Please Vote! Help us determine the "Fun Friday game" winner.

[JSD]

Who is the best team here and why?

Some measure an old school player against a current player by his success vs. the competition of the time. Others take the evolution of the game into consideration. What do you think?

Team 1

C Hakeem Olajuwon
PF Moses Malone
SF Oscar Robertson
SG John Havlicek
PG Walt Frazier

C Robert Parish
PF Wes Unseld
SF Adrian Dantley
SG Reggie Miller
PG Pete Maravich

Team 2

C – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
PF - Bill Russell
SF – Rick Barry
SG – Jerry West
PG - Isiah Thomas

C - Willis Reed
PF - Kevin McHale
SF - James Worthy
SG - Clyde Drexler
PG - Lenny Wilkens

Team 3

C - Wilt Chamberlain
PF - Karl Malone
SF - Elgin Baylor
SG - Kobe Bryant
PG - John Stockton

C- Patrick Ewing
PF - Elvin Hayes
SF - Dennis Rodman
SG - Paul Pierce
PG - Tiny Archibald

Team 4

C - Tim Duncan
PF Dave Cowens
SF - Larry Bird
SG - ScottiePippen
PG - Bob Cousy
 
C - Bill Walton
PF - Charles Barkley
SF - Lebron James
SG - Monroe
PG - Jason Kidd

Team 5

C - Shaquille Oneal
PF - Kevin Garnett
SF - Dominique Wilkins
SG - Julius Erving
PG - Magic Johnson

C - David Robinson
PF - Bob Pettit
SF - George Gervin
SG - Dwyane Wade
PG - Chris Paul

[JSD]

Voting ends on 9 AM Wednesday Morning.

[Hoyo de Monterrey]

Team 5 is an absolute matchup nightmare.

Beautful inside outside frontcourt game set up with KG and Shaq. Shaq will almost certainly need to be doubled by anyone other then Wilt, and KG will hit the jumper or dish to Wilkens or the Doc, who know how to score at will. Also, the only starting 5 guy I didn't mention just happens to be Magic, who is a major mismatch. The team blends size with spectacular athleticism, and if KG could get Pierce and Ray to buy in defensively with that much success, imagine what he could do with guys with the size and athleticism blend of Magic, Wilkens, and Erving.

I like Paul off the bench for Magic too, because they could play similar up tempo styles. Wade as a sixth man for Wilkens is a nasty move too, as a slasher and scorer. This team could do anything offensively, halfcourt or transition if you just take out Shaq and use the Admiral.

All the teams are good, but these matchups are too good for Team 5.

[Kwhit10]

Yea HDM pretty much the same reason I voted for team 5 but you said it best, TP.  They will be a tough match up for anyone.  I'm loving their front court.

[Roy Hobbs]

Team 5 is an absolute matchup nightmare.

Beautful inside outside frontcourt game set up with KG and Shaq. Shaq will almost certainly need to be doubled by anyone other then Wilt, and KG will hit the jumper or dish to Wilkens or the Doc, who know how to score at will. Also, the only starting 5 guy I didn't mention just happens to be Magic, who is a major mismatch. The team blends size with spectacular athleticism, and if KG could get Pierce and Ray to buy in defensively with that much success, imagine what he could do with guys with the size and athleticism blend of Magic, Wilkens, and Erving.

I like Paul off the bench for Magic too, because they could play similar up tempo styles. Wade as a sixth man for Wilkens is a nasty move too, as a slasher and scorer. This team could do anything offensively, halfcourt or transition if you just take out Shaq and use the Admiral.

All the teams are good, but these matchups are too good for Team 5.

Absolutely agree.  That team doesn't have a weakness. 

It's got four of the top 13 average scorers in league history, it's got a dominant defensive player in KG, it's got two of the top four players in today's NBA, it's got the best point guard of all-time... 

[Gainesville Celtic]

Absolutely agree.  That team doesn't have a weakness. 

It's got four of the top 13 average scorers in league history, it's got a dominant defensive player in KG, it's got two of the top four players in today's NBA, it's got the best point guard of all-time... 

