I always love having this conversation with my friends. Wanted to get yall's opinions. Here's mine:

PG- Magic Johnson
SG- Michael Jordan
SF- Larry Bird
PF- Hakeem Olajuwon
C- Bill Russel

Question for these threads.

Are we basing this off of having the player for one year, or do we get him for his whole career?

If I'm drafting guys, and I'm getting him for his full career, I think I take Kareem and his 20 year career first.

[This message has been edited by Iowaggie (edited 12/16/2012 10:54p).]

No this isnt like youre starting a team. Its based off their whole careers

C- Kareem
PF - Duncan
SF - Bird
SG - MJ
PG - Magic


And, I think all fans should give their all-franchise team.

Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies (First team/Second team)

C- Marc Gasol/Bryant "Big Country" Reeves
PF - Pau Gasol/Zach Randolph
SF - Rudy Gay/Shane Battier
SG - OJ Mayo/Mike Miller
PG - Jason Williams/Mike Conley

I have to laugh doing that group. Tough to leave off Strotenial, but you have to draw the line somewhere.

Fair enough

Houston Rockets:

PG- John Lucas/Kenny Smith
SG- Clyde Drexler/Calvin Murphy
SF- Charles Barkley
PF- Ralph Sampson
C- Hakeem Olajuwon/Moses Malone/Yao Ming (impossible to pick just two)

Spurs

Parker
Gervin
Bowen
Duncan
Robinson

The back court is all offense (although Gervin would probably have put in more effort on defense in his prime on a team like that), but I'll put that defensive front court up against anyone. Duncan/Robinson will erase a lot of mistakes, and Parker is not bad at funneling his man to the shotblocker.

You've lost complete control of your thread, OP.

I'd say thats a little extreme, there's only been lik 5 posts. Simmer down, Head Ninja.

But yes, you were supposed to list your all-time starting 5, Ulrich

All Time

PG: Isiah Thomas
SG: Michael Jordan
SF: Lebron James
PF: Tim Duncan
C: Bill Russel
6th Man: Larry Bird

Will do my all time Celtics team after lunch.

PG: Magic Johnson
SG: Michael Jordan
SF: Larry Bird
PF: Tim Duncan
C: Bill Russell


Defense: Jordan is one of the best perimeter defenders of all-time. While Johnson and Bird weren't elite defenders, they both have enough basketball IQ and size to cause problems. Either way, if anything gets past that line, Duncan and Russell are two of the best low post defenders in NBA history. Russell probably the best defensive player ever.

Offense: Jordan and Duncan would provide inside/outside scoring. Most of the load obviously fall on Jordan. Bird would act as the G.O.A.T. glue guy offensively. Russell with clean-up help and offensive rebounding. Magic sets it all up.

Intangibles: All guys have multiple rings as the best players on those teams. All five have elite basketball IQ. Only Jordan and Magic absolutely need to touch the ball every time on offense since everyone is capable of being effective without the ball. Every player has a killer instinct mentality.

I'd probably have Phil Jackson coach them. No need to call plays with this group.

pg: robert pack
sg: tony dumas
sf: george mccloud
pf: samaki walker
c: chris anstey.

Magic, Jordan, Lebron, Duncan, Russell.

I thought about Stockton at PG because he would be ok playing 5th fiddle but still brings a mastery of the pass-first PG role, but ended up with Magic for obvious reasons.

Jordan needs no explanation.

Lebron vs. Larry Legend was the toughest, but in the end I think Lebron is just too good. Larry Bird was tough and competitive and did all the little things and had otherwordly basketball iq and could take over a game and nail the gamewinner... but Lebron does all of that with 10x more athleticism, and he can take a game over on defense which as I understand wasn't Bird's strong suit. He didn't do it 25 years ago for the Boston Celtics so he doesn't have the Mantle of Historical Significance that Bird does, but I'll still go with Lebron.

Timmy wins at PF. Another guy who gets all the details right every time in addition to being a fantastic player.

There are a ton of great names at C, but none who combined the longevity, basketball iq, desire to win, and consistent defensive intensity of Bill Russell.

[This message has been edited by Ulrich (edited 12/17/2012 2:25p).]

I'm glad someone else appreciates Bill Russell like I do

quote:

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PG: Magic Johnson
SG: Michael Jordan
SF: Larry Bird
PF: Tim Duncan
C: Bill Russell


Defense: Jordan is one of the best perimeter defenders of all-time. While Johnson and Bird weren't elite defenders, they both have enough basketball IQ and size to cause problems. Either way, if anything gets past that line, Duncan and Russell are two of the best low post defenders in NBA history. Russell probably the best defensive player ever.

