The Bulls centers were poor compared to Olajuwon & Robinson. And Dele was 6-9. How is this relevant to anything I've said? Btw, don't discount the impact that Kukoc made.
Not hardly. Wade was able to win a ring on his own with a very bad supporting cast. LeBron left Cleveland and joined Wade because he knew he could not do it on his own like Wade.
Yes they were poor when compared to two of the greatest centers in league history. But they weren't "poor" centers. They would all be considered top 10 centers today. Maybe I am confused by what you were saying. It seemed like you were trying to discount the supporting talent on those Chicago teams. If so, those teams were very talented and deep. The current Heat would not lose if they just had their centers and reliable shooters (not even counting Kukoc).
Very bad supporting cast? This is where the hate goes too far. Shaq, Mourning, Haslem, Posey, Walker...avg? Shaq made the All-NBA first team that year.
Yeah, it looks like there's a disconnect. Roslolian said that Jordan never had a legitimate rival, and I responded by saying that the Bulls had legitimate rivals in teams like the Rockets/Spurs who didnt have stellar wings but compensated by having elite centers (a weak position for the Bulls).
And yet nobody was talking about how the Celtics advantages were gone until the series was over. This may be a legitimate point, but I think there were still a lot of people who really believed in the Bulls, especially after Game 1.
What a crappy supporting cast he had. A First Team All-NBA center. His backup center was one of the greatest interior defensive presences in the history of the game and still able to play well for 20 minutes a night. That alone is more than Lebron ever had in Cleveland, but I'll still mention the two serviceable point guards (Williams and Payton), the elite perimeter defender with a knack for hitting big shots (Posey), the chucker who could get hot on any given night (Walker), and the very underrated Haslem.
You can't be serious. There were countless analysts saying that the Celtics were going to regret trading Perkins to OKC. It seemed like the announcers commented on that almost every game...
IMO Drexler was considered the 2nd best SG back then more because of a lack of star power than anything else. I think if you polled the people during that time they'd say the 2nd best wing is actually Pippen, who unfortunately played on the same team as MJ. As far as true rivals are concerned, I think the Pistons and Isiah Thomas would be regarded as better rivals, Thomas was considered a superstar on par with MJ at the time and his Pistons punked him several times before he finally broke through. I was not actively watching b-ball back in the day, but even I have a hard believing Drexler was considered on par with MJ. Drexler's legacy certainly doesn't reflect him as being on par with MJ, people don't regard him as the GOAT now, do they? So what's your point? Don't you think the Bulls back then having the weak interior presence mirrors today's Heat with the weak C and PG? The Celts and the Bulls also dominated the Heat in regular season matchups, just like the Spurs and Rox dominated the Bulls in regular season. I still don't get what point you're trying to make. Bulls also had far more talent than its contemporary teams. In fact, my opinion was that one reason MJ won six rings is his rivals were playing on crap teams. Hakeem, Drexler, humanhighlight reel, all of them were playing on weak teams that the Bulls out-talent simply because Jerry Krause was a genuis and paired MJ with Pippen+Rodman and a slew of dead eye shooters and defenders. Even their Cs, while weak compared to Hakeem and Ewing, would probably make mincemeat of Joel Anthony and Big Z. Same thing for Steve Kerr, I'm pretty sure he **** all over Mario Chalmers. Rodman over Haslem? LOL!
You didn't watch basketball back then yet you think people back then would've thought Pippen was superior to Drexler? I'm guessing you never actually saw Drexler play. If you watch videos of his Rocket years, you'll see how important he was to our team. And he was at the tail end of his career. Can you imagine him when he was at his physical prime? And its unfortunate that Pippen played on the same team as Jordan? Seriously? It's widely regarded that Pippen became the player he was as a result of Jordan's tutelage, influence, and competitive nature. The point is talent level relative to the league. The first 3-peat Bulls were weak in the center position, and that was a big deal b/c they had to face the likes of Olajuwon, Robinson, Ewing, and young Shaq/Mourning/Deke. The current Heat team is weak in the center position, but it's not really a problem since most teams are weak in the center position. Dwight Howard is the best center in the league today. Put him in 1992, and he's arguably the 5th best center. Absolutely wrong. If the Bulls had far more talent than its contemporary teams, then they would have dominating head to head records against everyone. But during the Bulls' first 3peat, both the Rockets and Spurs had 5-1 records against the Bulls. Out of curiosity, do you think if Jordan stayed in the league in the mid-90's, the Bulls would've beaten the Rockets in the finals? I never thought I'd say it, but you're actually overrating the likes of Will Perdue and Bill Wennington.
