The talent difference between the Dream Team and the 2012 team isn't even remotely close to the gap between Famu and Kentucky, stupid comparison.
Bill Simmons on 2012 team vs. the Dream Team
- Thread starter Patrick Kane
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The talent difference between the Dream Team and the 2012 team isn't even remotely close to the gap between Famu and Kentucky, stupid comparison.
OG Talk
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The likelyhood of any team going on a shooting tear like 2012 did is very rare.. Which makes it a kinda flawed basis to debate what the outcome would be... That was a Loyola Marymount vs Michigan in 1990 type "blackout game".. It's always gonna be the exception over the rule...If they're not having a miracle night from deep it's gonna turn into a grind out game and thats where the 2012 just can't be match up..
Put up this way.. The 2012 team's strength is shooting lower percentage shots better than '92...If you are gonna go off of the numbers then you gotta go with the team that can get easier high percentage buckets at a higher clip...
'12 winning isn't impossible, it's just improbable.. The championship game against Spain was an example of how the matchup would go..Leave everyone else out of the discussion and just imagine the '12 team playing the same exact Spain team on Sunday, with everything else being equal, except you replace Rudy Fernadez with Jordan...No Barkely, Robinson, Ewing, Malone or Pippen... Just put Jordan on Sundays Spain team and USA has silver around their neck today...Which is kinda the point of Simmon's piece...
NYC Rebel
...on the otherside of the pond
My point is....it WASN'T RARE for this team.
It was the STANDARD. There's nothing that 92 team could do about it if Melo, Durant, CP3, Kobe or Williams decided to get hot and go on a personal 3 point shooting spree.
Absolutely nothing anyone could do.
OG Talk
Archived
The talent difference between the Dream Team and the 2012 team isn't even remotely close to the gap between Famu and Kentucky, stupid comparison.
The talent between Nigeria isn't comparable to the talent of the '92 team either...
Your point was that if 2012 "blacks out" then they win... No kiddin....
My point is if anyone "blacks out" at that level it's impossible to lose...
superunknown23
Superstar
Spain would've won gold on Sunday if they had MJ (or any decent SG) instead of Fernandez... Think about it before making ridiculous comparisons 
cornercommission2k12
so this were u dudes went
been saying from the jump
'12 team is just a glorified jump shooting team.
most these international teams are just jump shooting teams.
in 04 we had a ton of guys who couldnt hit shots. in '12 we had guys who shot from the perimeter better than everybody else in the world.
secondly the '12 team relied heavily on creating turnovers into transition baskets
now tell me who on the original dream team the '12 team creating turnovers on? they shaking drexler, magic, stocton, jordon or pippen into making turnovers? naw thats ridiculous
secondly if the dream team seen that this team was relying heavily on fast breaks, yall dont think they would have been smart enough to make it a half court game and take that away from them?
then if you make it a half court game its over for the '12 team, cause malone, barkley, robinson and ewing going to eat well.
then if the game is close at the last minutes in the 4th, who on the '12 team are you taking over mj? i mean be real here now.
im not one to say in a 7 game series the '12 team gets swept, i think it goes 6. but the dream team would have more issues with the 96/08 team. not this one.
'12 team is just a glorified jump shooting team.
most these international teams are just jump shooting teams.
in 04 we had a ton of guys who couldnt hit shots. in '12 we had guys who shot from the perimeter better than everybody else in the world.
secondly the '12 team relied heavily on creating turnovers into transition baskets
now tell me who on the original dream team the '12 team creating turnovers on? they shaking drexler, magic, stocton, jordon or pippen into making turnovers? naw thats ridiculous
secondly if the dream team seen that this team was relying heavily on fast breaks, yall dont think they would have been smart enough to make it a half court game and take that away from them?
then if you make it a half court game its over for the '12 team, cause malone, barkley, robinson and ewing going to eat well.
then if the game is close at the last minutes in the 4th, who on the '12 team are you taking over mj? i mean be real here now.
im not one to say in a 7 game series the '12 team gets swept, i think it goes 6. but the dream team would have more issues with the 96/08 team. not this one.
NYC Rebel
...on the otherside of the pond
I don't know. I see many of your points and the 92 team in a series would most likely beat this 2012 team, but I'm being real...I never saw a team shoot lights out like this 2012 team. Even in a half court game, no one was stopping Melo, Durant or Kobe from getting hot from outside. The shyt they were doing was just ridiculous.
The talent between Nigeria isn't comparable to the talent of the '92 team either...
Your point was that if 2012 "blacks out" then they win... No kiddin....
I like how Nigeria is used as a put down, yet the bums and cab drivers the Dream Team played against isn't
Also, the 2012 team didn't just have that 1 game being some monster aberration, they made 18, 19 and 20 three pointers as well. It's not like they were making 5 a game and then just exploded one night for 29. And the same way they beat Spain is how they'd be able to beat the Dream Team, Spain shot more freethrows and made a higher percentage of shots and still lost because the 2012 Team bombed on them from 3.
cornercommission2k12
so this were u dudes went
so when i read that the 2012 team has better perimeter defenders than the original dream team this is when i exit stage left cause obviously we not watching games at all
who outside of lebron is a great perimeter defender? ill give you iggy but iggy aint that great to stop the likes of jordan, pippen, drexler and not even old magic. maybe he could stay in front of bird lol
who outside of lebron is a great perimeter defender? ill give you iggy but iggy aint that great to stop the likes of jordan, pippen, drexler and not even old magic. maybe he could stay in front of bird lol
OG Talk
Archived
Basketball players just don't decide to get hot...
So we are just gonna pretend that the Gold medal game just didn't happen? They shot 40% from 3 as a team (flaming hot) and still only won by 7...If that left you with the confidence that it would be too much for the '92 team to overcome then cool... I just don't see it...
NYC Rebel
...on the otherside of the pond
Russell Westbrook is a GREAT perimeter defender.
And please....Magic wasn't stopping ANYONE from blowing by him. Pippen was not someone who could beat you off the dribble, so to bring up his name as if that was a part of his game is ehhhhhh.... Jordan, Drexler and Stockton were the main ones on the 92 squad that could beat you off the dribble.
NYC Rebel
...on the otherside of the pond
Semantics man. One or two of them were guaranteed to get hot in a game.
They were up ten with 50 seconds left. Second, I clearly stated that the 92 squad had a clear advantage in the low blocks, much like Spain did.
I don't think the 2012 team could beat the 92 squad in a 7 game series, but I can see this squad winning a few games. They were that good shooting wise.
On another note, I think the big ass triangle FT line being taken away by FIBA last year opened up the game a lot more the US team.
So now the Dream Team had better perimeter defenders overall? Outside of Pippen and Jordan, who were even good defenders? Stockton only played in 4 games, so listing him is pointless, Bird was done, Drexler was never good defensively and Mullins couldn't guard his own shadow. Give me Westbrook, Iggy, Durant and LeBron over anyone not named Pippen or Jordan. Who said anything about being "great" defenders? You don't need to be great defensively to be better than a broken down old version of Larry Bird, or slow footed Mullins.
cornercommission2k12
so this were u dudes went
NYC Rebel
...on the otherside of the pond
AND?
Yet we tout the 92 team for winning against cats still holding day jobs at some local market in their country.
