Greatest McDonald's All-American Team Roster

[RollWithEm]

Basically, what do you think is the best 10-man roster you could assemble from a single year's McDonald's All-American class? I like these 8 best:

1979 - That starting unit could push the ball up the floor with anyone.
G Isaiah Thomas
G Byron Scott
F Dominique Wilkins
F James Worthy
C Ralph Sampson
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G John Paxson
F Clark Kellogg
F Sidney Green
F Antoine Carr
C Sam Bowie

1981 - Pretty weak class after the top 3... but does it matter?
G Sam Vincent
G Michael Jordan
F Chris Mullin
F Bill Wennington
C Patrick Ewing

1989 - Shaq would have some decent shooters and defender to work with.
G Kenny Anderson
G Allan Houston
F Jim Jackson
F George Lynch
C Shaquille O'Neal
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G Bobby Hurley
G James Robinson
F Tracy Murray

1995 - This team might not have enough basketballs to go around.
G Chauncey Billups
G Vince Carter
F Paul Pierce
F Shareef Abdur-Rahim
C Kevin Garnett
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G Stephon Marbury
G Ron Mercer
F Antawn Jamison
F Tractor Traylor
C Jelani McCoy

1997 - Weird mix of personalities and very little shooting on this squad.
G Baron Davis
G Tracy McGrady
F Ron Artest
F Elton Brand
C Brendan Haywood
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G Larry Hughes
F Shane Battier
F Lamar Odom
C Jason Collins
C Jarron Collins

2003 - I actually like the mix of role players on this team.
G Chris Paul
G Shannon Brown
F Lebron James
F Luol Deng
C Kendrick Perkins
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G Aaron Brooks
F Charlie Villanueva
F Travis Outlaw
F Brandon Bass
F Kris Humphries

2004 - By far the deepest squad. Marvin's spot could have gone to Big Baby or Corey Brewer.
G Rajon Rondo
G Arron Afflalo
F Rudy Gay
F LaMarcus Aldridge
C Dwight Howard
-------------------------
G Jordan Farmar
G JR Smith
F Marvin Williams
F Josh Smith
C Al Jefferson

2007 - Am I the only one who thinks Derrick Rose could will this team to be good?
G Derrick Rose
G Eric Gordon
F James Harden
F Blake Griffin
F Kevin Love
-------------------------
G Jonny Flynn
G OJ Mayo
F Michael Beasley
F Patrick Patterson
F JJ Hickson

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...mcdonalds.html

If you were having an 8-team tournament, how would you seed these teams?

[gi0rdun]

07 has a really fun team. You kind of have to go with Jordan just because he's Jordan. It's interesting that Tim Duncan wasn't a McDonalds All-American.

[RollWithEm]

1979 has almost the most fun fast break team I can imagine.

[Najee]

Originally Posted by gi0rdun

07 has a really fun team. You kind of have to go with Jordan just because he's Jordan. It's interesting that Tim Duncan wasn't a McDonalds All-American.

Tim Duncan was a marginally known high school prospect who played in the Virgin Islands, and was only on Wake Forest's radar because former Demon Deacons player Chris King saw him playing in a tournament.

As for which team to take, the Class of '79 was considered the greatest high school class ever. As great as Isiah Thomas, James Worthy and Dominique Wilkins were, Ralph Sampson was considered the jewel of that class.

[RollWithEm]

But that 2004 team is built almost as perfectly to play with each other as that 1979 team. Rondo would give Isaiah a tough time. Afflalo and Josh Smith would do a pretty good job on Nique and Worthy. Howard wouldn't be a bad match-up for Ralph either. Rudy, LaMarcus, JR, and Big Al would have to simply win their positional match-ups for that team to win out.

[Najee]

Originally Posted by RollWithEm

But that 2004 team is built almost as perfectly to play with each other as that 1979 team. Rondo would give Isaiah a tough time. Afflalo and Josh Smith would do a pretty good job on Nique and Worthy. Howard wouldn't be a bad match-up for Ralph either. Rudy, LaMarcus, JR, and Big Al would have to simply win their positional match-ups for that team to win out.

This thread makes sense only if you are evaluating these players as high school seniors to college players. But even if you went with these players at their NBA peaks, the Class of '79 would win.

The Class of '04 will have problems scoring consistently. The bulk of your scoring will come from the frontline (LaMarcus Aldridge, Dwight Howard, Al Jefferson and Rudy Gay) and they will be matched up with overall superior scorers in Dominique Wilkins, James Worthy, Ralph Sampson and Clark Kellogg.

The backcourt will have major problems manufacturing offense. Rajon Rondo will have problems distributing in a halfcourt offense because Gay would be the only one of the four who can score outside of the paint. Not to mention Isiah Thomas is an underrated defender who can give Rondo some problems.

[Blue]

Swap JR w Afflo and 04 is nice

[RollWithEm]

Originally Posted by Najee

This thread makes sense only if you are evaluating these players as high school seniors to college players. But even if you went with these players at their NBA peaks, the Class of '79 would win.

The Class of '04 will have problems scoring consistently. The bulk of your scoring will come from the frontline (LaMarcus Aldridge, Dwight Howard, Al Jefferson and Rudy Gay) and they will be matched up with overall superior scorers in Dominique Wilkins, James Worthy, Ralph Sampson and Clark Kellogg.

The backcourt will have major problems manufacturing offense. Rajon Rondo will have problems distributing in a halfcourt offense because Gay would be the only one of the four who can score outside of the paint. Not to mention Isiah Thomas is an underrated defender who can give Rondo some problems.

