Steph Curry

[GooooMarquette]

Another insane night.  35 points in 20 minutes so far, 9-15 from 3, just hit his 402nd three of the season.  Golden State looks like they'll cruise to 73 wins.

Amazing. 

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Give any team in the 90s a shot at him (not even saying the bulls) and he would be knocked on his ass 6 minutes into the 1st quarter.

[brandx]

Give any team in the 90s a shot at him (not even saying the bulls) and he would be knocked on his ass 6 minutes into the 1st quarter.

Please give it a rest. You sound like some of the old MBA guys who are bitter than someone else is getting attention. Steph has that same "cut your heart out" attitude of Montana and MJ.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Please give it a rest. You sound like some of the old MBA guys who are bitter than someone else is getting attention. Steph has that same "cut your heart out" attitude of Montana and MJ.

Give it a rest? Literally my first post (now second) about Curry and golden state but Isaiah Thomas would make him cry.

 Also, I really wanna see Klay on a team where he had to be option number 1. He may aver more PPG but there's no way he could carry a team like everyone thinks he can. Not a top 5 shooting guard in the league, just happened to be playing next the the best PG in the league.

[brandx]

Give it a rest? Literally my first post (now second) about Curry and golden state but Isaiah Thomas would make him cry.

 Also, I really wanna see Klay on a team where he had to be option number 1. He may aver more PPG but there's no way he could carry a team like everyone thinks he can. Not a top 5 shooting guard in the league, just happened to be playing next the the best PG in the league.

The 2nd best shooter in the league who is an outstanding defensive player is not in the top 5 SGs in the league? Ridiculous.

[tower912]

It isn't so much about the talent in the 90's.   It is how the game is officiated and how teams are now allowed to play defense versus how they played defense then.    In the 80's and 90's, you had Kurt Rambis clotheslining people.   You had the Bad-Boys of Laimbeer, Mahorn, Rodman, Salley, Dumars beating the living crap out of Jordan.... legally.    You had the Knicks of Pat Riley who took physicality to an extreme.    The Bulls, once they grew up, were very physical.   

The way the rules were and the way the games were officiated allowed it.    Now that there is no hand-checking, with every foul near the head getting reviewed, with the flagrant 1's and 2's,  that level of physicality has been legislated out of the game.   

It isn't Golden State's fault.    Like those teams of a generation ago, they are exploiting the rules to their advantage and have a team that is built for that.      I don't know how they would have fared against the Jordan Bulls teams.    For that matter, how would the Jordan Bulls teams have fared against the Showtime Laker's teams of a decade earlier?      A sportsbar/ talk radio debating point.   

Golden State is really good.   Nothing should detract from their accomplishment. 

[mu03eng]

It isn't so much about the talent in the 90's.   It is how the game is officiated and how teams are now allowed to play defense versus how they played defense then.    In the 80's and 90's, you had Kurt Rambis clotheslining people.   You had the Bad-Boys of Laimbeer, Mahorn, Rodman, Salley, Dumars beating the living crap out of Jordan.... legally.    You had the Knicks of Pat Riley who took physicality to an extreme.    The Bulls, once they grew up, were very physical.   

The way the rules were and the way the games were officiated allowed it.    Now that there is no hand-checking, with every foul near the head getting reviewed, with the flagrant 1's and 2's,  that level of physicality has been legislated out of the game.   

It isn't Golden State's fault.    Like those teams of a generation ago, they are exploiting the rules to their advantage and have a team that is built for that.      I don't know how they would have fared against the Jordan Bulls teams.    For that matter, how would the Jordan Bulls teams have fared against the Showtime Laker's teams of a decade earlier?      A sportsbar/ talk radio debating point.   

Golden State is really good.   Nothing should detract from their accomplishment.

[GooooMarquette]

The fans of the old standard bearers are always pissed when someone new comes along and sets a new standard.

Reminds me of how angry my dad was when Hank Aaron surpassed Babe Ruth.

[MerrittsMustache]

Golden State is an all-time great basketball team. Are they better than the mid-90s Bulls? No, but that's not a knock against them. No one was.

The Bulls played the 90s style of basketball better than anyone else, had the greatest player of all time on their roster, along with another top 20 all-time player and they were one of the best defensive teams ever.

The Warriors play today's style of basketball better than just about anyone else and have one of the greatest shooters of all time (if not THE greatest) on their roster. They play outstanding TEAM basketball. They led the league in assists by over 3 per game!

Both teams are all-time great teams. It's not insulting to say that the Bulls were better and it doesn't downgrade what GS has accomplished. It's remarkable and they're a lot of fun to watch.

[GooooMarquette]

The Warriors play today's style of basketball better than just about anyone else and have one of the greatest shooters of all time (if not THE greatest) on their roster. They play outstanding TEAM basketball. They led the league in assists by over 3 per game!

You say the Warriors play today's style of basketball better than just about anyone else.  Who plays today's style better than the Warriors?

[GGGG]

I'm not ready to say that this Warriors team isn't better than the mid-90s Bulls.  Really it is too hard to really know since it is such a different league now.  I do agree that they are hard to compare given the rules at the time.  It was literally illegal to play any sort of defense against those Bulls except man-to-man. 

[MerrittsMustache]

You say the Warriors play today's style of basketball better than just about anyone else.  Who plays today's style better than the Warriors?

San Antonio comes pretty close and has done it more consistently over a longer period of time.

[mu03eng]

Comparing era's, especially in basketball, is so difficult it probably shouldn't be done. Not only are rules different but so are off the court things like S&C, recovery, and statistical analysis.

Take Larry Bird, his last 3 seasons he was basketball wearing a turtle shell on his back....if he had today's medical advances and rest/recovery protocols does he like 10%, 20% or 30% better in those 3 seasons? Or does he get an additional 3 seasons out of his career?

