Gee... here's a surprise: a guy with your pseudonym leaping to Jordan's defense! Hehe... I kid. As stated before, I'm of the opinion that Jordan well-deserves his GOAT status... just so as we're clear on that!
how do you not see that MJ's era had tougher players? There were so many players that rivaled one another along with their teams. There isn't that physical rival presence in todays game because its all about finesse and flash. The only thing i see/saw anything remotely tough in todays game was that Pacers v Pistons game where the Pacers players went AWOL on the Pistons fans other than that we have a big guys like Bynum and Artest picking on a much smaller guy in JJ Barea, that's just weak and chump status. Charles Barkley hands down then is tougher than any player today PERIOD.
Tougher... because you say so? In lieu of anything beyond anecdotes, let's look at the facts: the main thing that's different about the game now is the way it is officiated. Players CANNOT do what they did in the 80s/early-90s because they will get hammered by officials, when "back in the day" it'd be let go. No blood, no foul... right?
It's that simple, isn't it?
Someone frequently accused of being soft throughout his career - Dirk Nowitzki - recently said
"What's tough? Punching someone in the face or hitting the contested shot at the end of a game?" And surely you're not asserting that Ron Artest isn't "tough"...
Oh and if anyone had any effect on NBA rules it was Wilt dunking from the free throw line, along with widening the lane in an attempt to keep him and his finger-roll farther from the goal, implementing the offensive-goaltending rule and revising the rules regarding inbounding and free throws
Isn't that my point? Wilt had rule-changes come into existence to stop him. MJ had rule-changes come into existence to help him.
and i would say that MOST if not every analyst would tell you that russell westbrook has always been a shoot guard as in his two years with the UCLA Bruins their PG was Darren Collison. so yes Russell Westbrook is a SG being turned into a PG and if you were following the commentating during the Mavs v Thunders series, all the analysts talked about how he isn't a point guard
Surely that's at least a little bit of an exaggeration. Listen to Ryen Russillo on ESPN's NBA Today podcast. Russell Westbrook is still very much a player in development. That along with the presence of Collison at UCLA meant that he had to play at SG. Just because of that doesn't mean that we should pigeon-hole him into a role that neither he nor OKC particularly want.
Sure, he has a lot of work to do, especially in the decision making process... but even if we call him an SG, that doesn't excuse him taking that many shots when Kevin Durant's on the floor with him.
as for the MJ comparisons, dude i've never ever heard people say who's the next Wilt or the next Larry Bird.
Ummm... you're not reading.
I stated that these guys we're currently comparing to MJ aren't as good as the aforementioned players. It was merely a throw-away comment on how laughable it is that we continually look for the next greatest, when the reality is that those examined generally fall a long way short of guys who themselves a bit off 'being Jordan'.
But on your comment: you mustn't have been reading/watching/listening to the media lately. The comparisons of Nowitzki to Bird have been rife.
Last edited by malice at 6/5/2011 1:36:50 AMhttp://with-malice.com/ - The half-crazed ramblings of a Lakers fanatic in Japan