Huh? They swept Shaq in 96 and routinely beat the Knicks. Yes, the Knicks were a center-led team and Ewing was a great center. I think the Bulls would have handled the Lakers just fine. The Bulls did have a bunch of 7 footers to bang with Shaq and foul him, and I don't see Kobe getting off on a Pippen/Jordan combo. Especially the 96-98 version where they could put Pippen/Jordan and Harper on him. I mean, isn't this how Detroit beat them? Let Shaq score (if Kobe will pass him the ball) and lock Kobe down? If Prince can stick him I think Pippen would do just fine.
...I'm inclined to say no. Shaq was amazing but remember that: -Jordan's Bulls played in a time when there were several very good Centers in the league - that team had to defend good centers night in and night out. -Shaq's success came at a time when there were few legitimate bigs period. -Also, if Pops could figure out a way to stop the Lakers (Hack a Shaq), I think Bulls era Phil would have also employed the same strategy and he would have had the perfect Roster to do that (Longley, Wennington, Blue Edwards, John Salley, and the Worm!). If Shaq was somewhat neutralized, then the rest of the Bulls roster pretty much eats up anything Shaq era Lakers could throw at them. Ron Harper, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, the Center Du Jour and Kukoc and Kerr coming of the bench - that's a team the Lakers could NOT compete with even at their best.
kobe would struggle trying to guard jordan while on the other end being guarded by pippen. like i said, shaq would get his but their 2nd scoring option would have a rough series.
Equal ground. Look at that Orlando team. Shaq, Penny and a bunch of who the hell is that? They didn't have the same talent as the Bulls had.
This vid was posted not so long ago, and after watching it ad nauseum I can't help feel amused at what's presented at the 58 secs mark.
Bulls had Jordan, Pippen, and who the hell is that with a skittles wrapper on his head?.....whats your point, What??....You trippin...The Grizzlie fever gettin to you mane!!!!
dennis scott was good. he was lights out from 3 that year. you act like the lakers have much more talent than that team. ron harper would lock down fisher. kobe would struggle. so where is the other offense going to come from other than shaq?
would have been close. A primetime shaq is tough when you are talking rodman, cartwright, longley , caffey horace grant etc As good as jordan was, a monster presence like shaq would just have been too top heavy for the bulls. I say lakers in 7 /would have nothing to do with jordan vs kobe although jordan has the obvious edge / horry > paxson
By my count thats 30 fouls plus 5 flagrant fouls .......enough to put shaq on the line about 12-15 times a game= about 6 made free throws= taking away possible Shaq dunks/points= Bulls Win.......
Im surprised by how stupid some of you are to actually think that!! I mean, i've seen some stupid posts/threads before.... But this may top every stupid thing i have ever seen or heard!! In a seven game series, MJ would destroy Kobe physically AND mentally! Like others have said, Shaq would get his. But com'n fellas! Its disappointing to see how ignorant MOST basketball (so-called) "fans" are today!! Its like y'all don't even watch the game, you just read ammeter forums, listen to "experts" and look at pointless stats! Its sad...
Based on the bolded part, it looks like the Bulls could send a horrible FT shooter to the line a lot and still have bodies left over to bang with him come the 4th? Combine that with Kobe struggling to score and how do you get a win? Cuz who else on LA is gonna get offense for you?
haha now you are getting into the head games that phil jackson would be playing on his alter ego phil jackson. It would be close but people are forgetting 71 wins? fine but people are forgetting 7 foot 2 extreme nastiness that was shaq for a while there. In a 7 game series I dont think the bulls would have been able to handle it. I think the rockets would have played the bulls close but the bulls would have won due to jordan getting all the calls the rockets never got. I think the rockets team was on par with any of those lakers or bulls team ( yeah call me biased) but the rockets would have lost to both in game 7 due to david stern rigged calls. See game 6 WCF 2002 for reference...
Who Reffing the Game? Shaq's Offensive Fouls versus MJ's Palming and 3~4 steps without a dribble and world famous push off. Rocket River
i think this is a very compelling question. no the bulls have no answer for shaq in either carwright or longley or whoever but the true ex-factor is pippen in this series. which small foward from the lakers do you go with, rick fox or robert horry. either way pippen dominates his position, i think jordan wins out. the bulls have actually had some good pgs, while the lakers have had only fisher. then ho grant or rodman pf wins any match up.
I think the question is whether or not Shaq's laker's would beaten MJ's bulls. No way MJ's teams get killed in any series unless it's the 86 Celtics.
