Nov 3, 2010, 5:07 pm
Nov 3, 2010, 5:50 pm
Boston Celtics I think. Shaq and Garnett. And Piece, and Rondo.
Nov 3, 2010, 7:31 pm
It would be Spurs vs Celtics in the Finals, and I'd pick the Spurs to win. Duncan, Parker and Ginobili are just so used to each other and experienced at playing together that if Duncan was in prime form again, I'd still pick them to win against the favorite Celtics. The Celtics would have Garnett, Pierce, Allen, Shaq, Jermaine O'neal...too many superstars IMO, chemistry issues would arise.
Nov 4, 2010, 1:11 am
I cannot believe that nobody has mentioned Miami:
The current big three:
LeBron
Wade
Bosh
Then you have the old former All-Stars:
Ilgauskas
Stackhouse
Howard
Magloire
Miller (not an All-Star but sixth man of the year and Team USA member)
7 All-Stars and a Sixth Man of the Year, not bad, it's one more All-Star than the Celtics have.
Toss in Haselm and that team is tough, I'd take the Heat in their prime over the Celtics in their prime.
The other team worth mentioning is the Mavs:
Dirk
Kidd
Butler
Marion
Terry (not an All-Star but Sixth Man of the Year)
Add in Chandler and Haywood and they'd have a serious shot at it. Jason Kidd used to be a phenom and Marion was a beast back on the Suns.
The current big three:
LeBron
Wade
Bosh
Then you have the old former All-Stars:
Ilgauskas
Stackhouse
Howard
Magloire
Miller (not an All-Star but sixth man of the year and Team USA member)
7 All-Stars and a Sixth Man of the Year, not bad, it's one more All-Star than the Celtics have.
Toss in Haselm and that team is tough, I'd take the Heat in their prime over the Celtics in their prime.
The other team worth mentioning is the Mavs:
Dirk
Kidd
Butler
Marion
Terry (not an All-Star but Sixth Man of the Year)
Add in Chandler and Haywood and they'd have a serious shot at it. Jason Kidd used to be a phenom and Marion was a beast back on the Suns.
Nov 4, 2010, 8:40 pm
another great post. I have to agree with everyone here. I would think the best teams would be:
1:Boston Celtics. WOW just WOW! Shaq O'neal in his athletic/skill prime would be unstopable!! added with Paul pierce who is a scoring juggernaut. Ray Allen, Jermaine O'neal not having his injuries plus Kevin Garnett. If you do the math on the front court alone. This team will never get out rebounded. they can score at will and defense would be brutal and unyeilding. You have three 7 footers/2.16m guy!! Not only are the big they are hella athletic and skilled. Anyway you add it up best front court in the game. Now look at the backcourt. Rondo assits galore! he had 24 assist the other day! Rondo can also penatrate. Ray allen the opposing perimeter would not be safe! Pierce can score at will. This could easily be team USA. Not many chemistry problems here it would be a Team USA mentality but for 82 games!!
My starting rotation would be: Shaq-C, Kevin Garnett-PF, Ray Allen-G, Paul Pierce-G, Rondo-PG.
2: San Antonio Spurs: For all the reasons mentioned above! They would be too good but not the best.
3: Miami Heat : Skangles you are so right my friend!!! Ilgauskas + Stackhouse + Howard. I can't believe I didnt think of this first. I'm jealous you did!. yeah those 3 alone added with The 3 kings would be epic. I still put Boston and Spurs ahead because of the chemistry factor. Also IMHO Boston is deeper.
4. Los Angeles Lakers: This is my obvious pick. Kobe has lost a little in his step so has Odom and point guard Fisher. Putting those guys in their prime is like opening Pandoras box. Throw in a healthy Andrew Bynum, Gasol and the Phil Jackson at the helm. You couldnt give a resonable probability why they wouldn't be in the finals. I think team work and coaching genious would trump many of the deeper more atheletic teams.
It be Boston vs Miami in the east and Spurs vs Lakers in the west. Boston beating the spurs in the finals!
P.S. Id love to see shaq in his prime again. WOW!
1:Boston Celtics. WOW just WOW! Shaq O'neal in his athletic/skill prime would be unstopable!! added with Paul pierce who is a scoring juggernaut. Ray Allen, Jermaine O'neal not having his injuries plus Kevin Garnett. If you do the math on the front court alone. This team will never get out rebounded. they can score at will and defense would be brutal and unyeilding. You have three 7 footers/2.16m guy!! Not only are the big they are hella athletic and skilled. Anyway you add it up best front court in the game. Now look at the backcourt. Rondo assits galore! he had 24 assist the other day! Rondo can also penatrate. Ray allen the opposing perimeter would not be safe! Pierce can score at will. This could easily be team USA. Not many chemistry problems here it would be a Team USA mentality but for 82 games!!
