Imaginary Game #1: 1978 vs. 2010

[lilproUK98]

I agree, the 96 team had a better scoring punch. At times, the 15 team could struggle to score. The obvious example of that was their only loss.

96 team is the best UK team I have ever witnessed. Great depth,great withering defense and great scoring. They rarely struggled to score mainly because their defense could make easy points. Just a great,great team. The 78 and 12 teams could beat them maybe 3 times out of ten. Possibly the 15 team could and maybe the 84 team. I'm not sure any other team could beat them more than one time out of ten.

I actually think the 15 team would match up much better with 96 than the 12 team. They are equal in depth, rarely turned it over, and had a size advantage, and could defend the 96 team much better. The 12 team could get sloppy and had very little depth, also, 96 had a knack of taking big men totally out of the game and they could do the same with Davis.

[Westtncat]

Something I would love to do (if I had the time) is an actual play by play with stats and box score for an imaginary game. If I ever find the time I may just do it. May have to wait for my wife to go out of town or something.

[Dwight Schrute]

I agree, the 96 team had a better scoring punch. At times, the 15 team could struggle to score. The obvious example of that was their only loss.

96 team is the best UK team I have ever witnessed. Great depth,great withering defense and great scoring. They rarely struggled to score mainly because their defense could make easy points. Just a great,great team. The 78 and 12 teams could beat them maybe 3 times out of ten. Possibly the 15 team could and maybe the 84 team. I'm not sure any other team could beat them more than one time out of ten.

Your post does make me wonder if we'd remember the '15 team more favorably had they been able to finish the job and win the tournament. In hindsight, the '15 team's tendency to have difficulty scoring puts it a notch below the 96 squad, but 2015 that team knew how to win.

[KevinHall]

Your post does make me wonder if we'd remember the '15 team more favorably had they been able to finish the job and win the tournament. In hindsight, the '15 team's tendency to have difficulty scoring puts it a notch below the 96 squad, but 2015 that team knew how to win.

That's exactly right. You have to rate them just a notch or even half notch below the 96 and IMO the 78 team just because in the end they didn't win it all. Maybe not fair but that's just the way it is in my book of how I look at teams.

[JFCats22]

78 team was great, really great. But in 2010 basketball, athleticism, speed, and strength is on another planet compared to 1978. 2010 wins and wins easily.

[Lighthouse]

The 78 team would not be over matched by the 10 team, but the 10 team would have the advantage in the back court. I would say the 78 team would win 6 out of 10 in that match-up.

[Jload]

The 12 team couldn’t beat 96 teams even in there dreams. The press would have eaten 12 alive, they couldn’t have scored enough AND they had nobody to guard Antwain Walker, assuming Kid-Gilchrist was guarding Delk. If he guards Walker there is nobody to guard Delk. As for 15 beating 96, I’m still laughing. Mercer, Delk , Walker would run the Harrison’s out of the gym.

[Joneslab]

I do think both '15 and '12 beat '98.

There've been quite a few teams over the years that I think could beat '98. Teams that didn't win a title. '96 would beat '98 by 25 points if they weren't careful.

'98 just caught fire when it counted.

[Dwight Schrute]

The 12 team couldn’t beat 96 teams even in there dreams. The press would have eaten 12 alive, they couldn’t have scored enough AND they had nobody to guard Antwain Walker, assuming Kid-Gilchrist was guarding Delk. If he guards Walker there is nobody to guard Delk. As for 15 beating 96, I’m still laughing. Mercer, Delk , Walker would run the Harrison’s out of the gym.

I'm beginning to think you're one who believes basketball was better 20 years ago.

[Dwight Schrute]

I do think both '15 and '12 beat '98.

There've been quite a few teams over the years that I think could beat '98. Teams that didn't win a title. '96 would beat '98 by 25 points if they weren't careful.

'98 just caught fire when it counted.

Yeah, I think this is accurate. I think '15 and '12 could beat with any team in our history not called '96.

[Old School]

Generally I think you're right about how the game has changed. With some of the powerhouse teams I don't think the athleticism would be as much of a problem.

Wall would be a severe issue, but if Macy was as solid as they say--and he must have been considering what kind of college career he had--then he could have probably hung in.

Macy had a pretty good NBA career too: 5,000+ points, 2,000+ assists, 1,000+ rebounds. He averaged double digits in his five years with the Suns before playing for two other teams dropped his career average to 9.5. His second year average was 14.2 ppg. He's the Suns' second leading free throw shooter to this day and he led the NBA in that category twice. His NBA career wasn't outstanding, so it's mostly forgotten, but he was a solid pro player.