Kobe says 2012 usa team could beat the 92 dream team????

[GreenFaith1819]

Not only would they NOT beat the 92 team, they wouldn't beat 1996 or 2000 team, either:

1996:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/olympics/teams/USA/1996

2000:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/olympics/teams/USA/2000

[BballTim]

Just compare the teams, matchups, etc.

PG - Paul, Williams, Westbrook
SG - Bryant, Harden
SF - Durant, Anthony, Iguodala
PF - James, Griffin
C - Chandler, Love

vs.

PG - Johnson, Stockton
SG - Jordan, Drexler
SF - Bird, Pippen, Mullen
PF - Malone, Barkley, Laettner
C - Robinson, Ewing

Honestly, the teams are actually much closer than I thought.  Magic had just missed an entire year after the HIV diagnosis and I think Stockton would get overwhelmed by Paul and Williams speed, quickness, and strength.  Jordan and Bryant aren't that far apart, though Drexler would destroy Harden (of course I'm not sure Harden would play much as Melo probably plays against Clyde and he would be a tough matchup for Clyde).  Durant would destroy the Bird from 1992, though I think Pippen would fair pretty good on both ends against Durant.  James is just too quick and strong for Malone and Barkley on offense and would more than hold his own on defense (and I don't think the 92 boys could run with Griffin or keep up with athleticism).  Now obviously Robinson and Ewing would have huge size advantages, but I'm not sure either one could guard Love on the perimeter or keep up with Chandler in the fast break.  

Honestly given the age of Bird and Magic, I don't think this game would be a total blow out at all and would be very close.

The centers are a laughable comparison in my eyes. I also don't see how Jordan at 28 is about even with a 35 year old Kobe. That seems really insulting to Jordan.

I meant it more in a matchup standpoint.  Kobe would make Michael work a lot on the defensive end and you know Kobe would be up for guarding Michael. 

  Kobe might be up for guarding MJ but that doesn't mean that he'd be able to stop him from scoring or anything.

Yeah, but no one could.  I don't think MJ would stop Kobe from scoring either, which was my point.  Kobe is still a 28/5.5/4.5 player.  I mean it isn't like he is washed up.

  MJ was arguably the best defensive sg of all time. He'd at least slow Kobe down quite a bit.

[HowardAvellino]

I think the 92 team would win, especially if you they could still hand check and play physical.

So, I think you're talking about the way the NBA was officiated in 1992, vs. how it's officiated today.

The thing is, though, these were not NBA teams.  They're both teams intended for international play.  And international basketball is a different game.

I think the 2012 team would win.  I definitely think people are being nostalgic about "the Dream Team".  Can you honestly see Larry Bird, who could barely walk, out there trying to guard Kevin Durant or LeBron James???  OK, take Bird out and put Chris Mullin in... do things get any better?  Who could Barkley guard, and how would he fare on offense against LeBron?

The 2012 team has huge advantage when it comes to speed and athleticism, which is crucial.  You can talk about Ewing and Robinson, but how did they do in 1992?  They were ok, but look at the competition.  Shaq was never great in international games.  And Duncan was a flat-out disaster.  If the US wanted post play, they could have put Al Jefferson and Roy Hibbert on the team, instead of Griffin and Harden.  Such a team would match up more closely with the 1992 team.  But it would be worse, for international basketball.

Here's how I match up 1992 with 2012:

LeBron James vs. Charles Barkley
Kevin Durant vs. Michael Jordan
Kevin Love vs. Karl Malone
Deron Williams vs. Chris Mullin
Russel Westbrook vs. Clyde Drexler
Tyson Chandler vs. Patrick Ewing
Andre Iguodala vs. Scottie Pippin
Anthony Davis vs. David Robinson
Kobe Bryant vs. Larry Bird
James Harden vs. Magic Johnson (33 years old and retired)
Carmelo Anthony vs. Christian Laettner
Chris Paul vs. John Stockton

The 1992 team could win.  But it's far from a sure thing.

[HowardAvellino]

For the record:
Chris Mullin: 6'6", 200lbs
Deron Williams: 6'3", 209lbs

Clyde Drexler: 6'7", 210lbs
Russell Westbrook: 6'3", 187lbs

Size advantage?  Yes.  But not as much as you might think.  And consider the quickness advantage going the other way.

[Celtics4ever]

Kobe is an idiot they would get crushed.  None of them could stop Jordan and their bigs today are suspect.

Anthony Davis vs. David Robinson

Anthony Davis is not on the team how about getting your facts straight.  He is injured.

[Django]

Kobe is an idiot they would get crushed.  None of them could stop Jordan and their bigs today are suspect.

Anthony Davis vs. David Robinson

Anthony Davis is not on the team how about getting your facts straight.  He is injured.

He played yesterday....and scored 9 points....Blake Griffin is out of the Olympics because of an injury..

[Django]

I think the mistake is judging these teams off their "primes"

People still think of Bird, Magic in their "primes"

They were past their primes by this point. Magic sat out a season. Bird retired because of back issues.

I think the Dream Team would win....

But more so because Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, DROSE and DWADE are not playing.

