re: 1 Hour Left to Vote: LSU losing. Fan poll for NCAA Basketball Best All-Time Starting 5

3 out of LSU's 5 are not only NCAA and NBA Hall of Famers, but listed as 3 of the top 50 NBA players of all time as named by the NBA.

Then you have Chris Jackson who was the most magical player I ever watched on the college level. He set a record that still stands almost 30 years later. Also, I don't know that Pete's scoring record will ever be broken. And Macklin is LSU's all-time leading rebounder and 2nd-leading scorer. In Macklin's first college game ever, he had 32 freaking rebounds. They said he worked harder than any player in the conference.

Shaq was at 280 when he entered the NBA. He could jump and run with the best of them.
Still Wilt would have the upper hand of the 2. He had more fluidity to his game. Neither would make a free throw.

quote:

---

Chamberlain was 7'1 and a very fluid athlete. Shaq NEVER had the agility of a small forward. He was ALL raw power in the post. That's not to say he wouldn't be a load for anyone trying to guard him (including Chamberlain), but to completely discredit the past players is silly.

I don't think he would have been that dominant then, because the game was different back then and far less physical. Shaq's biggest strength was his strength and his ability to just push guys under the basket and leave them helpless.

---

The game was "less physical" when Shaq played, too.

That's the beauty of Shaq, he wasn't just tall and athletic (and he was). He was also overall bigger and stronger. That's why the game changed, because normal rules didn't apply to him. You couldn't deny him position, and he didn't look like he was fouling as he posted up. You simply could not establish defensive position on him.

I've posted a few times, so this is my last on this for awhile

quote:

---

You’re right. LSU’s starting 5 would win it all. Not sure why they’re not a #1 seed and the experts didn’t pick them to have the best starting 5 of all time. You know more.

---

Because we're not a blueblood program in basketball, plain and simple. The teams seeded higher have more tradition and a much greater pool to pick from. There's no disputing that, but there's also no disputing that when you weed it down to 5 guys, LSU emerges as, at the very least, a Final Four, if not overall 1 seed.

Pistol Pete= alltime leading scorer in college, 44 pts a game without a 3 pt line.
Chris Jackson= lightning quick player, 6 ft but with enough hops that he RECEIVED alley oops for dunks. Super fast release and could rain 3's like nobody until Steph Curry at Golden State (seriously, go watch what he did a few times).
Both guys are score-at-will guys, who could make good passes too.

Couple that with Shaq, Simmons, and your choice of Petit or Macklin, and you have 2 of the best gunners in history stretching the defense, leaving Shaq alone for boredom dunks. You try to adjust the defense and Simmons (although I didn't care for him here) simply brings the ball into the lane, gets contested at some point and passes to an open scorer, or takes a 4 ft shot that he either makes or Shaq cleans up and dunks again. Or tosses an alley oop to Macklin.

There's really no hole in that team.

Show me a backcourt that will slow down Pistol and CJ defensively......

Simmons wouldn't make our best five.

quote:

---

9-year NBA career

---

You were persuasive until this point. Even nobodies often get 9 year careers.

The only 2 with a PRAYER against LSU would be ucla and unc because of kareem and jordan. LSU's 5-8 player rotation is better than both those schools but those 2 guys could potentially carry their teams to beat anyone.
As has been discussed earlier in this thread, teams that would play this LSU team would have matchup nightmares EVERYWHERE.

quote:

---

Where can I see the rosters?

---

Looking at the seeding again, you KNOW they didn't really look at rosters that much.

3 seed-
LSU- Pistol Pete, CJ, Shaq, Petit, Simmons (most likely), could be Rudy Macklin instead.

1 seed
Kansas- Wilt Chamberlain, Danny Manning, Nick Collison, Drew Gooden, Paul Pearce. Kurt Kinrich, Mario Chalmers?

Let's say Shaq and Wilt play close to a standstill.
Let's say Simmons and Manning also equal out.

We're talking college here, not later NBA stuff.
Who on Kansas matches up with Pistol (44 ppg), with CJ (30 ppg)? They don't have the guards to stay close.

quote:

---

The only 2 with a PRAYER against LSU would be ucla and unc because of kareem and jordan. LSU's 5-8 player rotation is better than both those schools but those 2 guys could potentially carry their teams to beat anyone.
As has been discussed earlier in this thread, teams that would play this LSU team would have matchup nightmares EVERYWHERE.

---

That's the crazy thing about an LSU alltime team.

There are plenty of better programs out there, with a lot more great players to pick and choose from. But LSU has quality instead of quantity.
No team- not UCLA with Kareem and/or Walton, not Georgetown with Ewing/Mourning/Mutumbo, nobody is going to dominate Shaq at center.
North Carolina with Jordan is not going to dominate Pistol Pete.
Same applies to Chris Jackson, the college version was unstoppable. Iverson at Georgetown, Isaiah Thomas at Indiana, etc. CJ was lightning quick and could hit a 3 pt shot on anyone, and at times looked like he could draw fouls at will.
So, that's 3 of the 5 spots that you will almost always win, and never be beaten at, only tied in rare occasions.

And then we have enough remaining spots (Petit, Macklin, Simmons) that meet the criteria. Those guys would outplay the majority of their opponents, and remain competitive enough against the rest, that we don't have a weak link.

Georgetown for example... Shaq and Ewing would be great, Mourning and Petit would be also. CJ vs Iverson would be, too. But Georgetown can't answer Pete at all, and Simmons or Macklin would go nuts against their small forward.