As much as we want to debate '92 vs. '12, it simply won't work. |
The talk over the past few weeks as we prep for America's latest run to basketball gold has been chalk full of debate over whether or not the 2012 version of the "Dream Team" could ball with the original one. Yeah it might have just been Kobe being Kobe, but the argument as in-depth as it may get, can never properly be settled. Unfortunately there is too much of a generational gap and the game happens to be overwhelmingly different. It might be fun to sit and talk about probably one of the most epic matchups in the history of sports, but it just cannot be settled in any realistic, sane manner.
The '92 Dream Team still probably remains the most dominating sports entity ever. Consider the basic fact that they had three of the arguably top-5 players in the history of the game and your jaw should drop to the floor. Most importantly, the team's IQ is through the roof. These guys weren't students of the game, weren't teachers, they were masters of their craft. Magic, Bird and Jordan revolutionized the sport, that allowed for the next generation of revolution that is taking place right as we speak. I'll also say these guys have competitive drive that brought them to heights never thought unimaginable.
This year's team is a matchups nightmare. Athleticism literally drips off of this squad, with an inordinate amount of versatility and unique size. I see a shocking amount of guys who can seriously play more than one position, including LeBron James, who I believe can play all five positions defensively. The way most of the guys on these team attacks the rim is so riveting it seems almost unrealistic. Simple put the team is built up with a bunch of specimens, absolute specimens.
My two descriptions of the different teams are light, I know, but that's because I'm not going to sit here and argue or gush over anything in this comparison. I've wasted enough time over the last week debating it until I realize it's a non-debatable topic. The games are different. Basketball today is faster, contains way more high flying action, and most importantly, is softer. In '92, the games were slugfests, literally and figuratively. There were fights all the time, ticky-tack fouls were non-existent and the paint was a war zone. A "banger" today has nowhere near the toughness Charles Barkley or David Robinson did. But at the same token, Jordan was the only high flyer on '92. This team has LeBron, Westbrook, Iguodala and Kevin Durant, guys who can get up, stay up and throw down in vicious fashion.
While the difference in play has a negative effect on the ability for us to argue this, I think the generational gap is the real reason. Anyone who's born before 1980, will be gushing over the '92 team and laugh at the prospect of these two teams playing. The post-1980 collective will be unable to see past the speed and athleticism of today's athlete. It is hard for us to imagine the game being so slow, we'd believe it's impossible for the Dream Team to keep up. I personally have been trying to argue in favor of the 2012 squad since the day Kobe brought it up, but I realized it was useless.
So while we can have some fun imaging a seven game series between these two Olympic masterpieces, it's an impossible argument with far too many caveats in our way.
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