But what about my last sentence in that post? Would we have beaten the Lakers with prime Roy? 4 yrs of prime Roy and a Chip trumps 5 yrs of Battier,
Roy was in his prime in 2009. The question is: Do we beat the Lakers that year with Roy v Batteir? We’re talking a possible ring for just losing a meaningless last game in 2006.
It's hard to say, but I think the upgrade is enough to put us over the top. Battier wasn't stopping Kobe anyways (who was?), and B Roy being another creator and shot maker would have got us the chip IMO.
And also note Adelman was Coach … imagine Adelman with the 2nd Best PG in the league in 2009… also consider Roy would have lessened the workload of TMac from 2006-200l9, possibly preventing his premature breakdown. alright, sorry, I’m talking too much about this alternative universe of prime Roy with Adelman, Yao and TMac
THIS. We didn't get a single #1 pick during the rebuilds. As a reminder, here were the #1 picks the Rockets could have had: 2020: ANT 2021: Cade Cunningham 2022: Banchero 2024: Wemby Things would look very different right now with any of those 4 on this team.
You're right, but only because that Bulls team didn't have a front line and Jordan really wasn't himself. The same way people try to put an ill informed asterisk on our 95 team, the same way the narrative is that Jordan was back and he was getting buckets. It ignores that he was in baseball shape. Fatigued. Shooting uncharacteristically inefficient while getting those numbers. He was also uncharacteristically responsible for unclutch plays in the Orlando series where he lost the ball or made the wrong pass for a turnover in crucial moments in several games-fatigue likely to blame. Just because he was still great, doesn't mean he was GOAT Jordan we knew. At his worst he was going to look like a top 5 player, but those top 5 guys can easily lose without support and Grant playing for Orlando and their size vs depleted Chicago front court was the real reason they couldn't get to the finals. So when people put asterisks, it's because they believe a fully seasoned Jordan that never retired means Grant never leaves, but that ignores that the Bulls absolutely needed Rodman for that 2nd 3Peat and if Grant is still around? That's why made up scenarios get slippery and tricky. The reality is we won and we won against HOF'ers in every round. It's not like the Raptors getting their lone championship against the Warriors all out for the series. We swept fkn Shaq and Penny and Grant and Nick that the NBA was pushing and marketing to be the next dynasty Showtime Lakers like team. They were fully healthy and hype after beating Mike and the Bulls. No one was beating our 95 team. We would have wiped the floor with The Healtes too. That Mavs team got hot shooting and sustained it not too unlike our 95 team, and people claim that Mavs team is the most impressive for beating 22 year old KD/Russ/harden, Kobe Lakers and Heatles. Blazers were decent first round matchup, but it's not prime Malone and Stockton w/ home court in Salt Lake City in a 5 game series. Big shout out to that forgotten game 2 on the road where Kenny had a massive game to even the series 1-1. Kenny gets clowned a lot these days, but he was huge for us through both runs. Then we faced Chuck and KJ w/o homecourt and that Suns home crowd was wild too. We got blown out both games there. Down 1-3 to win on that kiss of death game 7 by one point. Call me bias, but its a more impressive 1-3 comeback than the Bron Cavs beating a beat up or suspended Dray Warriors team-regular season record be damned and not to mention how stacked the Cavs team was too. To me that's like the 72 Bulls having their starting C Longley go down for the series. Rodman suspended for a pivotal game. Kukoc hurt and Jordan playing through injury. That 72 Bulls under those circumstances gets beat by the Sonics. Back to the Suns. Shout out to KJ. I just watched a Clayton Crawley video on Chuck and he just shat on all his teammates saying Chuck never played with anyone and not once mentioned KJ. Easily one of the most underrated PGs of all time. He had two 40 pieces on us that series including 46 in g7. Then you got Spurs in WCF. MVP. They look back and say how unfair it is that the Bulls got Rodman who was had for Will Perdue because no one wanted him and the trouble he brought. "ohh he had to team up with Rodman to win blah blah" but it only matters when Jordan is involved to these kids. They have no clue that Rodman and MVP Admiral front line would absolutely destroy today-and Hakeem destroyed that front line just a year prior to Rodman joining the Bulls to form that 72 win squad. Hakeem destroying that front line is why Rodman was out for a bag of chips after being critical of Coach Hill and even Popovich and Admiral in that series he still believes they should have won. People skip over how it was still a tough series with SA tying the series and Choke City Cloud hovering over game 5 before Hakeem put that **** to sleep g5 and g6. People also forget that the Spurs were the Spurs back then too. They didn't need flashy superstardom at every position. Fundamental and disciplined at every position. Pop was there already putting his finger prints on the franchise. BUT SHAQ AND PENNY WERE AS YOUNG AS KD/RUSS/HARDEN!! Penny was 23 and played like a seasoned star under control. The difference between young stars then and now is they played and developed in college. Shaq was in LSU for what? 3 years? Thats SHAQ. KD was a unicorn in his own way, but he was no Shaq. Day 1 Shaq was already dominant. Penny was better than young Russ and Harden put together. That's my opinion of course, but 95 Rockets ain't losing to anyone and after watching Harden and Rockets detrimental 3 pt commitment and CP3 hamstring away from beating the "greatest team ever assembled." I have every faith the 95 Rockets would have beaten the KD/Steph/Klay/Dray Warriors. **** them.
6'11 and long and in his athletic prime Horry on KD. Clyde/Ellie on Klay. Kenny making Steph work around screens only for Sam to sub in and work him in the post. Draymond on Hakeem Elie's toughness matching Iggy.
And you have to look at the alternatives. Cade vs Jalen Paolo vs Jabari Wemby vs Amen Risacher vs Reed May not be the optimal, but not too shabby either.
