SFs of the 80s vs. Today?

[syfy9]

I stare at my Adrian Dantley, Alex English, Bernard King, Dominique Wilkins, James Worthy, and Larry Bird cards in astonishment.

30 PPG at 56% shooting for Dantley?

25000+ points scored at 50% shooting for English?


Man...How would you rank Durant, Pierce, and Lebron among these superstar scorers?

[indeedproceed]

It's a complicated answer, but put simply, it's because the types of defenders we have now didn't exist then, and rules didn't benefit quick players nearly as much then. Who were the 20 ppg scoring pg's from the 80's? Where were the Dennis Rodman's, the Scottie Pippens?

Defenders got more athletic, and longer. And rules began with Jordan favoring perimeter play.

LeBron or Durant or Pierce would've run roughshod over that league, they're the answer to Scottie Pippen and Bruce Bowen.

[indeedproceed]

Addition:  not that those players we bad, or wouldn't have been able to adapt to today's rules, just that the game has changed, and so have the players.

[aporel#18]

Larry Bird would school today's players... and ESPN would be BirdSPN (not BSPN like today).

[Army_of_One_Nation]

One of the best era's in the NBA. Among the other notable small forwards were: Dominique Wilkins, Rodney McCray, Jamal Wilkes, Rick Barry (last NBA season was 79-80), Mark Aguirre, Kiki Vandeweghe, Doctor J, Scott Wedman, Junior Bridgeman, Marques Johnson, Larry Nance, Jay Vincent, Kelly Tripucka, Clark Kellogg, Chris Mullin, Paul Pressey, Chuck Person, Xavier McDaniel, Detlef Schrempf, Glen Rice, Sean Elliott. I wish I could have added one name there, Len Bias.

I also want to point out that the NBA's version of the zone defense was illegal then. 

[Roy H.]

Where were the Dennis Rodman's, the Scottie Pippens?

Rodman's debut:  1986
Pippen's debut: 1987

There were plenty of great defenders in the 80s, even if the game was generally played at a faster pace.

[2short]

My take is there are more guys now at sf that can score a lot but the all around game is lacking compared to the 80's. 

[Celtics4ever]

The eighties guys were way better shooters and most of them  were not projects as they played college ball.

[slamtheking]

The eighties guys were way better shooters and most of them  were not projects as they played college ball.

This.

Loved watching the early-mid 80's style of basketball.  better team play and the players were more skilled. 

I think Durant and PP would fare pretty well.  Bron, less so-->not the shooter the others are and someone would lay him out at some point on his rampages into the paint.  The one saving grace for him would be that they called more ticky-tack fouls back then.

[Brendan]

Lebron, Durant, & Pierce is a very good top 3. All likely to be in HoF, and I'd take Lebron at SF over anyone, Durant and Pierce ahead of most of the SFs on your list.

Additionally since the 80s the game has been going through a transition, where you used to have C, F, G as the positions, and now you have "Bigs", Wings, and PGs. There are still exceptions, but you end up with a bunch of guys in the big category that might have been considered small forwards in the 80s - prime example is Bird, who'd probably play PF in today's NBA, and Dirk who may have played (more) SF in the 80s.

[Bingbangbarros]

I think Durant and PP would fare pretty well.  Bron, less so-->not the shooter the others are and someone would lay him out at some point on his rampages into the paint.  The one saving grace for him would be that they called more ticky-tack fouls back then.
[/quote]

Lebron would be ridiculous had he played in the 80's. Probably 30 plus points, near triple double averages. The game was so much faster, he would fit right in.

[Eddie20]

The eighties guys were way better shooters and most of them  were not projects as they played college ball.

This.

Loved watching the early-mid 80's style of basketball.  better team play and the players were more skilled. 

I think Durant and PP would fare pretty well.  Bron, less so-->not the shooter the others are and someone would lay him out at some point on his rampages into the paint.  The one saving grace for him would be that they called more ticky-tack fouls back then.

They also had hand checking. It would limit his ability to drive.

[syfy9]

The eighties guys were way better shooters and most of them  were not projects as they played college ball.

This.

Loved watching the early-mid 80's style of basketball.  better team play and the players were more skilled. 

I think Durant and PP would fare pretty well.  Bron, less so-->not the shooter the others are and someone would lay him out at some point on his rampages into the paint.  The one saving grace for him would be that they called more ticky-tack fouls back then.

They also had hand checking. It would limit his ability to drive.

I doubt by very much though. Lebron's athleticism is more or less an equal to Jordan's, and he was able to dominate even with hand checking. 

[LarBrd33]

The eighties guys were way better shooters and most of them  were not projects as they played college ball.

This.

Loved watching the early-mid 80's style of basketball.  better team play and the players were more skilled. 

I think Durant and PP would fare pretty well.  Bron, less so-->not the shooter the others are and someone would lay him out at some point on his rampages into the paint.  The one saving grace for him would be that they called more ticky-tack fouls back then.

They also had hand checking. It would limit his ability to drive.

I doubt by very much though. Lebron's athleticism is more or less an equal to Jordan's, and he was able to dominate even with hand checking. 

LeBron James is a hybrid of Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson with Karl Malone's body... only more athletic.  He would have been perfectly fine in the 80s.

[indeedproceed]

Where were the Dennis Rodman's, the Scottie Pippens?

Rodman's debut:  1986
Pippen's debut: 1987

There were plenty of great defenders in the 80s, even if the game was generally played at a faster pace.

I know they came on later, my point was that they heralded a new age among perimeter defenders, and a new way to play the game.