i agree that the current team has a significant advantage in the frontcourt, but i dont think that you can make a basic "3 vs 2 advantage" argument here. big men dont touch the ball as much, so having the better backcourt makes up for this disadvantage a little.
the other major difference between the two teams is that the older players were better fundamental players. they could all shoot, and for the most part they could pass and rebound. this also cuts into the advantage in athleticism that the new guys have.
my big question is what do the new guys do against magic. lets not forget, he was 6'9", and played center in the nba finals his rookie year. none of the point guards today could handle him on the low post. and if you take kg to guard him (probably the most likely of the big men to be able to handle him), that probably puts kidd on bird and kobe on jordan. magic is the big wild card here.
the big if here is officiating. you are definitely right that the hack a shaq couldnt work here, but at the same time, if he got called for some of his numerous offensive fouls (and the calls would probably come because the old guys would have some respect from the refs), then he wouldnt be close to as effective.
this would be a tremendous matchup, and i am really torn as to who would win. the big argument to me is does the athleticism and size advantage of the new guys beat the fundamentals and magic of the old school guys.
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