Over the past 2 decades, the NBA has slightly modified their rules from year to year to all but remove any type of physical play from the game. In these 2 decades we have seen the league go from teams that are playoff contenders due to limited player movement, to more recently “superstars” ganging up on teams to create “super teams”. All of these changes were made in large part because of the league wanting to lift its superstars up, to get the fans more interested in purchasing player apparel and for more fans to become interested in the game because of higher scores and more up and down play…. ESPN is planning to take us all back to the end of the days where a team could be a team, and together they would be strong enough to overtake a team with a superstar, by running a 30 for 30 special about the ‘Bad Boys’ era Detroit Pistons.
These Bad Boys are not the main reason why I began watching basketball, but I came to love them because all of my friends hated them. I grew up a fan of Joe Dumars, who was a main member of the Bad Boys teams of the late 80s and early 90s.
So… tune your televisions to ESPN on April 17 at 8pm to see the Bad Boys honored in a 2 hour documentary in which many old players, coaches, and opponents are interviewed as a part of the show. So, even though it’s “April in the D” and the Tigers are back… get a little warmth back in your soul by watching Laimbeer, Mahorn, Rodman, Salley, etc all smack down Jordan and Pippen’s candya$$e$ while their former teammates and coaches whine about it and we all laugh about it and wish Greg Monroe or Andre Drummond had a mean streak in them like the former Bad Boys big men.
I heard about this sometime late last year and been psyched ever since, slowly waiting for a release date. Now that they have one… I’m so happy! Though… I’ve always wanted someone to do something about the 2004 (Goin’ to Work) Championship team. It’s been 10+ years since we won it… you think somebody would of made /something/ by now? lol
just my opinion but that bad boys team I think is under rated. We all know that the NBA changed the rules to limit hand checking and other physical play but I was watching some old video of them and it is absolutely amazing. Like 5 men with one brain. I think they could win a championship in any era, including our own. They would be able to figure out how to defend the perimeter players when you can’t barely touch them.
I think constantly being beat by the pistons changed Michael Jordan into the player he would become. He was able to finally figure out he needed help. That basketball is a team game. Amazing isn’t it . . . that it took these losses to make Michael Jordan into more of a team player. But I think Jordan wouldn’t have been Jordan without the pistons teaching him that basketball is more than one guy. Also it is probably the defeats in the semifinals that were more important than the 1990 and 1991 losses to the eventual champions. Those were the games that got Jordan involved in actively recruiting a better team to surround him and it was in 1987 that the Bulls acquired Scotty Pippen. Then they picked up some more players in 1988 and 1989 and Phil Jackson started coaching then.
That Bulls team from 1990-1991 was special. But I don’t really blame the change in the rules, this particular team was a lot more rounded with a deeper bench. It wasn’t the Michael Jordan team it was the chicago bulls that won that championship.
Anyway, I think that bad boys team if they were put into their prime could compete and win a championship in our era, even with the modern rules.
Our current team has no communication. It’s like 5 people picked at the YMCA who happen to be gifted athletically playing basketball for the first time. Our guys I don’t know I just think they are not very smart they have a hard time learning things.