Originally posted by 4ML:
Originally posted by Pillbusta:
Originally posted by 4ML:
I'm not forgetting that Jordan lost plenty of times before. Like I said, he couldn't get out of 1st round without Pippen. Without Jordan, Bulls lost only 2 more games and took the mighty NYK to 7 games in the 2nd round. Had the refs not f**k up - Bulls would have won that game 7...just like Pacers would have won game 7 in 1998.
I don't understand the "mattered most" point. It only matters most when you reach the Finals? It doesn't matter most when you've never been out of the 1st round of the playoffs?
But without MJ, Hakeem and the Rockets would have killed the Bulls in 94! The best team always wins a 7 game series! I didn't like the call on Pip either on that foul to Hubert Brown. The game was over but the series was much more of a struggle with MJ not there. They had Kukoc taking game winners that series!
Of course. I'm not suggesting that Bulls were just as great without Michael. But, there were still pretty darn good without Michael. You take Kobe off Lakers team and they have tough time winning 25 games. Lebron left Cleveland and they lost 40 more games. So, yes - Jordan was one of the greatest ever but he also had a great team. Without him - they were still a legit playoff team...and, some of it also has to do with the poor competition in the 90s.
Again, that doesn't mean there weren't enough stars in the 90s. But, because of the expansion - the talent was spread out and those stars didn't have enough help. Jordan did and that's why he won that many titles.
After MJ retired they revamped the roster a good bit. They added Toni Kukoc and Steve Kerr just off the top of the head and Scottie and Horace (before he left for ORL) stepped up as well. When MJ came back for the second 3 peat he had a better team as evidenced by 72-10! For comparisons sake you put MJ on Lakers of 00s and you get at least 6 to 7 championships because Shaq would have stayed for one as well as Phil and MJ wasn't letting Paul Pierce straight handle him in the Finals like Kobe did! Paul Pierce punched Kobe the whole series. MJ would have shat on Paul Pierce and the Truth would be the first one to tell you. Real life, real Gs know about Kobe vs MJ! Now you have dismissed my posts as silly rhetoric and I have been nice about this because I believe in being respectful even to folk different than me with different experiences but you have to suppress the fanboy inside yourself and see the real deal. Some folk just can't see it and I understand but you won't find me dissing them because they see it differently! And I still say that I am upset that Penny Hardaway had his career limited by injury. I am telling you that dude would have ruled in today's game. The consensus of NBA players know what time it is. Robert Horry spoke on this as well. 90s squads would punk these guys today. They just ain't hard like in the old days!
