Over the course of playing Strat-O-Matic basketball since 1984, I've stumbled across some teams that turned out to be much better than they were in real life. These are teams you've never heard of as far as legendary squads, such as the 85-86 Celtics, but perform a lot better in replays than they did in real life.

Here's five teams that are a pleasure to play and will win.

Here's how: The key to the team isn't Adrian Dantley, although more on him in a moment. It's Ricky Green. His passing is very good with a 1-13 dazzler Normal and a 3-16 dazzler Fastbreak. He doesn't turn the ball over. Defensively, he's very good with 2-4 penetration and fastbreak rating coupled with a 21-33 steal rating. He got 34 minutes a game, and in the old board game days, that was the magic number that pushed your restrictions from 12 minutes of rest to just 6 minutes of rest a game.

Now to Dantley. I've always loved his cards. His inside scoring has two "X and F(1)" icons at 7 and 2. He also has two in the penetration column. He makes his free throws. He's good on the fastbreak.

In an era where the good Strat teams will routinely put up 120 points a game, Mark Eaton is a find. His 1-20 block rating and "empty boxes" defensively inside and fastbreaking make him a stopper.

There are two other players that make this team very dangerous.

Darrell Griffith is a 2-6,11 3-point shooter. Remember, 1983 wasn't 1993. In real life he shot 132 3 pointers. That's not even two a game. If you can get more, have him crank up 3s. You won't find a better rating in this set.

John Drew. My replays never get the most out of him. The problem is that his main position if RF, the same as Dantley's. He seldom got his 22 minutes a game. If you play the computer game, you aren't restricted by the board game's minutes of rest. Either way, you want him getting his 30 minutes a game via the board. Put him at LF, or move Dantley to a guard position where he'll destroy any opposing guard inside and free up minutes for Drew. Not only can Drew score inside, but he does it by drawing fouls. His inside column has F(2) at 6 and 7 and the dreaded "X and F(1)" at 8. He's a 3 offensive rebounder at RF, which means he'll get his share of put backs.

In real life, this team won 45 games. A good Strat coach could easily get 10 more.

The key here is John Lucas. In real life, he was limited to 47 games. If you don't restrict his usage, this Rocket team is one of the best in the set. Lucas is devastating. He's a 21-27 steal, a 2-19 dazzler Normal passing and a 6-20 dazzler Fastbreak passing. His fastbreak scoring column is top notch. And he can shoot the 3 point shot at 2-5,10. When he's not on the floor, the Rockets have limited backups. Allen Leavell and Lionel Hollins are okay. They are essentially the same player. I've always preferred Leavell as he's got a little more offensive punch, but this is one of his weaker cards.

This is the first year of the Twin Towers. And it's their best combined year. Unfortunately, Ralph Sampson begins to fade as the 84-85 card is the last year he's got a very good card. Sampson is a rated shooter and a 2/6 rebounder. His inside scoring column is good. Akeem Olajuwon (this is pre-H years) is a challenge in this replay. First of all, he's not a rated shooter. You want him with the ball whenever you can. His offensive inside scoring is very good. Defensively, he's great with the "empty boxes" on his Inside and Fastbreak defensive ratings. He's a 12-offensive rebounder and a 1-defensive rebounder. He will get second shots and that's a big part of his offense. The problem is his 34-41 foul rating and he isn't rated for any other position than center so you can't switch him to another position (at least by Strat board game rules which I abide by when doing computer replays). Keeping Olajuwon on the floor is a must. So I double-team the opposing center with Akeem in the game in hopes of that translating to fewer fouls on him. There isn't much to back up the Twin Towers, as Jim Peterson is the only other player rated at center. Only having three players rated at center is a problem. Peterson is a 22-45 foul rated guy, which means he'll attract fouls like none other this side of Greg Kite. Sampson and Olajuwon will also get in foul trouble. In my replays, I never play players in positions that they are not rated for. To get around three-foul plagued centers, I have to use Lewis Lloyd at RF a lot to free up Rodney McCray to play LF. Robert Reid ends up playing RF exclusively, too, which means more time for Mitchell Wiggins at LG. That's not necessarily bad.

As I look at Rodney McCray, I don't see anything that stands out on his card as exceptional, but in my replays he's nearly a 20 ppg scorer. A lot of that has to do with Lucas' dazzlers running the break, I suppose. But McCray is a 7-20 FB Shot passing and that's pretty good for a guy who can also play LF. He's solid and actually a great fourth or fifth option.

The three-some of Lewis Lloyd, Robert Reid and Mitchell Wiggins are all interchangeable as far as I'm concerned. They are all effective on the break, very important for this Rockets team. But Lloyd and Wiggins also can grab some offensive rebounds.

This is my favorite Rockets team, a franchise I've always liked to do in replays.