And the best team of all time is....

[Jistic]

No surprise here. I think they did a pretty good job with this list. The '86 Celtics were the best I'd ever seen up until the Bulls.

http://www.nba.com/bulls/news/1995-96-bulls-chosen-nbas-greatest-team-all-time.html

[AlexBrady]

Re: And the best team of all time is....

This is always tricky ranking the best teams but here is how I see it.

1. 1995-1996 Bulls
2. 1966-1967 76ers
3. 1971-1972 Lakers
4. 1991-1992 Bulls
5. 1964-1965 Celtics
6. 1983-1984 Celtics
7. 1988-1989 Pistons
8. 2000-20001 Lakers
9. 1969-1970 Knicks
10. 1986-1987 Lakers

The 1986 Celtics were undoubtedly great but were not as good as the 83-84 Celtics. For one, the 84 Celtics beat the Lakers in the Finals (Magic, Jabbar, Worthy, Scott, and Cooper) while the 86 team beat the Rockets (Olajuwon, Sampson, Lucas, Lloyd) who were not even close to that Lakers team.
In addition, Parish in 1986 was simply not the same player he once was. Finally, the 84 Celtics had a much deeper bench than the 86 team did. 84 featured Maxwell, Wedman, Ainge, and Buckner while 86 had Walton, Wedman, and Sichting.

For what its worth the 67 Sixers would have given the 96 Bulls all they could handle. That thing would go seven games.

[Dice]

Re: And the best team of all time is....

Any team in the 60's wouldn't stand a chance against the modern day teams. So your telling me that Hal Greer is going to contain Jordan in the post? Yeah, right. And let's see how dominate Chamberlain would be when he faces a guy in Luc Longley who is bigger than him. Understand that Chamberlain would still outplay Longley but let's cut the crap and admit that Chamberlain played against centers who were either his size or smaller. Chet Walker would get smashed by Scottie Pippen on both sides of the ball. I highly doubt a 96 Bulls vs 67 Sixers would go 7-games. 4 game sweep by the Bulls.

Heck, I couldn't see the 67 Sixers winning a game against the 01 Lakers. Shaq would dominate Wilt and Kobe would destroy Hal Greer.

[AlexBrady]

Re: And the best team of all time is....

Any team in the 60's wouldn't stand a chance against the modern day teams. So your telling me that Hal Greer is going to contain Jordan in the post? Yeah, right. And let's see how dominate Chamberlain would be when he faces a guy in Luc Longley who is bigger than him. Understand that Chamberlain would still outplay Longley but let's cut the crap and admit that Chamberlain played against centers who were either his size or smaller. Chet Walker would get smashed by Scottie Pippen on both sides of the ball. I highly doubt a 96 Bulls vs 67 Sixers would go 7-games. 4 game sweep by the Bulls.

Heck, I couldn't see the 67 Sixers winning a game against the 01 Lakers. Shaq would dominate Wilt and Kobe would destroy Hal Greer.

That Sixers team was strong and brawny. Wilt was 7'2 300 lbs, Chet Walker was 6'7 220, Lucious Jackson was 6'9 250. Then you had Gambee and Costello off the bench who were vicious. That team had plenty of beef.

Chamberlain would have gotten Longley into foul trouble and would score on him at will. Rodman was certainly a shutdown defender but the guy he would guard in Lucious Jackson was a banger who did the dirty work and wasn't relied on to score.
Chet Walker would have gotten smashed by Pippen? No, Walker would be outquicked by Pippen. It would be Walker who would smash into Pippens chest when he is backing down (his pet ploy) to unleash his jumpers. Greer certainly would not have been able to contain Jordan in the post and MJ would have contained Greer's scoring for sure.
Ron Harper's length would have given Wali Jones some problems as well. Ah, but the wildcard would be Billy Cunningham! His lefty slashes to the hoop were unstoppable and he would have totally destroyed Toni Kukoc.

That 96 Bulls team, as great as they were, was very finesse and didn't have much board power besides Rodman. Wilt, Walker, and Jackson were brutes and would outmuscle Rodman in the paint and totally control the boards. But then again, MJ was a miracle worker!
A four game sweep? No chance in the world.

[wwharton]

Re: And the best team of all time is....

My guess is Rodman would've spent most of his time on Wilt.

[AlexBrady]

Re: And the best team of all time is....

I think it's a toss up between the 86 Celtics and 96 Bulls. It's hard for me to say a team that started Luc Longley is the greatest team of all time, though.


To paraphrase Simmons, if a team wins 11 titles in 12 years, it is completely nonsensical to say the team that won that one gap year is better. Makes no sense.



