wiiide open 16+ foot jumpers (and obviously 3 pointers) are different from his standard 16 foot jumpers in games, and that's exactly what he would get vs Barkley/Malone, otherwise he would blow right past them

I definitely wouldn't call Durant a weak defender in general. Most nights his D is a plus. Against current Kobe it is a plus, for example, and Kobe is still a very high level scorer. His quickness and length can be overwhelming even though his defensive instincts are still quite raw. But against guys like LeBron or hypothetical 29 year old MJ, his weaknesses are going to be exploited. Taller, longer guys like Rodman or Derrick McKey did provide an interesting challenge to Jordan, but his midrange jumper was so good that he was able to manipulate the defenders and force them to crowd him, and then he'd decimate the D with his explosive first step and his amazing ability to finish around the rim.

The DT roster is sorta good in transition as well.

If the 2012 team was insistent on playing LeBron and Durant together at the forward spots, it would definitely be a crazy up and down game.

Did you watch the Celtics series? Boston put Brandon Bass on LeBron. If their help D was better, it actually would have worked quite well.

Help D isn't the answer for reasons already stated itt, so no, even if it could hypothetically work against the Heat (it didn't) it's suicide against this team

in conclusion, labron would guard everyone on D, and would stroke ~30 wide open jumpers each game. btw chuck in his prime is not some fatass who played on the rockets that young ppl prolly envision.

barkley was a complete ****ing beast

I think it's hard to comprehend a 3 time all-defense first teamer getting lit up on every single possession against the same player who got owned a year ago by a 33 year old Shawn Marion + some smart team D.

FFS James Harden checked James in the finals this year, and with virtually no recognizable team defensive strategy to contain James he did well but it's not like he blew by him every possession and scored 40 a game (oh and btw Jordan has done this in the finals. When he was 29 fwiw. Guess who played for the Dream Team the previous year?)

So you are basically saying that Karl Malone at 6'9" 265 pounds 29 years old and 3 All-Defense first team over his career with the 1992 Olympic basketball squad consisting of MJ, Pippen, Magic, DRob (hello 4.5 blocks per game), Ewing, Drexler, etc. etc. etc. to help would do WORSE than a 33 old Shawn Marion and James mother****in Harden with no reasonable defensive strategy.

Yeah, sorry but that's a little hard to comprehend. Maybe you can go into a little more detail plz?

James Harden is a MUCH better defender to put on a perimeter player than Malone, it's not that hard to understand

Do any of the 92'ers think anything changes if every current player was healthy and available?

it would be more interesting

Maybe a little off subject, but what anbout 1966 team if the pros went. Consist of Russell, Chamberlain, Oscar, West, Baylor, with rick barry, dave bing. I know I am old timer, but I like my chances.

How's about a 33 year old Shawn Marion? Pretty amazing that he held LeBron to 8 points in a crucial game 4 finals game. How does this happen?!?

Even though I'm not convinced at all that James would blow by a 29 year old Malone on every single possession given his amazing success vs. old Shawn Marion, even if he did we can put Barkley or Pippen on him at that point.

Then we can all LOL at the defensive mismatches provided by Ewing/Love, Jordan/CP3, and Barkley/Durant. Well unless LeBron guards all of them then I guess we are hosed. Should have picked Shawn Marion imo.

25.6 PER and lead the league in win shares. It was a two-horse race between him and Shaqfu that year. If you wanna argue Shaq should've won that year, fine, but arguing Malone had no business winning is overdramatic. Anyway, arguing Malone was merely the second best player in the league at 35, when the contention is basically that Malone was a stud at 35, is a bizarre argument.

It's also interesting to note that David Robinson would be the main one helping if James blew by his defender. Time for Tyson Chandler to own souls with his elite offense.

Lebron is a freak. He has size, strength, speed, and skill. Nobody can match him across the board. Putting Pippen or Jordan on him is a mistake. They are elite defenders who can take somebody else out of the game. But they can't stop Lebron. So don't waste them trying to do the impossible.

The DT matchup against Lebron I like is Barkley. He's a little guy who thrived as a power forward because he was a unique combo of strength, speed, skill. He's used to guarding even bigger guys. Yes, Lebron can blow by Malone. I think Barkley is different.

David Robinson can ignore Chandler and zone up. Blowing by your man isn't worth as much with him waiting. Robinson was more agile than your typical 7 footer.

Reserves: When Chandler is out of the game I prefer Stockton to Malone, with Mullin in the corner.

2012 Kobe would totally shut down 1992 MJ. MJ would have no chance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsREnYw6Afg

Pippen could deal with LeBron as well as anyone in the history of the sport. LeBron wouldn't have success trying to post him up, and Pippen would keep LeBron in front of him and use his amazing length to contest shots.

Yes, it is youtube, but I think it is easy to forget what a freak Pippen was and how amazing his defensive instincts were. He could still check elite wings in his mid to late 30's with a bad back because he had incredible instincts to go along with his length.

Not when the perimeter player is LeBron James.

Here is a nice 4 hour video (LOL) for those that didn't get to watch Jordan during his heyday. I think the UNC and the early Bulls highlights are the best because they help to show how advanced he already was even at a very young age.

Marion has been a very good perimeter defender his entire career. Malone is a great defender, defending bigs, not smalls. That's like saying Duncan can defend labron because he is 255 pounds and is one of the best defenders of all time. Marion is a 10x better option for defending labron than Malone.

It says 720p but there's no ****ing way lol

that Pippen video is sick

2012 gets better eventhough Magic with no aids and a healthy knee isn't shabby either.

that last charge pippen takes is unreal