I'm curious what you think the other teams' weaknesses are Roy. I'm not being a smart-alec, but with the best players of all-time, it seems that "weaknesses" are relative.

And there's the difficulty of extrapolating older players vs. newer (i.e. Cousy vs. Magic).

[JSD]

Team 5 is an absolute matchup nightmare.

Beautful inside outside frontcourt game set up with KG and Shaq. Shaq will almost certainly need to be doubled by anyone other then Wilt, and KG will hit the jumper or dish to Wilkens or the Doc, who know how to score at will. Also, the only starting 5 guy I didn't mention just happens to be Magic, who is a major mismatch. The team blends size with spectacular athleticism, and if KG could get Pierce and Ray to buy in defensively with that much success, imagine what he could do with guys with the size and athleticism blend of Magic, Wilkens, and Erving.

I like Paul off the bench for Magic too, because they could play similar up tempo styles. Wade as a sixth man for Wilkens is a nasty move too, as a slasher and scorer. This team could do anything offensively, halfcourt or transition if you just take out Shaq and use the Admiral.

All the teams are good, but these matchups are too good for Team 5.

Absolutely agree.  That team doesn't have a weakness. 

It's got four of the top 13 average scorers in league history, it's got a dominant defensive player in KG, it's got two of the top four players in today's NBA, it's got the best point guard of all-time... 

Playing devil advocate: I thought we measured greatness by the numbers of championships? I believe team 5 has the least amount of combined titles of any team listed here. They are also the "newest" team, almost every player having played after 1985... One could say there is a bias because of this.

[bdm860]

Here's how I rank it.

1st: Team 2
Kareem and Russell, wow.  I think that no 4/5 combo in this mini league can mactch up with that.  Russell can guard the best low post player, wear him out and make him work for everything and then that worn down opposing player has to try and guard Kareem on the other end.  (I picture Russell guarding Hakeen, Wilt, and Duncan, but than those players would guard Kareem on the other end, just how I see it. Kareem would probably guard Shaq though).
Then Barry and West would spread the floor well.

How many championships are represented in that starting 5?  Off the top of my head -Kareem won 6, Russell won 11, Barry won 2 (1 ABA and 1 NBA), West won 1, and Isiah won 2.  That's 22 rings! Although Team 4 looks like they have alot of rings in their starting 5 too.

2nd: Team 4
I love the uniqueness and versatility this team has, a nightmare to match up with.  You're likely looking at long stretches of Bird, Pippen, and LeBron all on the floor at the same time.  I just think they're too undersized in the low post, only Walton off the bench really has good size, but then you have Duncan, Cowens, and Barkley all small when matching up with the giants in this league.

3rd: Team 5
Is Julius Erving the shortest starter at 6'7"?  Tough to match up against, but who's spreading the floor on this team?  Do they have any knock down shooters?  With so many defensive beasts in this league you need some shooters to space things out.  I think that really hurts this team.

4th: Team 1 and 3
I don't know who I like better here so I'm going to call it a tie.  Actually if I had to choose one over the other it would be Team 1 over 3, because Team 3 has 4 Lakers in their starting line up, and 1 off the bench (I know counting Rodman and Malone as Lakers is really strecthing it )

[Roy Hobbs]

Absolutely agree.  That team doesn't have a weakness. 

It's got four of the top 13 average scorers in league history, it's got a dominant defensive player in KG, it's got two of the top four players in today's NBA, it's got the best point guard of all-time... 

I'm curious what you think the other teams' weaknesses are Roy. I'm not being a smart-alec, but with the best players of all-time, it seems that "weaknesses" are relative.

And there's the difficulty of extrapolating older players vs. newer (i.e. Cousy vs. Magic).

It has no weaknesses relevant to the other teams, in my opinion.  While many of the other teams would arguably be at an athletic disadvantage, this team could play in any era.  For instance, I respect Cousy tremendously, but how is he going to keep up with Magic Johnson on either end?

