So you move James on Barkley and hope age has caught up with Johnson to the point that he just does not obliterate you. You have to pick your poison here beause going 8 deep the 92 team has the better rotation but I think the current team has more fire power and athleticism.

Jordan in his prime is a even match with Kobe on his downward swing? Why have Love vs. Bird? Bird was just a name at that point. Where's Love vs. Malone? Is Lebron also going to guard John Stockton? What happens when the current squad has to double-team and Chris Mullin gets left open? What's with the + points system? Is this Magick the Gathering?

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Durant is 6'-10" with a wingspan than makes him closer to 7'-2". There is no way Pippen could keep him from stroking from the outside. Of course if he is having an off shooting night then yes Pippen could negate his drives to the hole.

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I'm probably the biggest Thunder homer on this board, but there are three players that routinely give Durant fits: Tony Allen, Ron Artest and Shawn Marion. Pippen is kinda like all three of those guys in one player. It would not be an easy matchup.

Deron Williams would easily handle Stockton was would Chris Paul. This 2012 team is not a collection of couch potatoes.

I don't think 2012 could beat 1996.

Charles Barkley
Penny Hardaway
Grant Hill
Hakeem Olajuwon
Karl Malone
Reggie Miller
Shaquille O'Neal
Gary Payton
Scottie Pippen
Mitch Richmond
David Robinson
John Stockton

I guess the world just caught up with us. A scant 8 years later we brought home a bronze medal. How the heck did that happen?

I think the 1992 would win a head to head best of 7. But if the 2012 team wins the gold, it will mean much more, since basketball is now truly a competitive international sport.

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A scant 8 years later we brought home a bronze medal. How the heck did that happen?

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GINOBILI!

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Charles Barkley
Penny Hardaway
Grant Hill
Hakeem Olajuwon
Karl Malone
Reggie Miller
Shaquille O'Neal
Gary Payton
Scottie Pippen
Mitch Richmond
David Robinson
John Stockton

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Better down low than '92 and far better than '12, but the perimeter players for '92 and especially '12 have an advantage over that team.

Compare the two teams and it's not really close.

I love the way Chandler plays and he's a helluva defender. But he's not the defender than Robinson or Ewing were. And those guys could put up 30 points on offense. Chandler has no offensive game. If the 1992 Dream Team could keep 5 centers, I still don't think Chandler could make the roster.

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This team is obviously not as good as the 1992 team, but they ARE the best team since 1992.

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2008 team was better than this team.

I got into this argument with a friend at work, and he was adamant that due to the size and athletic ability that the dream team would get beat more often than not. I tried to point out that the 2012 team has no idea what physical play is like, can you imagine the first time Barkley bowls over someone, or Malone drives a knee into someone's chest, or even Stockton using the patented pick elbow, almost every team member on the 2012 team would just stand there and cry to the refs (probably drawing a tech back then) while the game continued on. He discounted this fact, but I tried to tell him that if you took the 2012 team and put them back in time where physical play and hand checking were allowed, it's no contest.

But, with that said, the 92 team would have the same amount of problems going forward since they don't know how to flop properly and half the team would probably foul out in the first 5 minutes for touching the offensive player.

Also, aside from LeBron and Westbrook, the '92 team was more athletic than this 2012 team. Fact.

The only guys I can think of off the top of my head who weren't at their athletic primes on that 1992 team are Ewing (I never viewed him as super athletic anyhow), Bird, and perhaps Magic (at that time). Other than that I'd say you're right. People forgot how much of a freak Drexler was. It all goes back to the PF's and C's. Robinson was one of the most athletic big men of all time. Malone was a monster and Barkley was just Barkley.

[This message has been edited by Pahdz (edited 7/17/2012 10:44p).]

Mullin was athletic? And latner?

Forgot about them. Mullin is what...equivalent to Carmleo lol

Laettner and Love kinda wash each other out as far as athleticism.

I think people also focus too much on the offensive numbers when comparing the two teams. Defensively, its not even close. The Dream Team had 5 of the top 10 all time in steals (Stockton, Jordan, Pippen, Drexler, and Malone). Robinson, Malone, Ewing, and Barkley were all better rebounders than anyone on this team. Robinson and Ewing are both top 10 all time in blocks.

Also, I think you've got to factor in attitude. The Dream Team didn't just want to win. They wanted to humiliate you. They were on a mission to prove they were the best in the world. Heck, even though winning was a forgone conclusion Jordan still studied game tape of Angola before their game.

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Durant is 6'-10" with a wingspan than makes him closer to 7'-2". There is no way Pippen could keep him from stroking from the outside.

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Not saying Durant couldn't get his shots.... but they would not be good. Pippen was only 2" or 3" shorter and he had 7'4 wingspan and 41 inch vertical........ and he could bench press his own weight
Durant would not consistently hit any of his averages.

In 5 years when Durant has reached his Prime, we can talk again.

AustinAg2K hit it on the head. We can debate stats and size all we want, but the 92 team was a bunch of competitive *******s that were going to crush you regardless.

Here's a good question to ask yourself:

Would the 1992 team ever, ever, ever be down double digits to another international team on national television?

Didn't they lose an exhibition game to a collection of college all-stars? I think Daley threw the game in order to get their attention but I think I heard they lost one.

Lebron James could gaurd anyone on the floor with the exception of those centers the 92 team had. The 2012 team can defend but as pointed out the way the game is officiated has changed so they do not man up as hard plus they can play zone. The game is different today.

I agree that the 1992 team would win. But as I stated earlier it would not be the turd kicking that Jordan thinks it would be. In a 7 game series it would go the whole way. Right now the NBA has a ton of young talent and the sport is commerically popular.

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Didn't they lose an exhibition game to a collection of college all-stars? I think Daley threw the game in order to get their attention but I think I heard they lost one.

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Yes, they did lose their first scrimmage. Daley didn't play Jordan, Barkley, etc. He wanted them to lose. The Dream Teamers were goofing off, and ended up losing (The NBA TV documentary said as soon as the pros realized they had to start trying they mounted a furious comeback, but Daley said time was up to prevent them from winning). They were no doubt pissed, and played a rematch the next day in which they won by over a hundred.

This team sucks. Sorry. Watching them versus ****ing Great Britain. Terrible.

Finally taking control but they still stink. It's ****ing Great Britain.

If Spain or Argentina were to win, this would be their year.

The game has evolved so much, so the rules might determine who wins the game. Illegal defense calls, hand checks, def. 3 seconds, etc would make a big difference.


One advantage to the 2012 team is that they were built for international ball, the Dream Team wasn't. It was a collection of all stars, not truly built for a team.

Another evolution of the game which would favor the 2012 team is the use of the 3 point line which impacted floor spacing. The league average now is 6.4 out of 18.4 per game. Back in '91-'92 is 2.5 out of 7.6.

The 2012 team could win, although their case would be stronger if D. Wade, D. Rose, Bosh, and D. Howard were playing.

I found this blog post pretty interesting and well thought out. This is a local OKC pop culture blog but this one guy writes all their sports posts, good read

http://www.thelostogle.com/2012/07/18/kevin-durants-team-would-beat-the-dream-team-yeah-i-said-it/#more-26210

Anybody see Deron Williams just dominate the start of the 3rd quarter? I think he scored 14 in just a couple of minutes

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Illegal defense calls, hand checks, def. 3 seconds, etc would make a big difference.

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I think this is an overstated point. Some of these rules wouldn't matter since they would be playing by international rules.