NBA Finals
- Thread starter 78
- Start date
- Jun 11, 2014
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Founding Member
I’d have Russell and Wilt before Bird.
But I think that’s a good point. Bird is spectacular. It’s just preference at this point. How you would build your team.
1 - Magic
2 - Jordan
3 - Lebron
4 - Russell
5 - Wilt
If you made the following team to play them I think they would win at about the same rate.
1 - West
2 - Kobe
3 - Bird
4 - Duncan
5 - Kareem
- Jun 9, 2014
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You've got two centers in the first lineup.
- Jun 9, 2014
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He wouldn't score much.
Marine1
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Had Wilt landed in Boston instead of Russell he would probably be considered the GOAT. Wilt proved he was always willing to mold his game around his team. If they needed him to score...he did so. If they needed defense and rebounding ...no problem. He would have fit perfectly into the Boston lineup...and they would have still won all those championships. He would have scored less points but would have had 30,000 rebounds.
A case can be made for Jordan 6 titles over Russells 11....but there would have been no argument if Wilt had those 11 titles.
It’s why I think you have to tread lightly when using titles. It’s a significant factor but so many considerations along with the timing of the eras.
Wilt won two titles...both on teams that were not only the best in the league those years but both considered to be among the best all-time teams. He had one title loss with a superior team when his idiot coach took him out and never put him back in during the 7th game of the finals. Other than that he was on lesser teams that got beat consistently by a dynasty. MJ for all his greatness.....won 6 championships with the best team in the league and failed to even make the finals in the 9 times he did not have the best team.
When I think of GOAT I put at least equal, if not more, emphasis on player skill as I do championships. That’s why I have MJ at the top. In addition to the titles he was tremendously skilled in all facets of the game....on both sides of the ball....and had an otherworldly will to win. But unlike so many others, I really think Wilt, Lebron, Magic and Bird are a lot closer to the top. The difference is very, very small in my eyes.
A case can be made for Jordan 6 titles over Russells 11....but there would have been no argument if Wilt had those 11 titles.
It’s why I think you have to tread lightly when using titles. It’s a significant factor but so many considerations along with the timing of the eras.
Wilt won two titles...both on teams that were not only the best in the league those years but both considered to be among the best all-time teams. He had one title loss with a superior team when his idiot coach took him out and never put him back in during the 7th game of the finals. Other than that he was on lesser teams that got beat consistently by a dynasty. MJ for all his greatness.....won 6 championships with the best team in the league and failed to even make the finals in the 9 times he did not have the best team.
When I think of GOAT I put at least equal, if not more, emphasis on player skill as I do championships. That’s why I have MJ at the top. In addition to the titles he was tremendously skilled in all facets of the game....on both sides of the ball....and had an otherworldly will to win. But unlike so many others, I really think Wilt, Lebron, Magic and Bird are a lot closer to the top. The difference is very, very small in my eyes.
Since65
Senior Member
- Oct 5, 2014
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I guess I don't understand how injuries are figured into assessment's of a teams' performance in the playoffs. Every media analyst I've heard today parrots the Houston narrative that they would have beaten Golden State had Chris Paul not suffered an injury. They point to their 3-2 series lead prior to Paul getting hurt.
They have ignored the impact of Andre Iguodala's injury on the Golden State side. They were ahead 2-1 in the series prior to his going down. They won game 3 by 41 points. They appeared to be thoroughly in control of the series. He is a key player who does a lot of the under-appreciated work but he's not one who grabs headlines. His loss weakened the Warriors.
If you're going to say "what if" on the Houston injury side you have to at least mention the same thing on the Golden State side.
They have ignored the impact of Andre Iguodala's injury on the Golden State side. They were ahead 2-1 in the series prior to his going down. They won game 3 by 41 points. They appeared to be thoroughly in control of the series. He is a key player who does a lot of the under-appreciated work but he's not one who grabs headlines. His loss weakened the Warriors.
If you're going to say "what if" on the Houston injury side you have to at least mention the same thing on the Golden State side.
Since65
Senior Member
- Oct 5, 2014
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Firmly believe they would have beaten Cleveland with Irving as their problems were mainly on the offensive end and he is a great scoring guard. Plus he played the majority of the season. Heyward was injured before the season was even one game old so it's hard to imagine how the team would have looked with him in the lineup. They could be quite good next year with both those guys back in action.
Marine1
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- Dec 20, 2015
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I think Hayward makes the bigger difference. I’ve never been sold on Kyrie. He has unreal handles and can hit clutch shots but to me...much like Harden....he does not make his teammates better. He is a point guard who dominates the ball and does not get many assists. He should have been dropping 10 dimes a game his whole career.
- Jun 10, 2014
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As if the NBA wasn't boring enough, they've engineered the same Finals matchup four straight years. Yawn.
- Sep 9, 2014
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Agree. The playoffs to this point were actually pretty good, but this re-re-rematch is the worst case scenario. Viewership is going to be way down unless LeBron can perform some miracles and get this to a 6th or 7th game. I don't see that happening. GS in 5, lowest viewership numbers in years.
- Jun 10, 2014
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- Jun 9, 2014
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That can happen. What you hope to see is the games get tighter and the level of play better as the series moves on. Both Boston and Houston laid an egg.