Pippen is more versatile, he's certainly taller, just as athletic and was the league's best defender (along with MJ). As far as credentials go, I always thought Pippen was underrated since he always played in MJ's shadow, but he led the Bulls to a finals berth once and a winning record for the years MJ was playing baseball. With Drexler, he seemed more of a Ray Allen type of player, a supporting cog rather than the guy you build around. Also, you side-stepped my point about Drexler not being regarded as the GOAT if he was really on par with Jordan, nor seen as the greatest stumbling in his career. honestly I think this bit is pretty much all hype and legend. Anecdotes about MJ always portray him as a douchebag and a dick, he humiliated a rookie over and over for looking him in the eye when they scrimmaged. You mean to say that type of overbearing bully would actually take the time to mentor a young Pippen? The kind, caring mentor image doesn't fit with the cut throat competitor, why will MJ develop someone who might turn out to be better than him? You can even see the lack of respect Pippen has for MJ, telling other people they'd rather have a Pippen than an MJ and saying LBJ is already better than MJ etc. He probably wouldn't act like that if MJ really did mentor him like in the stories. From the stories I read MJ was more the aloof guy who beat the **** out of any bull who didn't perform, and Pippen was the player whom others turned to for guidance and leadership. I agree with this. So why are you arguing with me? All I'm saying is the Heat now is comparable to the Bulls before, and everybody is giving the Heat all these flak when the Bulls before didn't get any. The Bulls were good enough to win 6 rings, and then reached the Finals with their best player and arguably the GOAT in his prime. In fact, without MJ the team was deep enough they still won 55 games in the regular season, how stacked were with MJ playing? Its hard to say if the Bulls would have beaten the Rox, I always felt the two Rox titles were won more on grit, determination and heart than on pure talent level. On paper the Bulls were the better team, but I think if they had met Dream would have smoked that team. Nobody could stop him those two years.
Advantages. Yes, people were saying the Celtics were going to regret trading Perkins, although most people didn't think that day would come until the (inevitable) matchup with the Lakers in the Finals. There was still the edge from having beat the Heat 3-1 during the season, the Rondo factor, D-Wade's inability to guard Ray Allen, the KG/Bosh matchup, and Boston's "psychological edge" from having defeated Wade and Lebron in previous playoffs.
I don't think that's true. I think going into the 1992 NBA Finals, there was a lot of talk about how Clyde was close to being on MJ's level. He had led the Blazers to the Finals before. With a win in that series, he would have equaled MJ in team accomplishments. Isn't that one of the reasons MJ decided to go crazy and drop six threes and 35 points in the first half of Game 1?
But he didn't win, and once MJ started collecting bling and nobody could stop him I think people stopped thinking of Clyde as being really close to MJ's level. I guess as a post-99er I'm looking at things with a big of hindsight, but Clyde didn't even win 1 ring on his own, and I think by MJ's 5th ring nobody would have said he was on par with MJ.
You are letting the results change your views on the player. Drexler was a great player and definately better than Pippen. He led his team to the Finals twice. Pippen was the better defender, but that's all. Drexler was dropping 25/7/6/2 in his prime, as the primary option.
Pippen playing majority of his career behind MJ really made him underrated IMHO. He wasn't Robin next to Batman, he was more like Batman alongside Superman. Pippen was a superstar in his own right, and when he was given his own opportunity to be the center of a team he produced stats identical to Drexler. Anyway, we're getting sidetracked with Pippen vs Drexler but my original point was that Drexler wasn't really considered MJ's equal. Maybe in the beginning when MJ hadn't won anything yet, but by the 3rd ring I don't think you'll find anyone who'll still say Drexler was on par with MJ.
