Starting 5 of: Damon, Smith, Pippen, Wallace, Sabas vs. Lillard, Matthews, Batum, Aldridge, Hickson Obviously the bench of the 00 team was much stronger. Just wanted to see the actual comparison to the starting 5. Keep in mind that Pippen wasn't the Pippen in Chicago, nor Smith in Miami.
pffft sabas was better the day he retired than any center we have seen for a long time and we had starters off the bench
So I don't know how to do that nifty thing that people do to have the basketball reference be a image. So here is what I got so far.... Sabas (2000) vs. Hickson (present) Wallace (2000) vs. Aldridge (present) Pippen (2000) vs. Batum (Present) Smith (2000) vs. Matthews (Present) Damon (2000) vs. Lillard (present)
Keep in mind that if Stern and the zebras didn't give us a good assfucking in the WCF, the 2000 team was NBA champs.
Looking at PER game; the current starting 5 is actually more efficient than that squad (Based on Advanced Stats). Even the Per Game stats have a slight edge on the current starters. I just didn't want to base the Per Game and more on Advanced because with a deeper bench, the players would get less shots. So in other words; if we just found good bench players; we could have the same level of success.
Stats be damned. By position, Lillard is the only starter on our current unit that is better or equal. He is much better than Damon, though. That team should have been so much better than it was. *sigh*
Statistically, the comparisons are interesting, and cumulatively similar. But the statistical comparisons ignore the vast defensive superiority of Pippen/Wallace/Sabas over Batum/Aldridge/Hickson.
You got a point about the defense. They were suffocating! But then you could argue that Matthews and Lillard are better defenders than Mighty Mouse and Smitty.
Ayup. Through that lens, the 2000 team would give the 2012 incarnation an atomic wedgie and take their milk money.
Mathews' defense is wildly overrated and Lillard might be the worst (starting) defensive point guard in the league (right now).