[festar35Participant]

 So I was looking at my Indiana Pacers todayand i got a feeling of deja vu bout the team.

We have 1 go to scorer (Oladipo/PG13), defensive minded centre (Turner/Hibbert), glue guy at PF (Young/West), Lance (Nuff said), Collison backed up by a defensive PG who played for the Spurs (Hill/Joseph), outside shooting European (Bogdanoivic/Rudez) and a hard nosed rebounding PF of the bench (Sabonis/Hansbrough) and a bit of a defensive wildcard (Robinson/Solo Hill)

The exciting thing is Oladipo can be the scorer George was, but it’s the fact that I think Turner and Sabonis can surpass both West and Hibbert at their respective positions in a couple of years. Specifically Sabonis on offense, I think he emerges as Indiana’s 2nd scoring option over Turner given his outstanding ability in the pick ‘n’ roll.

 

Anyway do any of your teams remind you of teams you’ve seen in the past?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

 I actually don’t see much of a resemblance between the 2 teams at all. Those pacers teams from 2012-14 played at an absolutely glacial pace by modern NBA standards. They played 2 traditional bigs at almost all times with neither really being able to stretch the floor. The won with a physical brand of defense designed to funnel everything to roy hibbert and a lot of individual offensive brilliance from Paul George. They were almost kind of a throwback to 90s era NBA basketball. 

The current pacers resemble a modern NBA team much more. While they don’t have an individual offensive talent on their roster that can create like George, they run a much more balanced offense predicated on player and ball movement. They play at a much faster pace with interchangeable pieces. They rarely play 2 traditional bigs and almost everyone on their roster is at least a threat to shoot from 3.

If you want a current NBA team that resembles the Vogel era pacers I’d say the jazz are the closest thing, particularly last year’s version. Hayward kind of approximated George’s role and production, and they played at a very slow pace with 2 traditional bigs in gobert and favors. They even had the same pg in Hill.

 

 

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 I didn’t even catch the Warriors game, but that team reminds me of a team that is cresting, no longer surging, and a team that other teams are clearly chasing and are not afraid of.

The Shaq-Kobe Lakers squad had that great run then promptly fell apart against the Pistons two years later.

Then Kobe’s back-to-back team with Phil as the coach was abruptly destroyed by a surging, take-no-prisoners Dallas Mavs team in the playoffs.

Cavs: still has a bit of championship DNA, but that is fading and AGING fast.  Basically defenseless and LeBron has to have too many Beast Mode LeBron Games for them to beat good teams (or even BAD teams).  Maybe they are fringe contender now, if that.  Kinda reminds me of the 1991 Lakers team that made it to the Finals (didn’t even watch the playoffs up until that point really and I lived in So Cal), still had Magic Johnson, who was at least a step slower, not as intimidating, and one of the main scorers instead of the pass-first guy.  Vlade Divac was the only young guy and he played well (ALMOST put them up 2-0 which woulda made it a different series) although he didn’t enter his prime for a few more years.  James Worthy, Byron Scott, and Sam Perkins were the main support guys and they were aging rapidly.  I think Elden Campbell was a rookie and I don’t think he even got off the bench.

Back to the Warriors.  Didn’t see this team, but Larry Bird’s Celtics had a great little run with 3 titles, coming off the magical 1986 title where even Bill Walton had things clicking.  Then the next year rolls around, Len Bias dies, Walton breaks down for the final time, and I think somebody else got hurt, too.  I think McHale.  Still had a great year, Bird played too many minutes, and the bench was ALL TIME BAD — maybe that is the Warriors this year.  More of an even more one dimensional run-and-shoot offense with solid passing.  Not a real power team and not a lock-down defensive team either.  Then, their bench guys are either not filling up the stat sheet enough, are less inspired than they were last year, or I just haven’t watched enough Warriors games.  Then they ran into the buzzsaw that was the 1987 LA Lakers.

