Kobe thinks 2012 Olympic squad could beat "The Dream Team"

[DonatasFanboy]

Originally Posted by wekko368 yeah...

maybe you missed most of my posts, i don't know. Even though you replied to all of them, I believe.
I think my position was pretty clear.

Originally Posted by DonatasFanboy you have to reread that post. I said that IF you were right about Magic (which I DON'T think you are) they'd just play Lebron at point. In that case, idk what exactly the lineup would be, i'd have to think about it more. LeBron-Kobe-Durant-Melo-Tyson? LeBron-Iggy-Durant-Love-Tyson maybe. I'm not sure. When Magic sits, go with a normal point on Stockton. But again, I don't think that 92 Magic is as effective as you say here. So the above is moot IMO. Re lineup that I would use, i suggested one version in that post.

Originally Posted by DonatasFanboy Lets say it's CP3/Harden/LeBron/Durant.

Originally Posted by DonatasFanboy high level =/= Magic level. There's no chance for Magic to defend those guys in 1992. He had trouble guarding those little jet types like Isiah even in his prime, 2-5 years before that. So if you use Magic a lot, you'd have to be creative with defense. And then you'd have to find a lineup that makes sense offensively. Basically, that discussion is moot because Paul and Magic wouldn't be matched up directly. The 1992 team would have Magic defending a forward. The 2012 team on the other hand would just play zone and force you to bring either Stockton, Mullin or Bird, or even two of them. If you bring Bird or Mullin and take out Pippen or Jordan, your defense takes a hit. If you bring in Stockton and replace Magic, it makes a lot of sense. So again, the key advantage for the Dream Team is Robinson/Ewing IMO, not the point guard position.

I simply entertained your position

[DonatasFanboy]

Btw, is there an option to edit here?
That last thought should be --- I entertained your position with the LeBron lineup. But I don't think that's necessary at all.

[wekko368]

Originally Posted by DonatasFanboy Btw, is there an option to edit here? That last thought should be --- I entertained your position with the LeBron lineup. But I don't think that's necessary at all.

I see. Then yeah, you're totally wrong. A 1992 Magic Johnson would absolutely abuse either Paul, Deron Williams, or Westbrook.

[QazQay]

Of course the 2012 olympic team would win. Most of the Dream Team is in their 40s, if not 50s now. It would be a cakewalk.

[ipaman]

kobe's so stupid, most of the "Dream Team" are over 50 now!!! of course they would beat them.

[DonatasFanboy]

Originally Posted by wekko368 I see. Then yeah, you're totally wrong. A 1992 Magic Johnson would absolutely abuse either Paul, Deron Williams, or Westbrook.

i'm not sure you understand my point. they wouldn't be playing each other directly, it makes no sense for either side.

[wekko368]

Originally Posted by DonatasFanboy i'm not sure you understand my point. they wouldn't be playing each other directly, it makes no sense for either side.

If 1992 has a lineup of Magic, Jordan, Pippen, Barkley, and Robinson, then 2012 can't have Paul,Williams, or Westbrook on the court. They wouldn't be able to guard anyone without giving up a significant size/height advantage.

[DonatasFanboy]

Originally Posted by wekko368 If 1992 has a lineup of Magic, Jordan, Pippen, Barkley, and Robinson, then 2012 can't have Paul,Williams, or Westbrook on the court. They wouldn't be able to guard anyone without giving up a significant size/height advantage.

and as i said, that's why the current team would zone all night long.
Your roster is the definition of a team that you defend with zone.
That's why Stockton makes much more sense. Having Stockton there gives you more offensive options. You still retain an overwhelming size advantage on offense. And it also frees up Jordan to defend someone bigger.

If you had Magic in his prime, I could see a case for going with Stockton-Jordan-Pippen-Magic-Robinson. Or Pippen-Jordan-Mullin-Magic-Robinson.
But you don't. So you'd go with Chuck or Malone at 4, and a shooter at 1 or 3.

[nwtx7263]

Originally Posted by bslimp Barkley would eat Marshmallow. The bigs would dominate, pippen would be a great athletic defender at forward. Jordan would rule. And the pgs would facilitate the offense. Old dream team is much more balanced and traditional and even with a bad back bird could still nail the three.. and he'd rise up if they needed him which they didn't. I think the younger guys always favor the players they see... And by the way they dream team was very athletic.... Players in the 90s were not all that long ago.

Totally agree! It's funny seeing the young guys argue a 2012 team that isn't a team. A better comparison although still falling short would be the Redeem Team vs Dream Team. I think Kobe said this just go get some attention and media coverage on an otherwise really lackluster mens USA basketball team.

[The CDN Dream]

Once again, the arguement gets better for Kobe if the 2012 olympic roster was compared pre-injury

Drose CP3 Williams Kobe Wade Lebron Durant Melo Bosh Aldridge Chandler Howard
(I think that this was the roster except for maybe westbrook or love instead).

The above team is a lot stronger than the one mentioned now imo

[Cycl1]

lol at kobe. Dream team has Jordan.

[DonatasFanboy]

Originally Posted by Cycl1 lol at kobe. Dream team has Jordan.

