re: How could the 92 Dream Team have possibly been improved?

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For arguments sake, let's assume everyone was close to their prime. No broken Larry Bird, HIV ridden magic, Finalsless LeBron, or bum knees Wade. We have to look at the potential of these guys putting in their best effort.



92 Starting lineup was:

Magic at point
MJ at shooting guard
Bird at small forward
Barkley at power forward
Ewing at center

08 Starting lineup was:

Kidd/Paul at point
Kobe at shooting guard
LeBron at small forward
Boozer/Bosh at power forward
Dwight Howard at center

But, against the 92 team, I think the 2008 Team would actually do:

Dwayne Wade at point
Kobe at shooting guard
Carmelo at small forward
LeBron at power forward
Dwight Howard at center




When the 92 team took the ball down the court:

The change at point I suggested would be advantageous for a couple reasons. One, Stockton was the only back up point guard. So if you were ever taking Magic off, he was replace by Drexler/Stockton and a Kidd/Paul would take that all day. If the he is going against Stockton, he's fine. Stockton's brilliance was the pick and roll, but with LeBron on Malone it would be damn near impossible. The 2008 bench would be much better there. As far as starting Wade, well you need some added height. Magic was a hair over 6' 9". 2's and 3's would generally matchup against him in the NBA, but either way he got set and could sling it. Dwayne Wade is only 6'4" so you're losing there no matter what, but Flash's speed would really eliminate Magic on the fast break so none of that show time shite would have happened.

At shooting guard, MJ vs Kobe would be epic. Jordan is obviously the better player, but would anyone in NBA history handle Jordan better that Kobe? The answer is no. And LeBron could even spell Kobe. It would be really frustrating for Jordan. Jordan could nail his jumper over Craig Ehlo... Kobe and LeBron? Not so fast.

Larry Bird vs Carmelo. Honestly, Bird would get the better of him on the perimeter, but Bird wouldn't be able to drive with a waiting LeBron in the post, or even get by Carmelo that easy. You might even put LeBron on Bird to shut him down(which he would) and then leave Carmelo to deal with Barkley. Carmelo is not a bad defender when he wants to be, but stopping all 280 pounds Barkley in the paint would be an issue. LeBron however? Barkley wouldn't score a single point. So in the 3/4 matchup you're really looking at the 2008 team have a ridiculously one sided advantage. The 92 team might try and put out Malone instead of Barkley, but what would that really do? He's shorter/slower than LeBron, and on the other end of the floor, would get eaten alive by LeBron on the perimeter.

At center, Dwight Howard is a plus defender and would do fine against Ewing. Howard is 3 time defensive player of the year and 4 time all defensive first team(neither award Ewing won even once). It would be a battle on the boards for sure, and Ewing might even have the edge there(I doubt it), but trying to run any of the offense through him would be really bad. I doubt he would have much luck passing the ball out of the post either




When 08 would take the ball down the court:

Wade would be too quick for Magic. He could just ignore passing Kobe the ball at all to let MJ sit alone if he wanted to. The goal would be feeding LeBron, and let Carmelo take any wide open shots he could. And what would the 92 Dream Team's response be? Put Jordan on LeBron? Put Magic on LeBron? Magic might be a smart move, but then you're putting Jordan on Wade, and leaving Larry Bird or Charles Barkley to guard Kobe. Kobe would run past Bird and shoot over Charles every play. So if you're the 92 team... you're stuck. Your option at that point is to bring in Scottie Pippin to guard LeBron. And that's probably your best move, but you're giving up Bird's offense, and whatever edge you had over Carmelo on the other end. This does allow you to keep Magic on Wade, but what would it really matter? If I knew Scottie was guarding LeBron, and Magic on Wade, I'd have Carmelo bring the ball down the court and watch Charles fat arse run out of breath. LeBron struggles the most with smaller guys getting inside him on the wing, but the 92 team couldn't devote Jordan/Drexler to him. Let's not forget MJ was under 200 lbs. LeBron is 260-280(depending on which version you're getting). What about someone a little bigger. Chris Mullin? Lolz. I can only imagine them on the same court together. And if the 92 team needed to go big, who was the other big body on the dream team? The Admiral? Too slow.

It just wouldn't matter. LeBron on a good team is the ultimate mismatch. The options passing the ball after driving(assuming someone stopped him with help defense) would be too much. Dwight Howard may suck at offense but he'll head up for an oop the second Ewing leaves him. Carmelo sitting on the three point line or driving on the backside would be deadly. And this is all assuming Jordan stays on Kobe. If Jordan leaves him at all, Kobe is a huge mismatch. Your two best guys to stop Jordan would be Kobe and LeBron. Who are your two best just to stop Kobe?

And in the post, as Dirk and the Mavs proved, you don't need to run ANY of the offense through the center(seriously, Tyson Chandler didn't have any of the offense run through him in the 2011 Finals run) if you have good shooters and a stretch 4. Patrick Ewing wasn't even a great defender to begin with, but something that seems like an obvious mismatch in the 92 Team's favor on paper, wouldn't actually exist in the actual game.

And let's not over look the bench. Jason Kidd is 5TH ALL TIME in 3 pointers. You know how? Because he would shoot uncontested after his sneak arse found the perfect place to sit to take advantage of the chaos closer to the rim. Boozer, Bosh and Paul are semi-respectable. Bosh and Paul at least create mismatches.









MJ is the greatest player of all time. Awesome. The 92 Dream Team just couldn't handle the athleticism of LeBron and company. It would just be too much.