My starting rotation would be: Shaq-C, Kevin Garnett-PF, Ray Allen-G, Paul Pierce-G, Rondo-PG.
2: San Antonio Spurs: For all the reasons mentioned above! They would be too good but not the best.
3: Miami Heat : Skangles you are so right my friend!!! Ilgauskas + Stackhouse + Howard. I can't believe I didnt think of this first. I'm jealous you did!. yeah those 3 alone added with The 3 kings would be epic. I still put Boston and Spurs ahead because of the chemistry factor. Also IMHO Boston is deeper.
4. Los Angeles Lakers: This is my obvious pick. Kobe has lost a little in his step so has Odom and point guard Fisher. Putting those guys in their prime is like opening Pandoras box. Throw in a healthy Andrew Bynum, Gasol and the Phil Jackson at the helm. You couldnt give a resonable probability why they wouldn't be in the finals. I think team work and coaching genious would trump many of the deeper more atheletic teams.
It be Boston vs Miami in the east and Spurs vs Lakers in the west. Boston beating the spurs in the finals!
P.S. Id love to see shaq in his prime again. WOW!
Nov 4, 2010, 10:29 pm
[quote name='skangles' timestamp='1288829501' post='25998']
I cannot believe that nobody has mentioned Miami:
The current big three:
LeBron
Wade
Bosh
Then you have the old former All-Stars:
Ilgauskas
Stackhouse
Howard
Magloire
Miller (not an All-Star but sixth man of the year and Team USA member)
7 All-Stars and a Sixth Man of the Year, not bad, it's one more All-Star than the Celtics have.
Toss in Haselm and that team is tough, I'd take the Heat in their prime over the Celtics in their prime.
The other team worth mentioning is the Mavs:
Dirk
Kidd
Butler
Marion
Terry (not an All-Star but Sixth Man of the Year)
Add in Chandler and Haywood and they'd have a serious shot at it. Jason Kidd used to be a phenom and Marion was a beast back on the Suns.
[/quote]
About the Heat: it depends on how you look at it. I'm under the impression that when we talk about "restoring" players to their primes, that means that we're only discussing players who are past their primes, not players who have their primes ahead of them. LeBron, Wade and Bosh may or may not have reached their primes by now...we can't know and won't know when they've hit their primes until they start regressing. So, you can't quantify their primes right now and say "Prime LeBron and Prime Bosh are better than Prime Shaq and Prime Pierce". That's why, for players who have yet to pass their prime, I'm considering their current ability.
After that foreword: in my opinion, the best player out of the prime Heat and prime Celtics is without a doubt Shaq. People tend to forget how unstoppable he was, and he'd crush the Heat's weak frontcourt (even with prime Ilgauskas, who honestly was never a very good defender, and prime Magloire, who was never very good at all and is what I call a "fluke" all-star). Pierce and Allen at their best are not only superb players, but also complement each other extremely well, something I can't really say for Wade and LeBron.
Stackhouse at his best was capable of averaging 30 ppg and excelled in the running game, which the Heat could use to their advantage with all of their athleticism, but he needed the ball in his hands to really do what he was good at (mainly slashing to the basket). Howard would be a great player off the bench. Miller was never great, as you said, but he'd do what he does best, even now: shoot. Haslem is decent and another solid player to have on the bench.
Basically, they'd have a lot of talent but no interior defense and way too many players who need the ball in their hands. Shaq would destroy them inside, and the Celtics' talent, despite being over-stacked as well, meshes relatively well when compared to the Heat. They have a dominant center, a dominant shooter and a dominant wing, plus prime Jermaine O'neal, who I'd take any day over present day Bosh. And that's without even mentioning Kevin Garnett! So, Celtics over Heat for me, easily.
As for the Mavs: good point, another great team to look at. Prime Kidd is one of the best point guards of all time and prime Nowitzki is one of the best power forwards. Marion used to be a tenacious defender and a true high flyer and Butler was once a great scorer. However, their talent doesn't really compare to the Celtics and Heat, and I'd think the Spurs, who are so well balanced and experienced with each other, would beat them.
The Lakers are very good, but prime Kobe and Gasol aren't nearly enough to beat the other teams being discussed here. With Artest and Ratliff in their primes, however, they'd have a tough, tough defense, and Odom and Fisher would add a nice scoring punch.
