Wow, so far a fun read and a fun topic, so here is my take: 94 team...was a shade better defensively especially on the boards. Hakeem would have killed bynum and we know that. Gasol would have given OT fits because their were not that many 7 feet finesse bigs back then. Thats where Horry comes in. At 6 10 he had the length to play a Gasol type player in spurts, especially on the perimeter or free throw line extended. He would have had the task to play Odom also. Remember Horry was the key in 95 because he slid down to the 4 after the trade. In the backcourt, we would have made Kobe a jumpshooter by packing the defense in and funneling him into the shotblockers. As much as the Lakers dont want to admit, they DO want to run. They just take Bynum out so they can have 5 true ball handlers out there. But against the 94 Rockets, they would be punished on the boards so no fast breaks here. As far as coaching goes, Rudy T would rise to the occasion as always.... I say Rox in 6. 95 team...team of destiny. This team was more star driven, and had more heart because they had one vision. no.2 for#22. I feel that Drexler would have risen to the occasion to play vs. a Kobe just like he did vs MJ in the finals in 92. But with that said, we would lose a battle in the post with the loss of OT. Chucky Brown and Charles Jones will have a lot of trouble with Gasol and Odom and give up a few off.rebs. The x-factor for us would have to be our bench. Elie, and Cassell would be asked to offset and exceed Odom's production. Needless to say, they will outplay Farmar and S. Brown. Like i said, this was a team of destiny...they took no nights off. Rockets in 7 no matter where it was at...Heart of a Champion.
Holding your own against him in a regular season team and then in a playoff series is a completely different story. First game Shane and Ron held their own against Kobe. 2nd game, Kobe was telling everyone that had watched "He can't guard me."
Olajuwon would've been a tough matchup for Gasol and Bynum even if they triple him outside shooters : Elie,Horry,Cassel,Smith would've killed them but the thing that would've been in favor of the Lakers is Mister KB24 neither Maxwell nor Drexler would've stopped him so i say the Lakers in 6 or 7
Jordan has even stated that Maxwell played great D on him. I trust Jordan > any clutchfan who pretended to have seen these teams play http://www.clutchfans.net/news/1549/rudy_t_reflects_on_rockets/ On the Rockets vs. Bulls debate I finally got a chance to talk to Michael Jordan years [later] over at Barkley's house and he thought that the best matchup they would have had during that era was against us because of the way Max used to play him and how our big guys used to dominate their inside.
I can't believe no one has mentioned the Robert Horry factor The CLUTCHEST player in playoff history. Whatever team has Horry will win. Gasol or Bynum or Odom will have to choose between doubling Dream or leaving Horry open. 95 Horry was beyond clutch, he not only scored, he got steals, blocks, rebounds, and played D on their best forwards. Easy. Clutch City. Forever. <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/G8esGXWVolk&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/G8esGXWVolk&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
Kobe thought Shane played great defense on him also...and has given all respect to Artest before he joined his own team. Still doesn't CHANGE THE FACT that a REGULAR SEASON GAME is different from a PLAYOFF SERIES GAME. So believe what you want.
this is true, but the Rockets and Bulls NEVER faced each other in the playoffs . So if you invalidate my argument, your argument is invalid too.
Well the whole thing is, the whole thread is what if's. It's hard to say the Rockets would beat the Bulls team, just because of what happened in the regular season. The last Laker-Rocket series, the Lakers beat us everytime in the 4th qtr, yet when the playoffs rolled around the Rockets proved up to the challenge. Now, you are telling me that Mad Max would neutralize or minimize the effect of Jordan...who many think without a doubt is the greatest player to play...and so in effect would do that to Kobe? The only thing I do know is that Jordan wouldn't accept defeat that easily, I doubt any team is shutting him down in a 7 game series. Young Kobe I could see that happening...This 31 yr old Kobe who is driven like this...I can't see it happening. I'm not saying they wouldn't do a good job on him...just that he'd have his days in a 7 game series.
