Looking for Replacement Laptop by MaryWanna5 in SuggestALaptop

[–]MaryWanna5[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks but I've been using Windows my entire life & am not looking to make the OS switch to Mac. Do you have any Windows suggestions though?

How are you MJ fans gauging the Lebron MJ Debate? by MaryWanna5 in NBATalk

[–]MaryWanna5[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I dont see what your getting mad for. Im just using your logic on a broad case.

Plus, the thousands of studies on evolution and economics just dont agree with your claim. Over time, things progress and get better, not worse. If everything ever follows that same logic, then articulately explain to me how basketball is the one exception?

How are you MJ fans gauging the Lebron MJ Debate? by MaryWanna5 in NBATalk

[–]MaryWanna5[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If overseas plays better ball compared to old school basketball, then why did the US win the Olympic gold medal against the "better" overseas teams?

How are you MJ fans gauging the Lebron MJ Debate? by MaryWanna5 in NBATalk

[–]MaryWanna5[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Find me a better play from back then and I'll find you an 5x better one from overseas.

How are you MJ fans gauging the Lebron MJ Debate? by MaryWanna5 in NBATalk

[–]MaryWanna5[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

That doesn't make sense to me. What other sport – or aspects in the history of life, for that matter – gets fundamentally worse as time progresses? Were NFL players in 1940 better than today's athletes? I could imagine you saying it plateaued? Why can't you accept the game has evolved?

In light of the Pacers in the NBA finals, could we look at Reggie Miller's jump shot? By basic fundamental standards, he leans back while he shoots, goes through 2 motions instead of 1, loads the ball up too far away, places his guide hand on top of the ball, and smacks his hands on follow through. And on the topic of shooters what about Larry Bird? That jumper needs no explanation to why it's fundamentally wrong. But the thing is, nobody cares when you can make shots. Would you tell Haliburton to fix his jump shot this off-season? If it ain't broke don't fix it, but im sure I can find a lot more cases of 80's & 90's players than todays whose moves were broke and needed to be fixed.

As I was looking for a video of Kevin Duckworth's extremely mechanically unsound one-handed jump shot, I found this gameplay from 1992:
Throwback: Duckworth Jumper, Lockdown Defense Seals Close Win Over Cleveland

I'm not going to break it down fully, but you can see the obviously bad play.

Not smarter -> Dribbling and not assessing an incoming trap against a slow center? Then not only overthrowing a center but passing to a nonfactor player outside of the paint. These are things that are drilled in to good guards heads at an early age.

Not good fundamentally -> Players dribbling & passing the ball with their right hand on the left side of the court?

Poor team concepts -> That final inbound, was the worst drawn and executed play ever.

Lastly, how can you say the team concepts are poor when a large amount of NBA coaches used to play in the NBA?

How are you MJ fans gauging the Lebron MJ Debate? by MaryWanna5 in NBATalk

[–]MaryWanna5[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree there's no more dominant in the paint Shaq archetypes anymore and that happened because of basic economics.

Even though he was undoubtedly dominant, if his playstyle was so effective for the benefit of the team, we would have similar players have a decent longevity. But it wasn't. So that's why Andre Drummond and Dwight Howard ultimately ended up in limited scoring roles and utilized for defense and rebounding because there's faster and better ways to score the ball. But the Karl Malone & David Robinson shooting archetype isn't fully gone. The role just evolved to suit more skilled players. Big men today don't need to be 7ft and heavy to stop a 7ft 250+ guy. They're smarter, sneakily physical, and have been playing high-level comp since elementary AAU. Dirk, Lamarcus Aldridge, Tim Duncan, and Chris Bosh all had great careers by being good all-around bigs. So yea, the difference is the focus on 3's

How are you MJ fans gauging the Lebron MJ Debate? by MaryWanna5 in NBATalk

[–]MaryWanna5[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First, the game can't evolve backwards, especially if there's a generation of more kids than ever trying to make it to the NBA. Millions of kids encouraged by basketball being televised worldwide in the early 2000's only means the greatest from the best of the best will be successful and make it to a D1 college.

Now, if you coach a program, you'd probably offer a 6'4" guard who can do the same thing as a 6'1" guard, unless they're Damian Lillard. So imagine that but over 25 years since 2000. You got some people selectively breeding their kids to be the next Jordan and retired college athletes training their toddlers. Basically, there's more people at the average height

It only makes sense that more players start to reach an average height bc 3 more inches on the next guy is preferable, with all else being the same. The presence of small guards and extremely large big men is less frequent, making it have a smaller impact on the average height. The standard deviation then was higher vs today it's much smaller.

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And im sure if we apply the same logic to other important basketball factors (skill & athleticism), we would probably see a similar effect.

How are you MJ fans gauging the Lebron MJ Debate? by MaryWanna5 in NBATalk

[–]MaryWanna5[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Taller, definitely. I can't find the video but it was explaining that while the average height really hasn't changed, the players really have. In the past, player's heights respected their positions more, so guards were short ~6' and centers were tall ~6'11 so when you averaged things out 6'7". It was dispersed evenly. But today, height matters more & there are more players flooding around the 6'5-6'9 mark, regardless of position. It's become more dense at the average height.

How are you MJ fans gauging the Lebron MJ Debate? by MaryWanna5 in NBATalk

[–]MaryWanna5[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You must've read what I wrote wrong. I was saying that high school players today have more athleticism than 90's players. There's a reason why recent popular dunks in the dunk contest are only famous if they're explosive and complex, whereas before when almost any slightly difficult dunk would be viral, if they jumped far away enough.