The Spurs are my pick because their big three have so much experience playing together and are such a proven success. They'd have the best PF duo of all time (Duncan and McDyess). They have an all-star PG in Parker and a world-class scorer in Ginobili. Toss in prime RJ, who used to be a very good defender and a great scorer, and that's a very, very well balanced team. Their talent doesn't compare to the Celtics, but I think they'd be capable of beating them because they're just so well built.
I cannot believe that nobody has mentioned Miami:
The current big three:
LeBron
Wade
Bosh
Then you have the old former All-Stars:
Ilgauskas
Stackhouse
Howard
Magloire
Miller (not an All-Star but sixth man of the year and Team USA member)
7 All-Stars and a Sixth Man of the Year, not bad, it's one more All-Star than the Celtics have.
Toss in Haselm and that team is tough, I'd take the Heat in their prime over the Celtics in their prime.
The other team worth mentioning is the Mavs:
Dirk
Kidd
Butler
Marion
Terry (not an All-Star but Sixth Man of the Year)
Add in Chandler and Haywood and they'd have a serious shot at it. Jason Kidd used to be a phenom and Marion was a beast back on the Suns.
[/quote]
About the Heat: it depends on how you look at it. I'm under the impression that when we talk about "restoring" players to their primes, that means that we're only discussing players who are past their primes, not players who have their primes ahead of them. LeBron, Wade and Bosh may or may not have reached their primes by now...we can't know and won't know when they've hit their primes until they start regressing. So, you can't quantify their primes right now and say "Prime LeBron and Prime Bosh are better than Prime Shaq and Prime Pierce". That's why, for players who have yet to pass their prime, I'm considering their current ability.
After that foreword: in my opinion, the best player out of the prime Heat and prime Celtics is without a doubt Shaq. People tend to forget how unstoppable he was, and he'd crush the Heat's weak frontcourt (even with prime Ilgauskas, who honestly was never a very good defender, and prime Magloire, who was never very good at all and is what I call a "fluke" all-star). Pierce and Allen at their best are not only superb players, but also complement each other extremely well, something I can't really say for Wade and LeBron.
Stackhouse at his best was capable of averaging 30 ppg and excelled in the running game, which the Heat could use to their advantage with all of their athleticism, but he needed the ball in his hands to really do what he was good at (mainly slashing to the basket). Howard would be a great player off the bench. Miller was never great, as you said, but he'd do what he does best, even now: shoot. Haslem is decent and another solid player to have on the bench.
Basically, they'd have a lot of talent but no interior defense and way too many players who need the ball in their hands. Shaq would destroy them inside, and the Celtics' talent, despite being over-stacked as well, meshes relatively well when compared to the Heat. They have a dominant center, a dominant shooter and a dominant wing, plus prime Jermaine O'neal, who I'd take any day over present day Bosh. And that's without even mentioning Kevin Garnett! So, Celtics over Heat for me, easily.
As for the Mavs: good point, another great team to look at. Prime Kidd is one of the best point guards of all time and prime Nowitzki is one of the best power forwards. Marion used to be a tenacious defender and a true high flyer and Butler was once a great scorer. However, their talent doesn't really compare to the Celtics and Heat, and I'd think the Spurs, who are so well balanced and experienced with each other, would beat them.
The Lakers are very good, but prime Kobe and Gasol aren't nearly enough to beat the other teams being discussed here. With Artest and Ratliff in their primes, however, they'd have a tough, tough defense, and Odom and Fisher would add a nice scoring punch.
The Spurs are my pick because their big three have so much experience playing together and are such a proven success. They'd have the best PF duo of all time (Duncan and McDyess). They have an all-star PG in Parker and a world-class scorer in Ginobili. Toss in prime RJ, who used to be a very good defender and a great scorer, and that's a very, very well balanced team. Their talent doesn't compare to the Celtics, but I think they'd be capable of beating them because they're just so well built.
Nov 4, 2010, 11:15 pm
What Ilgauskas and other shit you're talkign about? Have you watched Shaq in 90s and early 00s?
Even Sabonis himself said he was the only player he could not stop. Garnett and Shaq at their prime would be the best front line duo of all times.
Even Sabonis himself said he was the only player he could not stop. Garnett and Shaq at their prime would be the best front line duo of all times.
Nov 5, 2010, 12:45 pm
I think the Celtics.
Nov 26, 2010, 5:01 am
Yea I would have to with the Celtics they have the best all around team!