Plus the human body potential has changed in the last 30 years. There was no human being like Lebron James 30 years ago, the things he is physically capable of doing on a basketball court were not possible 30 years ago so how do you compare those eras?

Even things like how they value shots has changed. The long 2 has been shunned and the corner 3 has come into vogue because statistically thats how it should be....didn't have that mindset 20 years ago.

The 90s Bull were the top team of their era, the GSW are the top team of the current NBA paradigm (which is crazy since the Spurs are ridiculously good too) but I don't know that you can really compare them.

[Dr. Blackheart]

I thought the Bulls record was unbeatable.  This is a all time great accomplishment in an era of parity.

[MerrittsMustache]

I thought the Bulls record was unbeatable.  This is a all time great accomplishment in an era of parity.

An era of parity? Going into this season, there were 3, maybe 4, teams capable of winning the championship. There were twice that many teams "built to lose."

[GGGG]

An era of parity? Going into this season, there were 3, maybe 4, teams capable of winning the championship. There were twice that many teams "built to lose."

So pretty much the same as the Bulls era then.

[MerrittsMustache]

So pretty much the same as the Bulls era then.

No, not really.

[GGGG]

No, not really.

Really?  Because before the 1995-96 season, there was a lot of hype on the Bulls.  The only other teams that people legitimately thought could contend were the Magic (with O'Neal and Penny), the two time defending champion Rockets, Spurs and the Sonics. 

Here is what Leigh Montville wrote in SI's NBA Preview issue:

"Forget about it. Take out a pen and write this down: The Bulls are the defending champs, shooting for their fourth straight title. Everything that happened in the past two years gets an asterisk. The Rockets* might have won back-to-back titles* and Hakeem Olajuwon* and David Robinson* might have won MVP* awards and Shaquille O'Neal* might have sold a lot of footwear and soda, but all of that happened in a vacuum."

[JWags85]

An era of parity? Going into this season, there were 3, maybe 4, teams capable of winning the championship. There were twice that many teams "built to lose."

But when you're talking about a regular season record like the Warriors just set, you don't focus on just those 3-4 teams.  Sure, the Warriors, Spurs, and Cavs (and maybe the Thunder) are head and shoulders above, but you have teams like the Raptors, Hawks, Blazers, Celtics, Heat, and Clippers who can come out and knock teams off and pose problems.  The league is fairly deep IMO.

Also, as for the Spurs playing the style of basketball better than the Warriors, their consistency over the years is notable, but part of their success is resting stars, preventing them from reaching a total like this.  The Warriors didn't do that.  We'll see if it hurts them in the playoffs, but to rampage through the season like they did is otherworldly.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Here's my question, not saying they will but what would the thoughts be if Golden State doesn't even win the championship? Say the Spurs knock them off in the WCF.

[MerrittsMustache]

Here's my question, not saying they will but what would the thoughts be if Golden State doesn't even win the championship? Say the Spurs knock them off in the WCF.

2007 Patriots, 2005 USC football, 2001 Mariners, etc...

[GooooMarquette]

San Antonio comes pretty close and has done it more consistently over a longer period of time.

I didn't ask who comes pretty close, I asked who you thought was better at playing today's style than the Warriors.

San Antonio was clearly better two or three years ago, but that isn't now....

[JWags85]

Here's my question, not saying they will but what would the thoughts be if Golden State doesn't even win the championship? Say the Spurs knock them off in the WCF.

They still have an incredible regular season record.  Spurs fans can't be feeling great after those last two games head to head.

[WarriorInNYC]

It isn't so much about the talent in the 90's.   It is how the game is officiated and how teams are now allowed to play defense versus how they played defense then.    In the 80's and 90's, you had Kurt Rambis clotheslining people.   You had the Bad-Boys of Laimbeer, Mahorn, Rodman, Salley, Dumars beating the living crap out of Jordan.... legally.    You had the Knicks of Pat Riley who took physicality to an extreme.    The Bulls, once they grew up, were very physical.   

The way the rules were and the way the games were officiated allowed it.    Now that there is no hand-checking, with every foul near the head getting reviewed, with the flagrant 1's and 2's,  that level of physicality has been legislated out of the game.   

It isn't Golden State's fault.    Like those teams of a generation ago, they are exploiting the rules to their advantage and have a team that is built for that.      I don't know how they would have fared against the Jordan Bulls teams.    For that matter, how would the Jordan Bulls teams have fared against the Showtime Laker's teams of a decade earlier?      A sportsbar/ talk radio debating point.   

Golden State is really good.   Nothing should detract from their accomplishment.

This is a really good post.  One thing that I do quite often see is how its mentioned Golden State would get pushed around in the 80s and 90s when the game was much more physical.  Its hard for me to argue against that.

What I don't see mentioned very much, is how the 90s Bulls teams would fare against Golden State in the current NBA without the same physicality.  How about that side of the coin?

[MerrittsMustache]

I didn't ask who comes pretty close, I asked who you thought was better at playing today's style than the Warriors.

San Antonio was clearly better two or three years ago, but that isn't now....

Was 2-3 years ago not "today's style" of basketball? Or do you take "today" literally?

San Antonio went 67-15 this season (going at about 85-90%), had the #1 defense and their Pythagorean W-L was 2 games better than the Warriors'. Only 6 teams in history have won more than 67 games. The Spurs' regular season was just a hair below Golden State's and no one would be all that surprised if SA beat GS in the conf finals.

Last season and this regular season, GS was the best, but no one has been better than SA since the NBA's defensive rules changed and 3pt attempts increased. I would define that time period as "today's game." Perhaps you only look back 12-18 months.