Just a fun debate between the 94 champs vs 95 champs. We know the 94 team was more dominate record wise. 95 team traded Thorpe for Drexler. 95 had struggles but turned in up in the playoffs and became the first team to sweep a finals team without home court. Horry went to PF and they moved Elie to start. 95 Dream also took over MVP Robinson in historical fashion. 94 Dream won MVP and defensive player. Who was the better team in their peak? What if the rox had the same 95 roster at the beginning of the year and traded in the summer instead of mid year?
Well, only the '94 team would have beaten Jordan. Spoiler because Jordan didn't even make it out of the 2nd round in '95
Well technically Jordan lost in 6 games vs the Shaq's Magic. 95 Rox swept the Magic. I think the addition of drexler was huge.
Damn good question. The 94 team I thought was better defensively, while in 95 the 3’s really started raining in the playoffs especially. 94 was Dream’s best season. I have not witnessed another player dominate both ends the way he did that year. That team (94)was more physical and scrappy. They were also a joy to watch all season long. I knew after the preseason that we had the best team in the nba that year. 95 was a tricky year. We started so poorly. Max went into the stands and got suspended. It seemed like the team had no life. Even after the trade, we never looked as strong as we did in 94. Until the playoffs. It was by far the most astounding playoff run in history. They defeated a murderers row of teams, embarrassed the so called “mvp”, and then swept Orlando when no one gave us a shot against them. Both teams had an insane amount of heart. Both teams were clutch when it counted.Both teams featured the GOAT as their centerpiece. I can’t choose. Screw it.
Looking back at that 95 team, that season was miraculous. It would have been a completely dominate team if they started early with Drexler and Mad Max had his head on straight. 94 was great all the way from beginning to end but 95 had more talent imo.
Just because I see this so much here and elsewhere. Not throwing shade... dominate - verb - Shaq liked to dominate the paint. dominant - adjective - Shaq was dominant in the paint. [/GrammarNazi]
The 95’ team had more talent no doubt. I don’t know if we could have beaten the Knicks without OT though. That may have been the most physical finals in history. OT was needed to bang up against that beastly front line the Knicks had. I don’t know if Horry could have held up at the 4 against that front line. I always thought OT was under rated. During that era having a bruiser next to dream was a perfect compliment. Then in 95’ it seemed as though we needed to put Horry at the 4 in order to help space the floor. It brought a whole new dimension to our offense and made it nearly impossible to defend us. I don’t think we beat Orlando without having Horry at the 4. That’s why the question is so tough for me. Both teams were perfect for each given year. We needed more physicality in 94 which OT provided. We needed better spacing and shooting and playmaking in 95 which Drex provided.
We matched up well versus the Magic and the two headed monster of Cassell and Smith really played well shooting wise...against Penny and the Magic backcourt...
