CelticsStrong
Celtics Basketball => Celtics History => Topic started by: Roy H. on September 29, 2017, 04:12:12 PM
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... if every player was in their prime and willing to buy in?
Is it the 1986 Celts? Adding MVP Walton to that team is unfair.
The 2012 Celts, with a prime Big three, Shaq, JO, etc.?
This year's Cavs?
The Warriors, adding a prime David West and Iguodala?
Shaq, Kobe, Malone, Payton?
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The 2005 Heat had Shaq, Mourning, Payton, Wade, Antoine, and Derek Anderson.
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Certainly not best but the Rockets of '96-97 come to mind. Hakeem, Drexler, Barkley for the their big three (I chose over the Hakeem/Barkley/Pippen team because of bench) but you also had some guys like Kevin Willis, Mario Elie, & Sedale Threatt on that roster too.
'12-13 Nash/Kobe/Gasol/Howard in their primes together would've been formidable. Had Artest & Jamison on that team too.
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The 2005 Heat had Shaq, Mourning, Payton, Wade, Antoine, and Derek Anderson.
Okay, you broke the hypothetical, haha. What does Antoine buying in look like?
I still love me some Toine, but I think he'd still be bombing 4-pointers no matter what.
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Let's get 16 of these together, and we can do an arbitrarily-seeded tournament.
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'96-97 Bulls. Already loaded with Jordan, Pippen, & Rodman. Then you have prime Parish to go along with that? Pretty solid.
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Those late 90's Rockets have to be included. They had Hakeem, Barkley, and Drexler. They also had Pippen but that was after Drexler retired.
Remember that the 80's lakers had Bob McAdoo. Imagine what could have been if he was in his prime then.
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'94-95 Spurs. Robinson, Rodman, Moses Malone, Terry Cummings.
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The 2002-2003 Spurs.
David Robinson/Kevin Willis
Tim Duncan
Tony Parker/Steve Smith
Manu Ginobli
Stephen Jackson/Bruce Bowen/Danny Ferry
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1985-1986 76ers
Moses Malone
Julius Erving
Charles Barkley
Maurice Cheeks
Bob McAdoo
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63-64 Celtics
Havlicek
Russell
Sam Jones
KC Jones
Tom Heinsohn
Frank Ramsay
Tom Sanders
Clyde Lovellette
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The 2002-2003 Spurs.
David Robinson/Kevin Willis
Tim Duncan
Tony Parker/Steve Smith
Manu Ginobli
Stephen Jackson/Bruce Bowen/Danny Ferry
That's a good one.
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'63 Celts
Russell
Heinsohn
Sam Jones
Cousy
K.C. Jones
Havlicek
Lovellete
'81 Celts (not the best, but fun):
Larry
Tiny
Cowens
Pistol Pete
Max
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... if every player was in their prime and willing to buy in?
Is it the 1986 Celts? Adding MVP Walton to that team is unfair.
The 2012 Celts, with a prime Big three, Shaq, JO, etc.?
This year's Cavs?
The Warriors, adding a prime David West and Iguodala?
Shaq, Kobe, Malone, Payton?
Hey thanks Roy. Just thinking about the 2012 team with Shaq as it was incredible at times. Rondo passing and Shaq's hands...the way they swung the ball until the whole defense just froze... Ah...
In their primes, well... with even a healthy but still old lineup, we win a chip with old Shaq and also one with healthy but old Sheed. Health KG and we win 09.
So our last big 3 might've won 4-5 or so. It's a sonofaEdited. Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline. to only have one from that period. Shame, really.
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Shaq/Jermaine was '10-11. Shaq was gone by '11-12.
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... if every player was in their prime and willing to buy in?
Is it the 1986 Celts? Adding MVP Walton to that team is unfair.
The 2012 Celts, with a prime Big three, Shaq, JO, etc.?
This year's Cavs?
The Warriors, adding a prime David West and Iguodala?
Shaq, Kobe, Malone, Payton?
1986 Celtics also had Scott Wedman at the end of his career and if you could've had prime DJ too that would've been even better!
