[chron]No Bull? Rockets say they still would have won like Mike

I love this debate...

On paper the Bulls are superior in all departments except at center. Statistically except 3-point shooting and blocks (maybe), the Bulls would dominate the team head to head comparisons.

I seriously believe that Hakeem would erase any deficiencies in the other positions b/c he is light years ahead of anybody the Bulls could throw at him.
Maxwell could at least play Jordan straight up and funnel him to Hakeem, Horry and Thorpe.

If Jordan could average 40+ on a small Phoenix front-line, imagine the destruction Hakeem would have visited on Phoenix in 93. It would have been a sweep and a Finals meeting with Chicago.

No disrespect to the Bulls, but IMHO they should consider themselves lucky that they never met the Rox in 93 courtesy of the Sonics.

Hakeem had another MVP season in 93 and should have taken it if Chuck did not lead the Suns to the best record in the league.

I just have this gut feeling that Hakeem would have taken his game on a higher plateau than Jordan in the Finals and won it in 7.

Hakeem is a nice, humble and quiet person but we all know when he gets fired up, he can't be touched. That 6 game masterpiece he hung on David will never be equalled in league history.

Put Hakeem in the Knicks team that kept getting bounced by the Bulls instead of that serial underperformer Patrick Ewing....it would be a different story.

 

just getting his legs back?? the man was a professional athlete. an amazing athlete at that. they got buzzsawed because they couldn't match up down low with the Magic. the very same problem they had with the Rockets. they acquired Rodman to address that very problem.

but don't give me the, "he was just getting his legs back" stuff. that's ridiculous. the man hung 55 on the Knicks that regular season. he was back in March. he averaged 31.5 ppg in the 95 playoffs. he wasn't a shell of himself. the Bulls just couldn't get over the Magic. the same Magic the Rockets clobbered.

by the way...if i'm putting together an all-time team, Magic Johnson gets picked first.

 

i agree with all this, and have to add that MJ is an awesome player, no doubt. But, you have to admit, that guy was marketed very very well. his publicist should be given mad props.

 

You take Magic, I take Bill Russell. Who is your next pick?

 

sorry, i meant that they knocked seattle out for us.

 

if i take magic first, than i'm probably looking for a post-man. i never saw russell play. i saw hakeem play, though. see where i'm going?

 

You take Kevin McHale if you want post play.

 

Kevin McHale may have had the best individual post moves ever, but if you had the choice, you would never, ever take Kevin McHale over Hakeem Olajuwon.

Or at least I hope you wouldn't.

 

IIRC they swept Shaq & his Magic in 1996 playoffs.

 

As much as I love the Rocks, here goes...

Michael Jordan and the Bulls were untouchable. The quality of the 94 and 95 finals sloppy in comparison to the sleek machine that was the Bulls. Of course the Rockets of 94 and 95 deserved those titles.

Our teams of the next few years, while quite vastly different (especially those regrettable jerseys) couldnt handle them in regular season meetings.

I hated on Jordan, just cause I got sick of seeing him win so much and carrying that annoying ass Pippen(but not the great Lucien Longley). Got lots of satisfaction in watching him fail to lift the Wizards to great heights
But the it is no less doubtful in my mind that our great title winning teams of the mid 90's would still have fallen short of Chicago.

 

He said post play. If he asked center, as much as I love Dream you have to take either Russell or Chamberlain first.

 

Did you happen to see the some of the brick-fests vs. Utah that the Bulls engaged in at the end of their run? In 12 games, a team scored over 100 points exactly once, and combined, each team only went over 90 6 times. Most of the time the scores were in the 80's - not exactly sleek.

The 1998 series was even lower scoring than the dreaded Rockets-Knicks series (yet is never mentioned in the same breath and is instead regarded as a great series)...as if it's so much prettier when Bryon Russell misses a shot.

We saw what happened to the Bulls after they lost Horace Grant (who left prior to the Jordan retirement, IIRC, in order to get paid and because he hated Phil Jackson) and before they acquired Rodman - even Michael and Scottie couldn't overcome the utter lack of any presence inside - they couldn't stop even a young Shaq. Prime Hakeem would have murdered them, just like he murdered everybody.

 

I agree That Russel and Chamberlain are great centers, but they could only score and rebound.. and the time that they played in lacked great centers to compete against.. they played against midgets and did great things.. but Hakeem could do everything.. everything, what do you want ? points? Rebounds? Assists? Blocks? Steals? Post ups? fade aways? threes ( the one in the finals )?.. Hakeem had a Quadruple Double once, Hakeem is the all-time leaderin blocks... I know a lot would disagree, but Hakeem is the best complete player, the best center, the MVP ( winning the 94 championship by himself and descent role players), and I one more thing, THE BEST PLAYER TO EVER PLAY THE GAME OF BASKETBALL.. yes, he is better than MJ and if I could go back in time to the Draft, I wouldn't even hesitate in taking him before Michael..

 

It's great to have a passion for a player, especially Olajuwon, but you're a bit off-base about Chamberlain. Being tired of hearing critcism about just the sort of thing you mentioned (although both Wilt and Russell blocked one hell of a lot of shots. The stat wasn't kept in those days.), Wilt decided he'd lead the league in assists for a season, just to shut people up about being a "ball hog."

You know what? He did it.

 

you have a good point, and I really think that Wilt is one heck of a player.. but I think you got me wrong, I didnot say that Wilt was a ballhog and he sucks, I just said that Hakeem did so many great things in the age of dominant centers (The Admiral, Shaq, Ewing to name a few) ..plus he carried a whole team on his shoulders for the 94 Championship ( he did the same thing in 95 but he had Clyde..)

 

Put Dream on any of those Celtic teams and they win at least as many championships as they did with Bill. Put Dream on any Wilt team and they win at least as many as Wilt won. Put Wilt or Bill on that first Rockets championship team and it's questionable whether they win.

 

great post man, now that's what I am talking about...

 

Saying Russell and Chamberlain couldn't block shots is pretty ignorant. I'll let that slide since you showered my favorite player with praise and adulation.

 

thanks .. he is my favorite player too..and he is the best player to ever play the game..but you got me wrong.. I didn't say that Russell and Chamberlain couldn't block shots.. I just said that Hakeem did so many more things than Wilt and Bill and he carried a whole team to the championship by himself..