I think Kobe meant to say "If I sit down and let LeBron play Jordan, we'd have a chance" :D

[Juxtaposed Jolt]

Originally Posted by wekko368 The 2012 team would have no answer for Magic. There's no way a 6'3 Westbrook or 6'0 Paul can guard him. Magic was 6'9 with a post game.

We could really use Magic on the current Rockets squad, then. :/

[MadMax]

12 year old son literally just sent me a text message saying the following:

"Kobe says current usa team could beat the dream team. Pass what you're smoking, Kobe."

[Huricane]

Originally Posted by Sigmund Dumb comparison. Why would you compare Harden and Bird? Harden is 12th guy on the bench. I don't feel guilty to compare ringless Ewing, Malone and Barkley to Chandler. 12' team would win 4-2. If Howard, Bynum and Wade played, it could be sweep.

Sigmund, quick question, how long have you been following the NBA?

I have been following the NBA since 1986 and some of the arguments you make are difficult to defend if you actually watched some of the guys on the Dream Team from when they played in the 1980s through the mid 1990's.

[DaGreatest]

and the sky is red.. dude is so full of himself, a prime Jordan would make Kobe his son

[Mariachi ROCKET]

Man! Kevin Love would own those chumps! With his outside shot! PLease! LMAO

[Shroopy2]

Originally Posted by Sigmund No one disputes any facts on here, you just write fantasies. "Magic was the best PG of all time" He hadn't played in over a year and played very very few minutes. Non-factor. Not even part of the rotation. Bird? Injured as has been discussed over and over again. Again, not a factor. Laetner? LoL Malone? Stockton hardly played. He's highly over rated to begin with. So basically Dream Team was lacking a true point guard. They had Pippen running the point a lot. They basically relied heavily on Mullin, Barkley, Jordan, Ewing and Pippen. Dream Team shot horribly from outside. Mullin and Barley shot well but that was about it. Jordan shot really badly and had the second worst FG% The one advantage the Dream Team had was Ewing. 2012 team has way more experience both playing together and in international play. I mean come on. No one wants to debate fact though. "MAgic was better PG" lol so many people on here just have little actual knowledge of the game or what they are talking about. They saw that documentary and that's all these jokers are quoting. That's where they are getting their info. Not from how the Dream team actually played in the Olympics. I could go on and on but no one wants to debate in a mature way. Too bad, I'm going to leave this horrible forum soon I think. Bad enough that adults on here post like little kids.

You're using how the Dream Team "actually" played

Compared to a team who HAS NOT YET played.

So its Dream Team Actuals vs 2012 Best Case Hypothetical. Which means there's hypotheticals involved to begin with.

Durant and Griffin and others can play like dog meat in the games, we havent seen it yet. Also you can say Dream Team was so dominant, they didnt need their "A" Game all the time if AT ALL, they just went out throwing fancy passes to amuse themselves. So they could rise to a better contendor. Thereby giving them some best case hypothetical elements

And ONE advantage in Ewing? David Robinson the BETTER center isnt an advantage?

[Shroopy2]

Interesting that Kobe is probably putting himself as one of the key contributors. When '92 Drexler is the better player.

Originally Posted by DonatasFanboy Well, lets say you were right, and Magic completely dominates that matchup. Why wouldn't they just go with LeBron at the point? Problem solved. But I don't think the 92 Magic would be that problematic, too flawed on defense. IMO, if the 92 Magic is the one guarding guys like CP3 and Westbrook, they'd be running circles around him and blowing by. His hope would be that Robinson protects the rim and mitigates the damage, but that's a different question. IMO they'd be better off letting Jordan guard CP3/Westbrook. Let Magic guard someone bigger. But considering the 2012 team is built to play small ball, it will still cause a ton of problems. Lets say it's CP3/Harden/LeBron/Durant. Jordan/Pippen would probably defend the quicker smaller guys. That leaves LeBron/Durant for...Magic and Malone? That seems like significant advantage for the 2012 team. A lot seem to rest on Robinson/Ewing here. That's the strength of that team, in comparison with this one.

Originally Posted by DonatasFanboy CP3 wouldn't play. LeBron would be the PG.

If you can do that putting a guy way out of position, why not DT play Robinson and Ewing together Twin Towers? That alone would almost negate any advantage 2012 has.

Griffin and Love and Chandler can NOT handle that. Then Malone and Barkley coming at them. Love does great ability to play stretch 4 or 5. He can move guys out the interior. Good luck Chandler or Griffin trying to score on Ewing or Robinson..

Durant would have no problem scoring on anyone, but he can get exploited too. He can't handle any one of Barkley, OLD Bird OR Magic down low. A Barkley/Durant matchup would be an epic "who gets in foul trouble first" matchup.

2012 small ball bench players would have an athleticism advantage over DT. If 2012 had Howard, Wade, Bosh, then they'd give Dream Team all they could handle.

Overall I think its a near even series.

[DonatasFanboy]

Originally Posted by Shroopy2 If you can do that putting a guy way out of position, why not DT play Robinson and Ewing together Twin Towers?

I don't think you understood the discussion we had there.

I'm not blaming, it was a long discussion that started much deeper in the thread.

But I don't want to explain it again either, since you are like 3rd or 4th now.