How does this Raptors team stack up against VC's 00-01 team?

[KeonClark]

But we're 1-5 vs. Miami and Indy this year. Can't see how that's used as evidence that the 2013-14 Raptors are better.

It isn't. Im just addressing the point that the east is actually a tougher road this year. Sure the first round is slightly easier maybe but you have to beat indy and miami to reach the finals.The best team in the east that season was the 6ers and the raptors almost beat them. Picture that sixers team playing Miami in a best of seven

[Nilanka]

It isn't. Im just addressing the point that the east is actually a tougher road this year. Sure the first round is slightly easier maybe but you have to beat indy and miami to reach the finals.The best team in the east that season was the 6ers and the raptors almost beat them. Picture that sixers team playing Miami in a best of seven

Ah, point taken.

[BobLoblaw]

This is the greatest raps team ever. Not the best collection of talent ever however.

That sixers team that went to the finals would be a lot easier to beat in this day and age. Top play, used often: Iverson dribble dribble dribble shoot!

Kind of yes but... Different time, different rules, different team building philosophies. Also, D'Antoni, Pops, Thibodeau simply have changed how teams play with their modern strategies. If that 76ers team played today, they'd be built and coached very differently, they'd have some 3pt shooters for starters.

And how would current teams play back then, if handchecking was still allowed and there were no modern coaching strategies yet.

I think it's a bit unfair to dismiss a team because of era and play style. We could probably dismiss lots of teams that way. How would that old school simple 90s Jazz pick and roll fare today? Probably not very well. Thibodeau's system is built to stop it, and everyone's copying it. But looking past rules and styles, it was an extremely good team.

[MoPeteRules]

[QUOTyour horses 3183]The article suggests that the 00-01 team was more talented, but I have to disagree with that. Outside of Carter, there was no one special on that club. Davis, Oakley, Williams, Peterson, Childs and the rest were all good players, but none of them were truly great talents. Like the article said, it was a good mix of young players and tough, savvy vets. The current team does not have the equivalent of Davis, or a tough in your face guy like Oak, or that sweet shooter off the bench like Curry. And that's basically what's really missing from our current team, a veteran presence that is really important on the floor. You could argue Lowry or Amir I guess, but neither provides the veteran presence that those other guys did. They hadn't had the success that Oak and Curry had previously to draw upon.

And when you look at the current roster, it's almost bursting at the seams with talent. No one is or will likely be at the level that Carter was then, but overall the current lineup looks more talented than the 00-01 team. Some of this is potential of course, and who knows if that will be reached, but who would you rather: Mo Pete or Ross? Davis or JV? A. Williams or Lowry? Patterson or J. Williams?

It's kind of difficult to really compare the teams, as that 00-01 team was built to do what it did, while this current team is still figuring a lot of things out and in no shape, way or form was it expected to do this well. I think if this current team played one more complete season together there would be no question as to which team is better.[/QUOTE]

Hold your horses, you say the current team has no sweet shooter or in your face kinda guy, how about Steve Novak and Tyler Hansbrough? I don't have much else to contribute to this conversation but I just couldn't believe you didn't find analogous players to Dell Curry and Charles Oakley on the current roster.

[Nilanka]

Hold your horses, you say the current team has no sweet shooter or in your face kinda guy, how about Steve Novak and Tyler Hansbrough? I don't have much else to contribute to this conversation but I just couldn't believe you didn't find analogous players to Dell Curry and Charles Oakley on the current roster.

Novak isn't really part of the rotation, and Psycho T doesn't have the "been there, done that" credibility that Oakley provided.

[Letter N]

Hold your horses, you say the current team has no sweet shooter or in your face kinda guy, how about Steve Novak and Tyler Hansbrough? I don't have much else to contribute to this conversation but I just couldn't believe you didn't find analogous players to Dell Curry and Charles Oakley on the current roster.

But you'd have to be out of your mind to take Novak and Tyler over Curry and Oak*





*even though Oak missed that damn gimme layup that would've given us the lead and we wouldn't have needed to rely on that awful last second miss by Vince in game 7................Ya I still mad!

