Pretty good vid on Dream Team vs 2024 team

[ElJorge]

I agree with House here. Stacking the deck with superstars is just kinda “fake” if that makes sense. It’s almost like… why even play the game? Yea MAYBE some random team will catch fire and give team USA a run for their money, but otherwise there’s no tension or drama involved when you pretty much already know what the outcome will be.

[_Vcsgrizzfan_]

I agree with House here. Stacking the deck with superstars is just kinda “fake” if that makes sense. It’s almost like… why even play the game? Yea MAYBE some random team will catch fire and give team USA a run for their money, but otherwise there’s no tension or drama involved when you pretty much already know what the outcome will be.

For sure that would be true if it was a best of 5 or something like that. In a single elimination, shit can happen pretty easy. In the example I gave with Canada, with SGA, Jamal Murray, Dwight Powell, Roman Barret et al, if a few guys get real hot from deep for ONE GAME, that's all it takes. It would make it more like March Madness where some really weird shit can happen sometimes. That is the nature of single game eliminations.

[ElJorge]

I agree with House here. Stacking the deck with superstars is just kinda “fake” if that makes sense. It’s almost like… why even play the game? Yea MAYBE some random team will catch fire and give team USA a run for their money, but otherwise there’s no tension or drama involved when you pretty much already know what the outcome will be.

For sure that would be true if it was a best of 5 or something like that. In a single elimination, shit can happen pretty easy. In the example I gave with Canada, with SGA, Jamal Murray, Dwight Powell, Roman Barret et al, if a few guys get real hot from deep for ONE GAME, that's all it takes. It would make it more like March Madness where some really weird shit can happen sometimes. That is the nature of single game eliminations.

Yea don’t get me wrong… anything can happen. But team USA always seems ridiculously stacked. There’s no real obstacles to overcome… it usually boils down to “as long as they don’t shit the bed they’ll win”. Team USA picking on Team Liechtenstein just doesn’t appeal to me lol

[Bush4Ever.]

In fairness though… in the vid he doesn’t use their competition as the end all be all. He readily acknowledges that teams in other countries have gotten much better. In fact… when he compares players on his chart (ranking efficiency and productivity and whatever other metrics) it clearly shows that the Dream Team had the better players, and the players on their level play for other countries (Jokic, SGA, Luka).

I didn't watch the video.

I also didn't really make a claim one way or the other, just pointing out anything that runs through competition is going to be biased in favor of the Dream Team, since the competition in the 90s was so much worse. Efficiency and productivity and the like are going to be biased, since it's efficiency within a dogshit era for basketball.

It's obviously true the ratio of tier-1 superstars is slanted international in today's game, but that doesn't mean the national side is weaker, if the international side is insanely stronger, which it obviously is.

What is the argument he makes?

[ElJorge]

In fairness though… in the vid he doesn’t use their competition as the end all be all. He readily acknowledges that teams in other countries have gotten much better. In fact… when he compares players on his chart (ranking efficiency and productivity and whatever other metrics) it clearly shows that the Dream Team had the better players, and the players on their level play for other countries (Jokic, SGA, Luka).

I didn't watch the video.

I also didn't really make a claim one way or the other, just pointing out anything that runs through competition is going to be biased in favor of the Dream Team, since the competition in the 90s was so much worse. Efficiency and productivity and the like are going to be biased, since it's efficiency within a dogshit era for basketball.

It's obviously true the ratio of tier-1 superstars is slanted international in today's game, but that doesn't mean the national side is weaker, if the international side is insanely stronger, which it obviously is.

What is the argument he makes?

TBH he’s a tad all over the place

At around 5:35 he shows the total collective accomplishments (championships, FMVPs, MVPs, DPOYs, All NBA and All Defense teams) of the players from the 2024, 2012, 2008, 1996, and 1992 Olympic teams leading up to that Olympic year (2024 edges out the other teams).

He mentions the age of the 2024 team too though… oldest player on the Dream Team was 35 (Bird). Meanwhile Lebron (39), Curry (36), and Durant (35) are all as old or older (Jrue is up there too at 34). A lot of the Dream Team was around the peak of their careers when they teamed up (minus Magic and Bird).

At 7:23 he shows a chart ranking the players using box plus minus and win shares per 48… the Dream Team ranked much higher. In fact… the only players to rank on the level of the Dream Team are mostly foreign players like Jokic, Luka, Giannis, SGA…

He actually gives a lot of credit to the 1996 team… says they had the GOAT front court lineup (Robinson, Hakeem, Shaq, Barkley, Malone).

You should check the vid out… even if you just skip to the timestamps I mentioned.

[Bush4Ever.]

thanks, ill check it out later

[Deez]

Dream Team in 6. Really nothing to debate

[thedangerouskitchen]

Dream Team in 6. Really nothing to debate

More like 5... but I could see the Deam Team getting bored after going up 3-0, and taking their foot off the gas just a little to make it 6, much like the GOAT 96 Bulls did with the Sonics in the Finals.