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HurricaneDij39
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[FONT="]Kids age 20 and under look at Michael Jordan’s career 6-0 record in NBA Finals appearances and assume it was easy for him. The bandwagoning little kids down in Miami would claim that he was blessed with such a great supporting cast. That however, wasn’t always the case. [/FONT]
[FONT="]After going 15-2 on their way to their first title in 1991 and a 67-15 record leading to their second title in 1992, the Bulls faced a different challenge heading into the 1992-93 season. Jordan and Pippen were tired having played for the Dream Team the previous summer, while the off-season losses of Cliff Levingston and Craig Hodges made their bench considerably thinner. Long-time starters John Paxson and Bill Cartwright were starting to become long in the tooth long in the tooth, with Paxson losing his starting point guard job to fourth-year man B.J. Armstrong.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Bulls limped to a 29-15 start and a 57-25 finish, finishing ten wins fewer than the year before. In the Playoff, the Bulls swept through the first two rounds, taking care of the teams they were supposed to beat, the Atlanta Hawks and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The challenge started in the conference finals against the Knicks. Many experts believed this would be the Knicks’ year to finally beat the Bulls due to their defense and their home court.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Knicks defended their hard-earned home-court advantage by taking a 2-0 series lead. Even though the Bulls pulled through in Game 3, the Knicks had held Jordan to 28.3 PPG on 32.5 % FG shooting. That was about to change in Game 4, as Jordan erupted for 54 points and evened the series at two. New York again held Jordan to a below-average 29 in Game 5, but it was a team effort that kept the Bulls afloat in the Garden. This time, it was B.J. Armstrong who hit the game winning corner three of a pass from Jordan. After a big defensive stand at the other end, the Bulls had a 3-2 lead. At that point, the Knicks’ confidence was shattered. After an easy win in Game 6 back in Chicago, the Bulls became only the fourth team in NBA history to rally from an 0-2 deficit to win a series, an were headed back to the NBA Finals.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Bulls were set to meet league MVP Charles Barkley and the Suns in the Finals, who like the Knicks were favored to beat Jordan and the Bulls. The Bulls won surprisingly easily in the first two games in Phoenix, including an early 20-point lead in Game 1. With the Suns losing each of the first two games at home, it’s should be a sweep. Game over, right?[/FONT]
[FONT="]Think again.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Once the series shifted to Chicago, the Suns shook off their Finals jitters and played like the team with the league’s best record. They took the Bulls into a grueling three overtimes in Game 3, and Chicago needed every one of Jordan’s 55 points to prevail in Game 4. The Bulls lead was cut to two late in the game when Jordan scored on an and-one and Barkley was a step late in trying to take a charge. The play was enough to clinch Game 4, but the Suns won easily in Game 5 and the Suns were two home wins away from their first championship.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Bulls jumped to a nine-point lead after the first quarter, on early three-pointers from Jordan, Armstrong, and Trent Tucker. From that point, the Suns controlled the game and took a four-point lead late as the Bulls struggled just to get on the board in the 4th quarter. It looked as if the series was about to be tied, but Jordan went coast-to-coast for a driving layup, Paxson hit a three, and Horace Grant made a game-saving block on Phoenix point guard Kevin Johnson. [/FONT]
[FONT="]They had snatched the game from the Suns’ hands on won their third straight championship.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The following October, Jordan announced his first retirement, and the Bulls started to rebuild the team without him. In fact, the Bulls had only three remaining players from their championship team for the Finals rematch a year and a half later. Those three players were Scottie Pippen, B.J. Armstrong, and Will Perdue, similar to this year’s Mavs with Dirk, Marion, and Roddy Beaubois as their only holdovers from their 2011 team. The Suns, on the other hand, had much of their 1993 Finals roster still intact for the rematch. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Seriously, check it out:[/FONT]
[FONT="]Phoenix Suns at Chicago Bulls Box Score, November 30, 1994 | Basketball-Reference.com[/FONT]
