Hoops

Past players who could make it today?

It’s interesting that in basketball we have a ‘handpicked’ generation and have a very strong national team, whereas in soccer they have a ‘handpicked’ generation and are under-achieving big-time in world leagues.

The soccer Golden Generation succeeded BECAUSE they had to battle so hard, often as youngsters in adult leagues, which this generation hasn’t had to do as much.

UseTaHoop, Davis wouldn't need to take a step down to small forward, he was 6'8! In this small ball era he would dominate the offensive glass. There'd be very few guys who would stop him from bullying his way to the basket - I'd say Vukona & Tate would make it tough for him, but that's about it.

It's worth remembering that there are only 9 teams in the current NBL. There were 14 teams in each year during the early 90s, which fell to 11 by the end of the decade.

So you could fill 8 places on each team's roster today, with the 14 starting fives from the early 90s. Or you could swap out soem of those 90s starters for bench players in other teams, like McKay, Jason Smith, Bolden, Jensen and CJ Bruton.

Looking through the All NBL First Teams from the 1990s, I'd expect most of those players to get a starting spot today and to do well. Some of them have already been mentioned above. Others like Overton, D-Mac, Dozier and Copeland would hold down starting spots today. Players like Melmeth and Pepper, probably not so much. Dorge - maybe?

Re Ogilvy, he's playing ~9 minutes per game less than his first couple of seasons in the league. His scoring and rebounding averages have decreased accordingly. Ogilvy's returning 17.6 points and 8.8 rebounds per 40 minutes played, this season. To put that in context, Nick Kay's returning 17.6 points and 9.7 rebounds per 40 minutes played. Andrew Bogut's averaging 14.4 points and ~18 rebounds per 40 minutes.

It's worth remembering that there are only 9 teams in the current NBL. There were 14 teams in each year during the early 90s, which fell to 11 by the end of the decade.

So you could fill 8 places on each team's roster today, with the 14 starting fives from the early 90s. Or you could swap out soem of those 90s starters for bench players in other teams, like McKay, Jason Smith, Bolden, Jensen and CJ Bruton.

Looking through the All NBL First Teams from the 1990s, I'd expect most of those players to get a starting spot today and to do well. Some of them have already been mentioned above. Others like Overton, D-Mac, Dozier and Copeland would hold down starting spots today. Players like Melmeth and Pepper, probably not so much. Dorge - maybe?

Re Ogilvy, he's playing ~9 minutes per game less than his first couple of seasons in the league. His scoring and rebounding averages have decreased accordingly. Ogilvy's returning 17.6 points and 8.8 rebounds per 40 minutes played, this season. To put that in context, Nick Kay's returning 17.6 points and 9.7 rebounds per 40 minutes played. Andrew Bogut's averaging 14.4 points and ~18 rebounds per 40 minutes.

I reckon Jason Smith would get DPOY even in today’s game - his defence was awesome, and he was more of a scorer than Damo

Isaac

“There are still scrubs filling benches though“

That’s at least partially due to the salary rules about lowest paid players.

I reckon almost any any starter from the 90s would get a gig now, but some play spot minutes only.

The league has gotten significantly better talent-wise over the past 3-5 years

Michael Johnson and Jerry Everett from Newcastle. Both would fit in today particularly Michael with his 3 point shot

Woodbury would still be awesome in today's NBL, especially with the three ball more valued than ever.

I might be getting mixed up with Vlahov but he stands at 200cms and Scott Fisher at 201cms, and James Crawford at 202cms, similar body types but I always thought they stuck to whomever they matched up on best ie Crawford would always get Davis yet also get Bradtke. If they were playing today with all the switching then it wouldn't really matter if any of those three were playing the 3/4/5 as there would be a feeling of a mismatch with them all. In saying that I'd back all 3 legends to still be very good in today's NBL. Fisher was such a sweet shooter, Crawford would still be elite and Vlahov has a will that can't be denied although I would love to see him teach today's player how to take a charge.

I'd be interested in seeing how Wayne McDaniel played in today's era, I remember him later in his career and he was still Hobart's most unstoppable player but I don't remember how he went about getting those points so much.

