I've never seen Carmelo or Jefferson consistently denied the ball. And Hibbert is slow and lumbering like Yao was. Will Lebron be guarding Ewing/Shaq/Olajuwon? You keep saying this, but it's simply not true. The reality is that compared to the 90's, the post players of this era are garbage. A prime Dwight Howard is the undisputed greatest center today, right? If he were playing in 1995, how many centers do you think would be ahead of him? And to what degree?
THIS. People are thinking that playing with the old rules would somehow put the Heat at a disadvantage. Handchecking? Can people fathom how good the Heat perimeter defense would be with the added advantage of handchecking? They would completely negate any offensive endeavor from opposing perimeter players. No zone defense? A return of illegal defense where 2 HOFs in their prime can ISO at will? Do we go full stupid and wish for the return of the shortened three-point shooting line with great shooters like Allen, Miller and Lewis? Fact is, this Miami team as currently constructed will pwned all of those teams: superior defensive tactics, superior talent and superior depth. Most non-Heat fans are too butthurt to admit this. Having a great center means nothing if you are getting pwned everywhere else.
How are the Heat owning at the rest of the positions? You think it was star big man and scrubs? The Magic had Penny, the Rockets had Drexler, the Suns had KJ, the Sonics had Payton, the Jazz had Stockton etc. There was also way more depth back then.
Watch the Jazz vs Heat in the fourth quarter of a close game. Watch Melo vs Lebron if the Knicks and Heat play. Melo was constantly denied the ball and Knicks fans were getting mad. He will be coming down to aggressively double. IF you think defenses aren't more advanced now you're an idiot. Dwight Howard is an amazing defensive center. Offensively, he's nowhere close to the other players as a post player (he's still fantastic as a big on the pick adn roll). But apparently because he doesn't have beautiful post moves he sucks. The defensive principles are way more advanced now. The shading done by the help defense is much better. The hybrid help principles and rotations just weren't present in the 90s to the degree that they are today. Players take way more charges now. NBA players know each others tendencies and the scouting is on a completely different level.
The Heat if they win the ring this year will go down as an all time great team. 2000-01 Lakers, 86 Celtics, 87 Lakers, 96 Bulls level greatness. Teams like the 1995 Rockets were fantastic but have never been considered all time great teams.
A lot of that has to do with media bias towards the huge markets you just named. There is no reason for not listing the 83 Sixers when talking about greatest teams of all time.
83 Sixers would be definitely up there. Rockets simply weren't on the same level in the regular season.
That's because the team wasn't assembled until the second half of the season. If anything their bad regular season should add to their greatness because they didn't have the benefit of home court on a single series. They also ran through a stacked magic team in the finals.
While that may be true, it's entirely irrelevant since Lebron won't be guarding opposing centers. That's fine. Those teams were loaded with good perimeter shooters. And would that even matter with Shaq? Against a finesse defender like Bosh, Shaq would get deep post position and bully his way to the rim. How could Lebron stop that? Who said he sucks? All I said was that if you put Dwight in the mid 90's, there would be a lot of centers ahead of him (Olajuwon/Robinson/Ewing/Shaq/Mourning/Mutombo). Idiot? Seriously? Get over yourself and use some critical thinking. These current "advanced defensive principles" would be moot since we're playing with the 90's rules. Help defenders want to shade? Hybrid help principles? In the 90's that's called "illegal defense." Get two of them, and that's a technical foul. Players take more charges now? In the 90's they wouldn't have been called charges.
...and the Heat, apart from the Big Three have Allen, Battier, Lewis, Andersen and two very good defenders at the PG position. So to sum it up, you are getting pwned at the PF, SF and SG position and those guys filling up at PG are not scrubs by any means....yup, you are getting pwned pretty much everywhere else. In fact both starters and benches are getting pwned. Big time.
I definitely think it was one of the best playoff runs ever. Maybe the most impressive. Top to bottom. Everyone agrees Hakeem had a top 3 playoff run that season. Honestly, I think it was as if not more impressive than what Jordan did in any of those years.
The 83 sixers team should be at number 3 in the GOAT list, after the Bulls 96/97 team and the Celtics 86 team.
You are out of your mind. The 95 Rockets are not getting owned at most positions. PG - Smith v Chalmers is a draw at worst for the Rockets SG - Drexler v Wade is a draw SF - LeBron v. Ellie huge advantage Heat PF - Haslem v. Horry is a draw I guess C - Hakeem v. Bosh is huge advantage Rockets
I know this isnt a 90's team, but I would liked to see the 00-01 Lakers take on the Heat. Im no Lakers fan, but that team could shut down the Heat, IMO. The 95 Rockets could take the Heat partly because of experience and chemistry... and the talent. 90's Bulls would run over the Heat.
That's a good point... But I think there are more good players now... I could be wrong, just my opinion.
I agree that there are more good players. Back in the 90s you didn't have as many great international players like Dirk, TP, Manu etc. I just think that the increase in talent wasn't big enough to accommodate the league expansion. There are about 91 more active roster spots now.