[Roy Hobbs]

By the way, it's blasphemous putting Russell at power forward.

[JSD]

Absolutely agree.  That team doesn't have a weakness. 

It's got four of the top 13 average scorers in league history, it's got a dominant defensive player in KG, it's got two of the top four players in today's NBA, it's got the best point guard of all-time... 

I'm curious what you think the other teams' weaknesses are Roy. I'm not being a smart-alec, but with the best players of all-time, it seems that "weaknesses" are relative.

And there's the difficulty of extrapolating older players vs. newer (i.e. Cousy vs. Magic).

It has no weaknesses relevant to the other teams, in my opinion.  While many of the other teams would arguably be at an athletic disadvantage, this team could play in any era.  For instance, I respect Cousy tremendously, but how is he going to keep up with Magic Johnson on either end?

When comparing "all-time team" one should measure Cousy Vs. his era and Magic vs. His era. We aren't plucking Cousy out of the 60's and putting him in the 80's because that's not fair. It's arguable the Cousy wouldn't even be playing D1 ball right now with the way the game has expanded.

[Roy Hobbs]

Playing devil advocate: I thought we measured greatness by the numbers of championships? I believe team 5 has the least amount of combined titles of any team listed here. They are also the "newest" team, almost every player having played after 1985... One could say there is a bias because of this.

Titles need to be looked at in context.  I mean, how many titles would KG or Dominique have if they were surrounded by multiple other Hall of Famers?

Also, arguably titles are harder to get in the modern era, as the pool of players and the pool of teams you're competing against is bigger.

[Roy Hobbs]

When comparing "all-time team" one should measure Cousy Vs. his era and Magic vs. His era. We aren't plucking Cousy out of the 60's and putting him in the 80's because that's not fair. It's arguable the Cousy wouldn't even be playing D1 ball right now with the way the game has expanded.

Eh...  if that's the case, how come nobody drafted George Mikan?  If you're saying "which is the best team", I think you absolutely do need to look at how players would match up against each other.

Regardless, that makes Team 5 even stronger.  If there's any argument that Bob Petit would struggle against players today, that concern is evaporated.  The guy ranks #7 all-time in scoring average, #3 all-time in rebounds per game, and #14 all-time in career free throws.  This guy is coming off of Team 5's bench.

[SSFan V]

I am voting for the team with Michael Jordan on it.

[bdm860]

Titles need to be looked at in context.  I mean, how many titles would KG or Dominique have if they were surrounded by multiple other Hall of Famers?

Also, arguably titles are harder to get in the modern era, as the pool of players and the pool of teams you're competing against is bigger.

I agree titles need to be looked in context.  It's just another stat, but like most people weight scoring average, my favorite stat is rings.

Here's a quick run down of starting 5's only (since I am at work), pretty sure on these numbers but somebody feel free to correct me if I'm wrong:

Team 1 = 14 rings

C Hakeem Olajuwon = 2 rings
PF Moses Malone = 1 ring
SF Oscar Robertson = 1 ring
SG John Havlicek = 8 rings
PG Walt Frazier = 2 rings


Team 2 = 22 rings

C – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar = 6 rings
PF - Bill Russell = 11 rings
SF – Rick Barry = 2 rings
SG – Jerry West = 1 ring
PG - Isiah Thomas = 2 rings


Team 3 = 6 rings

C - Wilt Chamberlain = 2 rings
PF - Karl Malone = 0 rings
SF - Elgin Baylor = 0 rings
SG - Kobe Bryant = 4 rings
PG - John Stockton = 0 rings


Team 4 = 21 rings

C - Tim Duncan = 4 rings
PF Dave Cowens = 2 rings
SF - Larry Bird = 3 rings
SG - ScottiePippen = 6 rings
PG - Bob Cousy = 6 rings
 


Team 5 = 13 rings

C - Shaquille Oneal = 4 rings
PF - Kevin Garnett = 1 ring
SF - Dominique Wilkins = 0 rings
SG - Julius Erving = 3 rings
PG - Magic Johnson = 5 rings