1. I've been watching hoops since the 80s and still watch basketball, so I've seen all of them. Jordan with the Bulls to Jordan with Wizards 2. I've seen the Rockets vs the Bulls play based on my basketball watching through these years and my understanding of how the Bulls/Lakers/Rockets played, I form my opinion. The Rockets with Maxwell preferred to guard Jordan 1x1. The Bulls with Jordan could not single team Hakeem or Akeem. Look it up. The history is there. Sure it's the regular season, but the offensive/defensive strategies are the same based on matchups. Believe what you want.
Okay man that's your opinion, I did not attack it. I guess Jordan wasn't that great then, a single man could stop him in a 7 game series. It is the regular season, but man it is completely different from the post season. You've been watching NBA ball so long, you should know that. Would stop minimize Jordan for one game, Jordan would be extremely pissed/ticked off and then do his thing the next game. Just like Kobe vs Shane/Artest. Just like Hakeem didn't like the thought of any Center being named MVP over him, and destroyed Robinson. You think Jordan would just lay down and be neutralized for 7 games?
I think Jordan will score around his average back in the day 30-35 pts/game while the entire Bulls front line gets into foul trouble while a young Kenny Smith destroys BJ Armstrong while a young Robert Horry is draining open 3s like he's... like he's... Robert Horry while a young Sam Cassell continues the attack of the bench and shows why he'll be a future starter and a guy who's the best mid range player in a long time --- Believe what you think, I saw the Bulls lose in the playoffs with Jordan to the Celtics, Pistons etc Believe what you want, I saw that the Bulls got rid of Doug Collins under Jordan
I know about the Celtics and Pistons also, and it took a lot for those teams to beat the Bulls, and Jordan was still a young player then. We are talking about 94-95 here when Jordan was in his prime, his very prime. It's not was easy for me to say he'd be stopped, and then just accept it. Hakeem wouldn't, and Jordan would not either. Like I said, maybe in a regular season game...hell maybe in two regular season games because there are a lot of factors there.
the epic series that never was. I pick the team with Robert Horry. :grin: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LBo-jmDchy0&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LBo-jmDchy0&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
Hakeem would destroy them inside. We had the defense to hold down the rest of the team and hold Kobe to less than 30.
Nobody's saying he'd be stopped, but he'd have to work damn hard to get his average. Also, a big difference is that in 95 Grant was gone and Rodman had yet to arrive. Jordan could do a lot, but he couldn't win without a good frontcourt player. Look at who the Bulls would have thrown at Hakeem in that series and you see that whatever advantage Jordan had would be equaled or surpassed by Dream. (They did have 24 fouls in Bill Wennington, Will Perdue, Greg Foster, and Luc Longley.) Max and Elie were significantly better defenders against Jordan than anyone the Bulls had to go against Dream. The corollary on the other end is that Dream feared none of the Bulls frontcourt players and could guard his man while looking out for Jordan and Pippen drives. Take away the drive to the basket and then your Jordan defender can play straight up for the J or know the mid-range shot is coming and head to that spot. All that said, I would expect those games to be close and go much like the Orlando series, where Dream would consciously not challenge some of Penny's drives early in the game to make sure he stayed out of foul trouble... same with Jordan... make it to the back half of the 4th quarter and shut down the lane. Play straight up on everyone and make Jordan beat his man and Dream because you know unless one of those four guys had a wide open dunk off an extremely easy pass Jordan isn't sending the ball their way in crunch time. It would have been a great series.
The Rockets would absolutely win. Remember what a real defensive player in Garnett did to Gasol in the finals two years ago. Also, as I remember, the 94-95 team was the team with the Glyde on it, who himself was a fantastic player who could bother Kobe the way that Pierce and Allen did in the finals. I will acknowledge that Bryant has looked like a fabulous player in these playoffs, but I do think that Bryant would have some trouble against Elie and the Glyde. Also, give me Horry on Odom, but I do think that either Bynum or Gasol would bother us on the inside since Hakeem can't quite cover two people at the same time. That said, a gimpy Bynum like the one playing now would largely be a non-factor that we could exploit. Fisher could absolutely not stop Cassell and other than that, both teams have some pretty weak players.
You can't do that because it means Horry has to guard himself. That's like messing with matter and anti-matter.