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The Jordan Bulls had Parish for a year or two.
The Rockets with Barkley, Pippen, and Olajuwon.
San Antonio with Duncan, Robinson, Manu, and Parker.
Portland with Sabonis, Pippen, Wallace, Grant, O'Neal, Stoudamire, Kenny Anderson etc. Not sure if they were all on the same time at the same time though.
Oh and Barkley with Dr J, Moses, Cheeks, Toney, etc.
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All in their prime, that 2012/2013 Lakers squad is a good one that I can think of from the last 5 years.
Prime Nash, Kobe, Dwight, Pau, Artest and Jamison. Not as deep as some of the others, but that's a good core
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84-85 Lakers
Kareem
Magic
Worthy
McAdoo
Wilkes
Byron Scott
Cooper
Rambis
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1985-1986 76ers
Moses Malone
Julius Erving
Charles Barkley
Maurice Cheeks
Bob McAdoo
84-85 Lakers
Kareem
Magic
Worthy
McAdoo
Wilkes
Byron Scott
Cooper
Rambis
Some tp coming soon. So celtics '86 Walton & wedman at their prime. Scott an all star, bill one of the greatest all around centers to ever play.
Look at above lists:
Lakers at prime Kareem one of top 5 (?) players to ever play
Magic
Worthy
Bob Macdoo is his prime (buffalo?) serious player
Jamal Wilkes was in his prime pre magic era
Byron Scott
Michael cooper all time underrated player
Rambis
sixers
Macdoo again
Julius Erving aba absolutely one of best players ever
Mo cheeks, great all around guard
Moses Houston version holy moly
Barkley prime would be Houston time , dominant
Bobby jones can't be forgotten
86 celtics i think take it with lakers next
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1985-1986 76ers
Moses Malone
Julius Erving
Charles Barkley
Maurice Cheeks
Bob McAdoo
84-85 Lakers
Kareem
Magic
Worthy
McAdoo
Wilkes
Byron Scott
Cooper
Rambis
Some tp coming soon. So celtics '86 Walton & wedman at their prime. Scott an all star, bill one of the greatest all around centers to ever play.
Look at above lists:
Lakers at prime Kareem one of top 5 (?) players to ever play
Magic
Worthy
Bob Macdoo is his prime (buffalo?) serious player
Jamal Wilkes was in his prime pre magic era
Byron Scott
Michael cooper all time underrated player
Rambis
sixers
Macdoo again
Julius Erving aba absolutely one of best players ever
Mo cheeks, great all around guard
Moses Houston version holy moly
Barkley prime would be Houston time , dominant
Bobby jones can't be forgotten
86 celtics i think take it with lakers next
Barkley wasn't in his prime with Houston.
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1985-1986 76ers
Moses Malone
Julius Erving
Charles Barkley
Maurice Cheeks
Bob McAdoo
84-85 Lakers
Kareem
Magic
Worthy
McAdoo
Wilkes
Byron Scott
Cooper
Rambis
Some tp coming soon. So celtics '86 Walton & wedman at their prime. Scott an all star, bill one of the greatest all around centers to ever play.
Look at above lists:
Lakers at prime Kareem one of top 5 (?) players to ever play
Magic
Worthy
Bob Macdoo is his prime (buffalo?) serious player
Jamal Wilkes was in his prime pre magic era
Byron Scott
Michael cooper all time underrated player
Rambis
sixers
Macdoo again
Julius Erving aba absolutely one of best players ever
Mo cheeks, great all around guard
Moses Houston version holy moly
Barkley prime would be Houston time , dominant
Bobby jones can't be forgotten
86 celtics i think take it with lakers next
Barkley wasn't in his prime with Houston.
In the OP I think Roy said the hypothetical is that everyone is in their prime. So the Celtics team with Shaq would have prime Shaq
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1985-1986 76ers
Moses Malone
Julius Erving
Charles Barkley
Maurice Cheeks
Bob McAdoo
84-85 Lakers
Kareem
Magic
Worthy
McAdoo
Wilkes
Byron Scott
Cooper
Rambis
Some tp coming soon. So celtics '86 Walton & wedman at their prime. Scott an all star, bill one of the greatest all around centers to ever play.