MACDUB it wasn't random more like an early retirement as Olson wanted to return to Canada.

Things are always relative. Sport is more professional these days with a lot more science going into it. For SANFL fans of the 70's and 80's, gone are the days where you could pass a player a beer from the sidelines, and one game I saw Grenville Dietrich eat a meat pie someone gave him. Let's not forget Marshies tinnies on the plane to London, only to be outdone by Boonie a few years later. What about guys like Mark Jackson...

The ones who can't make it today are the ones who wouldn't be able to stay disciplined.

I don’t mean to be talking Vlahov down. He played well above his size, and held his own against bigger opponents.

Longley

Mock

Vlahov was scouted by NBA if I remember correctly, but overlooked as he was undersized for his position. Langley was drafted from same college as Vlahov. He did develop a 3 point shot though.

The challenge would be for the previous players to “step down” a position.

Eg Loggins played SF/PF, Davis played PF, Brantley played centre, Vlahos played PF.

Each would be undersized. A good guide for some would be how well they adjusted playing for the Boomers. Bradtke played PF very well, Vlahos (from memory) battled well as an undersized PF at times.

Vlahov would play NBA if he was playing today. The man was fearless and an absolute BEAST down low.

I always said David Wear was like Daniel Kickert without the shooting ability.

Which with all due respect, pretty much leaves nothing.

I thought of AO as I posted Phil Jones lol Macdub.

Here's a name I bet everyone forgot about - Aaron Olson!

I bet he'd still be handy in today's game as a shooter off the bench. I remembered his retirement was so random (was in his late 20's or something)

al green was unstoppable in the low block , he would be backing down cotton ,ware , trimble etc all -night. he also had the speed to go with these guys. basically he would beat the crap out of these guys . ware sooks it up as it is , green would have had him in tears.

I think the more interesting question is, could today's players make it in the 80's/90's?

Matt Nielsen and Jason Smith were exceptional talents, Smith very under estimated.

Would any of the players in the squad of the 1988 Supercats make it today though?

Phill Jones, my favourite lefty

Adnam gets solid minutes in the modern NBL. Smyth would get a gig just fine.

I think Paul Rees is a more interesting question given the lack of athleticism and height. But he was solid and used his experience well. Championships count for something!

Okay, so Leroy as a SG/SF at 198cm shouldn't really be classed as a big, but 30 years ago I felt he was big for his position. Now, he would be an average height for a SG, small for a SF. But the question was whether he could have adapted to the current NBL (and even dominated)?

And Dwight and Grace I'd agree with.

One who I doubt would have made the step up would have been Phil Smyth.

Brett rainbow??? U kidding yourself.

Prob mike kelly, carfino and mark davis

James Crawford would dominate the bigs today on both ends.

They'd all be fine in the modern NBL.

[Gaze cannot play defense, so he still would not be in the NBA.]

When did they start playing defense in the NBA?

I must've missed the memo.

Paul Rees

Brett Rainbow could've made it to the NBA

Gaze cannot play defense, so he still would not be in the NBA.

hoopie
This thread lost all credibility due to you thinking Leroy was a big guy.

Ah yes, Leroy Loggins, that legendary big guy.

Rashad Tucker

/thread

i'm intrigued with DJ's apparentlack of effort at times and his tugging at shorts.

I did coach a bloke who was almost exactly DJ build, albeit only 6'7".

He did kayaking and jogging, and had extreemly wide shoulders and chest, and could actually do a quite quick 25m and easily outrun every player in a 5Km or 10Km run.

But when he went "skins" you could see that his chestbone was essentially indented so much that it looked like it was only 100mm away from his back bone. His pecs looked deeper than his actual chest cavity behind them.


He could run all day , but anareobically he just could not do more than 4-5 minutes full out , whithout needing a 2 min recovery. But after that 2 min he was good to go with just as much energy and speed as before.

He had had a reputation similar to DJ re effort, but once we started giving him 4-5 x 1-2 minutes breaks over the 40min game , he became quite the effort leade on rebounds both offensive and defensive and a very mobile defender, for entire the 25-30 he got played.

just a thought.