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| Rip Hamilton claimed the 2000s Detroit Pistons would easily rule today's NBA with their defense. NBA Philippines (file photo) |
MANILA—The Detroit Pistons of the 2000s were well known for their defense that would even see their opponents getting limited to less than 70 points in nationally televised games.
But what if the "Bad Boys 2.0" suddenly get time warped to today? Will their defense still hold forth in the modern NBA's more offense-oriented game?
Rip Hamilton, one of the Pistons' main men during their 2000s dominance, thinks he and prime Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Tayshaun Prince, and the others would still be menacing defensively in the 2020s NBA.
"Our defense would lock some teams up," Hamilton said during his media availability ahead of NBA 3x on Wednesday.
He even thinks they would not let their opponents score at most 130 this season had they played in this era.
Hamilton said, "It wouldn't be 130 or 140-point nights going against our Piston teams 'coz we had rules and laws that we had among us."
One rule the Pistons had back then, according to Hamilton, was not to let the opposing team score dunks or at least minimize them, something that he thinks today's teams are falling short of badly despite the current NBA rules on defense that actually allow zone defense even just for a short time.
"You watch the game now, you get 10, 15, 20 dunks in a game," Hamilton said.
He also thinks the 2000s Pistons could deny the "three-point revolution" from happening if they would play in today's NBA.
"If we know a guy was a shooter, we were taking that away. He gets no threes today," Hamilton further said.
He then said that it boils down to one key factor: scouting.
"I just feel we understood the scouting report. We understood that, 'Hey, you know what? Our offense was going to be our offense, but if we're going to win a championship, it's going to rely on the defensive end,'" Hamilton added.
Hamilton will be at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall in Pasay during the NBA 3x over the weekend.
Follow him on X: @IvanSaldajeno
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