Great Center
Great Center
What if the Bulls had met a great center in the Finals?
Something that I noticed years ago about the Bulls dynasty (both versions) is that of the five teams they met in the Finals (Lakers, Blazers, Suns, Sonics, Jazz), none had any of that era's great big men; and that of the two Eastern teams who came anywhere near disrupting the Bulls' dominance, the Knicks had Patrick Ewing, and the Pacers had the good-but-not-great Rik Smits. So how do would the Bulls have fared in the Finals against a team with a dominant center?
Obviously, if Shaq and the Magic could be swept by the Rockets, they could have been swept by a Bulls dynasty team (notwithstanding that the Magic beat the Bulls in the playoffs because Jordan was rusty). But what about the Rockets? Olajuwon's team found ways to defeat the Suns, Spurs, Jazz, Knicks and Magic. Could the combination of Olajuwon *and* great defense (esp. by Vernon Maxwell) have derailed the Bulls? Homer answers will only waste my time; this is a serious question.
Wrong, KevinJ...Abdul-Jabbar retired in 1989.
Wasn't Karl Malone great? Wasn't Shawn Kemp great in 1996? Wasn't Charles Barkley part of the top 50 players all-time and a sure HOF candidate?
Seriously, the Jazz team of Malone eliminated the Lakers of Shaq 2 times in a row in the play-offs of 1997 and 1998, they're the only play-off team never beaten by the Shaq-led Lakers. The Jazz would also beat Houston for their first finals appearance in 1997. Kemp's Sonics eliminated Karl's Jazz in 1996 to make their only finals appearance in his era. The fact that Jordan's Bulls would top Patrick Ewing's Knicks several times in the play-offs is a testament of how great Jordan's Bulls were.
The fact that the more physical teams resided in the East at that time more than compensates and validates the Bulls dynasty.
Hope this helps.
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Boeing Mashup using IBM Mashup Center
