it was one of the reasons we won. and it's 6 games not 2. Carl Herrera is not the reason why we beat the Bulls.
If Maxwell was put on leave at the beginning of the playoffs, then he wouldn't have been available in the Finals to guard Jordan, no?
Jordan played basketball the year that Maxwell left the team. Jordan's team was not good enough to beat the Magic, then we swept the Magic. Your argument is invalid. http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=maxweve01&p2=jordami01 The Rockets were 5-1 against the Bulls with Maxwell, so if we met in the finals the year that Jordan was gone, it would have been the same thing: we win. Think about that... the 3 peat Bulls got dominated by the Maxwell Rockets in the regular season. No one else can make any claim like that. Maxwell reduced the Bulls to a consistent loser. Anybody that thinks the Bulls would have beat the Rockets hasn't done ANY actual factual research.
THIS. Mad Max definitely made Jordan work, he was a very good defender and there's no disputing that. But having Hakeem protecting the rim played a bigger role in MJ's slightly worse than usual performance against the Rockets than anything Max did. MJ needed to rely on his mid-range J more and attacking the rim less because of Hakeem's presence. If Max had a league average Center protecting the rim behind him, MJ would torch him. Max deserves some credit but Hakeem was just that important and his 2-way dominance is why he's a legend.
A few things here. 1. The stats show Maxwell probably did a stellar job against Jordan. We don't know for sure, because certainly there were times in those games where Maxwell was on the bench while Jordan may have been in the game. Or if people want to mistakenly argue over the sample size which is actually 100% of the times those two matched up then that can be an argument. 2. But even if someone wanted to argue the stats weren't valid, then look at the results. The results show that the Rockets won time and time again against the Bulls with Maxwell as the primary defender against Jordan. No matter how many points he scored there is the real possibility that he had to work harder to score those points, couldn't get his team involved and run their normal offense because of Maxwell's defense. 3. Jordan's thoughts on the Rockets v. Bulls match-up are known. Our record vs. the Bulls during their championship years are known. The Rockets and Maxwell are the winners. 4. The eye test. Stats can tell part of the story, but having actually watched Jordan play during those seasons vs. other teams and vs. the Rockets it was apparent that Maxwell gave him problems others could not. That eye test is supported by the stats provided in this thread, and by the Rockets record vs. those Bulls teams.
MJ did not play any team 1 on 5 nor did he play 5 on 1. It is a match-up sport as all sports are when things get broken down to the core. For example, anyone recall the starting line-up P-Jax threw against the Rox at the Summit in '97? It was the Zen-attempt to steal the game based on match-ups. But, just as Dream denied an MJ dunk in the 4th MJ was not enough to secure a W v a Max-less squad. Vern made Jordan work and kept him from involving his teammates. The Rox were the Jordan Bulls' kryptonite. Because of MM. Because of Dream. Because Rudy was Zennier than Jax. Lots of reasons. Just no one be silly denying that Max was to Jordan what Thunder Dan was not.
This is all beyond moot. The Rockets played in, earned, and won two Finals series in the 90s. Not MJ, the pundits, or anyone else can take that from them. Anyone that watches basketball knows that the playoffs are an entirely different animal than the regular season. Not to mention the Finals. Six regular season games, spaced out over the span of several seasons, is no indicator of what would or wouldn't have happened in a Finals matchup. Had they have met, I think our Rockets would've beat them, but that's just my opinion. And any sentiment on the matter is exactly that. An opinion.
"Irrelevant" and "Indisputable". I guess you bypassed English classes to take those Statistics classes.
I just want to say thanks to tinman for clearly laying out the facts. I hope the people who are unable to understand them don't discourage you because the layout of the OP is outstanding.
Discourage me? I'm here to destroy them and show no mercy Enemies of clutch city are enemies of the world
Hakeem was THE reason we won. Maxwell was a beneficiary of Hakeem's rim protection. That's what allowed him to be so aggressive on Jordan.
