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

[ram]

If any one watched the game last night knows that the 2012 team is not as good as the 92 team.
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Very true.  I have tapes of all the 1992 games. The offense ran as smooth as silk with the '92 team with a large percentage of possessions resulting in dunks. That was why Barkley was the leading scorer as he was alone for a dunk so many times. MJ was the 5th leading scorer.  Again, this was because the inside players (Malone was 2nd leading scorer) were getting wide open dunks due to great passing. David Robinson shot 76% (dunks). Pippen shot 67%; Drexler 69%.

As far as Magic and Bird, they were still great. Bird had limits defensively but both were superb passers and shooters. Magic made a NBA 1/2 season comeback 5 years later and was a force (21 PER). Bird just finished his last year with a 21 PER, shooting 41% from 3, and 20/10/7 averages.

[myteamisbetterthanyours]

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..

Lol.. Troll fail

[Finkelskyhook]

Kobe says stupid things sometimes.

What do you want him to say?

[flyofchange]

If any one watched the game last night knows that the 2012 team is not as good as the 92 team.
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Very true.  I have tapes of all the 1992 games. The offense ran as smooth as silk with the '92 team with a large percentage of possessions resulting in dunks. That was why Barkley was the leading scorer as he was alone for a dunk so many times. MJ was the 5th leading scorer.  Again, this was because the inside players (Malone was 2nd leading scorer) were getting wide open dunks due to great passing. David Robinson shot 76% (dunks). Pippen shot 67%; Drexler 69%.

As far as Magic and Bird, they were still great. Bird had limits defensively but both were superb passers and shooters. Magic made a NBA 1/2 season comeback 5 years later and was a force (21 PER). Bird just finished his last year with a 21 PER, shooting 41% from 3, and 20/10/7 averages.

The 92 team made a 100% team effort, i dont think the 2012 team would be comfortable playing like that. I mean look at the avges:

Barkley 18 ppg
Jordan  15 ppg
Malone  13 ppg
Mullin  13 ppg
Drexler 10.5 ppg
Ewing    9.5 ppg
Robinson  9 ppg
Pippen    9 ppg etc etc

[Roy H.]

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.

David Robinson:  7'1"
Karl Malone: 6'9"
Scottie Pippen: 6'8"
Michael Jordan: 6'6"
Magic Johnson: 6'8"

All of those guys were extraordinary athletes, and they had great size.

I hear "play Lebron at PF" a lot.  Lebron is going to get abused in the post against Malone, and he's not going to be able to help on other players as much.  Chandler would be worn down by Robinson, and if backups were in, Ewing vs. Bosh is laughable.  Who else does the 2012 team have for big men?  Kevin Love and Blake Griffin?  Good luck against Charles Barkley, who would eat them both alive.

[GreenFaith1819]

The funny thing here is that Kobe had better worry about THIS year's team vs Spain, since he's so focused on that 92 Dream Team.

Our US team is now without Blake Griffin, with his knee injury. My guess is that he's not available.

That leaves Tyson and KLove (and perhaps LeBron) to handle Pau and Marc Gasol and Serge off of spain's bench. Plus, I believe their backcourt has Calderon and Rubio - no slouches there, either.

Just worry about your own team before you start doing revisionist history, Kobe.

[BballTim]

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.

  Just for reference, while it's true that Larry was nowhere near the player he was in his prime, he was still putting up 20/10/7 on a 50 win team that year. He was still capable of playing decent ball, but with that team and his back there was no need.

[myteamisbetterthanyours]

The Bball IQ on the 92 is light years ahead of this class. They would expose every weakness of every player on todays team and the ego of todays players would be disterous to themselves.

Lol @ Egos.. First of all, all professional athletes have huge egos.  Almost as if it they think they're more than just human.. Michael Jordan probably has the biggest ego in all of sports.. probably the most arrogant athlete of all time (but it's understandable when you're that good).. Charles Barkley is also a jerk.. Bird was a jerk.. The whole dream team were jerks..

The most humble player on that Dream team was probably Magic Johnson, but even he has a huge ego..

But you can't sit there and say that this year's team have bigger egos that would be detrimental to their success because all these guys are arrogant jerks..

Now on to the basketball side of things.  I'm going to switch up my previous thought that the '92 team are too big for the 2012 to handle.

