OK, have finally decided who to root for. Dallas somehow comes as the underdog. GO underdogs! But if Lebron wins it "fair and square", it isn't tainted in my book.
Replace Bosh with a healthy Stoudemire and the Heat defense is not nearly as good, unless Stoudemire commits to playing defense for the first time in his career. But the last time a coach asked him to do that, didn't he get driven out of town in less than a full season?
Boston had the big 3, Rondo and Perkins. That's 4 superstars and a top 5 center. Was the boston ring tainted?
While we're at it wasn't Pippen the 2nd best wing player at the time? And didn't he play with MJ? I can't even recall anybody who can serve as a legitimate rival to MJ, that's because he and Pippen played on the same team.
Boston won the title in 07-08. At that time, Rondo wasn't even an all-star yet you're referring to him as a "superstar"? And even so, Allen and Pierce weren't "superstars". Top 5 center in 07-08? Perkins? Seriously? Off the top of my head, Yao, Bogut, Dwight, Kaman, Chandler, Okafor, and Duncan.
Drexler was always considered the legitimate rival to Jordan. But in any case, the Bulls might've had incredible wings, but they had poor centers. That's why the Rockets and Spurs continually beat them in the regular season. The overall talent was comparable.
Spurs didn't have the worst record in the league that year, and another team (I forget which one) had a much better statistical chance of getting the first pick.
I am inclined to cheer for Lebron because he's a great basketball player and he makes the game better. All of the hype, hate, love, criticism , expectations just comes with the territory of being great, but ultimately it's meaningless. Its for ESPN. As a FREE AGENT, LeBron had the right to make the best decision for himself personally. I applaud the fact that he used this opportunity to go to the team that was championship caliber. Yeah, there was a huge fallout with a lot of folks(mainly the fans of teams who didn't get him), but it's all pretty baseless. It was his decision. Period. It's truly about winning, and his team is in a great position to do that now and in the future. First things first, though. They still have 4 games to win, and Dallas is playing for the ring just like Miami. Tainted? Hell no. May the best team win. Always.
Drexler was known more for being the reason Portland passed on MJ rather than being MJ's rival. Saying he's MJ's rival is like saying Joe JOhnson is Kobe's rival. In any case, Miami might've had incredible Wings, but they had poor centers and pgs. That's why the Bulls swept them and they only got the 3rd seed in the regular season. The overall talent was comparable.
It doesn't matter that the Spurs didn't have the worst record in the league. By tanking, they still gave themselves a better chance to get a top pick than they would have had if they started playing Robinson as soon as he was ready to go. Honestly, I don't blame them for tanking, but let's not pretend it didn't happen or that it didn't end up helping them.
Funny thing is before the playoffs most of the board said Miami had no shot at at title because they didn't have size or depth. Now that they are in the finals people are saying it's tainted, rigged, and too easy to take them seriously as Champions.
Out of curiosity, when did you start watching basketball? Drexler was universally considered the 2nd best shooting guard back then and almost on par with Jordan. Don't forget, Drexler led his team to the finals in 89-90. Through the course of Jordan's first 3 peat, the Spurs and Rockets both had a regular season record of 5-1 against the Bulls. Even Jordan recognized that their interior presence was their weakest link. In regards to Jordan's Bulls vs Hakeem's Rockets & Robinson's Spurs, regular season information is all that's available so that's what we have to use. But for Rose's Bulls and Lebron/Wade's Heat, we have the playoffs which is far more relevant than regular season. And it's pretty clear that Miami has far more talent than the Bulls. Don't be stupid.
Exactly. Before the Boston series, people were saying Miami had no chance. Boston had the psychological edge, the great point guard, the superior depth, three wins against them in the regular season. KG was going to make Bosh his b****. After the series was over... well Miami was supposed to win it easily because Boston was old and beat up and never really had a chance. But just wait for the Bulls, there's no way Miami can handle Chicago. They've got the great size, the great defense. The Bulls are going to dominate the glass. There's nobody on the Heat who can handle Derrick Rose. Oh wait... Miami won that in five games, too? Well, the Bulls were only a one man team. D-Rose didn't have enough help. Boozer sucked (how was that surprising?). And of course... the refs handed both series to the Heat!
I bet James & Wade were sitting around talking about joining forces, and Bosh walks up and is like "what you guys talkin bout?" They roll their eyes, but can find no way to steer out of the question. Of course Bosh invites himself, and Dwayne & Lebron are like "great, now we won't have any money to hire a bench, or even some coaches!"
The Bulls centers weren't poor. Centers that you have to bench for the series, like Dampier and Big Z, those centers are poor. The Bulls centers were at least as good as the Asek kid that everyone is slobbing on. They could board, play D and hit open shots. And they were legit 7 footers (Cartwright, Perdue, Dele, etc). Not to mention all of their shooters. The Buls had a lot of talent. You take LeBron off this team and they aren't winning 55 games like the Bulls did when Jordan left.
Superior depth and regular season wins became irrelevent when Shaq got injured. All season long, their biggest advantage was their size, and that became neutralized after the injury and the Perkins trade. To be honest, I dont think anyone really expected the Bulls to beat the Heat.....they just hoped they would.
