Author Topic: 2000-2001 Lakers vs Modern day Warriors  (Read 4057 times)

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2000-2001 Lakers vs Modern day Warriors
« on: September 22, 2017, 11:41:04 AM »

Offline Green-18

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I'm watching game one of the 2001 NBA Finals and it's a blast watching AI take on the Lakers.  That game 1 was such a classic.

Anyways, I'm curious as to how people think the peak Lakers would fair against the Golden State Warriors under modern rules?  I would expect a 7 game series.  We all know the Warriors have the star power but Shaq would absolutely destroy their entire team.  Shaq had significantly more competition at the Center spot than he would have had against the Warriors.  I think 35 PPG on 60% shooting is a guarantee.  40 PPG isn't unrealistic.  Kobe also showed quite a bit of defensive versatility during the playoffs that season. 

Another strength of that Lakers squad is the amount of role players that defended at a high level and had the ability to hit clutch shots.  Fisher, Horry, Fox, Grant, and Harper would have all helped to slow down the Warriors attack.  The 2001 Lakers were an elite defensive unit when everyone was dialed in and focused.

The biggest argument against LA is pointing to the 2001-2002 Kings that should have beaten them the next season.  However, I think the final group during the LA 3-peat was unfocused and inferior to the first 2.

On a side note, it would be interesting to see how the 2001 Kings would fare in today's NBA.  That team was so deep and balanced.  They were built to play today's game.

Re: 2000-2001 Lakers vs Modern day Warriors
« Reply #1 on: September 22, 2017, 12:03:29 PM »

Offline greece66

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Shaq would be bigger and stronger than anyone else, but GSW is still comfortably better. I don't see how LAL would slow down their offense.

Since you mentioned the LAL bench, the GSW bench is also pretty good this year: Iguodala, Livingston, Casspi, Young.

Re: 2000-2001 Lakers vs Modern day Warriors
« Reply #2 on: September 22, 2017, 12:24:25 PM »

Offline Sophomore

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There's a very good article up on Celticshub about changes in the defensive 3-second rule that you might be interested in. Great clips that show how much harder it is for today's players to work 1 on 1 than it used to be, and why pace and space is critical. Really hard to know how that Lakers team, built for a different era, would do.

I'd definitely be interested to see how Shaq would do if he had to guard a high pick and roll involving Curry-Draymond or KD-Draymond.

Re: 2000-2001 Lakers vs Modern day Warriors
« Reply #3 on: September 22, 2017, 12:25:41 PM »

Offline bopna

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Nah...

Modern day Celtics are gonna crush em Warriors in the nuts.
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Re: 2000-2001 Lakers vs Modern day Warriors
« Reply #4 on: September 22, 2017, 01:06:10 PM »

Offline johnnygreen

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I think the Lakers would win in 5 or 6 games. Shaq was in his prime during that season. Draymond Green would get destroyed and be in foul trouble if he had to guard Shaq, regardless of any 3 second rule. Who would slow down Kobe? Plus that Lakers team had two former Celtics in Brian Shaw and Rick Fox.

Re: 2000-2001 Lakers vs Modern day Warriors
« Reply #5 on: September 22, 2017, 01:45:33 PM »

Offline Green-18

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Shaq would be bigger and stronger than anyone else, but GSW is still comfortably better. I don't see how LAL would slow down their offense.

Since you mentioned the LAL bench, the GSW bench is also pretty good this year: Iguodala, Livingston, Casspi, Young.

I think the Lakers could put up a better defensive effort than any current NBA team, at least in the half court.  The key to the series would be preventing transition points. 

Fisher and Lue would be responsible for Steph.  I think they could do a satisfactory job of making him take tough shots.  Kobe, Fox, and Harper would collectively need to deal with Durant and Klay.  This is probably the biggest struggle that LA would run into.  I would start with Fox on Durant and Kobe on Klay.  Kobe's offense would be too important for him to waste too much energy guarding Durant early in the game.  I would also expect Horry to replace Grant in the starting lineup to effectively deal with Draymond.  Another defensive option would be to have Kobe pressure Steph full court when Durant wasn't in the game.  Kobe did this very often in his early days.  I'd imagine the Lakers style of play would be similar to the current Grizzlies but with two of the greatest players in league history.  LA had the personnel to switch defensively when necessary.  The tempo would be very slow.

The high pick & roll would be difficult for Shaq to handle but he was still a great athlete at that point.  I think some of Shaq's struggles with the pick & roll were due to a lack of focus and conditioning.  It became a much bigger issue after they won the 2nd title.  I also think Horace Grant would take a few minutes at Center once the Warriors went to their small lineup.   

Re: 2000-2001 Lakers vs Modern day Warriors
« Reply #6 on: September 22, 2017, 01:57:11 PM »

Offline Green-18

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I think the Lakers would win in 5 or 6 games. Shaq was in his prime during that season. Draymond Green would get destroyed and be in foul trouble if he had to guard Shaq, regardless of any 3 second rule. Who would slow down Kobe? Plus that Lakers team had two former Celtics in Brian Shaw and Rick Fox.

