[Yahoo Sports] Kenny Smith: Houston is the must-watch team in the 2nd half.

Lary Bird, Hakeem, Jordan are exceptions...but you have to know one thing, you look at DR J and all his dunks, and the defender rarely gets their hand above the rim. Todays game it's not that easy to get in there and dunk over someone. There's an arm above the rim.

Guys are so quick now, can jump, and the defense is more intense. It's just not the same game now.

You can't compare eras - that's all i am saying.

 

Does Virtual Tmac cry when he loses in the video game first round of the playoffs?

 

you can compare passion and heart and will to win. that's what always makes an NBA champion and that has not changed. Softness will never win in any era.

 

I have to disargee with that. Maybe MJ or Magic could have pull out one or two games with that Cavs team.

 

I dunno because I would win by having Shaq shoot 3's.

 

why? i dont think tony is faster than isiah. and isiah's ball handling is better.

 

Bird can shoot and had range behind the backboard falling away.
The bricks thrown up by the Cavs last year was equal to all the bricks the Chinese threw up to make that wall.

 

so back then, was it easy dunking over hakeem? barkley?

its not that easy to get in there and dunk over someone in todays game? ever heard of vince carter? jamario moon? shawn marion? amare stoudamire? dwight howard? lebron? kobe?

It wasnt intense back then? Ever heard of the term "enforcer"?

 

i'm sorry man, but your severly underestimating larry friggin bird! lol

the guy set the record for consecutive years of 20-10-5 with crazy shooting and passing ability...and more hustle than a argentinian.

even if you want to believe that lebron has more skill than bird, you are betting on a guy who admitted to not having a killer instinct when asked how he compares himself to kobe.

i mean you're allowed to have your own opinion but lebron really has nothing right now over larry in his prime.

 

But Bird can only do so much. Thats Cavs team sucked big time.

 

yeah...thats why i said they'd win 2 games instead of 4.

 

Lebron is avg. 30, 8, and 7 and he has yet to reach his prime.

 

So how good do you think the Cavs would be if you gave Lebron one star player?

 

Kenny Smith said that simply because there will be several rockets games on TNT soon.

 

dr. j was an era before hakeem and barkley. Hakeem and Barkley really aren't from too far a previous era by the way. Those guys would be fine in today's game, just as Dr J would be fine probably until 1990. But he wouldn't get so many easy dunks today, just like t-mac gets blocked occasionally, so would Julias.

I mean, even jordan got his shot blocked occasionally - he didn't shot the ball as well as some of the other guys, but he played in an era of much tougher d-fense which is why he's recognized (beyond 6 titles and numerous clutch performances).

anyway, i don't think we're really arguing anything all that different. I'm just saying you can't compare era's. That's it. You can't compare le bron to jordan really. But if i had to choose between a rookie jordan and a rookie lebron - who do you take after their rookier year?

Not such an easy choice now is it?

 

Of course you can. Do you think Shaq in his prime would dominate in George Mikan's era?

OF COURSE.

See there? You just compared eras.

are you serious? when comparing rookie years, jordan had better averages in scoring, blocks, steals, rebounds, shot a better ft percentage, and had a better field goal percentage.

and btw, they tied for assists.

this might be the easiest decision i've ever made.

 

LOL !!! you can't be serious. put bird on last years cavs and they probably dont even make the playoffs. i swear people really overrated guys from the past. the NBA today is a different game and i highly doubt bird would be as effective today as he was in the 80s. hes a great player, but lets not pretend he didnt play on stacked teams.

 

Huh? Now you're going the other opposite end of crazy talk.

Take off Bird and replace him with Lebron on those Celtic teams and no way they win any rings. How's that for an argument. Just because he played on great teams doesn't mean it lessens his reputation as an all time great, he was the main man in those Celtic teams afterall. Same goes with Magic, all those great players he played with in the Lakers wouldn't be as great without him, save maybe Kareem who was already great before Magic, but one can make an argument that playing with Magic extended Kareem's career.

The NBA today is maybe a faster more athletic game, but full of more stupid players who collectively don't have the the bball IQ of Bird. If unathletic players like Dirk Nowitzki and Yao can play in today's game and be stars, Bird in his prime would have no problem in it and trash talking to the other players while dropping 30/8/8 numbers on them.

 

lebron in the 80s would be even more dominate than he is today.

yes i'm saying it, lebron would be better than bird in his era. who the hell could stop lebron then when no one can stop him now ?

hes built like a tank with the speed of a motorcycle. look at those puny guys in the 80s, he would knock them down like bowling pins and get layup after layup after layup EASILY.

the reason dirk is a star is because hes 7' tall. hes not a great athletic compared to players like lebron, but he IS very athletic for a 7 footer. if dirk was 6'8 he would be basically mike dunleavy jr. without the passing ability.
yao is 7'6 300 lb....nuff said.

sorry, but bird wouldnt be able to lead that cav team anywhere.

 

you have no fukin idea who larry bird is, do you?