Look at above lists:
Lakers at prime Kareem one of top 5 (?) players to ever play
Magic
Worthy
Bob Macdoo is his prime (buffalo?) serious player
Jamal Wilkes was in his prime pre magic era
Byron Scott
Michael cooper all time underrated player
Rambis
sixers
Macdoo again
Julius Erving aba absolutely one of best players ever
Mo cheeks, great all around guard
Moses Houston version holy moly
Barkley prime would be Houston time , dominant
Bobby jones can't be forgotten
86 celtics i think take it with lakers next
Yes, with prime Walton Wedman, DJ, Parish, Bird, Mchale, Angie, with Kite, Vincent, Carlisle, and a very underrated Jerry Sichting is one of my favorite squads and also one of the all time best. I loved that team but if you put them all in their primes it's a crazy squad. The shooting is nuts.
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1985-1986 76ers
Moses Malone
Julius Erving
Charles Barkley
Maurice Cheeks
Bob McAdoo
84-85 Lakers
Kareem
Magic
Worthy
McAdoo
Wilkes
Byron Scott
Cooper
Rambis
Some tp coming soon. So celtics '86 Walton & wedman at their prime. Scott an all star, bill one of the greatest all around centers to ever play.
Look at above lists:
Lakers at prime Kareem one of top 5 (?) players to ever play
Magic
Worthy
Bob Macdoo is his prime (buffalo?) serious player
Jamal Wilkes was in his prime pre magic era
Byron Scott
Michael cooper all time underrated player
Rambis
sixers
Macdoo again
Julius Erving aba absolutely one of best players ever
Mo cheeks, great all around guard
Moses Houston version holy moly
Barkley prime would be Houston time , dominant
Bobby jones can't be forgotten
86 celtics i think take it with lakers next
Barkley wasn't in his prime with Houston.
Prime Barkley was in Phoenix, where he was ridiculous.
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Lots of good options so far, but it looks like I gotta be the one to say it:
This year's Cavs:
LeBron
Wade
Rose
IT
Love
Jefferson (averaged 22/7/4)
Korver (All-Star)
And of course future All-NBA Ante Zizic
plus Crowder, Thompson, JR Smith, Channing Frye
Not saying that's #1 but pretty sick, no? Rose/Wade/LeBron perimeter with IT as a sparkplug 6th man and Korver and Love raining down 3s.
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2004 Mavs
Dirk Nowitzki
Steve Nash
Michael Finley
Josh Howard
Antoine Walker
Antawn Jamison
Shawn Bradley
Marquis Daniels
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Surprised no one mentioned the 03-04 Lakers on star power alone.
Kobe Bryant
Shaq
Karl Malone
Gary Payton
Horace Grant
Rick Fox
Devean George
Bryon Russel
Fisher
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89-90 Pistons
Thomas
Dumars
Laimbeer
Rodman
Salley
Vinnie Johnson
Mark Aguire
James Edwards
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1985-1986 76ers
Moses Malone
Julius Erving
Charles Barkley
Maurice Cheeks
Bob McAdoo
84-85 Lakers
Kareem
Magic
Worthy
McAdoo
Wilkes
Byron Scott
Cooper
Rambis
Some tp coming soon. So celtics '86 Walton & wedman at their prime. Scott an all star, bill one of the greatest all around centers to ever play.
Look at above lists:
Lakers at prime Kareem one of top 5 (?) players to ever play
Magic
Worthy
Bob Macdoo is his prime (buffalo?) serious player
Jamal Wilkes was in his prime pre magic era
Byron Scott
Michael cooper all time underrated player
Rambis
sixers
Macdoo again
Julius Erving aba absolutely one of best players ever
Mo cheeks, great all around guard
Moses Houston version holy moly
Barkley prime would be Houston time , dominant
Bobby jones can't be forgotten
86 celtics i think take it with lakers next
Barkley wasn't in his prime with Houston.
