Maybe Im ALOT Bias, but it kind of makes me mad to see the 98-99 Spurs on here and neither of the Rockets Champ Teams: http://www.nba.com/playoffs2004/challenge_bracket.html
They based that list on regular season and playoff winning percentages and took the top 16 based on that. This obviously rules out the Rockets since they were a 6 seed.
thas so stupid tho. that goes to show you that business is more important to the nba than what basketball really is.. the 95 rockets showed heart and passion and never say die attitude.. all they put are the "most loved and popular" teams.. tsk tsk. what is basketball turning to this days? they should judge this kind of things not with numbers, but with character..
There ranking system is a bit one dimensional. They should give points to teams that won two years in a row. For instance they rank the 72-73 Knicks higher than the 93-94 Rockets, but he ROx won in the next year. This means they were better for longer and it must count for something. Also, it does not account for the fact the 99 Spurs played a shortened season. It is obviously much easier to have a better winning percentage with less games. We all know the truth anyways!
Or not. It leaves less room for error. A loss during the shorten season would drop your winning % much more than it would during the regular 82 game season. Its all in how you look at.
I just got through voting for the '85-'86 Celtics team. This excerpt will show you what the '86 Rockets faced in the Finals... "The following year, which saw Boston win its 16th championship, Bird attained living-legend status. He was showered with commendations: NBA MVP, Finals MVP, The Sporting News Man of the Year, and the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year. He led the league in three-pointers made (82) and in free throw percentage (.896), an unheard-of accomplishment for a forward. He placed in the top 10 in three other categories. He even won the first-ever three-point shooting competition at the NBA All-Star Weekend. The Celtics finished the 1985-86 season with a 67-15 record; their best under Bird. In the NBA Finals against Houston, Bird nearly averaged a triple-double (24.0 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 9.5 apg). In the decisive Game 6 Bird tallied 29 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists. He earned a second Finals MVP Award." That's an excerpt from Bird's bio. When you consider who he had playing with him, it's a miracle that the Rockets fared as well as they did.
