Friday, May 15, 2009

OLD SCHOOL DOMINATES - simulation results reveal 09' no match for 89'


In my previous post I posed the question of which style would win, the new style of play or the old school. So I put it to the test in a 7 game series simulation in which the 2009 1st team all stars went against the 1989 1st all stars. I used the "What if Sports" simulation engine to play the games (note: I filled out the rosters with the 2nd team all stars for each year).
Here are the results:

GAME 1
1989 Team 125
2009 Team 117

MVP = Michael Jordan 29 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals

89' Team leads series 1-0


GAME 2
1989 Team 124
2009 Team 104

MVP = Michael Jordan 25 pints and 10 assists

89' Team leads series 2-0


GAME 3
1989 Team 127
2009 Team 112

MVP = Karl Malone 33 points and 16 rebounds

89' Team leads series 3-0


GAME 4
1989 Team 129
2009 Team 107

MVP = Charles Barkley 26 points and 8 rebounds

89' Team WINS series 4-0


Analysis:
After looking at the simulation, I confirmed my theory that the old school style is much more effective. Looking at games 1 and 2 you see that Jordan was in prime form, not only did he score but he defended and passed. The 89' team was much more unselfish and had many more assists.
Then in games 3 and 4 it looks like the big guys of Malone and Barkley wore down the 2009 team. The inside game was the big difference in the final 2 games. Now, the question becomes were the 89' all star team just a special group? What if you took the 79' all stars and pitted them against the new school bunch? Would the result be the same?

What do you think?

2 comments:

  1. That site is biased towards old school. That game, which I still think would be won by the old school, would be very very close. It's funny to think of MJ as old school

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  2. Biased in that it tells the truth. The old school game was more phsyical, more polished and involved teamwork. That is why the old school would dominate the new school clan.

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