Fun Hypothetical Question: Rockets vs. Bulls in '94 and '95 Finals

rockets got hot at the right time, and somehow orlando decided to piss away everything after the final seconds of game 1. but never underestimate the heart of a champion baby

 

put them both up and watch us spank them.

the bulls were never a problem for the rockets during that stretch.

 

excellent post, I have been lamenting over that series ever since and how we may very well have beaten the Bulls that year, and maybe have pulled of a 3-peat

the Rockets were the only team in the 90's to have had a wining record against the Bulls I believe

 

Fun thread!

I put both on the line. I'm not sure how we'd do with the '94 team, but with the '95 team, I honestly do not believe anyone could have kept Olajuwon under control enough to take a series from us. Plus you know Clyde would have wanted another shot at Jordan. Man, that would have been AWESOME to see!

 

Jordan's Bulls were great, no doubt. But I'm actually going to have to quote my Grandmother who put it this way:
For those championship teams, it was just automatic. You could just tell they were going to win it.

Fact is, we won over the Knicks by the skin of our teeth. And they won over the Bulls by the skin of their teeth. But only an idiot would think that Jordan's Bulls could have won over the Rockets then; did no one else notice Tiger Woods after the death of his father? Jordan's head wouldn't have been in the game (unless he had money on it). No chance in hell they would've won. But if you want to take a fantasy scenario where his dad didn't pass away that year, okay, I'm down. But I only wager one trophy on it -- not even here do a hell of a lot of people argue that Kenny/Sam/Clyde/Mario/Horry/Hakeem couldn't have beaten that team. Well, except for the guy who said that Clyde was "washed-up" at that time. But he's an idiot, so he doesn't count.

 

Interesting thread!

Actually, My friends and I have talked about this topic quite a few times, and we have an agreement: No one could stop the Rockets in 94 ! It's really a pity the Rockets didn't face the Bulls in the finals. All I can imagine is Dream would block MJ's shot every game!

 

Agreed- Robinson's shot after the clock expired time -was not a legit score. We would have beaten SA and had home court later against Seattle.

Who knows? Beating Seattle that year in '93 might have helped us beat them in later playoff series- knowing we could.

We were playing better than any other team in the NBA -that would have been our first trophy I believe!!

 

Man... I ****ing hate the idea of asterisks next to titles. That Rockets team was a great team, especially the second year when they made that run from 6th seed. A title is a title. That Bulls team kicked ass, but its not like we made Jordan retire early. We didn't make the Knicks and Orlando beat them in the playoffs.

That would be like saying "oh, put an asterisk next to the Heat title because they just got hot and got some bias from the refs" or "put an asterisk next to Dallas making the finals, because the Spurs should've won that series"

And the fact of the matter is, we won the titles back to back. Not many teams do that. And its sad that people still can't handle that.

 

True story. I think we were the underdog in every matchup. We school David Robinson after schooling Charles Barkley, then we sweep the freaking Magic when they are the favorites.

 

I'll put both of our titles on the table, if they will put two of their second run titles on the table for remaches.

MJ was the best EASTERN CONFERENCE NBA player of all time. Hakeem would have whiped the floor with him.

Incidentally:

1. Magic
2. Hakeem
3. Jordan

 

Sorry, man. I love Hakeem, but I've gotta say it's Jordan, Magic, Hakeem.

 

http://www.whatifsports.com/nba/default.asp#top

 

This is a mute question!
The Rockets owned the Bulls all through this period!
So the question should not be asked as the answer is so
clearly defined and should be knbown to all fans of the Rox.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again. The Bulls would not have beaten the Knicks in '94, so we wouldn't have played them anyway. If the Bulls had gotten past the Knicks, Cartwright/Grant/King/Purdue even Pippen would have been beaten up so bad our guys would have rolled over them. Madmax/Elie would have contained MJ, Smith/Cassell = Paxson/Armstrong. It would have been the Knicks year to make it past the Bulls wether MJ's there or not, so this arguement should not only piss off Rox fans but Knicks fans as well.

As for '95, Jordan was their. Don't try and tell me he wasn't in shape. He was in the prime of his career and many claimed him to be the most athletic person in the world. So in a half season he should have been in better shape than all the players who played a full 82 games. Jordan had the advantage as far as being in shape, period. What happened though, he lost, to a team that the Rox swept! Mainly cause he didn't have Grant anymore which they fixed the next season with Rodman. So this arguement should really piss off Magic fans since they actually did beat MJ and the Bulls in the second round.

I voted to not put either on the line since I don't believe that MJ and the Bulls come out of the eastern conference in '94 anyway. They didn't make it out in '95, that one's fact!!

The '93 debate, yes we did get screwed by the refs in the Spurs game but remember we lost to Dallas twice in a weeks period of time. So that year is on us, we had a great series against Seattle and a few of those game 7 calls went the Sonics way. Doesn't prove that the Rox would have beaten Phoenix to even get to the Bulls. Smith/Brooks/Sleepy<Paxson/Armstrong plus we didn't have Elie or Cassell yet. Winston Garland isn't the answer, haha!

All I can say about '97 is that we deserve a game 6 overtime in Houston. When you bearhug someone on a screen it's a foul. Do we beat the Jazz in overtime in Houston, probably. Do we beat them in game 7 in Utah, maybe. We still deserve that chance though. I know for a fact the nation(other than Utah) and the world would rather have seen a Rockets/Bulls matchup over Jazz.

 

I'm keeping them. However, I would have loved to have played them one year earlier and '97 (oh, '97...). Rox would have four rings, 4 4 4 4 4 !!!

 

I think we have to consider which bulls team as well. The 95' Rockets team would have beaten the 93' Bulls team, but the 96' Bulls might have been a tougher challenge.

Seattle really messed it up

 

The Knicks would have beat the 94 Bulls because JVG was an assistant coach.

 

i saw "keep both championships" and immediately voted for that choice. i thought you meant we would have beat the bulls in the finals if we had faced them...weird poll