Eastern Conference gotta do better

[ManBearPig]

Barkley in his prime >>> a 34 year old Malone. If KJ had showed up they could've won that series. I was watching game 6 a while back on youtube and was shocked how they choked that game away. Definitely gave the Bulls the toughest challenge.

Statistically they were actually about the same defensively as the Bulls that year, granted they didn't have anyone like Pip and MJ who could play lockdown d in crunch time.

The bulls had another gear on defense.

The suns..... Not so much

 

[Sean312]

Like they wouldn't have swept out west too smh.

 

[Animal House]

the west only had 3 good teams tho. fukk the regular season records i hope y'all didn't think other than okc, sa, and gs the other teams had a legitimate chance?

 

[Damnshow]

The poster that you're talking to is simply out of his mind.

The East back in the 90s was far more competitive. It isn't even close.

Jordan went up against...the Knicks

Ewing, Starks, Mason, Charles Oakley, Derek harper etc

The Pacers

Mark Jackson, Dale Davis, Antonio Davis, Rik Smits and Reggie Miller

Orlando

Shaq, Penny, Nick Anderson, Dennis Scott, Scott Skiles

Charlotte Hornets with

Zo, Larry Johnson, Mugsy Bogues, Kendall Gill, Dell Curry etc etc

the Hawks with

D Wilkins, Steve Smith, Mookie Blaylock, Stacey Augman, Kevin Willis etc etc


On any given year in the early -mid 90s that was the rotation of competition in the East...It aint even close

Any one of those teams back then could win the East in this day and age..

you are mentioning these players and then adding etc etc as if they have someone else left the 90s had shorter bench, that's a fact, a lot of bench players from the 90s would not make it to the league in todays game because you need to be able to score and defend, or what we call a 3&D type of player, only way you stay in the game as a one dimensional player is when you are really good at that one part of your game, like harden on offense or tony allen on defense, the players from the 90s most of them could not shoot from 3pt, they were shooting mid rangers.

So let's say what would the knicks do if they face a todays team that's going to pack the paint with zone defense, leave 3pt line and force the knicks shoot threes? Are we gonna see mason or oakley shooting threes when they never did that?

none of these 90s teams would beat the cavs, if someone managed to beat them that would be magic because of enormous potential. But besides that, hell nah.

You are mentioning guys like Kendall Gill, did you see what happened to Tony Allen when they let him shoot threes last year in playoffs? And Tony is a much better defender.

 

[Damnshow]

@ The only team you named that would be able to go compete with the Cavs were the Magic, and the Shaq mismatch is no bigger than the LeBron one, as in the Magic had absolutely nobody to guard LeBron.

The Knicks, Pacers, Hawks and Hornets all get bodied, not a single one has a decent perimeter defender to put on LeBron and none of them would be able to keep up with the 3 point shooting.

See this is the problem with lots of nba fans, they look at the marketed players of the 90s and they think that only famous names make the teams better. They don't look at the chemistry or deep bench, none of that things, this guy started mentioning players like muggsy bogues, old derek harper, kendall gill, stacey augmon, old skiles, this is bullshyt. And these are like 4th, 5th best players on a team, the bench gets even more abysmal. The bench who's mission was to defend whatever big in the paint, or defend other players one on one by sticking their arm out in a so called handchecking fashion. That's a bout it, a bench full of bodies to throw at opponents while one of their 40 minutes playing leader is sitting on a bench for a minute.

And whats even worse for the 90s is that they would be forced to go small ball lineups once these current teams start hitting 3pts, and big men do not have the same 90s freedom anymore due to zone defense, which is the fact.

 

[cKondomsucK6]

the west only had 3 good teams tho. fukk the regular season records i hope y'all didn't think other than okc, sa, and gs the other teams had a legitimate chance?

clippers with or without blake r better than the raptors

not even a question and i hate them

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

Outside of the short lived Shaq and Penny, those teams aren't worth the folklore tied to them.

They're only talked about because they orbited planet Jordan.

eh come on now. Ewing is much better than anyone on the Raptors and the squad fit together well and played as hard as you could ask for. Bulls were going to win but they were going to have to fight for it. The Raptors just rolled over tonight.

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

Take slightly above average guards over a monster big man in Patrick Ewing brehs. We really having this conversation? In what universe does a core of Lowry/Derozen > a team led by a dominant big man whether it's Ewing or Shaq etc..?

Truth is Lowry/Derozen are "solid" players. Borderline all-stars. Nothing more.

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

The Pacers with an over-the-hill Reggie Miller, aging veterans and Jalen Rose gave the Shaq/Kobe Lakers a good run. But those same Pacers wouldn't wash this Raptors team? fukk is wrong with u nikkas

 

[<<TheStandard>>]

eh come on now. Ewing is much better than anyone on the Raptors and the squad fit together well and played as hard as you could ask for. Bulls were going to win but they were going to have to fight for it. The Raptors just rolled over tonight.

I didn't see them "roll over" tonight. All this bullshyt about "making a team fight" is just silliness. They started the game with a 7 point lead and even after being down 22 at halftime they went on a 7-0 run to start the 2nd half. That's not the look of a team that "rolled over"

They just got beat & had a less than optimal strategy. They took away the 3 ball & gave them everything else which is why the Cavs had like 82 points in the paint & shot an absurd percentage. (Bron had his best playoff percentage of his career)
Sometimes a team is just a lot more talented. "Fight" doesn't change that.

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

Sometimes a team is just a lot more talented. "Fight" doesn't change that.

Yes I think you just agreed with me. The Cavs can destroy the Raptors on the outside and they can destroy them on the inside so what's left to discuss? They overachieved all year. I'll give them that. This isn't a 56-win team so good on them for making it work.. but they don't have one star on the team. The Cavs have easily the best 3 players in the series.

 

[McPiff]

:

Whats up with all these hypotetical back and forth

 

[iliketurtles]

Lack of superstars in the eastern conference is showing, Raptors are perfectly built for a superstar, no idea how they get one

 

[mbewane]

Catched a couple Boston and Detroit games, because I feel they're up and coming teams and like their style (especially Boston).

Watched Game 1 Cavs-Atl and haven't watched the EC since

 

[HiphopRelated]

I cringe when people mention Starks aka 90s Wesley Matthews as some factor

Just came to post that