Matchup #3 YourSecretLover vs. Kwame Team YSL PG: Pete Maravich/Tim Hardaway SG: Glen Rice/Mitch Richmond SF: Dominique Wilkens PF: Charles Barkley/Bob Lanier C: Shaquille O'Neal Team Kwame PG: Magic Johnson/Fat Lever SG: Clyde Drexler/Adrian Dantley SF: Grant Hill/Adrian Dantley PF: Nate Thurmond/Walt Bellamy C: Dwight Howard/Walt Bellamy Thanks.
Hmmmm, wow. Tough one. Have to go with Kwame on this one. But had to think about it. Best player: Magic Point position: Magic/Lever vs. Pete/TimH. I don't think that's close. Pistol was a ball wizard. But he was more a showman, his prime was marked by selfishness. Magic was better by far. Lever is very underrated as well. Wings: Drexler/Hill/Dantley vs. Rice/Richmond/Wilkins. I gotta go with the first group here. Two of those three play stellar D (Drexler/Hill). None of the last 3 played hardly any D at all. Bigs: Shaq/Barkley/Lanier vs. Howard/Thurmond/Bellamy. IMO almost a wash. Shaq would probably dominate but all they'd have to do is run Bellamy against him and send him to the foul line. Down the stretch, Shaq would be on the bench for the offensive sets because of his bad FT shooting. Barkley always struggled against longer bigs. Thurmond was a very good defender. That team would always have 2 guys 6'10" or taller on the floor. Dantley in his prime was essentially a PF, not a SF. He played on the midblock constantly and used his size as a mismatch against bigs and smalls, very similar to what Barkley would do. YSL's team has really one defender on it - Shaq. If he gets in foul trouble and goes to the bench, YSL's team can't stop Kwame's. And there would be very little defensive opposition even with Shaq on the floor except in the deep paint. Wouldn't surprise me if I was outvoted on this one. But I'll stand by my guns.
i think i shouldve kept earl monroe and KG but noooo i had to make a trade for a shooter! oh stupid me! i still think i have the superior frontcourt though
YSL wins, 4-2 Kwame has one of the most elegant backcourts of all time. Magic, Clyde and Grant quench your thirst: sprite Hill would be like a symphony of ballerina's. I don't even know if that exists but I would pay to watch it. Individually, these guys are far better than YSL's backcourt. But basketball is a team game, and Rice and Richmond are the perfect shooters to surround a post of Barkley and O'Neal. We're talking about 2 of the purest shooters to ever step on the court, great flat foot shooters who didn't need much momentum going into their shots like a Ray Allen. All 3 of those guys, volume shooters who shot close to 40% for their career. As flashy as Wilkins was, I don't know how effective he would be in this lineup. I think he would be much better suited as a 6th man leading the bench. The difference is the frontcourt. While Thurmond and Dwight are phenomenal rebounders, I'm not sold on their offensive skillset. And when playing against Shaq and Chuck, you need big men with jumpshots who can draw them out of the paint. Offensively Shaq is going to embarrass Dwight, and Chuck is pretty damn crafty himself. Both guys know how to pass, and with their backcourt it makes for a really dangerous combination.
Pistol vs Magic Pistol could score the ball, and was a showman. Magic could do it all. It is hard to pick a 'prime' of his career, because he left, in 91 from memory, as he came in...a dominant all round player. Some people would put him ahead of Michael Jordan as the best all time player. +1 Kwame Rice vs glide Rice could shoot, score & shoot. Clyde could do it all. Clyde was a champion player, an all rounder. In his best seasons, Rice doesn't come close. (Mitch Richmond was better, IMO) +1 Kwame 'nique vs Grant Hill Come on now, I love Good Guy Grant Hill...but vs The Human Highlight Film? Against 'Nique the Freak of Nature? 'Nique drops at least 40 on Hill in his prime +1 yoursecretlover Barkley vs Thurmond Thurmond could put the ball in the hole, but his main claim to fame was his rebounding and defence. Barkley was an all round player, and one of the toughest to play the game. Even though Barkley would be giving up 5", Thurmond would have a hard time pushing him around. I was going to call it a tie, but it's Charles Barkley man. +1 YSL Shaq vs Dwight As much as I want Dwight on the Rockets next season, if you could choose between a Prime Shaq or Prime Dwight, who would you take? Exactly. +1 YSL Bench... Walt Bellamy was a beast, but the Dynamic Duo, 2/3rds of RUN TMC, Timmy 'Killa Crossover' Hardaway and Mitch 'You can't guard me' Richmond is too much offence for Kwame's team. Add Lanier to the mix, and Damn. +1 YSL RESULT: YourSecretLover in 6, thanks to the frontcourt of Shaq, Barkley and the scoring of the Human Higlight Film.