In the OP I think Roy said the hypothetical is that everyone is in their prime. So the Celtics team with Shaq would have prime Shaq
I get it, but he specifically mentioned Houston Barkley as him being in his prime which is incorrect.
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A couple of others.
71-72 Lakers won 69 games and the title with 35 year old Wilt and Baylor retiring mid season. Put them in their prime with West, Goodrich, and Hairston and who knows what they could do.
The classic what if is a team like the Thunder. Durant, Westbrook, Harden, Ibaka, Perkins, Fisher, Jackson, Sefolosha
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Not one of the better ones but the 2012-13 New York Knicks had six guys that played in at least one all star game , a couple of defensive player of the year awards and a six man of the year.
Carmelo Anthony
Jason Kidd
Amar'e Stoudemire
Rasheed Wallace
Kenyon Martin
Tyson Chandler
Marcus Camby
J.R Smith
Decent team with all of them in their primes
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Just judging teams by all stars is a pretty silly thing. It depends when the person was an all star, a lot are using all stars that were faded at the time they played for a team.
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Just judging teams by all stars is a pretty silly thing. It depends when the person was an all star, a lot are using all stars that were faded at the time they played for a team.
um. that was the point
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um. that was the point
None of a team's players are ever in their prime all at once.
You might as well just make it the team with the most all stars?
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um. that was the point
None of a team's players are ever in their prime all at once.
You might as well just make it the team with the most all stars?
Read the OP. This is a hypothetical of who had the best team if all players on that team was in their prime.
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1962/63 Celtics
PG: Bob Cousy and KC Jones
SG: Sam Jones and Frank Ramsey
SF: John Havlicek and Tom Heinsohn
PF: Tom Sanders and Jim Loscutoff
C: Bill Russell and Clyde Lovellette
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Not one of the better ones but the 2012-13 New York Knicks had six guys that played in at least one all star game , a couple of defensive player of the year awards and a six man of the year.
Carmelo Anthony
Jason Kidd
Amar'e Stoudemire
Rasheed Wallace
Kenyon Martin
Tyson Chandler
Marcus Camby
J.R Smith
Decent team with all of them in their primes
Kids/
Smith/
Anthony/Martin?
Wallace/Stoudemire?
Camby/Chandler
No balance on that roster at all. Good starting 5, and 2 bench bigs, but need 1-2 perimeter subs. And 1 would need to beat out jr smith for a starting job.
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Funny that we are seeing so many teams from the 60s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s but none from the 70s. Must be because the talent was watered down due to the ABA.
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Not the best, but definitely loaded with current and former allstars
2000 Trailblazers
Shawn Kemp
Scottie Pippen
Arvydas Sabonis
Detlef Schrempf
Steve Smith
Damon Stoudamire
Rasheed Wallace
Rod Strickland
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Here's a fun one: the '14 Brooklyn Nets!
Garnett, Pierce, Joe Johnson, Deron Williams, Brook Lopez, Jason Terry, Andrei Kirilenko, with rebounding specialist Reggie Evans and one-season-wonders Marcus Thornton and Andray Blatche.
Also, the '13 Heat:
Lebron, Wade, Ray Allen, Bosh, Rashard Lewis, Juwan Howard, Battier, Mike Miller, and Birdman flying around.
Here's one that might be interesting in the future, the '16 Timberwolves:
Garnett, Andre Miller, Tayshaun Prince, Kevin Martin, and Nikola Pekovic were all over the hill. This will depend on how Towns, Wiggins, Rubio, and Lavine all turn out. One to watch, I guess.
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Funny that we are seeing so many teams from the 60s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s but none from the 70s. Must be because the talent was watered down due to the ABA.
Most of this board wasn't alive in the 70's and we all know of the 60's because of the Celtics dominance. There were obviously some great teams even for this sort of thing. I think I mentioned the 72 Lakers. That is the year Baylor basically retired mid-season and Chamberlain was 35. They won 69 games and the title anyway with West, Goodrich, and Hairston all in their prime (although West was at the tail end at age 33).
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99-00 blazers was pretty solid.