[FONT="]The 1994-95 season was also the Bulls’ first at the United Center, so the game provided a much different flavor. The team struggled to a 26-29 record through 55 games before they got a shot in the arm when Jordan returned to the game and got them to the second round of the Playoffs, where they would ultimately lose to Shaq and the powerful Orlando Magic.[/FONT]
[FONT="]It goes to show you that none of the Bulls’ titles were easy, as they always had a big target on their backs. Those 1997 Finals against Utah was honestly the most brutal basketball series I have ever witnessed. Each one of those games could have gone either way, and Jordan had to play ill for the Bulls to even have a chance.[/FONT]
[FONT="]If only Jordan’s Bulls could have matched up with Hakeem’s Rockets just once. It would have been a classic. Even some of the biggest die hard Bulls fans of these boards have said they thought the Rockets would have beaten them at least once. [/FONT]
[FONT="]That is why LeBron will never be on Jordan’s level. LeBron had shortcuts that Jordan never had, and wasn’t shy in using them. Jordan made the most of what he had. Take Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant. Were they instant Rookie of the Year candidates or did Jordan help develop them into All-Stars as time went on? That’s what I thought. [/FONT]
[FONT="]LeBron may have more triple-doubles, but when it comes to making others better he falls woefully short. Zdyrunas Ilgauskas was an All-Star the year BEFORE LeBron arrived. Carlos Boozer wasn’t an All-Star until he left Cleveland. Larry Hughes was an All-Star with the Wizards before he instantly became a scrub with the Cavs. Eric Snow was a solid NBA PG in Philadelphia, but his numbers plummeted rapidly as soon as he came to Cleveland. Even Wally Szczerbiak was a solid starter in both Minnesota and Seattle. He too was very much a scrub with the Cavs. I’m not saying that some of these players didn’t seal their own fate, but I think it’s saying something that they were all worse off for playing with Lebron. In Eric Snow’s case, he was a better player alongside Allen Iverson than he was alongside LeBron James.[/FONT]
[FONT="]LeBron has got to learn how to win games without jumping all over the court all the time, and I’m not sure he has the IQ to do it. LeBron is in the prime of his career right now, but once he turns 30 - That is when things are going to get interesting.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Former Bulls assistant Johnny Bach, now 88, was quoted in the last year saying that there is a problem with today’s game, that it’s too individual-oriented, whereas Jordan made others around him better. Being from a different generation at 25, I can honestly say that he is 100% correct. [/FONT]
[FONT="]After going 15-2 on their way to their first title in 1991 and a 67-15 record leading to their second title in 1992, the Bulls faced a different challenge heading into the 1992-93 season. Jordan and Pippen were tired having played for the Dream Team the previous summer, while the off-season losses of Cliff Levingston and Craig Hodges made their bench considerably thinner. Long-time starters John Paxson and Bill Cartwright were starting to become long in the tooth long in the tooth, with Paxson losing his starting point guard job to fourth-year man B.J. Armstrong.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Bulls limped to a 29-15 start and a 57-25 finish, finishing ten wins fewer than the year before. In the Playoff, the Bulls swept through the first two rounds, taking care of the teams they were supposed to beat, the Atlanta Hawks and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The challenge started in the conference finals against the Knicks. Many experts believed this would be the Knicks’ year to finally beat the Bulls due to their defense and their home court.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Knicks defended their hard-earned home-court advantage by taking a 2-0 series lead. Even though the Bulls pulled through in Game 3, the Knicks had held Jordan to 28.3 PPG on 32.5 % FG shooting. That was about to change in Game 4, as Jordan erupted for 54 points and evened the series at two. New York again held Jordan to a below-average 29 in Game 5, but it was a team effort that kept the Bulls afloat in the Garden. This time, it was B.J. Armstrong who hit the game winning corner three of a pass from Jordan. After a big defensive stand at the other end, the Bulls had a 3-2 lead. At that point, the Knicks’ confidence was shattered. After an easy win in Game 6 back in Chicago, the Bulls became only the fourth team in NBA history to rally from an 0-2 deficit to win a series, an were headed back to the NBA Finals.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Bulls were set to meet league MVP Charles Barkley and the Suns in the Finals, who like the Knicks were favored to beat Jordan and the Bulls. The Bulls won surprisingly easily in the first two games in Phoenix, including an early 20-point lead in Game 1. With the Suns losing each of the first two games at home, it’s should be a sweep. Game over, right?[/FONT]
