All 5 of those guys could be DPOY in todays league. It is silly to think otherwise.

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Same here

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

They could be. Who knows? Draymond Green is.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Anthony Davis is not a skilled big man. He has no post game.

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And he wouldnt be in their era.

They could be in his era, he couldn't be in their era.

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

That's ridiculous. Of course he does.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Yep.

He benefits from guarding non offensive centers and PFs. If he truly "shut down" LeBron then why was Lebron's the primary assignment of Iggy?

For all the talk about the game being better it isn't and I'm a big fan. Guys like James Edwards would absolutely murder Draymond Green and he was never elite. The game has made the mid range shot public enemy No. 1 which effects Centers too. I'm sure many don't practice that shot. It's dumb.

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There's no way to know that and all evidence suggests you are wrong.


I find it very amusing that the old guys on this board think it's crazy to suggest one of the best defensive players in the NBA today would be one of the best defensive players in the NBA 20 years ago.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Every part of this post is bullshit. It is funny though.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Doesn't Anthony Davis put up big numbers whenever he plays G.S?

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He puts up big numbers against almost every team. He's a superstar player.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

If he shut down James then how dId G.S. lose last season? Cleveland popped G.S. based on the performance of 2 players and James was one of them

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The series swung when he got suspended for Game 6. He did everything he could on both ends in Game 7 but it wasn't enough.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Shouldn't an elite player be able to prevent that or is his stellar defensive work relegated to guarding guys like Meyers Leonard?

_________________

It is funny to me that MANY of us get criticized for being the old guys ...blah blah blah.

Yet FF's defense in many of these discussions is to make it seem like we do not watch the NBA, because clearly if we watched the NBA we would agree with him.

That is what is bullshit.

You ride with Draymond.

I will ride with Payton, Hakeem, Rodman, Pippen, and Jordan.

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

I'm your age.

_________________

Also, this isn't an "old guy" argument. In some sports, it is... but in basketball, the rules and style have quantifiably changed, and I don't think a lot of today's players could adapt to the way it used to be played.

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I never said anything about watching games in this thread. But when guys act like Draymond Green isn't a great defensive player then they themselves make it seem like they aren't watching.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Based on what?

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

He only guarded Lebron James when he switched on screen roll. If he were that guy he would have done what other elite guys do which is take the cover. He is guarding guys that never get plays called for them like Tristan Thompson and you are lauding his defensive work.

The guys Walt named always guarded who they were supposed to guard. Hakeem took the Robinson Ewing and Shaq cover. They always guarded their opposite number. Green is guarding non offensive players and helping on rotations.

If he were the all time great defender you keep proclaiming him to be then his assignment would be to shut James down and dare the other guys to beat them.

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My eyes?

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Ok. I don't know how you can make that statement based on what you see on the court. Of course the players today could adjust. Just like I'm sure the great players in the 90's could adjust to today's game. The styles are different. The players aren't fundamentally worse.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

When Shaq was in Orlando, it appeared they had a recipe that was unguardable. They had Shaq surrounded by great shooters and guys who were great entry passers. Dennis Scott never missed. Teams had a choice - let Shaq kill your center or double and let them shoot an effective FG% of over 60% from three.

Then they played the Bulls in '96 and got laughed out of the series. Rodman had Shaq wanting to punch out his own teammates, and Jordan, Pippen, and Harper were rotstion machines. I think they won the first game by like 50 points.

They would do similar things to GS.

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The 4s and 5s absolutely are fundamentally worse.

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No they aren't. They aren't as good at posting up. They are better at shooting and passing the ball. As I said, it's a different game.

But we are just talking generalities here. A great player like Draymond would be able to adjust easily, especially considering he's already one of the most versatile players in a much more versatile era.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Yep what separated those guys were that all 4 were great individual defenders.

_________________

Yup.

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

No they wouldn't and the one thing you're forgetting here is that Orlando team sucked defensively, the Warriors are a great defensive team. Not to mention Steph Curry is the EXACT player that used to give those Bulls teams trouble. I would take the Bulls of course but it wouldn't be a rout and Draymond would absolutely be an effective player in that series.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Not sure if Old Guy Bias or Bulls Fan Bias

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Nah. He would probably end up ejected or dead

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."