Dude... the 86 Rockets whipped the Lakers.

Those 86 Celtics just didn't have a good enough bench. Ainge was a starter on that team too and he was really slow in comparison to Gerald Henderson who started on the 84 team. Like I said, Parish was starting to slip by 86.

Longley was a useful player. Great passer and screener, automatic post target which allowed the Bulls to play inside out. Yeah, he couldn't handle Wilt (in a fantasy matchup) but who could?

The goal isn't to pick the most enduring dynasty. Picking the best team is totally different. Its about judging which players fit and played the best together for that one year. The 67 Sixers played incredible basketball for that one year.

What I said was that the 84 Lakers who lost to the Celtics were a far superior team to the 86 Rockets who lost to the Celtics.

[phenom1990]

Re: And the best team of all time is....

Is it fair to compare teams from the pre-3pt era and the 3pt era? I think the 3pt shot has changed the game so drastically that I don't think its fair to compare teams across eras.

[Dice]

Re: And the best team of all time is....

That Sixers team was strong and brawny. Wilt was 7'2 300 lbs, Chet Walker was 6'7 220, Lucious Jackson was 6'9 250. Then you had Gambee and Costello off the bench who were vicious. That team had plenty of beef.

Chamberlain would have gotten Longley into foul trouble and would score on him at will. Rodman was certainly a shutdown defender but the guy he would guard in Lucious Jackson was a banger who did the dirty work and wasn't relied on to score.
Chet Walker would have gotten smashed by Pippen? No, Walker would be outquicked by Pippen. It would be Walker who would smash into Pippens chest when he is backing down (his pet ploy) to unleash his jumpers. Greer certainly would not have been able to contain Jordan in the post and MJ would have contained Greer's scoring for sure.
Ron Harper's length would have given Wali Jones some problems as well. Ah, but the wildcard would be Billy Cunningham! His lefty slashes to the hoop were unstoppable and he would have totally destroyed Toni Kukoc.

That 96 Bulls team, as great as they were, was very finesse and didn't have much board power besides Rodman. Wilt, Walker, and Jackson were brutes and would outmuscle Rodman in the paint and totally control the boards. But then again, MJ was a miracle worker!
A four game sweep? No chance in the world.

You must be reading too many Charlie Rosen columns. Basketball players of the 60's were slow, nonathletic and not nearly close to the physical specimens that the modern NBA player is today. And you can preach to me about 'they had more basketball skills' statement all you want. But Bill Russell isn't going to stop Dwight Howard or a Shaq in his prime. You can kill that.

And let's just say hypothetically that the Sixers was to compete with the 96 Bulls. First of all, the Bulls has 20+ fouls to give to Chamberlain. So how is he going to score with that 42% FT shooting? And don't let the game be close because then Wilt becomes a non-factor. So in crunch time, that leaves Hal Greer to do the scoring, which he'll be bottled up by Jordan.

And I don't understand this love for Chet Walker. We're talking about non-Hall of Fame player Chet Walker. Going against FIRST BALLOT Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen who was in his PRIME at that time.

And according to the team rosters from the Sixers team, Wilt was listed as being 275 lbs. Where is the extra 25 lbs coming from?

So I guess Toni Kukoc is just going to sit there and not score right back to Cunningham? So you tell me how 6'6" Cunningham is going to guard 6'11" Kukoc?

And the "Totally control the boards against Rodman" really has me wondering about your evaluation of this match up. Rodman has faced guys that were stronger than Jackson. Kevin Willis, Charles Oakley, Jayson Williams and Karl Malone. And he still grabbed 12+ rebounds against those guys. Not to mention that he played some at the center position going against hall of fame centers in Ewing, Olajuwon and Shaq during that time. And still posting 12+ rebounding numbers.

I never saw that Sixer team because that was way before my time. But from the people who I talked to who did see them, even told me that it wouldn't be a contest. The Bulls size and skill would be way too much for them. The Bulls bench had 4 guys registering at 6'11" and higher(Kukoc, Wennington, Salley and Edwards). The tallest player on the Sixers bench? Cunningham at 6'6". I just don't see them winning one game against the 96 Bulls.

[Tyrant8RDFL]

Re: And the best team of all time is....

Crowning a team the best ever I find this very hard to justify, but I'm truly confident in saying that no team from the 60's and 70's would stand a chance.

80's and up I can see it.

[AlexBrady]

Re: And the best team of all time is....

You must be reading too many Charlie Rosen columns. Basketball players of the 60's were slow, nonathletic and not nearly close to the physical specimens that the modern NBA player is today. And you can preach to me about 'they had more basketball skills' statement all you want. But Bill Russell isn't going to stop Dwight Howard or a Shaq in his prime. You can kill that.

