Bosh going against Hakeem? The only reason Bosh is being played at center is precisley because the position is such a joke nowadays. That and the fact that the Heat did not actually have any real centers up to now. I would say Birdman will get to match up against Hakeem. PG- Draw SG- Wade. Wade is much better than Drexler ever was. SF- Lebron as GOAT candidate PF- Bosh, the man is underrated since he joined up with his comrades C- Hakeem, with Birdman as his sacrifial lamb. Bench- Heat by fecking mile Yup, the Roxs are still getting owned at most positions. Which is precisely the way the 90s Bulls actually defeated opponents while having some of biggest jokes at center.
Let's take a look at Wade being "much better" than Drexler ever was. Here are the stats for Wade this year with the Heat and Drexler in 95 with the Rockets. Wade - 21.2/5/5 shooting 52%/25%/72% Drexler - 21.4/7/4 shooting 50%/35%/85% Wade and Drexler were pretty much on the same level at this point in their careers. Both were leaving their prime but both were still very good players. It's a big stretch to say that Wade at this point in his career was a "much better" player than 95 Clyde. The Heat have an advantage at two positions but I'd still feel better about Horry on LeBron than I would about Birdman on Hakeem. You are overhyping an old Heat bench and overhyping benches in general. Besides Sam, the Rockets hardly relied on their bench players. Hakeem, Drexler and Horry were all playing 40 plus minutes. In the lineup you listed the Rockets likely start Brown and are left with Ellie/Cassell as the main bench players. Allen/Battier are similar players at this point in their careers. The rest of the Heat bench isn't even worth mentioning.
Why is nobody talking about Ray Allen in these matchups? He's an all time great and a big part of the Heat's success. Battier as well is a huge piece. There are some REALLY solid teams in this years playoffs and I think the Heat are going to run through all of them. The Heat perimeter defense is unbelievable. Probably the greatest perimeter defense of all time. Wade, James, and Ray Allen are all time greats, all on the same team. LeBron is a top 5, probably top 2 player of all time. Possibly will go down as the GOAT when it's all said and done with.
Because you can only have so many perimeter players in the game at once. Ray Allen is no longer in all time great form and is basically a spot up shooter these days. I'd take 95 Horry over 2013 Allen.
I'd love to see this year's Heat team go up against the '94 Knicks. Ewing, Oakley, Starks, Anthony Mason etc. would beat them the hell up physically and intimidate them mentally. Bosh in particular would be reduced to tears. The '96 and '97 Bulls would hammer this Heat team. Likewise with the '94 Rockets. I even think the '97 and '98 Utah Jazz would give this Heat team a tough time, because they execute so well. This is more late 90s - early 00s...but Shaq/Kobe's Lakers and the Spurs twin towers would also have their way with this Miami team.
People are severely underrating this Heat team. Don't forget that they have the #1 player in the NBA, another top 5 player in Dwayne Wade and what was once the #1 PF in the game in Chris Bosh. How is that any less talented than the teams of the early 2000's and late 90's?
It's not so much about talent as it is about strengths and weaknesses. The Heat's greatest weakness is their vulnerability to dominant big men, and that's the greatest strength of the teams that people are listing (Olajuwon/Shaq/Ewing). Sometimes, one huge mismatch is all it takes. Remember the 2003 Spurs/Lakers series? The Spurs had a prime Duncan, a rookie Ginobili, a 2nd year Parker, and David Robinson was in his 14th year. The Lakers had a prime Shaq and prime Kobe, but they had no true PF so they were forced to guard Duncan with Horry and Devean George. For the series, Duncan averaged 28 pts (53% fg%), 12 rebounds, and 5 assists per game.
Lebron would play great, but wade and bosh would get knocked on their asses for even thinking about going in the lane. Some you don't know what basketball used to be like
They have more talent than a lot of those 90s teams, but even with that I don't consider talent to be the determining factor of which teams are better than others. It's all about how teams play.
96 bulls because Jordan,pippen, and Rodman would defend and rebound the ball.jordan plays a great mental game. 94 n 95 rockets because of hakeem. 95 magic because Shaq n penny in their primes were pretty good. 96,97,98 jazz because even though I hate them, Stockton n Malone was a great duo n their teams played hard. 96 97 Seattle team because that team led by g.p. N kemp had defense and great shooters.
I wonder who here is old enough to have actually watched 90's bball? Just kidding, you've already shown us who you are.
90s team >>>> today's heat 90s played intense Defense.. See kiss of death game. Today there too much ISO ball and slow play. I hope the next era would be more intense. Also they didn't play for rediculous contracts..
Yes, but the problem is this benefits the Heat also. Imagine how good Lebron and co.'s defense would be with the 90's handchecking and stuff?
I have a question for those who were old enough to appreciate the 1990s era of basketball. Watching the Heat dominate the NBA, is this what it was like when Jordan and the Bulls ran the East ragged back then? I feel like there's no drama out east. We all know the Heat are coming out; the other games just seem almost pointless. Meanwhile, out West, you have a brawl between 4 (5 counting Memphis) who each could feasibly come out the west. But even then, success against the Heat is slim to none. Is that how it was in the 90s? The Bulls ran the east while teams like Houston, Phoenix, San Antonio, Utah and Seattle fought tooth and nail just for a chance to get lucky against Chicago? It just seems so...I dunno, there isn't any suspense, if you my meaning. Like you know the outcome already.
I'm not underrating them. I just realize they are able to go small (Bosh at C and LeBron at PF) because there really aren't any dominant offensive centers in the league to make them pay for it. That wouldn't be the case dealing with 90's teams though. For those of us that watched Dream destroy Ewing, Robinson and Shaq on the way to titles....when he finally had a decent supporting cast....we would be giddy if he had to be contained by the likes of Bosh/Birdman. Hakeem avg 33 on 53% in the 95 playoffs. Who the hell in Miami is gonna stop him doing that, at the least?
Do you have any statistics from this 2013 heat team that show they have trouble with dominant big men?
Those would be kinda hard to get since there really aren't any dominant big men in the league. There clearly isn't one C in the league that could do what Dream, Shaq and Robinson could. Ewing would probably be the best C in the league today.
