I had this debate playing ball yesterday. If MJ were in his prime today,would it be tougher from a individual standpoint,then back in the 80s and 90s. From a defensive standpoint. Personally ,I think shooting guards are much more creative off the dribble now days,bigger,more athletic. There ball handling skills enable them to do a lot more.Here are some off the shooting guards MJ faced in his era1. Clyde drexler2 joe dumars3 rolando blackman4 byron scott5 jeff horacek6 byron russell7 john starks8. steve smith9 hersey hawkins10.Reggie miller11 Mitch richmondKeep in mind,this is not in any type of order or anything. I know Reggie and Mitch are much higher the this. The shooting guards in Jordans era were great players,but they lacked the creativity skills off the dribble of guys like Kobe,T-mac,Wade,Lebron. Joe dumars had point guard ball handling skils,but he was only 6-2 195. Drexler could handle the ball off the wing off the break,or coming off curls in half-court sets,but he was not a guy who could run the PG,bring it up the floor,and break down the defense. Byron Scott struggled against quality defensive teams,because of his inability to put the ball on the floor. Majority of these guys were come off th screen shooters.Would you say on the defensive end,shooting guards would test MJ more today then back then because of there ability to create off the dribble ? T-mac is 6-8 225. Kobe is 6-7 220. Wade is 6-4 215. Lebron is 6-8 240. All 4 of these guys handle the rock like a PG,and can create off the dribble without needing a screen.
Who's rolando blackman?Yes, because they're bigger. Hybrids if you will. MJ was decently big for a 2 in his time, now he's a decent sized 2 but there's guys like Pierce and such who play 2 but could easily be a 3.
Blackman played for the Dallas mavericks in the 80s. He averaged like 20 points a game. Had a similair game as Rip hamilton
It would be tougher in some ways, and MUCH easier in other ways. Tougher mostly on defensive end, but offensively he would have to face softer defenders that can't use handchecking and general rough play like they could in MJ's era.
MJ won dfensive player of the year. I really don't think he have a much harder time at all. Sure they are a bit bigger, but MJ is an all era defensive player! He'd be just as effective. s2s- shame on you for not knowing Rolando Blackman
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (clangus @ Oct 5 2006, 08:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>MJ won dfensive player of the year. I really don't think he have a much harder time at all. Sure they are a bit bigger, but MJ is an all era defensive player! He'd be just as effective. s2s- shame on you for not knowing Rolando Blackman</div>Just because he was one of the best perimeter defenders doesn't mean he wouldn't have more trouble in this era. Guards/forwards are bigger, more athletic, and are generally better jumpshooter and all around players. He'd still be best perimeter defender in league, but he'd have more trouble.
He would be Averaging 35ppg wiith better effeciency. On the defensive end MJ would have a harder time guarding athletic players day in day out. He never had to face these kind of athletes every game.
It would be ALOT harder to stop Jordan if the refs called the same fouls that they call now adays. Joe Dumars got away with murder considering how little defenders now are able to do.I could see Jordan averaging 40+ if he played in his prime last year.Jordan would get so many trips to the line with how fouls are called now...
MJ would put up BETTER numbers in our era, He is still above everybody in the league today in terms of athleticsm.The way defenses are today, Jordan would have a field day. In the prime of his era they allowed the players to actually play defense. Nowadays they call the littlest bumps a foul.Jordan played against defensive powerhouses like Sydney Moncrief, Joe Dumars, Dennis Johnson, Michael Cooper, ECT.He would dominate.
I agree MJ would still be dominant on the offensive end. My point was on defense. If you look at the NBA FINALS shooting guards he faced,the only superstar was clyde drexler. 1991 Byron scott, 1992 Drexler, 1993, Dan Majerle. 1996 Hersey hawkins, 1997 and 98 Jeff hornacek and Russell. Pippen took the assignment to guard Magic in 91.
Well this is a different era and I have to say that the talent is a bit higher than in MJ's era (disclude him and that era in basketball would TOTALLY change). But would he still dominate? Of course. Maybe he'd have a bit more trouble but seeing how much he stood out back then I don't think it'd be much different.Offensively - Probably would be better because the game has changedDefensively - If he was in this era he'd adapt to what rules were thrown at him. It's be still no problem for him and would still be a defensive god.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BALLAHOLLIC @ Oct 5 2006, 09:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>In the prime of his era they allowed the players to actually play defense. Nowadays they call the littlest bumps a foul.</div>You didn't help your case by saying that. That just supports that Jordan would have a tough time because he would be called for fouls more often. Jordan played very physical defense, which I loved to watch, and he would probably be called for more fouls nowadays. Then again, he's a big name player, so who knows how leanient the officials would be with him just because "he's Michael Jordan."
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CelticBalla32 @ Oct 5 2006, 10:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>You didn't help your case by saying that. That just supports that Jordan would have a tough time because he would be called for fouls more often. Jordan played very physical defense, which I loved to watch, and he would probably be called for more fouls nowadays. Then again, he's a big name player, so who knows how leanient the officials would be with him just because "he's Michael Jordan."</div>Yes, Jordan played physical defense but he is athletic enough to play finesse defense in todays game.he could change his defensive style up and still be a great defender.
I don't think he'd put up impossibly high numbers, like averaging 40+ but he will score about 35 and his game will be more efficient in this era. I agree with you all that it would be tougher for him to guard some of the players now, especially with the rules, but I'd see him still being in contention for one of the all-defensive teams. Those guards back then definetly weren't pushovers. You're throwing out some great names and pretending like the players now are so much better.
Even though they took away hand checking,wouldnt you say defenses are much tougher today because they allow zone defense. You can now play in-between the guy your guarding,and the guy thats on fire. Plus the scores were so high back in the 80s.
Not to me. The defense in this era just seems so much weaker, but then again that could be because I was watching the Suns the last two seasons, heh. They also have that defensive 3 second rule now that also limits what a D can do.
Five years ago Michael Jordan came back at the age of 40 and averaged 23ppg in his first year back and 20ppg in his 2nd year back. If he was in his prime right now he would be tearing apart defenses like a knife through warm butter.
What era? The NBA is the same. There's no need to split hairs.Also, MJ would dominate. That matchup with Kobe would be f*cking awsome to see.
Offensively, Jordan would win three Season MVPs in a row. Defensively? He'd be fouled out of every game. You see, NBA rules have changed significantly. Back in the day, if MJ tried to steal the ball, he wouldn't have been called for hand checking. These days? If he even accidentally hit a player's finger whilst stealing the ball, he'd be fouled.Anyway, I think MJ would still dominate, but would be a bit less entertaining because every time he'd try to go to the rim, someone would foul him intentionally.Also, as long as he didn't face Miami Heat and DWade in the Finals, everything would go decently (foul-wise).