THIS year’s Boston Celtics: hmmm… my FAVORITE Celtics teams were the ones led by Reggie Lewis-Kevin Gamble-Dee Brown.  So, maybe Kyrie Irving is the most kinetic C’s point guard since Dee.  Totally different games with Dee being the big dunker and Kyrie being the Picasso of Layups, but I can’t think of many YOUNG Celtics teams that were this GOOD.  Then, there is something about Tatum that reminds me of Reggie Lewis…

The Memphis Grizzlies kinda remind me of the first NBA team I ever saw, the 1989-1990 Atltanta Hawks in an exhibition game.  Some solid players (but aging at the top).  Dominique Wilkins and Moses Malone plus Spud Webb were the main guys, but the rest of the roster were some young unproven guys and some mismatched misfits.  Big Marc is putting up twilight prime Moses Malone numbers and our point guard rotation is probably as weirdly mediocre as the Spud Webb/Doc Rivers combo.  Not too much shooting, not a ton of defense, not much of an identity.  With James Ennis being our prime run-dunk small forward athlete, but without the primetime special dunks.  Although Tyreke Evans is a better straight-line scoring option from the wing than Nique might have ever been.  That Hawks team actually won about 43 games but missed the playoffs.  OR, the current Grizz are like that Ewing Knicks team led by a super-solid 20-10 center, but who went down then Sprewell, Allan Houston, Larry Johnson, Childs/Ward, and Marcus Camby took over and went to the NBA Finals.  No real Allan Houston guy, but Tyreke Evans, Conley, Ben McLemore/Wayne Selden (two guys who have been hurt but might be ok soon), Mario Chalmers, James Ennis, Chandler Parsons, and Brandan Wright approximate the Spree-Houston-LJ-generic point guard-Camby core.  

That ’99 Knicks team ironically faced a two-headed monster team led by Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Sean Elliott, and a YMCA backcourt.  The New Orleans Pelicans have their faults — their YMCA wing rotation, but D Cuz and AD are going gangbusters, Jru Holiday used to be an All Star (supposedly), ditto for Rajon Rondo, and Dante Cunningham is a no-stats G League All Star type.

Bucks: young, long, scrappy, the virtuoso brilliance that IS Giannis: Freak of the Greeks.  More of a Doug Collins-esque Jordanaires Bulls teams than the Coach Phil MJ-Pip prime teams but you can see them getting there soon.

Who would I compare the Philadelphia 76ers to?  You wanna say the Kareem-Magic Lakers but Embiid is more effusive than Kareem.  Also on a rookie contract.  Alternate history of the #1 pick (that turned into James Worthy) being traded to Houston for Ralph Sampson, maybe that would be a really great comparison.  That Lakers team still would have had some nice vets and some good young guys.  Jamaal Wilkes was still there as was Norm Nixon (before he got traded for Byron Scott).

I am gonna go in a different direction here (as I always do).

I am gonna compare the current Sixers team to Western, the mythical blue blood college team brought back from the dead by the MONSTER recruiting class of Neon Bidoux (Shaq), Butch McRae (Penny Hardaway) and whoever Matt Nover played as the slick shooting big man from rural Indiana.

Yeah, so Embiid is the new Neon.  Doesn’t know how good he is, but kinda does anyway.  McRae was an awesome, skinny, uber athletic big point guard with great passing skills and court vision.  Nover guy was supposedly part of a "big three" but it was basically a two man combo type of team.

Dario Saric becomes the 76ers’ default third-string-farm boy-from-red state country.  That movie also featured Tony, a solidly talented but high-maintenance scoring guard who needs help with all kinds of stuff and also kinda shaved some points last season.  Is Markelle Fultz Tony?  The secondary guard and fourth guy in the four man core who is kinda high maintenance?

For the rest of the Philly core, I am gonna compare them to the team Western plays in Blue Chips. An Indiana team led by Bobby Knight.  TJ McConnell is Bobby Hurley (why he was on IU in this movie I have no idea), with Robert Covington and Justin Anderson taking turns being Calbert Chaney and Greg Graham.  I am thinking that Eric Montross was on that movie, so that would be Jah Okafor, a guy who woulda been a pretty good center 10 years ago.  Mega bonus points if Vin Baker was in that movie too, so I will upgrade Okafor to a post-prime Vin Baker.  Maybe this means that Jahlil Okafor gets traded to Seattle.  Who knows….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 Oh fun!! Looks like I killed another thread!!!

[Author]

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