KevinLoveFan
Mom & Thundaliers fan in SW MO
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- Jan 7, 2018
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I'm old enough to remember MJ, especially his last three titles (a little too young for the first three -- just some faint memories of the 1993 series against the Suns). I'm an older Millennial, age 35. I think I'm young enough to know and respect the current era, while also old enough to not dismiss the older ones I remember.
It's important to know, in order to remain analytically objective, and also see the big picture -- to understand that the game certainly changes with every era, but not necessarily for better or worse in a blanket fashion. It depends on what angle you're examining the game from.
So, for example, the 1990s were considerably stronger and more athletic than the 1980s, when everyone was bean pole thin and didn't lift weights. The Bad Boy Pistons forced teams to get stronger. By the mid 1990s, you had guys like Karl Malone bulking up to impressive levels. Jordan, then, faced a broad range of competition throughout his career in terms of athleticism and strength. Remember, he played in both the 1980s AND the 1990s. You can't just isolate video clips from the 1980s out of context and leap to the incorrect conclusion that he faced nothing but anorexics throughout his career. His career spanned 1984-2003, not 1984-1988.
That said, his second series of championships, while playing against physically stronger competition, was lessened a bit by the addition of two brand-new expansion teams, the Grizzlies and Raptors. None of the first three Bulls title teams would have won 72 games, but it didn't surprise me when the 1995-96 team did.
Right now, we're in an era where spacing and shooting is at an all-time high, but physicality has decreased since the 1990s and 2000s. Players are stronger than they were in the 1980s, but most assuredly NOT the 1990s or 2000s. Defense is also terrible because of all the rule changes favoring offense. I'm looking forward to a future era when we hopefully have more balance. 20 years from now, provided we're all still around, I think this era in basketball might get a few laughs for its over-focus on shooting. Young people will mock it the way they always do older eras for this thing or that thing.
It's important to know, in order to remain analytically objective, and also see the big picture -- to understand that the game certainly changes with every era, but not necessarily for better or worse in a blanket fashion. It depends on what angle you're examining the game from.
So, for example, the 1990s were considerably stronger and more athletic than the 1980s, when everyone was bean pole thin and didn't lift weights. The Bad Boy Pistons forced teams to get stronger. By the mid 1990s, you had guys like Karl Malone bulking up to impressive levels. Jordan, then, faced a broad range of competition throughout his career in terms of athleticism and strength. Remember, he played in both the 1980s AND the 1990s. You can't just isolate video clips from the 1980s out of context and leap to the incorrect conclusion that he faced nothing but anorexics throughout his career. His career spanned 1984-2003, not 1984-1988.
That said, his second series of championships, while playing against physically stronger competition, was lessened a bit by the addition of two brand-new expansion teams, the Grizzlies and Raptors. None of the first three Bulls title teams would have won 72 games, but it didn't surprise me when the 1995-96 team did.
Right now, we're in an era where spacing and shooting is at an all-time high, but physicality has decreased since the 1990s and 2000s. Players are stronger than they were in the 1980s, but most assuredly NOT the 1990s or 2000s. Defense is also terrible because of all the rule changes favoring offense. I'm looking forward to a future era when we hopefully have more balance. 20 years from now, provided we're all still around, I think this era in basketball might get a few laughs for its over-focus on shooting. Young people will mock it the way they always do older eras for this thing or that thing.