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Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson
I think we're again just quibbling over the definition of what is a "superteam." You say it's not a superteam because it was all about Jordan and Phil... I'm saying they were the superteam of that decade, because they utterly dominated that decade. I don't care if its one superstar or a bunch of role players, or 3 superstars and no role players... Hell, Jordan was a "superteam" by himself, as far as I'm concerned.
I'm saying that team as a whole with every guy playing their part was the- in my opinion- the best team ever. Those role players- the Kerr's, Cartwright's, Paxson's, and Kukoc's of those Bulls teams all played their roles perfectly. They did exactly what they needed to do, no more, no less.
I agree that the current Warriors without Curry and Durant would destroy the Bulls without MJ and Pippen. I don't care about that though. All I care about is which team would win with both teams at full strength. I'd put the 1996 Bulls against the 2018 Warriors any day. Since we can't do that, all we can do is look at what each team has done in their respective era. Jordan's Bulls won 6 titles in 8 years- and I firmly believe it would have been eight consecutive titles if Jordan hadn't left to play baseball. They also never at any point in that entire decade lost more than 2 games in a row. That seems impossible... But it happened. The current Warriors are still early in their run, but I don't think they will ever reach that peak. No other team has dominated the league that way in the modern era (Russell's Celtics don't count. The sport was in its infancy.) THAT is what I mean when I say that Jordan's Bulls were the greatest team ever- and the most super of all superteams.
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I doubt the Bulls would have won 8 in a row for a few reasons.
1-They didn't play well against the Rockets in the early 90s. MJ was even on record saying he was glad the Rockets didn't make it to the Finals because "We have no answer for that monster" (Hakeem)
That quote came after this game in 93:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZbEEj2w8Zk&t=49s
That's a good highlight reel of MJ and Hakeem too....they actually included the missed shots and mistakes so you don't suffer from "highlight vision" as a fan. Most fans only remember the good stuff and after a while inflate how good past players were.
2-The Bulls would have been making their 4th trip to the Finals in a row in 94. That's mentally tiring for any team. That may be why the Warriors are looking weird in this series with mental mistakes they usually don't make.
3-The Bulls didn't make it to the Finals in 95 with MJ. He played well too. He actually played better in the 95 playoffs than he did in the 96 playoffs when they won the title. The problem was that Grant was gone. So MJ being there didn't offset that. They needed that 3rd star.
And I don't see the 90s Bulls beating the 80s great teams like the Lakers, Celtics, Sixers, or Pistons either. We already know they couldn't handle the Pistons at their peak, but they also would have no answer for the depth and size of the Celtics, Sixers, and Lakers at their peak imo. That's a whole different world than beating those 90s Knicks and Pacers in the playoffs.
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Originally Posted by Melonhead
I mean only one other guy was about to get into double digits. 15 years in the league and playing better than anyone, yeah Id say he gets exhausted when his team is trash and tired of having to play hero ball.
Side note: I did not know Curry was 30 years old. Its gonna become clear soon that he wont have that impact he has now. Fighting to get space and through screens will get much harder. Still electrifying when he's on.
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At some point, Lebron's age is going to be a factor. We may be seeing it now. A guy in his 15th season leading the league in minutes and then also leading the playoffs in minutes played? That's crazy. I understand the Cavs look like crap most of the time when he sits down, but you would think a coach would know to rest him so he'll have something in crunch time. Phil Jackson used to be a master of that with MJ.
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Originally Posted by BPo001
CP3 out game 6 with hamstring strain. I think the Warriors just won the championship last night.
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Agreed.
Exactly how many times is GS going to benefit from the opposing team suffering an injury to a key player during the playoffs? I've lost count. Do they employ a witch doctor on the staff?