Lebron James would probably be the best player on the court.  I know you guys are going to crucify me for this, but we have never seen an athlete with his sort of skill set in the NBA ever.  He's as strong as a power forward, as quick as a guard, the skills of a COMPLETE basketball player (28/7/7/2/1) and has the basketball IQ of a head coach.

Kobe is also no slouch. We know this. Even at 35.

Kevin Durant is in his prime and is a match up nightmare for the '92 team, I just don't think anyone on that team can guard him.

Melo is in his prime, and is also a match up nightmare.

Westbrook would also be a load for them to handle with his speed, strength and hops.

Jordan was in his prime, no point in explaining what he brings to the court.  Magic and Bird were not in their prime.  Barkley, Malone, Ewing and Robinson would create the biggest match up problems.

Mullin, Pippen, Drexler and the rest don't scare me enough to think that the 2012 team couldn't handle them.  This team is no slouch on defense either.

I'm not saying that the 2012 would outright destroy the '92, but I'm going to have to agree with Kobe.  It would be a very close game, but I think the 2012 team wins by a hair because they are a very fast team that gets up and down the court with ease and it would be really tough for the '92 team to run with these guys.

I also think the 2012 team are playing against better competition as the international game has grown DRAMATICALLY since '92.

So yea.  Kobe is right.  Sorry.  These guys are just too fast.  Not as big.. not even close.. but speed kills.  It would be a hectic fast paced game and these games usually go to the faster players.

[FromDowntown]

I think the media has hyped this up way too much (but can you blame the media for being the media?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvxAfnFP19g

1)  He was asked the question.  Everyone was asked the question by the media.  He didn't go out to make the statement for statement's sake.
2)  As a member of the team, and as one of the most competitive athletes in the game, do you expect him to say "no, we'd lose" ?  Then the media would still blow it up as Kobe not trusting his teammates.  "[dang]ed if you do, [dang]ed if you don't" kind of question.  To have confidence in your team is a part, however small, of building team unity going into the Olympics. 
3)  He still pays homage to the dream team, and admits "of course, you're not going to get a concession from either team."
4)  The question is not which team is a better team, but if they have a chance of winning the game.  I don't think I'm alone in saying that there's a possibility (a hypothetical possibility if that makes sense) that they'd win.
5)  He's not the only one they interviewed - CP3 and Lebron said the same things - and of course, because they are on the same team and to concede anything even to a stupid verbal interview question can get scrutinized as not having faith in the team.

Context people.  Context.

[dmopower]

The Bball IQ on the 92 is light years ahead of this class. They would expose every weakness of every player on todays team and the ego of todays players would be disterous to themselves.

Lol @ Egos.. First of all, all professional athletes have huge egos.  Almost as if it they think they're more than just human.. Michael Jordan probably has the biggest ego in all of sports.. probably the most arrogant athlete of all time (but it's understandable when you're that good).. Charles Barkley is also a jerk.. Bird was a jerk.. The whole dream team were jerks..

The most humble player on that Dream team was probably Magic Johnson, but even he has a huge ego..

But you can't sit there and say that this year's team have bigger egos that would be detrimental to their success because all these guys are arrogant jerks..

Now on to the basketball side of things.  I'm going to switch up my previous thought that the '92 team are too big for the 2012 to handle.

Lebron James would probably be the best player on the court.  I know you guys are going to crucify me for this, but we have never seen an athlete with his sort of skill set in the NBA ever.  He's as strong as a power forward, as quick as a guard, the skills of a COMPLETE basketball player (28/7/7/2/1) and has the basketball IQ of a head coach.

Kobe is also no slouch. We know this. Even at 35.

Kevin Durant is in his prime and is a match up nightmare for the '92 team, I just don't think anyone on that team can guard him.

Melo is in his prime, and is also a match up nightmare.

Westbrook would also be a load for them to handle with his speed, strength and hops.

Jordan was in his prime, no point in explaining what he brings to the court.  Magic and Bird were not in their prime.  Barkley, Malone, Ewing and Robinson would create the biggest match up problems.

Mullin, Pippen, Drexler and the rest don't scare me enough to think that the 2012 team couldn't handle them.  This team is no slouch on defense either.

I'm not saying that the 2012 would outright destroy the '92, but I'm going to have to agree with Kobe.  It would be a very close game, but I think the 2012 team wins by a hair because they are a very fast team that gets up and down the court with ease and it would be really tough for the '92 team to run with these guys.