[tonious35]

I have a hard time believing this team could beat the 01 team. This one has more depth and role players but that team just seems substantially better to me.

Vince with ANTONIO (Brick Wall) Davis, CHARLES (F$#% YOU UP) OAKLEY, KEON (GUMBY) Clark, and Dell (AUTOMATIC) CURRY, and the Eastern Conference was at optimum strength (Indiana 8th, 41-41). This 2014 team would not stand a chance.

[KeonClark]

Vince with ANTONIO (Brick Wall) Davis, CHARLES (F$#% YOU UP) OAKLEY, KEON (GUMBY) Clark, and Dell (AUTOMATIC) CURRY, and the Eastern Conference was at optimum strength (Indiana 8th, 41-41). This 2014 team would not stand a chance.

Disagree strongly. How could you list me and dell curry? Those were role players no better than s almons or handsbrough.

[webfeat]

This year's raps would get more foul calls, I think.

Alvin vs KLo matchup would be pretty interesting I think. Kyle might have a slight advantage due to talent and speed.

DD vs Carter? Really similar playing styles, but Carter is just slightly better at everything than DD.

MoPete vs TRoss would give the edge to TRoss, though it's fairly even.

Oakley vs Amir? Amir.

Antonio vs JV? Antonio.

'14 bench over '01 bench, being much more versatile and deep.

I would also give Casey the edge as a better coach.

The '14 raps would win in 7. This team passes the ball a lot better and has more youthful energy. '01 raps have more experience and grit, which is key in a playoff series. I think the new raps would prevail mostly because of better team defense. They'd also beat the 76ers, too.

[iblastoff]

Sorry what? VC slightly better than DD? VC prime was WAY better than DD.

[webfeat]

Sorry what? VC slightly better than DD? VC prime was WAY better than DD.

Even '01 VC compared to '14 DD? DD's got five years of xp versus VC's two.

[BobLoblaw]

Even '01 VC compared to '14 DD? DD's got five years of xp versus VC's two.

Yes, Vince was a legit superstar and he would be today.

Lowry is far ahead of Alvin or Chris Childs, though. Especially this year, considering how freakishly healthy (by Lowry's standards) he's been. So I think it's debatable which backcourt is better.

[psrs1]

I have a hard time believing this team could beat the 01 team. This one has more depth and role players but that team just seems substantially better to me.

Yeah but they lost to Philly. All that matters is what happens in playoffs period.

[psrs1]

Even '01 VC compared to '14 DD? DD's got five years of xp versus VC's two.

VC was far more talented at that point in his career. DD has developed incrementally. VC just exploded re his development.

[bryan colangelo]

Novak isn't really part of the rotation, and Psycho T doesn't have the "been there, done that" credibility that Oakley provided.

I seem to remember Dell Curry moving much better off the ball than Novak or Salmons. He was a liability on defense but also incredibly consistent. Even though Salmons is probably better overall defensively there is no way Dell Curry would have choked on an open three the way Salmons did at the end of of the Brooklyn game.

Tyler is younger and more athletic than the old-man Oakley that played on the Raptors, but Tyler is more of a high energy pest that baits fouls, while Oakley was an ENFORCER. You're undervaluing and forgetting the fact that even in the latter part of his career, most NBA players were terrified of Oakley. He was like the real-life incarnation of the badass Mr. T pretended to be, an anti-athlete than would set bone-rattling picks and illegal screens that only Garnett gets way with these days.

Tyler is a great regular season player off the bench, but in a playoff series against the Heat or Indiana I would definitely prefer players like Oakley and Curry than Hansborough, Novak or Salmons off the bench.

But in if we're talking starters, I prefer the combination of Jonas and Amir over Antonio Davis and Oakley (assuming I can't bring Oakley off the bench). Vince Prime was at a whole other level than Current-Demar, but Lowry is definitely better than Alvin was (and I love Alvin).

Peterson was the starting SF in 2000, right?

My fantasy roster if I had to swap guys, one-for-one (not trading bench players for starters)

Starters:
Jonas
Amir
Ross
Carter
Lowry

Bench:
Childs
Curry
Patterson
J.Williams/Hansborough