^such an overrated narrative lol

Who could have guessed this thread was gonna reach 10 pages.

What cracks me up is how people day "dEfEnSe wAs pLAyeD bAcK iN tHe 80's" and suggest it's not played now.

NBA teams averaged 109 PPG in the 80's, 102 PPG in the 90's, and just 97 PPG in 2000's.

In just the last 1-2 years we have FINALLY seen the NBA average scoring numbers like they did in the 80's. You know, back when they supposedly played such great defense

This post was edited by Sixers on Aug 20 2019 10:40pm

Teams average 120 vs Philadelphia.

God can be touched

That's a phrase only certain people use.

I wouldn't say they played better defense back then, but it was a lot more physical than it is now. Stuff that's a flagrant foul now, was just a common foul back in those days. Jordan got hacked regularly, pushed and saw double and triple teams every night where he got laid out, not flopped. With today's rules, Jordan would totally score way more than Harden does in his prime, because that's the only thing that slowed him down was a physical beating, and he still made shit look easy.

So I can easily counter that, you say they were "more physical" back then, but the players now are better athletes and they play above the rim far more today than ever before. 7 footers run the floor like guards used to, they run point with handles, pull up 3's and drive like a wing player. Guys are simply more versatile than ever before, guards and wings are taller than ever before, big men can handle the rock and defend the perimeter, etc. Yes, big men aren't "traditional" like they were back then aka slow with cement feet. Big men these days have to be able to move, have to be able to defend the p&r, defend the perimeter, and shoot from outside to be the very best.

The league is generally less physical, which has made it much harder to succeed on athleticism alone. Combined with a gradual increase in talent in the modern era, it probably has become tougher to succeed in todays league.

There has never been a time when point guards and centers were so close in height. We have giant point guards these days that can defend the perimeter as well as anyone, something Jordan rarely saw in his time. When did Jordan have damn near 7 foot point guards that can play elite defense on him? Magic Johnson was a rare freak as a 6'9'' point guard, but he was relatively slow compared to players today and not a special defender at all because of his size (something guys these days at his size don't have an issue with). Now you have guards/wings built like big men that are running point and defending the perimeter.

But if you want to compare eras, Jordan wasn't a great 3pt shooter, he'd be great in todays game but without a 3pt shot he would never be what Harden is right now. Harden is the definition of efficiency, if you give them each 100 possessions you're going to get more out of Harden than you would out of Jordan. Every stat in the world backs this up, which is why the claim was made (since the stats/facts back it up). People can only make excuses for Jordan and claim he played in a "tougher" era which is easily the most bullshit myth ever thrown around the league.

This post was edited by Sixers on Aug 21 2019 09:47am

Season lakers beat Orlando when magic had dwight, during the playoffs I think 09 against phx, fisher shoulder this dude harder than they hit in football now and dudes face was covered in blood, fisher only got a foul.

Rules have changed extremely in a decade. Fisher probably would get ejected in the nfl nowadays.

Playing touch football and basketball!

Jordan balled in a mans league. Harden ballin in a league where nobody plays D and still cant win.