This is Steve Kerr sarcastically responding to those who say the Warriors aren't as good as NBA teams of the past. I'm posting this because we have debates from time to time about basketball players of today aren't as good as they used to be.
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Today's players are the more freakish athletes, but that's as far as I would go. I mentioned in another thread about some players could play in any era. Just because you can have a shoe deal, be tatted up, can do a 360 while grabbing your groin, and have range from 27 feet doesn't make you better because guys 40-50 wasn't doing it. I will say that plain old basketball smarts have gone the way of the dodo. I am sure there may have been someone before Larry Bird with just as high a basketball IQ, but one thing I can say with certainty: There hasn't been anyone as smart or smarter than he since he left the game. This is an argument that will have no winners but I know what side I am on. I am a straight up old school guy even though I am 46. I loved the 80's and 90's NBA. This product now is hard to watch during the regular season. The playoffs, though, is a great spectacle. Guys are actually giving it their all.Last edited by Blue Heaven; 06-09-2017, 05:30 PM.Isaiah 5:20 -
One thing I will say about the Warriors are that they are a blast to watch, regular season or playoffs. They enjoy playing the game and they love to share the ball. They remind me of a really good college team. Steph Curry is just ridiculous. He has a quick release but he has to have the worst shot selection in the NBA. I love to watch him play though.Isaiah 5:20Comment
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And Wilt had a 48 inch vertical.Back in the day, you had to play man to man defense in the NBA. I could go on and on and i agree that today's athletes are freakish but then again, the players cry over every call. I can only imagine how the old school players would physically punish this new breed player in a 48 minute NBA game.
I think Dwight Howard said it best the other day in a interview. He says when he came into the league that in practice if he picked up the basketball and tried to dribble up court or shoot a jumpshot, coaches would look at him like he was crazy and ask him what is he doing. Now he says is actually working on his 3 point shot this summer so that guys like him does not become extinct in the NBA. Look at Al Horford, do you all remember him taking 3 point shots in college or early on in his NBA career? For bigs to survive now, they all have to learn how to shoot the basketball from the permitmer, it's a different game now...Comment
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As for Steve Kerr, i really liked him as a commentator and i feel bad for him for all the health issues he has had to deal with. However, i absolutely can't stand the GSW and my challenge is this, ask a Golden State fan to pull up a team photo from 10 years ago and name the players, they can't do it.....
Kevin Durant?? Imagine Jordan,Bird,Magic, or any other great being up 3-1 on a team in the playoffs only to lose the series, then switch over at the end of the year. I have been hearing that KD is the best player in the league now, where was KD when his team was up 3-1 last year on the Warriors???
Finally, Steve Kerr gets all the credit but how could we actually forget that MARK JACKSON actually built this teams foundation only to be let go after a bad season. I applaude Mark Jackson sitting on the sidelines commentating these games and taking the high road but he is the one who helped put the core of this team together.....Comment
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Guys like David Thompson, George Gervin, Julius Erving, etc. were freakish athletes. So were big guys like Moses Malone, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Artis Gilmore, etc. Imagine guys from back then playing in today's shoes instead of Chuck Taylors, having the benefit of modern training and conditioning techniques, actually having officials call things like carrying the ball, etc. Even without all of that I'd take them over a contemporary all star team. Their fundamentals were incredible, as was their talent. With NBA defense as poor as it is today, Dan Issel could put in 40 points a game just using that head fake of his.Comment
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It's a myth that NBA defense is terrible.Comment
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Yep. In playoff basketball, the defense is usually very tough. It's a testament to Golden State's offensive capabilities that they make it look so easy.
These Golden State Warriors would win a seven game series against any NBA champion before 2000 (when a lot of the "old timers" claim that the NBA went down the tubes). I'd bet money on that.Comment
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I remember the Bulls teams vividly. I still think the Warriors would win the series. Even Steve Kerr, who played on those teams, has hinted towards that.
I only caught the tail-end of the 80s Lakers/Celtics rivalry, but I think the shooting/athleticism of the Warriors would end those teams, too.
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