David Robinson
Barkley
Not healthy Larry Bird/Pippen
Jordan
Magic/Stockton

vs.

Howard
LeBron
Durant
Kobe
Chris Paul

Would go 7 games in a 7 game series. Slight edge to Dream Team.

Against this team? They'd win by 8 in a 1 game scenario. Their lack of size would do them in. Probably win in 6.

[fitzhickey]

The 2012 team is really small, the admiral would have a day out with Ewing

[anthony83]

Kobe says stupid things sometimes.

[flyofchange]

I think the 92 team would win, especially if you they could still hand check and play physical.

So, I think you're talking about the way the NBA was officiated in 1992, vs. how it's officiated today.

The thing is, though, these were not NBA teams.  They're both teams intended for international play.  And international basketball is a different game.

I think the 2012 team would win.  I definitely think people are being nostalgic about "the Dream Team".  Can you honestly see Larry Bird, who could barely walk, out there trying to guard Kevin Durant or LeBron James???  OK, take Bird out and put Chris Mullin in... do things get any better?  Who could Barkley guard, and how would he fare on offense against LeBron?

The 2012 team has huge advantage when it comes to speed and athleticism, which is crucial.  You can talk about Ewing and Robinson, but how did they do in 1992?  They were ok, but look at the competition.  Shaq was never great in international games.  And Duncan was a flat-out disaster.  If the US wanted post play, they could have put Al Jefferson and Roy Hibbert on the team, instead of Griffin and Harden.  Such a team would match up more closely with the 1992 team.  But it would be worse, for international basketball.

Here's how I match up 1992 with 2012:

LeBron James vs. Charles Barkley
Kevin Durant vs. Michael Jordan
Kevin Love vs. Karl Malone
Deron Williams vs. Chris Mullin
Russel Westbrook vs. Clyde Drexler
Tyson Chandler vs. Patrick Ewing
Andre Iguodala vs. Scottie Pippin
Anthony Davis vs. David Robinson
Kobe Bryant vs. Larry Bird
James Harden vs. Magic Johnson (33 years old and retired)
Carmelo Anthony vs. Christian Laettner
Chris Paul vs. John Stockton

The 1992 team could win.  But it's far from a sure thing.

WHAT ARE YOU SMOKING DUDE??

Are you serious with this?

Where is the advantage for the 2012 team ANYWHERE? International rules allow HANDCHECKING! Most of these pampered, flopping "superstars" of today dont know what handchecking is. You wanna talk about athleticism? Jordan was a freak athlete, he ran a 4.3 40 and had a 48 inch vertical and he was strong as an ox. Pippen, Malone, Drexler, Robinson are every bit as athletic as the guys on the 2012 team.

The 92 team were alot bigger and more importantly the overall basketball iq of the dream team is far higher than the 2012 team.

Durant defending prime Jordan.......hahahahaha
Love on Malone??
Davis on Admiral...you gotta be kiddin..

These matchups dont make sense cause overall the edge is in dream teams favor 90% of the time.

This is not about nostalgia, this is about what people forget how good these guys on the dream team were.

You need to go back and watch some tape of these guys cause you clearly dont remember how dominant these players were.

Exept for leathner all these 92 guys are in anyones top 50 of all time easy, and look at the overall talent level for gods sake!
You think guys like westbrook, harden, igoudala, chandler, williams love etc are on the same talent level??

Not only would the dream team win, it would be a blowout!!!!!

[ram]

Perhaps the greatest "Dream Team" was one that never materialized due to prevailing rules.

Imagine what the 1964 team might have been:

Russell/Chamberlain/Bellamy
Bob Pettit/Jerry Lucas/Heinsohn
Baylor/Havlicek
West/Hal Greer
Oscar/Sam Jones

Most (if not all) of these guys are among the 50 greatest players of all time and all were in their prime in 1964. Pettit was the oldest at just 32. Russell was 30 and the rest were in their 20s. Most of them were great passers, scorers and defenders. Four of them were 4 years removed from the 1960 team that won by an average of 40 PPG.

The real 1964 team, led by Bill Bradley, Jim "Bad News" Barnes, Mel Counts, Walt Hazard and Luke Jackson, won 9 games by an average margin of 30 points. The 12 HOFs captioned above would destroyed teams by 50-80 points per game.

[flyofchange]

VS


VS

VS

I REST MY CASE!

[Sketch5]

If any one watched the game last night knows that the 2012 team is not as good as the 92 team. Yeah they won big, but I think they had a scoring drought  of 4 minutes, or only scored a couple points in that time.

I think I saw five straight trips were they jacked up a 3 or deep shot, or just turned it over because the physical play was more than they were us to.

You wouldn't see that with the 92 team. And don't give me that crap it was their first game. 

[dark_lord]

kobe is an idiot.  lets see if this years team wins the gold first before making claims like beating the dream team!

[dark_lord]

My first thought was actually to give it a second of thought; obviously Larry and Magic were shells of themselves at that point.

larry was a shell of himself, but magic could still play at a high level.  he only retired due to his hiv.  the season before, he lead the lakers to the finals. a tad bit past his prime, but still playing at a very high level.