I don't think LA would have enough success to win in 5 but you are right about prime Shaq.  Shaq averaged 36 PPG in the Finals on 59% shooting during the 3-Peat era.  Zaza, McGee, and Draymond would get absolutely annihilated.  40+ PPG would be very realistic.  The problem for Shaq is that the Lakers would need to work really hard to keep him out of foul trouble.

Re: 2000-2001 Lakers vs Modern day Warriors
« Reply #7 on: September 22, 2017, 02:46:17 PM »

Offline Moranis

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Dikembe was 34 that season.  He was still a very good defender (he even won DPOY), but his age couldn't keep up with Shaq and he provided nothing offensively.  Sure the Warriors wouldn't be able to defend Shaq (even with ZaZa and McGee), but it isn't like Shaq would be able to run up and down the floor either.  He would be totally worthless defensively as ZaZa/McGee/West or whomever would just stand in the corner and draw Shaq out of the paint taking him out of the game on one end of the floor.   
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Re: 2000-2001 Lakers vs Modern day Warriors
« Reply #8 on: September 22, 2017, 03:28:37 PM »

Offline More Banners

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The thing about the Warriors is they are never more than 90 seconds from running off 20 points and turning any game into a blowout. LA's foil would be Shaq who also couldn't be stopped within about 8 feet.

3 is more than 2, and Shaq needs someone to get him the ball.

GSW in 6 (tops).

Re: 2000-2001 Lakers vs Modern day Warriors
« Reply #9 on: September 22, 2017, 03:38:29 PM »

Offline Bucketgetter

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Nobody could guard Kobe or Shaq. The Lakers surrounded them with quality role players so there were no glaring holes on offense or defense. Lakers (And most of the greatest teams ever) would punish the warriors back in the day.
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Re: 2000-2001 Lakers vs Modern day Warriors
« Reply #10 on: September 22, 2017, 03:42:54 PM »

Offline PhoSita

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The 01 Lakers attempted 15.5 three pointers per game and hit only 34.4% of them, so that seems like a problem against the Warriors.


I suspect Shaq would score a lot, Kobe would be inefficient, and the rest of the team would clank a lot of mid-range jumpers that the Warriors would be happy to concede.


Shaq would be difficult to play in crunch time when the Warriors have 5 quality three point shooters on the floor and they can hack him any time he gets the ball.
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Re: 2000-2001 Lakers vs Modern day Warriors
« Reply #11 on: September 22, 2017, 03:51:15 PM »

Offline action781

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I think people underestimate Shaq's dominance.  Teams that were contenders used to sign and carry a minimum of three sizeable centers just to deal with the foul trouble that Shaq caused every game.  You can't put Draymond on Shaq.  If GSW did, they would hold Shaq to one point on the five possessions that Dray fouls him and then Shaq will score a bucket 70% of the other possessions and also assist to teammates plenty of other times.  LAL would be scoring attacking that matchup at a very high offensive efficiency.

GSW might be able to match that kind of offensive efficiency with Draymond at the 5 on offense, but I don't think they can exceed it.  Remember that Shaq averaged over 12 fta per game and Kobe got to the line 9+ times himself too.  As a team, they averaged .349 fta for every fga, which means they were shooting FTs about 1 out of every 4 possessions.  That along with a very low turnover rate (13.3 per 100 possessions) and would slow the pace of the game down a lot which would limit GSW's ability to get out in transition where they thrive.
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Re: 2000-2001 Lakers vs Modern day Warriors
« Reply #12 on: September 22, 2017, 03:52:53 PM »

Offline SHAQATTACK

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It would not be a massacre by the Warriors ,  they would most likey prevail in a series .....as refed by today .    Early in Shaqs time , the refs would have let Shaq dominate , he was huge and Green would be crushed .   Still Curry ,KG and gang hitting high percent of threes , with Kobe not playing defense , Warriors would win best out 7  .

Re: 2000-2001 Lakers vs Modern day Warriors
« Reply #13 on: September 22, 2017, 03:58:54 PM »

Offline action781

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Shaq would be difficult to play in crunch time when the Warriors have 5 quality three point shooters on the floor and they can hack him any time he gets the ball.
That's true in crunch time.  But what % does Draymond hit open 3s at (the 5th shooter I assume)?  50%?

So every possession, you're basically basically 1.5 points for GSW for every 1 point for LAL.  Its an advantage, but not an overwhelming one because you can only utilize this strategy for so long before these guys foul out.  With Kobe and Shaq's ability to draw fouls all game long, you probably only do this 6 times or so, which equals a total of 3 point difference.  Kind of a big deal sure, especially in a close game.  But then you're risking all your studs being in foul trouble if the game goes into overtime?
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Re: 2000-2001 Lakers vs Modern day Warriors
« Reply #14 on: September 22, 2017, 04:01:49 PM »

Offline action781

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3 is more than 2, and Shaq needs someone to get him the ball.

GSW in 6 (tops).

You're neglecting the % rates that GSW and LAL would connect on these 3s and 2s.  Its more efficient to connect on 60% of your 2s than on 38% of your 3s.
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