This thread is purely hypothetical. Why does it only make sense if you evaluate them as high school seniors (which no one hear has the ability to do because no one watched ALL of these players when they were high school seniors)? Wouldn't it be more fun in the context of an NBA message board to use what we know of them at their NBA peaks?

I don't know if I would say Clark Kellogg is a superior scorer as a 6th man over either JR or Big Al. I also don't think Worthy would be able to do much to stop Aldridge one-on-one. With that being said, I will give you Nique and Ralph having scoring advantages. Also, the 1979 team could certainly turn defense into offense quicker than almost any team ever assembled.

I still think, though, that the 2004 squad has the athletic/rangy defenders to give '79 some trouble. A temporary line-up of Rondo, Afflalo, Josh, LaMarcus, Dwight would obviously be very heavily reliant on Aldridge's post scoring and Rondo's penetration, but they would be very tough to score against consistently. Also, a line-up of Farmar, JR, Rudy, LA, Big Al would be quite formidable scoring the ball... despite the fact that they couldn't stop much of anything. 2004 is certainly a lot deeper if nothing else.

[Najee]

Originally Posted by RollWithEm

This thread is purely hypothetical. Why does it only make sense if you evaluate them as high school seniors (which no one hear has the ability to do because no one watched ALL of these players when they were high school seniors)? Wouldn't it be more fun in the context of an NBA message board to use what we know of them at their NBA peaks?

I pretty much watched all these players at the high school level, most prominently at all-star games and basketball camps. And not only was the Class of '79 a better group at the prep level, but also at the collegiate level and in the NBA.

The Class of '79 has four players who are inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame, and all of them -- James Worthy, Isiah Thomas, Dominique Wilkins and Ralph Sampson -- excelled at all levels. The Class of 2004 only has one player who right now looks like he has a reasonable shot at being in Springfield (Dwight Howard).

Originally Posted by RollWithEm

I don't know if I would say Clark Kellogg is a superior scorer as a 6th man over either JR or Big Al.

Clark Kellogg was an inside-outside player who was worth 19-9 before chronic knee problems ended his career very early. He was very similar to the Hornets era David West, who I would consider an upgrade from Al Harrington. J.R. Smith is more of a shooting guard, and an incredibly streaky one at that. Smith is as likely to shoot your team out of a game as he is to keep you in a game, especially in a one-game scenario.

Originally Posted by RollWithEm

I also don't think Worthy would be able to do much to stop Aldridge one-on-one.

LaMarcus Aldridge is more of a finesse power forward, who is more likely to shoot on the wings. He's pretty much a current-day version of Shareef Abdur-Rahim, so I'll take my chances going with a perennial all-star in Worthy.

On the other end, how is a post-up power forward like Aldridge going to guard Worthy, one of the greatest fast-break finishers at the small forward position? Aldridge also would have problems guarding Worthy in a halfcourt set, because of Worthy's great first step on the baseline and his quick release.

Of all the matchups in your hypothetical starting lineups, this may be the worst one for the Class of 2004. Worthy put up all-star level numbers going against arguably the greatest crop of small forwards in NBA history. Given that Aldridge is not a shot-blocker and not exactly will be confused with being a physical defender, he is likely to get in foul trouble going against Worthy. The Class of 2004 would have a better shot of winning placing Josh Smith in the starting lineup to guard Worthy, IMO.

Originally Posted by RollWithEm

I still think, though, that the 2004 squad has the athletic/rangy defenders to give '79 some trouble. A temporary line-up of Rondo, Afflalo, Josh, LaMarcus, Dwight would obviously be very heavily reliant on Aldridge's post scoring and Rondo's penetration, but they would be very tough to score against consistently.

Outside shooting and lack of scoring from the guards will be the Class of 2004's greatest problems. Moreover, I can see Isiah Thomas (one of the most competitive players in NBA history, IMO) taking Rajon Rondo's defensive reputation as a personal challenge. Couple that with Rondo's general reluctance to be an offensive factor particularly late in games, and I can see Thomas carving him up.

For that matter, the Class of 2004 is woefully lacking in intangibles compared to the Class of '79. In a one-game scenario or a clutch situation, there is not one player on the '04 team who has shown an intensity level or personality trait associated with big-game performers. On the other hand, the Class of '79 features one of the greatest big-game competitors in Thomas; another big-game performer in Worthy; and a third player (Wilkins) who also has had signature performances in big games.

I also don't like the idea of the Smiths (J.R. and Josh) likely needing to take on a bigger role for scoring punch. J.R. Smith is the classic streak shooter and Josh Smith has been known for questionable decision-making. The Class of 2004's best chance of winning would be to make this a halfcourt game (which somewhat limits Rondo and the Smiths) and hoping to get the Class of '79's big men in foul trouble.

[RollWithEm]

Originally Posted by Najee

I pretty much watched all these players at the high school level, most prominently at all-star games and basketball camps.

The rest of your post I will consider discussing only after you admit that this sentence is absolute BS. I do not believe you watched all the 1979 McDonald's All-American guys in high school back when doing that would have required you to basically be an advanced college scout traveling around the country.

[Prince]

[ipowers]

Originally Posted by Najee

Tim Duncan was a marginally known high school prospect who played in the Virgin Islands, and was only on Wake Forest's radar because former Demon Deacons player Chris King saw him playing in a tournament.

As for which team to take, the Class of '79 was considered the greatest high school class ever. As great as Isiah Thomas, James Worthy and Dominique Wilkins were, Ralph Sampson was considered the jewel of that class.

Actually Sam Bowie was considered the jewel of the class. He was actually the National Player of the Year in 79 over Ralph Sampson.

[bball2223]

1979 all day. That is one insane class.