Laettner was better than Shaq when they played in college. 1992 Laettner > 1992 Shaq. It was only a year or two later when Shaq was better and then quickly far, far better but 1992 he wasn't there yet. Not that it matters as neither is getting on the court much with Ewing, Robinson, and Malone on the same team.

Laettner in 92- 21.5ppg, 8rpg, 2apg, .9 blocks per game FG%- 57 FT%- 81

Shaq in 92- 24 ppg, 14rpg, 1.5 apg, 5.2 blocks per game, FG%- 61 FT%- 52

I think it would be relatively close but the 92 team is clearly better IMO

Almost made this thread yesterday. If I had, there would have been a poll.

Thought about it for a long time when I first heard that Kobe said it and am still unsure of who would take it. Seems like '92 would completely control the boards, but I'm not sure how much of a wash that would be against drastically better guard play (notwithstanding Jordan). I mean I absolutely love Stockton, but RWB/CP3/DWill would destroy him, he simply could not see the court in that game. Really not sure if an on-his-way-out Magic would fare much better.

Still want to give the edge to '92, because I think it's far from certain that the '12 roster will even win the gold. (though a broken Rubio does help their cause )

92 dream team and it's not even a close decision...game wouldn't be a blowout but no way '12 beats '92

Yeah, but swap them onto each other's college team and Shaq's numbers would decline at Duke while Laettner would go for 30+ per game at LSU. They also played each other twice in college and Laettner dominated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXh_86J0QPk Video of Laettner basically doing whatever he wanted against Shaq.

Laettner wasn't that good in the NBA but he's easily a top 5 all time college player. He could also get the haters mad like no other player of his time. As a UNC fan he annoyed the hell out of me but he was amazingly good in college.

wat

Jordan would be more motivated than he's ever been. He would annihilate Kobe.

The depth on the '92 team was sick. The '92 starters could at worst hold their own vs the 2012 starters but the '92 bench players would open up huge leads whenever the starters on both teams came out.

I think on the starters it's pretty much:

CP3 >>> Magic
MJ = LeBron
Durant > Pippen
Love = Barkley
Chandler <<< D-Rob

So, slight edge to the 2012 starters although lack of size on the bench could hurt them. Probably pretty much a coinflip overall.

Ummmmmmmmm...

You really said MJ = LBJ and Love = Barkley?

I think it'd be close but Dream Team would take it.

Jordan would end up making Lebron cry.

Kevin Love is much better than Barkley

if i'm coaching 92 in this matchup i probably start with Malone on labron and Pippen on Durant.

David Robinson is the X Factor imo. Nobody on the current team save labron can guard him.

There was only one full time starter on the 1992 Dream Team. Michael started all 8 games, Magic started 5, Ewing, Robinson, Malone, and Barkley started 4 each, Drexler, Bird, and Pippin started 3 each, Mullin started 2, while Stockton and Laetnner never started and didn't play much.

If I'm the coach and faced a serious threat like the 2012 USA squad I'm starting Malone 100% of the time over Barkley and giving him a lot more minutes.

Playing MJ, Drexler, and Pippin at the guards and small forward spots makes them as long and athletic as anything the 2012 team can put on the floor while still having Malone and Robinson/Ewing to dominate down low.

We had a whole super long thread on MJ vs. Bron, I'm not re-hashing that. As for Barkley/Love, Barkley's obviously better for NBA, but in international play with the short 3-point line, and a ton of scorers already on the court, I think Love has at least as much value as Barkley, yeah.

Love has at least as much value as the backup Barkley? Perhaps, but Malone absolutely clowns Love.

LOL @ there being enough difference between Malone and Barkley in '92 for Love to be as good as one and be "clowned" by the other. They were pretty much interchangeable. 92/93 was Barkley's MVP year.

Nothing wrong with thinking Durant is better than Barkley if they had to play today in their prime. But I think its wrong. I think in his prime Rodman is better than both though. But Barkley's prime spanned a decade, which is why he is the GOAT of those three. And after his prime he was still good. And he put up more stats than either. I guess it depends on what stats you value more.

I am wondering how the 1996 team would do. Its got 11/12 HOF players imo. And the one guys who might not be HOF is one of the better players on that team in his prime, who could match up no problem vs today's guys (Penny). 6'6", 21ppg 7ast, 4 rebs, 2stl as a 1/2 guard. And the bigs on this team are prolly the best in their prime over the other teams.

also, Barkley was the mvp of that team during the olympics. magic, mj, pippen, barkley, malone would be a lineup i'd put on the floor against this current team though.

Article I read back in the day if anyone's interested. Popped to mind w/ your post bringing up Dream Team II. Hypothetical matchup between I and II written by Jack McCallum - who just came out w/ the Dream Team book w/ the comments by Drexler about Magic

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...8138/index.htm

Lol I forgot Derrick Coleman was on II

From the opening minute of each game it was already in garbage time and Barkley is the GOAT garbage time player. I like Barkley but against a serious team like the 2012 squad Barkley isn't getting on the floor much when Malone is available as well.

Shaq's scoring numbers may have have went down, but he would be dominant anywhere he played, and he averaged 6 more rebounds per game and 4 more blocks per game than Laettner. That's including 1991, he did it both years, when Shaq was 18-19, and Christian was 21-22, which was an advantage for Laettner. Laettner was a great player, but he simply wasn't physically capable of doing what Shaq did, particularly on the defensive end. Maybe for a few games, but it just wasn't close overall.

I don't really understand Love and Chandler both starting. Especially in this match-up. Seems like a rotation of the two would be the best bet, otherwise Chandler is going to have to play the whole 40 (or however minutes are in Olympic basketball games). Because the one edge that '92 most definitely has is a fresh 7 footer (or near) they can put on the floor.

Matt Nover tho...