This is not a thread about who the best at each position are. It's about if you had to create a team, a starting 5, rather and could choose any players from All-time who would it be? You want a group of players that would work well together. My team: PG: Jason Kidd circa 07-08, when he became a consistent 3PT shooter and only about a half-step / step slower then he was in his prime. At 6'4, he has good size. And obviously a good defender, tremendous vision and could lead the break. Would be interesting if he could be Dennis Johnson-like if someone picks Magic. SG: Ray Allen circa 07-08, finally committed to D, began uptick in efficiency, transistioning from feature player to 2nd/3rd option, and about 1/2 step to full step slower in prime. SF: I was going to go with LeBron but decided against it. Going with Kevin Durant. Right now. After a few playoff loses and being roughed up by Artest and handled by Kidd, I think KD becomes a stronger, tougher player now. Regardless, at 6'10-6'11 he's got great size and range. Plus, he'll have Jason Kidd passing to him. PF: Going with KG. Tough to pick a year. Could have been 07-08. Could have been MVP year. I'm going with 99-00. He shot 37% from 3 that year. And he was a young beast back then. Great defensive presence, very active, great rebounder. C: Of Course I'm going with Hakeem. Pick a Championship year. Explanation not needed. Strategy: Right out of Rudy T's playbook. Hakeem + Shooters. Team would be deadly in transition with young KG and Hakeem ripping down the rim. KD joining or spotting up and of course Ray spotting up for 3. Maestro Kidd manning the controls. Pick and rolls. Screens then roll by KG for Ray / KD. Elite passing big man in KG. Amazing interior and help D by KG and Hakeem. Length and quickness from 3-5 makes this a hard team to score on. Turn it over and might as well chalk up 2 or 3 points. This team would outrun a team with a traditional big. And has elite spacing. Interesting to see if people could come up with another team or one they think would beat it.
Legendary names. I'm not sure they would win though. Ego-wise and spacing-wise and even range-wise - I think my five would be better. Talent wise your team hands down. Would be very similar to Heat where you would clog the lane and let MJ and Magic shoot 3's. That would be a great series to watch though.
Speed wise too. KD and KG would beat Bird and Duncan down the court. I would pay a lot of money to watch that series though.
Good point on spacing. Neither Magic or Jordan are good 3 point shooters. I'll change the PG to Nash. His lack of D won't matter with Hakeem and Duncan clogging the paint. Nash Jordan Bird Duncan Hakeem
Stockton Jordan Pippen Olajuwon Duncan I'd use Bird if Pippen could handle guarding opposing PG's (I'd leave out Stockton). I'd definitely have Hakeem in there but struggled with the idea of putting Dirk at the 4 for range, or someone like Russell who could protect the paint while Olajuwon flew around the weakside.
Payton Jordan Pippen Garnett Dream Feircely competetive offensive and defensive team. Trash talk you into oblivion. Slight concern over outside shooting, but I would still put that team against anyone and bet on me.
Thanks for agreeing with me. Hakeem and KG have good midrange games. KG, for the year I picked even shot the 3 well. What if I put Kidd in the post on Nash. I think Duncan and Hakeem would have to stay home or at least mix it up. I trust Hakeem to be fast enough to show and recover but not Timmy.
These are great 5s. For ziggy, I'd post kidd on stockton. For lasvr, I agree with the spacing concerns. All these series would be great to watch and go 6-7 games.
PG: Steve Nash SG: Vince Carter SF: Amare Stoudamire PF: Blake Griffin C: Shawn Kemp Not much D or wins here...but it would be a DUNKATHON!!!!!!!!!!!!!:grin:
I'd leave it as Magic/Jordan/Bird/Duncan/Olajuwon. Magic could post up Kidd. KG would have to stay with Duncan. An offense focused on Magic posting up Kidd takes away the liability of Magic's 3 point shooting. Spacing won't be an issue b/c Bird is a great 3 pt shooter and Jordan is one of the best mid-range shooters ever.
I agree this would be a tough matchup. If TD would camp in the midrange area to provide spacing, I would live with that. However, KG is fast and long enough to effectively show and recover. Bird was a 37.6% career shooter from the 3. Not bad but I can live with that as a team's best shooter. Granted he made a lot of big shots in his career. And with quicker and longer KD guarding him and not being asked to help on D, I think my 5 could survive this tactic. Also, I would have Kidd pressure Magic up and down the court like DJ famously did. This would eat up some clock and give Magic less time to post Kidd. At 6'4, and having to guard the likes of Lebron, KD, and Kobe in the post during his career, there's no other true PG I'd rather have to go against Magic. This would be an amazing series.
Nash ( great passer and shooter) Jordan ( What can you say maybe the best 2 guard ever) Bird (Not the greatest defender but the rest of his game speaks for it self) Malone (Need a true powerfoward) Hakeem (Best center ever) .
You could swap westbrook or Francis if u want a dunking pg. Was Wilkins a sf? How about him instead of amare since he's not a true sf. And the slam dunk champ Howard a true C instead of kemp. That would help the defense too. That would be the greatest dunking team ever. Or Steve Francis and 4 guys mad as hell that they aren't getting their turn. Haha.
The offense would focus on Magic posting up Kidd. If KG is going to give any effective defensive support whatsoever, Duncan will simply cut to the basket for an easy dunk. If you can choose Kidd/Allen circa 07-08, then I should be able to use one of Bird's years where he shot 40+% from the 3 point line. Guarded the likes of Lebron, KD, and Kobe? Lebron has no post game. KD cannot yet create his own shot. Kobe is a shell of what he used to be. You can't take Kidd guarding incomplete/broken down players and extrapolate that into him guarding a prime Magic.
PG: Nets Jason Kidd SG: Raptors Vince Carter SF: Magic Tracy McGrady PF: Sonics Shawn Kemp C: Lakers Shaq
If you recall, Bird had a lot of matchups against Dominique Wilkins and did just fine. Durant is taller and longer than Wilkins, but Wilkins was faster, stronger, and more athletic.
Was wilkins a good defender? Im asking not to prove a point but out of interest. I know wilkins scored a lot of points on the Celtics. Also, it would be interesting to see how the GOAT would take seeing magic in the post as the primary option. Even bird relegated to the spacer / shooter role. My five fit more in terms of alpha dog and support while your 5 have the talent advantage. Great series!
