Would stars from the 50s be good players today? If in prime.
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robertmac43
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I don't think players from back in the 50's would be able to keep up now a days. The speed and overall athleticism is at an all time high.
JeffreyLFC
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- Sep 29, 2017
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They would adapt though. They will have trainers, nutrionist and sport science.
I do believe many old school players would thrive in modern games.
The biggest adjustment from modern game to older games is team tactics and possession. Modern games is focusing a lot on ball retention and positioning while the old games was more physical.
Of course, if you give them today's methods. I imagined it more as "let's put 80s Platini in the middle of that french team, does he thrive"?
I'm thinking about Ferenc Puskas today ... but he'd also have access to the best nutritionists and trainers
Power Man
Grrrr
JeffreyLFC
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That is the worst take I have read in my life. Congrats.
Power Man
Grrrr
Dumbest post of the year, I agree, lol.
A prime Jordan would eat the current soft ass NBA up, Kawhi Leonard was able to win a title on 1 leg and he's a poor, poor man's Jordan, robotic and stiff, none of the creativity.
JeffreyLFC
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Nah, it's not nostalgic. It's just over glorifying the present.
The game is different now than it was in the past and many players would not excel in todays game because of the quick pace but at the sametime many current basketball players could not play in the game from the 80s/90s. In basketball they now call every little contact, back then it was way harder for the body with all the contact allowed. Jordan would have no issue adjusting to the modern game, he would probably be even better because he would be more protected.
There's athleticism at play too.
Jordan in his peak is an unbelievable athlete, jumps out of the gym, super fast, long wing span, huge hands, incredible agility in the air, surprisingly strong too ... that would translate to any era. There's nobody in the current NBA who's a better athlete.
Just like Shaq would be a dominant player in any era, because the size and athleticism is just too much. Wilt Chamberlain could play in the modern NBA because of that too, he's a freak of nature.
For NHL it's harder to say, is there someone that can skate like a McDavid or MacKinnon in the 50s? The NHL is also more equipment based (skates, sticks plays a big role). In basketball ... I guess there's sneakers but even sneakers from the 80s provide enough cushioning and had air inserts already so it's not like a shoe is going to make a huge difference. Modern players play with retro shoes all the time in the NBA.
Power Man
Grrrr
lol Kawhi would drop 50 ppg on 70% on those 90s plumbers masquerading as perimeter defensive juggernauts and with the illegal defense rules
On half a leg
50, lol, I dunno, but Kawhi cooked Durant and Booker in the playoffs until his body just gave out.
Jordan is a way, way better version of Kawhi. Better athlete, better leaping ability, way faster, more explosive, more competitive ... Kawhi is like a robotic, stiff version of the aging Jordan in the 2nd threepeat with none of the agility.
NBA is just a different thing, extreme athletic freaks of nature like Wilt, Shaq, Jordan, etc. would be able to dominate in any era.
Don't think the NHL has a similar kind of thing, maybe Gordie Howe.
hatterson
Registered User
Well the other thing to consider is that Kawhi would quickly be playing on 0 legs if he was playing in the 80s since he'd get absolutely clobbered way more often.
Overall sports was far slower in decades past. Overall conditioning, endurance, etc. is better than it's ever been. However it was also far more brutal. Half the red cards issued this year would barely even be fouls 3 decades ago, much less sending offs.
Imagine Neymar trying a rainbow flick over one of those random 80s mid table defenders and just walking off the pitch after.
Power Man
Grrrr
Sports started to become a big business in the 80s too, so I think that changed all sports.
From that point on it's harder to gain the same separation. The other thing that's underrated I think that people don't really think about is the explosive of cable/satelite TV and the ease of being able to watch other players and the rise of studying video by coaching staffs, etc. etc.
When you can study other players non-stop, it improves the overall sport dramatically because now each successive generation is learning everything.
It's really too bad about Kawhi, if he was healthy I think he would be one of the two or three best players in the sport maybe even the best. His legs have been toast for a while but the fact that he was clearly outplaying Durant head to head in the playoffs tells you all you need to know.
Even in Toronto the year they won he often looked like a 40 year old man hobbling up and down the court, like it felt like it was some effort for him to just run up and down the court.
But Kawhi even at his best is like a shitty version of a peak Jordan.
Nowhere near the same athletic explosiveness or speed, nowhere near the hang time, just very stiff and robotic. Similar kind of player, but just nowhere near as good.
From that point on it's harder to gain the same separation. The other thing that's underrated I think that people don't really think about is the explosive of cable/satelite TV and the ease of being able to watch other players and the rise of studying video by coaching staffs, etc. etc.
When you can study other players non-stop, it improves the overall sport dramatically because now each successive generation is learning everything.
It's really too bad about Kawhi, if he was healthy I think he would be one of the two or three best players in the sport maybe even the best. His legs have been toast for a while but the fact that he was clearly outplaying Durant head to head in the playoffs tells you all you need to know.
Even in Toronto the year they won he often looked like a 40 year old man hobbling up and down the court, like it felt like it was some effort for him to just run up and down the court.
But Kawhi even at his best is like a shitty version of a peak Jordan.
Nowhere near the same athletic explosiveness or speed, nowhere near the hang time, just very stiff and robotic. Similar kind of player, but just nowhere near as good.
Jussi
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cgf
FireBednarsSuccessor
gary69
Registered User
And if they would be allowed free doping, amphetamine before the matches etc. like back then. First doping tests were done in 1968.
I think most of the players would be thrilled to be playing on modern good quality pitches, light ball etc.
Duchene2MacKinnon
In the hands of Genius
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Striiker
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The absolute best 1950's professional athletes of any sport would get annihilated by the lowest level pros of today. Semi-pros would destroy them. Kids still in school would make them look silly.
They were only stars because they were the best of a terrible generation of athletes. Everything has scaled up so much since then that they might as well not even be playing the same sports.
They were only stars because they were the best of a terrible generation of athletes. Everything has scaled up so much since then that they might as well not even be playing the same sports.
If you took the stars from the 50s-90s and put them in today's game, they'd be all the best players because they're mentally and physically tougher. They only cared about winning.
Power Man
Grrrr
cgf
FireBednarsSuccessor
We all know that most of those snowflakes lacked the mental toughness to survive the spotlight modern athletes deal with or the dedication to survive the workload of endless football.
Like Gerd was amazing, such a crafty little goal-machine...but Gerd wouldn't have made it as a pro now-a-days. With how much he drank, he would've flamed out at the academy level.
Like Gerd was amazing, such a crafty little goal-machine...but Gerd wouldn't have made it as a pro now-a-days. With how much he drank, he would've flamed out at the academy level.