Kwame wins this one. YSL has an advantage with his bigs, as Shaq would do Dwight Howard pretty dirty, and Charles Barkely would be to massive, yet quick, to stop. Magic is easily the best player here, and he could create all kinds of looks for Clyde, Grant, and Dwight. I don't see anyone stopping Magic, and prime Grant Hill is unstoppable as well. People forget how Grant was before the injuries.
PG: This one is clearly in favor of Kwame. Not that Pete/Tim were bad, but Magic is the best PG of all time. Not ot mention, having Fat coming off of the bench is a plus over Hardaway in my opinion. Kwame SG: This is an interesting matchup. YSL has 2 sharpshooters who could be utilized on kickouts from the post. Kwame had the Glide and Dantley who had an amazing FG% throughout his career. I would also give the edge to Kwame here due to the all-around play from this position, but Rice/Richmond could hang with anyone in the shooting dept. Kwame SF: I'll keep Dantley out of this matchup bc I included him in the previous one, so we have Wilkins vs. Hill. I have to go with Wilkins here because of Hill's durability issue. Don't get me wrong, I think Wilkins is the better player of the 2 regardless, but Wilkins was a tank in the first half of his career and was the better offensive player (rebounding is a wash). PF: Both teams have great reserves coming off of the bench, so I am going to have to give the nod to Barkley. Barkley was the better offensive player and scored at a nice rate while Thurmond was the better defender. Both players were great rebounders, but I feel that Barkley would do work in this matchup. YSL C: Shaq-fu. I think that Shaq wins this matchup even though Kwame is a little deeper at the position. It would be interesting to see Dwight go against a center that is this big with that skill set while both in their primes. Dwight dominates the soft centers of today, but he would struggle immensely with Shaq. YSL Considering the positional battles are a tie, I have to go with the best player on the court: Magic. My close, close, close vote is for Kwame
Team YSL PG: Pete Maravich/Tim Hardaway SG: Glen Rice/Mitch Richmond SF: Dominique Wilkens PF: Charles Barkley/Bob Lanier C: Shaquille O'Neal Team Kwame PG: Magic Johnson/Fat Lever SG: Clyde Drexler/Adrian Dantley SF: Grant Hill/Adrian Dantley PF: Nate Thurmond/Walt Bellamy C: Dwight Howard/Walt Bellamy Now, this is a struggle. At PG, I think there is a big advantage for Team Kwame. Magic is ridiculous and Fat was heck of a player. I love Pete and Hardaway had his unstoppable moments, but I don't think either bring enough to offset the way Magic warps the floor. SG: I would probably start Richmond over Rice, but regardless, those two guys can shoot. I don't see Dantley playing much 2, so most of the work will fall to Clyde. R&R will get their shots, but Clyde is big enough and skilled enough to get the better of those two. Not to mention he's running with Magic and will get looks he never imagined. At SF, Hill and Dantley are like the Yin and Yang of the best of the position but I have to think Nique is too strong for Hill and too quick for AD. On the other hand, Nique is an island on this team and having Hill and AD come at you in their different ways throughout the game might wear him down or get some fouls. Then, you have to put Rice at SF and i think AD inparticular would have the best of that matchup. PF is interesting. Prime Chuck wrecks shop on the break, prime Nate and Walt will make it tough for Chuck in the post and the rebounding battle will be ferocious. I see Lanier more as a Center, which would normally work against Team YSL, but then again, Nate and Walt were primarily centers, so Lanier at PF works for this contest. Slight, ever so slight edge to Chuck and Bob. Ah, center. Shaq and Dwight. No doubt prime Shaq wins this individual battle, though I do like that Dwight, Nate, and Walt could all play him or if two were on the court, the double team could come from the other big. I also like Dwight running with Magic as even prime Shaq was never in tip-top shape. This is a very even matchup and the argument could go either way. Pistol feeding Nique and Chuck on the break would be awesome. Magic feeding Clyde and Hill on the break would be electric. Shaq/Bob vs. Dwight/Nate/Walt would be epic. Since I have to make a decision here, I'm going to duck and call it for Team Kwame. I can't shake the fact that Magic is the guy that warps the floor the most and his versatility would make the difference. I could see him at PF late in the game so the 3 bigs could rotate in and foul Shaq. Also, I can see Magic doubling Shaq and making the steal or causing him to lose the ball. Plus, Magic is the undisputed leader of Team Kwame while Team YSL does not have a clear cut leader. Both these teams are really good and I would definitely dip into my kids' college money to attend this game. Good picks by both of you.
Couldn't resist commenting to rimrocker here. Can you imagine Shaq chasing Magic around at the center spot??? LOL Magic would foul out fat boy in about 8 minutes. You have to understand the versatility and greatness of true superstars that are the superstar of the superstars. Most people underestimate Magic, Bird, Jordan in these type of settings. Those guys would dominate any era and any other superstars.