Offense: Jordan and Duncan would provide inside/outside scoring. Most of the load obviously fall on Jordan. Bird would act as the G.O.A.T. glue guy offensively. Russell with clean-up help and offensive rebounding. Magic sets it all up.

Intangibles: All guys have multiple rings as the best players on those teams. All five have elite basketball IQ. Only Jordan and Magic absolutely need to touch the ball every time on offense since everyone is capable of being effective without the ball. Every player has a killer instinct mentality.

I'd probably have Phil Jackson coach them. No need to call plays with this group.

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I'd sign off on that. I'd have no problem swapping Bron for Bird (better defense if needed) or Hakeem or Robinson for Russell (both better offensively, still among the best ever defensively.)

Unmentioned in your analysis is that Magic/Jordan/Bird/Duncan/Russell were all fantastic passers.

PG - Stockton
SG - MJ
SF - Lebron
PF - Duncan
C - Hakeem

Magic, Jordan, Bron, Duncan, Russell.

Really, any of these guys, in various combinations:

Magic, Kobe, Jordan, Bird, Bron, Duncan, Russell, Wilt, Oscar, Hakeem, Kareem, Shaq

PG:MAGIC
SG:T-MAC(Early Houston)
SF:LEBRON(Heat)
PF:WEBBER(sacramento)
C:SHAQ

I can see a case for all of those guys, even young T-Mac, but Webber? C'mon, man

PG - LeBron
SG - Jordan
SF - Larry
PF - Duncan
C - Hakeem

I dislike shaq, but he might be the best true center ever. Hakeem was a hybrid. Bill just has all those rings.

I'd also try to fit Oscar Robinson somewhere on my list. Oh and Kemp - damn that cat could ball. Still have his shoes.

quote:

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Spurs

Parker
Gervin
Bowen
Duncan
Robinson

The back court is all offense (although Gervin would probably have put in more effort on defense in his prime on a team like that), but I'll put that defensive front court up against anyone. Duncan/Robinson will erase a lot of mistakes, and Parker is not bad at funneling his man to the shotblocker.

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Malik needs to be on there.

Tallest Team Ever

PG - LeBron 6'8"
SG - TMAC 6'9"
SF - Dirk 7'
PF - Duncan 7'
C - Shaq 7'2"

quote:

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Malik needs to be on there.

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No love for Sidney Green? JR Reid? Frank Brickowski?

NBA
PG Magic
SG Jordan
SF Lebron
PF Duncan
C Kareem

Lakers - this is tough!
PG Magic (no contest)
SG Kobe (over Jerry West)
SF Worthy (over Elgin Baylor)
PF Pau (over Lamar)
C Kareem (over Wilt & Shaq)

Really? Pau Gasol?

^
The Lakers are surprisingly thin at PF, especially compared to the other positions.

I was staying true to positions as well, though it would be easy to put Worthy at the 4 and Baylor at the 3, West at the 2 with Kobe at the 3, or go twin towers with any combination of Wilt, Shaq and Cap at the 4 and 5.

It came down to Pau, Lamar, and AC Green. Pau was instrumental in back to back championships, a 20/10 stat stuffer, and a fantastic passer out of the triangle offense. He's looked like crap since Phil retired, but I still think he could thrive if healthy and in the right system.

Vern Mikkelsen would like to hard foul your Pau Gasol selection.

If I wanted to go that route, I'd take Kermit Washington.

All Time:

PG - Jason Kidd
SG - Michael Jordan
SF - Kobe Bryant
PF - Karl Malone
C - Bill Russell

Mavs All Time:
PG - Derek Harper
SG - Ro Blackmon
SF - Mark Aguirre
PF - Dirk Nowitzki
C - Tyson Chandler (by default)

To be fair James Donaldson was a very very good center who had a much longer career with the Mavs. It's kind of ridiculous to claim a guy who played one season is the very best player at that position the franchise has ever had. But considering what he did in that one season, it's pretty much true.

[This message has been edited by R0GUE (edited 12/24/2012 10:06p).]

Alvin Robertson
Manu Ginobili
Bruce Bowen
Tim Duncan
David Robinson

^
Bowen over George Gervin?

You got four 20ppg scorers. How many do you need?

Alvin averaged 20/7/6/3/1 one year while hitting 47%.

I wasn't thinking about it in terms of chemistry/cohesive unit, just the best player at each position.

In that respect I would give the 4x scoring champ and NBA icon the nod over Bowen. That said, nothing wrong with taking a top 10 all time perimeter defender.

quote:

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Tallest Team Ever

PG - LeBron 6'8"
SG - TMAC 6'9"
SF - Dirk 7'
PF - Duncan 7'
C - Shaq 7'2"

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If your going off height a large asian man might want a word with you...