FanPost

Hot Air from Jordan or What?

Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5686980

Link 2: http://espn.go.com/blog/TrueHoop/post/_/id/20458/taking-air-out-of-mjs-100-point-claim

Michael Jordan says he could score 100 points in today’s game…well before I give my two cents on this topic I would first like to ask some questions….

Could Kobe score 100 points then?

Do Bobcats own the secret to winning 72 games this season?

Do today’s rules make it easier for scorers?

Does Lebron have a chance? Wade? Durant? Carmelo?

Would You Bet on Jordan scoring 100 today in his prime on today’s Bulls team?

Was Jordan’s Era harder to score?

Would Phil Jackson allow Kobe or MJ to score 100 points?

Why would one man want to score 100 points anyway? Ain’t it a team game?

Well I will cut the suspense and say my answer to MJ is no and I’m more with the trend of thinking things get better with time. That goes with everything, technology, medicine, speed, power and sports etc. More importantly if MJ didn’t do it then, why oh why would he do it now?

More after the JUMP…

Look, I’m of this generation, I got to see little of MJ’s greatness and from what I saw I thought Jordan had it easy from those who would guard him to how teams try to defend him, it was too easy in my estimation but what do I know I’m only 24 and never had to guard Jordan. And for me who has never ever agreed with Hollinger or never ever recognizes Hollinger as a writer, I will have to agree with him on this topic so maybe my thinking is off (link 2 above) but it will probably be the last time so savor it Hollinger.

Anyway, here’s what Jordan said:

"It's less physical and the rules have changed, obviously," said Jordan, who was promoting NBA 2K11 video game. "Based on these rules, if I had to play with my style of play, I'm pretty sure I would have fouled out or I would have been at the free throw line pretty often and I could have scored 100 points."

And here’s what I say:

No Jordan you would have never fouled out, I’m one of the believers that the league would have did anything for you but that’s another story for another day. However with today’s rules which I really, really don’t like anyway (http://www.silverscreenandroll.com/2010/9/24/1710663/to-complain-or-not-to-complain-that-is-the-question-stu-has-the-answer ) the refs hardly call anything and I don’t believe it’s less physical, you can watch tape of the old game and watch tape of the new game, the physicality was all the same to me. Refs are supposed to call all hand checks now but they don’t so the notion that a player can just walk to the rim in today’s game and score is wrong. I’m not gonna throw out the stats to do pace comparisons or player to player stat comparisons because that just ain’t me and I believe anyone can pat their stats, anyone on any team, just be selfish and ya’ll see what a player can do to their stats but that’s not how the game is played. Every team has a system and within that system, it’s all about positioning and timing, each player has a role in their system and some players get more stats then others because of the system of plays or defense the team runs.

So if MJ didn’t get it then, why now? Kobe got 81 that’s 12 more points than MJ has ever scored in a game and I can hear the cry’s now about Kobe being selfish which shouldn’t be thought. Kobe was doubled, tripled, Raptors threw the whole team at him and it didn’t take him overtime to get 81 either. So if it’s possible for MJ, Kobe should score 200 then…right? Uh no, its not that easy, Wilt had his way because look how tall dude was and how short everyone else was, it just looked like beginners, learning basketball or big brother standing by the hoop placing the ball in back and forth teasing his short 6 year old brother who stands under the hoop jumping under his brother having no chance at getting the ball. Wilt era looked like the era where walking the ball to the hoop was very possible, why? Because it just started developing, just started ironing out the little details of the game of basketball and how it was going to be played, like a practice developing league. So as time went on every element of the game got better so has the players gotten better. Just like that afro that was every man and women’s hair style back in the days that too has been updated to weave, fohawks, wigs, fades, baldies and curls.

My point is as you grow you learn so as the league has grown it has learned for better or worse how to show its product so the era that MJ owned and got away with a lot would have been totally, totally different if he was playing with the upgraded teams and defense that this league does have. I will put myself out there and say that the defense now is much tougher to score on so that 69 Jordan had now looks like 49 so to think that Kobe got 81 in an upgraded growing league says a lot in my opinion, selfish or not that 81 seems like a onetime thing that no one will ever come close to as time and the league continues to grow. I think of it as if the refs actually called every call made on the floor everyone would be at the foul line every possession or fouled out by halftime including the bench players but what kind of a game would that be, what kind of fun would that be and who would watch that type of game??? No one so of course refs let plays go, so of course they let a lot of hand checking and holding go and of course they are human so it’s humanly impossible for them to call every inch of the rule book 100%. Maybe if this was a league without refs, street ball rules where players made the call or hardly made any calls and players just fed the hot hand all game then I could see 100 points but it’s not. This league lets the refs make up calls as they go so you can actually watch and enjoy the talents of the basketball player, enjoy the game of basketball instead of every blow of the whistle. What I think Jordan was implying is that the league now is more ref friendly instead of player friendly with the "It’s less physical…" comment so he probably thinks he would get more calls but to me he’s already gotten a plethora of calls in his era, how much more calls could he have realistically gotten in today’s game? Not any more that I can see especially with the way stars are hacked today with no calls and now they can’t even look at the refs without getting T’d up so I say to Jordan, you are great but you got to be smoking.

What do you think of MJ’s claims?