I also think the 2012 team are playing against better competition as the international game has grown DRAMATICALLY since '92.

So yea.  Kobe is right.  Sorry.  These guys are just too fast.  Not as big.. not even close.. but speed kills.  It would be a hectic fast paced game and these games usually go to the faster players.

If I read that right you said that Lebron James has the Bball IQ of a head coach.

 After reading that I refuse to waste any time arguing any of my points with you.

 Enjoy the games.

[Eja117]

I think the 2012 will have a hard enough time with Lithuania, never mind the 92 Dream Team, and I have my doubts they would have beaten the 92 silver team

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Kobe is right. If we were playing today's game.

But if we're talking 90s basketball, oh lord the 2012 guys are going to be clobbered.

But really, the original team would win, by toughness alone. Ewing, Barkley, Malone, Robinson. Those 4 patrolling the lanes will be too physical for the new guys. They maybe faster, but trust me if they drove the lane and either Ewing or Admiral meets them head on, they won't do it again. Pippen and Jordan ain't no pushovers either.

[StartOrien]

Indiana Pacers
✔
@Pacers
Larry Bird on whether current Olympic team could beat Dream Team: "They probably could. I haven't played in 20 years and we're all old now."

[myteamisbetterthanyours]

The Bball IQ on the 92 is light years ahead of this class. They would expose every weakness of every player on todays team and the ego of todays players would be disterous to themselves.

Lol @ Egos.. First of all, all professional athletes have huge egos.  Almost as if it they think they're more than just human.. Michael Jordan probably has the biggest ego in all of sports.. probably the most arrogant athlete of all time (but it's understandable when you're that good).. Charles Barkley is also a jerk.. Bird was a jerk.. The whole dream team were jerks..

The most humble player on that Dream team was probably Magic Johnson, but even he has a huge ego..

But you can't sit there and say that this year's team have bigger egos that would be detrimental to their success because all these guys are arrogant jerks..

Now on to the basketball side of things.  I'm going to switch up my previous thought that the '92 team are too big for the 2012 to handle.

Lebron James would probably be the best player on the court.  I know you guys are going to crucify me for this, but we have never seen an athlete with his sort of skill set in the NBA ever.  He's as strong as a power forward, as quick as a guard, the skills of a COMPLETE basketball player (28/7/7/2/1) and has the basketball IQ of a head coach.

Kobe is also no slouch. We know this. Even at 35.

Kevin Durant is in his prime and is a match up nightmare for the '92 team, I just don't think anyone on that team can guard him.

Melo is in his prime, and is also a match up nightmare.

Westbrook would also be a load for them to handle with his speed, strength and hops.

Jordan was in his prime, no point in explaining what he brings to the court.  Magic and Bird were not in their prime.  Barkley, Malone, Ewing and Robinson would create the biggest match up problems.

Mullin, Pippen, Drexler and the rest don't scare me enough to think that the 2012 team couldn't handle them.  This team is no slouch on defense either.

I'm not saying that the 2012 would outright destroy the '92, but I'm going to have to agree with Kobe.  It would be a very close game, but I think the 2012 team wins by a hair because they are a very fast team that gets up and down the court with ease and it would be really tough for the '92 team to run with these guys.

I also think the 2012 team are playing against better competition as the international game has grown DRAMATICALLY since '92.

So yea.  Kobe is right.  Sorry.  These guys are just too fast.  Not as big.. not even close.. but speed kills.  It would be a hectic fast paced game and these games usually go to the faster players.

If I read that right you said that Lebron James has the Bball IQ of a head coach.

 After reading that I refuse to waste any time arguing any of my points with you.

 Enjoy the games.

Lol.. Ok?  Lebron James is one of the smartest basketball players on the planet bro.. You don't average over 7 assists and under 2 to's as a small forward if you don't have elite BB IQ.. You must not really play basketball.. You must also not like Lebron James.. Understandable.

[Roy H.]

...it would be really tough for the '92 team to run with these guys.

Why do people keep saying this?  It's nonsense.

Magic / Jordan / Pippen / Malone / Robinson

That lineup is every bit as fast and athletic as anything the 2012 squad can throw out there.

Plus, the 2012 team wouldn't get as many opportunities to run, because the Dream Team would be taking high percentage shots inside, and would be doing a good job on the offensive boards.