And let's just say hypothetically that the Sixers was to compete with the 96 Bulls. First of all, the Bulls has 20+ fouls to give to Chamberlain. So how is he going to score with that 42% FT shooting? And don't let the game be close because then Wilt becomes a non-factor. So in crunch time, that leaves Hal Greer to do the scoring, which he'll be bottled up by Jordan.

And I don't understand this love for Chet Walker. We're talking about non-Hall of Fame player Chet Walker. Going against FIRST BALLOT Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen who was in his PRIME at that time.

And according to the team rosters from the Sixers team, Wilt was listed as being 275 lbs. Where is the extra 25 lbs coming from?

So I guess Toni Kukoc is just going to sit there and not score right back to Cunningham? So you tell me how 6'6" Cunningham is going to guard 6'11" Kukoc?

And the "Totally control the boards against Rodman" really has me wondering about your evaluation of this match up. Rodman has faced guys that were stronger than Jackson. Kevin Willis, Charles Oakley, Jayson Williams and Karl Malone. And he still grabbed 12+ rebounds against those guys. Not to mention that he played some at the center position going against hall of fame centers in Ewing, Olajuwon and Shaq during that time. And still posting 12+ rebounding numbers.

I never saw that Sixer team because that was way before my time. But from the people who I talked to who did see them, even told me that it wouldn't be a contest. The Bulls size and skill would be way too much for them. The Bulls bench had 4 guys registering at 6'11" and higher(Kukoc, Wennington, Salley and Edwards). The tallest player on the Sixers bench? Cunningham at 6'6". I just don't see them winning one game against the 96 Bulls.

Players of the 60s were slow and unathletic? Relatively speaking yes, but there were teams that proved to be the exception. Chamberlain was in his prime in 67 and was fast side to side and up and down. Lucious Jackson was extremely forceful. Greer had power and quickness. Cunningham could jump to the moon. Of course, their fundamentals were superb. These guys could absolutely compete. Russell would have had little difficulty against Howard's crude offense, Shaq would score his points on Russ however.

The Bulls are going to use 20+ fouls against Wilt? If thats the case then Longley would foul out and that would mean Wennington would have to guard him (that would be a disaster). How would Wilt score? A fadeaway from the left box, a finger roll, or on offensive rebounds which there would be plenty of. Greer's offense would be contained by Jordan but you could never underestimate his courage in the endgame. Most likely the Sixers would be calling Cunningham's number with the game on line. Since Kukoc was a poor defender, I like Billy's chances.

Chet Walker was a phenomenal player. He liked to score on the baseline and he was murderous in how he created room for his shots. Whoever guarded him (Pippen I assume) would need a cold tub. For what its worth, Walker was in his prime as well. And hey, if guys like Dan Issel and George Gervin are in the Hall of Fame, why not Walker?
Those weight listings are notoriously inaccurate. Wilt had an effective playing weight of 300 lbs (at least).

How would Cunningham defend Kukoc? He couldn't. Toni was 6'10, could handle like a guard, and could create his own shot. The question is, would Kukoc outscore Cunningham? Probably not, especially since MJ got the first crack at the clutch shots while Cunningham was the go to guy for his squad.

Rodman never faced a frontline like Chamberlain and Jackson. These two were so powerful and relentless. Rodman was a warrior so he would battle hard but he would ultimately be worn down and outnumbered.

Yeah, the Bulls' precision and skill would have to carry the day if they were to win this series. They would have no chance if they wanted to play a physical game with the Sixers. Salley and Edwards? They were washed up and hardly ever used. I did see this Sixers team and I say it would have been a riveting contest, seven games in fact.

[bkrich83]

Re: And the best team of all time is....

86-87 Lakers were the best team I have ever seen.

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Re: And the best team of all time is....

Regarding this post, if anyone is interested, the 96 Bulls vs. Magic is on NBA TV right now. So nice to see Michael Jordan play again.

[celg35]

Re: And the best team of all time is....

2010 heat team

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Re: And the best team of all time is....

2010 heat team

I know you like the Heat, but this is sarcasm, right?

[AlexBrady]

Re: And the best team of all time is....

AlexBrady, saying that Sixers team is better than any of Russel's Celtics teams is still like saying the 66 Texas Western team was better than any of Wooden's Bruin teams. It just doesn't make ANY sense.

For one year, they were arguably the best team to ever play. I just can't think of another team that can match their overall power. Again, this isn't about picking the dynasty that lasted the longest.