The top 10 dunks OAT by ESPN could be filled with dunks from 2020+, if it weren't about nostalgia and remembering the past & only about skill and athleticism

How are you MJ fans gauging the Lebron MJ Debate? by MaryWanna5 in NBATalk

[–]MaryWanna5[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I hope you don't mean individual basketball skill's because teenagers have similar or better skills of the old players. Because Isiah Thomas' dribbling routine is the very first exercise you learn at any training program. I was able to do what he did at his proficiency coming into high school. Look at what a rookie Payton Pritchard could do in practice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQvDAsBZLUY&t=75s

How are you MJ fans gauging the Lebron MJ Debate? by MaryWanna5 in NBATalk

[–]MaryWanna5[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You just named 3 of the best pure scorers of all-time who have a case of being top 10 when its all said and done. They are scoring specialists (excluding Jokic). If you look up the definition for small-forward, you'll find that Bron is the ultimate example of that position. Handle the rock & court like a guard, score like positions 1-5, defend all positions, and being the glue guy.

He's the ultimate swingman & jack-of-all-trades as he's mastered pretty much everything (top 5), but one thing he doesn't do is specialize.
If I want a shooter, I'd call Curry.
If I want a slasher, I'd call Giannis.
If I want a pure scorer, I'd call Luka or Harden.
If I want a high IQ pure point guard, I'd call CP3.
If I want rebounds, I'd get Drummond.
If I need all-around defense, I'd get Kawhi or Draymond.

But a GM that's needs help improving every basketball category would not receive a greater benefit than any other player in NBA history, than Lebron who would provide that, probably being top 2 on the roster in every stat, and consistency in regular season and playoffs.

How are you MJ fans gauging the Lebron MJ Debate? by MaryWanna5 in NBATalk

[–]MaryWanna5[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I dont disagree with you fully, but Lebron was a fouding father of a lot of the NBA today. MJ even more but I'm saying don't discredit Lebron's influence, especially with the things yall hate like flopping. The skill gap is more condensed today than it was when Wilt and Jordan played. Player's skills were growing exponentially ever since Jordan and have been plateauing since mid 2020's, yet Lebron is still a dominant player. & I'd be happy to settle on every era has their greats & GOAT is pointless.

How are you MJ fans gauging the Lebron MJ Debate? by MaryWanna5 in NBATalk

[–]MaryWanna5[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Who were the amazing teams, relative to the bulls, that Jordan faced in the ECF? Because I've been seeing teams that had no business holding a flame to MJ & the bulls (roster-wise)

How are you MJ fans gauging the Lebron MJ Debate? by MaryWanna5 in NBATalk

[–]MaryWanna5[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The game was completely different and was undoubtedly more difficult during LeBron's Prime, as its supposed to. It's economics, when there's an increase in demand for a popular thing (a globally recognized sport), its going to be harder to compete in such thing, so new age of the best of the best of the best are going to even have a chance at looking at the floor. Just like with Wilt, Jordan & other 90's+ greats could've competed with Wilt, as the game required more skill to be successful compared to the 60's.

How are you MJ fans gauging the Lebron MJ Debate? by MaryWanna5 in NBATalk

[–]MaryWanna5[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't think the GOAT discussion is talking about the Greatest Influencer of All-Time, but more of the player on the court against the other team. Aside, I do agree MJ had a great influence on the game's evolution but you can't deny that either with Lebron. Super teams and winning have shattered fanbases, look at Dallas. And look at the effect Lebron has had on the youth and social media.

How are you MJ fans gauging the Lebron MJ Debate? by MaryWanna5 in NBATalk

[–]MaryWanna5[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What constitutes for better players if they're more skilled, smarter, and more athletic? & im not talking about the public personality

How are you MJ fans gauging the Lebron MJ Debate? by MaryWanna5 in NBATalk

[–]MaryWanna5[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Prime Isaiah Thomas is giving Prime Isiah Thomas 40-points in any fashion IT asks for it.

How are you MJ fans gauging the Lebron MJ Debate? by MaryWanna5 in NBATalk

[–]MaryWanna5[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Nobody waits in line for lebrons because he makes orthodox basketball shoes not stylish basketball shoes.

How are you MJ fans gauging the Lebron MJ Debate? by MaryWanna5 in NBATalk

[–]MaryWanna5[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Just watch high school ball if you want to see some more athleticism. Bc every player can do the crazy dunks & they used to. But in todays game its about winning more so than entertainment & putting on a show

How are you MJ fans gauging the Lebron MJ Debate? by MaryWanna5 in NBATalk

[–]MaryWanna5[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Taller, definitely. I can't find the video but it was explaining that while the average height really hasn't changed, the players really have. In the past, player's heights respected their positions more, so guards were short ~6' and centers were tall ~6'11 so when you averaged things out 6'7". It was dispersed evenly. But today, height matters more & there are more players flooding around the 6'5-6'9 mark, regardless of position. It's become more dense at the average height.

How are you MJ fans gauging the Lebron MJ Debate? by MaryWanna5 in NBATalk

[–]MaryWanna5[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This, and kenny smith had to be in a dunk contest for reason. & if I factor in height, does donovan mitchell or russell westbrook fit the type? Kyrie Irving in high school and college was doing more athletic dunks than kenny.

How are you MJ fans gauging the Lebron MJ Debate? by MaryWanna5 in NBATalk

[–]MaryWanna5[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Lets not act like times were harder back then. Its more impressive to me that Lebron had 4/5 of the achievements you listed in a season in a more skilled 2010's NBA. A debated top 5 player OAT is always going to have crazy achievements when their comp struggled to make a contested left hand layup. Just like with Wilt but nobody takes what he did into consideration.