really good 3 point shooters at their peak. I didn't pick Kenny because enough with Kenny already. Granted you probably don't need them to provide perimeter offense off the bench because the starting 5 is so loaded.
Love Beverley, but no way I'm taking him or Jeans Model over 05 TMac. Also shoutout to MIP year Aaron Brooks. I wanna see a Francis, Murphy, Westbrook, Brooks, Harden, Beverley, Lowry, Paul, Cassell team.. Whats defense? Having pretty much any combo of Ariza, Covington, Tucker, Moute, Battier, Artest, Maxwell, Elie, Horry in the all wing small ball era on would be dirty.
So I made this team play the Dantoni way. Brooks is a disaster on defense and he can't be hidden in a switching scheme. Offense isn't worth it, which is why Beverley probably beats out Francis and Cuttino For some reason I forgot about 1995 Horry. He clearly could be the backup big on the second unit.
If you trying to build the best team and not just have the best players. Robert Horry has to be on your list. One of the best role players ever. 7 for 7 in finals. Clutch shot after clutch shot.
If you had a player that never failed to make it past round 1... And a player that never was a starter to make it to round 1...
Lol at Artest over McGrady... Artest was straight trash for us, especially relative to the hype. McGrady had SEVERAL years in Houston all way better than Artest's one mediocre year for us. And your reason was shooting? Artest did nothing but throw up bricks as a Rocket (esp in the playoffs), and he didn't even have the playmaking ability to make up for it. Was criminally overrated defensively, too. Battier was far more productive for us guarding the superstars. I get some Rockets fans hate McGrady these days, but don't let the hate blind you. He still played hard and played well for us for several seasons, and prob would have won a couple titles in Houston if he and Yao could have stayed healthy... I feel certain that the 07-08 and 08-09 teams were unbeatable if healthy. Just a shame how it all ended. But hell, even if you don't want to put McGrady up there, there's still a ton of guys who deserve it more than that b!tch Artest, and who would be better fits on a star-studded team. Battier, Ariza, Tucker...
Moses would dominate in any era.... Yao's lack of mobility could have been an issue... but Moses would do just fine... imo...
Ummm, yeah, Artest shot 40% from 3 and was a 5 position defender, all defensive team in 2009. If you're lining up Harden and Paul you could take 3 Ron Artests next to them and win 70 games.
94 Hakeem 86 Sampson 95 Drexler 18 Harden 18 Paul Bench: 20 Westbrook 05 TMac 86 Barkley 09 Arrest 95 Horry
I'm still heavily researching my lineup and won't publish it until this Friday, but I always forget Otis Thorpe was an All-Star one year in Houston.
MDA was a creature of his era, he resonated so well with PGs or combo guards but he doesn't develop PFs and Cs that can't p&r or are not good at it. Steve Kerr took his thing and ran with it, so will others. Nick Nurse, Brad Stevens, those are the newer coaches.
I am just semi mad that an analytics GM couldn't find a young, analytical coach in this modern decade. The rookie coach we found was Kevin McHale. If that failed, we could always fall back on someone like MDA.
No way I would leave Horry off of this roster. Pretty much started the stretch 4 position and makes winning championship level plays. if Artest stays I could see him play a Draymond type of game. Underrated passer and good defender. Not to mention I like a little crazy on my teams.