[FONT="]Think again.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Once the series shifted to Chicago, the Suns shook off their Finals jitters and played like the team with the league’s best record. They took the Bulls into a grueling three overtimes in Game 3, and Chicago needed every one of Jordan’s 55 points to prevail in Game 4. The Bulls lead was cut to two late in the game when Jordan scored on an and-one and Barkley was a step late in trying to take a charge. The play was enough to clinch Game 4, but the Suns won easily in Game 5 and the Suns were two home wins away from their first championship.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Bulls jumped to a nine-point lead after the first quarter, on early three-pointers from Jordan, Armstrong, and Trent Tucker. From that point, the Suns controlled the game and took a four-point lead late as the Bulls struggled just to get on the board in the 4th quarter. It looked as if the series was about to be tied, but Jordan went coast-to-coast for a driving layup, Paxson hit a three, and Horace Grant made a game-saving block on Phoenix point guard Kevin Johnson. [/FONT]
[FONT="]They had snatched the game from the Suns’ hands on won their third straight championship.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The following October, Jordan announced his first retirement, and the Bulls started to rebuild the team without him. In fact, the Bulls had only three remaining players from their championship team for the Finals rematch a year and a half later. Those three players were Scottie Pippen, B.J. Armstrong, and Will Perdue, similar to this year’s Mavs with Dirk, Marion, and Roddy Beaubois as their only holdovers from their 2011 team. The Suns, on the other hand, had much of their 1993 Finals roster still intact for the rematch. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Seriously, check it out:[/FONT]
[FONT="]Phoenix Suns at Chicago Bulls Box Score, November 30, 1994 | Basketball-Reference.com[/FONT]
[FONT="]The 1994-95 season was also the Bulls’ first at the United Center, so the game provided a much different flavor. The team struggled to a 26-29 record through 55 games before they got a shot in the arm when Jordan returned to the game and got them to the second round of the Playoffs, where they would ultimately lose to Shaq and the powerful Orlando Magic.[/FONT]
[FONT="]It goes to show you that none of the Bulls’ titles were easy, as they always had a big target on their backs. Those 1997 Finals against Utah was honestly the most brutal basketball series I have ever witnessed. Each one of those games could have gone either way, and Jordan had to play ill for the Bulls to even have a chance.[/FONT]
[FONT="]If only Jordan’s Bulls could have matched up with Hakeem’s Rockets just once. It would have been a classic. Even some of the biggest die hard Bulls fans of these boards have said they thought the Rockets would have beaten them at least once. [/FONT]
[FONT="]That is why LeBron will never be on Jordan’s level. LeBron had shortcuts that Jordan never had, and wasn’t shy in using them. Jordan made the most of what he had. Take Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant. Were they instant Rookie of the Year candidates or did Jordan help develop them into All-Stars as time went on? That’s what I thought. [/FONT]
[FONT="]LeBron may have more triple-doubles, but when it comes to making others better he falls woefully short. Zdyrunas Ilgauskas was an All-Star the year BEFORE LeBron arrived. Carlos Boozer wasn’t an All-Star until he left Cleveland. Larry Hughes was an All-Star with the Wizards before he instantly became a scrub with the Cavs. Eric Snow was a solid NBA PG in Philadelphia, but his numbers plummeted rapidly as soon as he came to Cleveland. Even Wally Szczerbiak was a solid starter in both Minnesota and Seattle. He too was very much a scrub with the Cavs. I’m not saying that some of these players didn’t seal their own fate, but I think it’s saying something that they were all worse off for playing with Lebron. In Eric Snow’s case, he was a better player alongside Allen Iverson than he was alongside LeBron James.[/FONT]
[FONT="]LeBron has got to learn how to win games without jumping all over the court all the time, and I’m not sure he has the IQ to do it. LeBron is in the prime of his career right now, but once he turns 30 - That is when things are going to get interesting.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Former Bulls assistant Johnny Bach, now 88, was quoted in the last year saying that there is a problem with today’s game, that it’s too individual-oriented, whereas Jordan made others around him better. Being from a different generation at 25, I can honestly say that he is 100% correct. [/FONT]
