FanNation - The Republic of Sport

G.O.A.T. said 11/29, 05:19 PM
No surprise here, I will be choosing the L.A. Lakers.
STARTING FIVE
G- Magic Johnson- 20 pts, 11 ast, 7 reb
G- Kobe Bryant- 25 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast
F- James Worthy- 18 pts, 5 reb, 3 ast
F- Bob McAdoo- 13 pts, 5 reb, 1 blk
C- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar- 22 pts, 10 reb, 3 ast, 3 blk

BENCH
C- Shaquille O'Neal- 27 pts, 12 reb, 3 ast, 3 blk
C- Vlade Divac- 13 pts, 9 reb, 2 blk, 3 ast
F- Sam Perkins- 15 pts, 8 reb, 2 ast
F- A.C. Green- 12 pts, 8 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk
G- Byron Scott- 16 pts, 3 ast, 3 reb, 1 stl

Now, let's compare. At center, I easily have you beat with Kareem vs. Cartwright. At power forward is where it gets tough, McAdoo was an amazing player (although his prime was before he got to LA) and was nearing the end of his career when he spent the last few years with the Lakers which is one reason as to why his stats drop. Pippen vs. Worthy is really a tough call and I will debate that in my following arguments. You obviously have me with Jordan over Kobe but I have you with Magic and my bench as a whole is stronger than yours (in part to Shaq's monster numbers). It was a tough call putting Abdul-Jabar over Shaq Daddy though. More to come...

G.O.A.T. said 12/02, 11:10 AM
You think Tyson Chandler could stop Kareem Abdul-Jabbar? He'd be lucky if Kareem only put up his averages in the game. Then you have Shaq against...Cartwright? That would be another easy matchup for me. Either way you look at it, I have the edge at the center position.

See, the difference between my frontcourt and yours is simple. My big guys can play offense and defense. You don't have a big guy who averaged more than 12 points per game. I have FOUR, including two that averaged in the mid-20s.

My Four Big Guys- 75 pts, 36 reb
Your Four Big Guys- 41 pts, 34 reb

There you go. I think it's pretty clear that my frontcourt would have a field day against guys like Cartwright.

Well, you already admitted that Pippen was no match for Worthy so I don't need to argue that, but Perkins was definitely a better rebounder than Luol Deng. Of course, the Bulls right now are terrible rebounders. Honestly though, how well would the 6'8"-220 Deng match up with the 6'9" 235 Perkins? Obviously, Sammy would manhandle Deng underneath and that's where I think I have the edge in this one.

You may have a slight edge at power forward, but I make up with it at center and small forward.

G.O.A.T. said 12/03, 04:08 PM
Maybe Kareem's development of the skyhook was a result of better defenders. But it worked for him and became his bread & butter move. That's good, IMO.

Okay, let's say Perkins or Worthy drives and gets down low by getting by either Deng or Pippen. There's a thing called passing. That's what they'd do to either Kareem, McAdoo, Shaq, or Vlade for the easy layup. It's simple basketball. My big guys would simply dominate yours underneath. I showed you the averages. My team would destroy yours on the glass, especially.

Now, MJ over Kobe isn't by this fantastic margin that everyone will think. Kobe Bryant is actually a very, very good defender. He's a 7-time All-Defensive Team selection, five of which as a first-teamer. He was also the youngest player to ever be named to one of those teams. I'm not saying he would shut down Jordan or anything, I'm just saying that His Airness wouldn't put up 35, 40 points on us.

Now, Ben Gordon has no shot at even coming close to stopping Magic on the defense. He would simply post him up all night long.
Magic: 6-8, 215
Gordon: 6-2, 192

The positions you have edges in aren't as big as the positions I have edges in. My team would win.