Best team that lost to the 6 championship dynasty Bulls?

[InRareForm]

Sonics?

Didn't get to catch all the series in depth...


:wakeup

[blah blah blah]

Probably the 97-98 Pacers tbh

[lefty]

Probably the 97-98 Pacers tbh
/thread

[DeadlyDynasty]

Phoenix. Portland was good too. Had a 17-pt 4th quarter lead in Game 6 but blew it. They hold on and they get another Game 7 in their building. Sonics were down 3-0 then the Bulls coasted so they could win at United

[Clipper Nation]

Definitely either the Suns or Knicks in '92-'93, imho.... Jazz are up there too....

[JohnnyMax]

1999 Spurs. If the Bulls didn't chicken out and disband.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Phoenix. Portland was good too. Had a 17-pt 4th quarter lead in Game 6 but blew it. They hold on and they get another Game 7 in their building. Sonics were down 3-0 then the Bulls coasted so they could win at United

This. 1993 Phoenix Suns for me, but in regards to Portland Games 6 & 7 were in Chicago I believe.

[Rogue]

the Jazz got this one imho. Remove bulls from the table and the Jazz would've probably dominated the late 90s pretty much the same way. Jazz complemented the legendary status of the bulls imho

[baseline bum]

Eh, that Portland team lost in 5 to the Pistons the year before. I'd probably take the 96 Sonics as the best team those Bulls beat. Payton/Hawkins/Schrempf/Kemp was a nasty 1-4 and they won 64 games. On paper though you'd probably say the 93 Suns.

[baseline bum]

the Jazz got this one imho. Remove bulls from the table and the Jazz would've probably dominated the late 90s pretty much the same way. Jazz complemented the legendary status of the bulls imho

I love the way Malone dominated Brian Grant

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/199905270POR.html

[Venti Quattro]

I'd say Utah. They got a rematch with Chicago, which they also lost. By that virtue, they should be considered the best team that Chicago has faced en route to a championship.

Also, best team doesn't fall 0-2 at home or go down 0-3.

[midnightpulp]

I love the way Malone dominated Brian Grant

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/199905270POR.html

:cry He only lost because of Jordan :cry

[SpursDynasty]

The Utah Jazz should have been the 1996, 1997, and 1998 NBA Champions. Typical fixing of games to allow MJ's Bulls to win the championships that year. I give no credit to Jordan for those titles. It was more about Utah losing than Chicago winning those years.

[phxspurfan]

98 Jazz, 97 Pacers

[jdiggy0424]

The Utah Jazz should have been the 1996, 1997, and 1998 NBA Champions. Typical fixing of games to allow MJ's Bulls to win the championships that year. I give no credit to Jordan for those titles. It was more about Utah losing than Chicago winning those years.

Seriously?

[jdiggy0424]

Top of my head the 97-98 pacers and 94-95 Magic

Malone always shriveled up during the biggest moments. Ill always remember him for having 30 pts and like 9 rebs to end the 3rd and finish the game with 34 pts and 11 rebs. Dude was a scrub during money time.

Barkley bless his heart gave it his all against Jordan except he was waaaayyyyy too good and matched his output and then some. He always played his best against Barkley, probably because he sniffed him out as a potential rival. That changed after that series tho.

I'll give Orlando the benefit of the doubt considering there the only team to knock out the Bulls (even though Jordan wasn't really in prime form during this series). too bad that shaq got shat on in the finals by the dream.

As for the Pacers, they pushed the Bulls to the limit, however by this point the Bulls were extremely fatigued/old by the series end. However both Jordans/Pippens will to win against them outmatched the Pacers youth and energy. Pretty sure that Jordan and Pippen combined for something like 12/36 but grabbed like 25+ rebs between the two of them.

Jordan was in a class of his own, its really unfair to label any team as the "best team" because they ultimately all fell short to the greatest player of all time. No shame in that.

[Mark in Austin]

I love the way Malone dominated Brian Grant

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/199905270POR.html

Jesus. Sabonis-Wallace-Grant. I forgot how huge that front line was...

[Capt Bringdown]

In other words, the Bulls never faced a great team in the finals.

[boga]

utah jazz all day long

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

In other words, the Bulls never faced a great team in the finals.

This.

All the teams that lost to them in the finals are overrated as :cry teams that would have won any other year :cry

The 1997 and 1998 Western Conference was in a weak transition period. The Payton Sonics and Olajuwon Rockets had peaked and were going downhill, the Barkley Suns were dismantled, and the Drexler Blazers were long gone. Meanwhile the Duncan Spurs and Shaq Lakers hadn't hit their stride yet. It was a fluky two year period the Jazz capitalized on when they previously couldn't get by the Rockets or Sonics. Thus the late 90's Jazz are one of the most overrated teams in the modern era.

[tlongII]

Eh, that Portland team lost in 5 to the Pistons the year before. I'd probably take the 96 Sonics as the best team those Bulls beat. Payton/Hawkins/Schrempf/Kemp was a nasty 1-4 and they won 64 games. On paper though you'd probably say the 93 Suns.

We lost to Detroit 2 years before that. We lost to the Lakers in the WCF the year before we played the Bulls. What a shame. That was our best team and we crushed the Bulls twice during the regular season that year.

[Budkin]

1992 Portland. That team was badass. Second would have been 1993 Phoenix.

[SpursDynasty]

Looking back on some of Jordan's performances in videos, etc. he really isn't all that different from guys like Allen Iverson, Vince Carter, and Tracy McGrady. No disrespect to Jordan. He just wasn't all that great. I think he was just the first NBA player to put the NBA on a worldwide, mainstream, pop culture level. So when we think about Jordan we think about him being the symbol of the NBA on a worldwide level. Doesn't mean he was the best. 6 championships was an accomplishment, but the first 3 were against a Magic Johnson at the end of his career, Clyde Drexler, and Charles Barkley. And it's well known that the 1996-1998 championships were all handed to the Bulls for Stern's agenda.

As with all things, when we look back on them, whether it be athletes, eras, and events, we tend to make things better than they really were. Jordan was a great player, don't get me wrong, and in the Top 5 of all time based on championships, but not the greatest of all time. He was just the main player the NBA marketed. And seriously, who retires from the NBA at 30?

Here's how I rank the 5 greatest NBA players of all time.

1. Magic Johnson
2. Tim Duncan
3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
4. Shaq
5. Michael Jordan

Again, no disrespect to Jordan, I just fail to separate him from Iverson, Vince Carter, and Tracy McGrady when I see videos. Players were just afraid of him. Tim Duncan wouldn't be afraid of Jordan.

[Killakobe81]

Suns, Pacers Sonics or Jazz but I lean towards Suns Chick was the best player on Any of those teams

[djohn2oo8]

Sonics. Jazz didn't sniff the finals until the late 90's.

[baseline bum]

We lost to Detroit 2 years before that. We lost to the Lakers in the WCF the year before we played the Bulls. What a shame. That was our best team and we crushed the Bulls twice during the regular season that year.

Oh yeah, that was the one when Magic threw the ball slowly down the court to run out the clock. My bad; I was floored when the Lakers won that series.

[DeadlyDynasty]

Oh yeah, that was the one when Magic threw the ball slowly down the court to run out the clock. My bad; I was floored when the Lakers won that series.
Their last great run of that era. Thought it would keep going when Big Smooth won us Game 1, but twasnt to be.

[baseline bum]

Their last great run of that era. Thought it would keep going when Big Smooth won us Game 1, but twasnt to be.

Yeah, I remember how much all the media haters jumped on Jordan and fellated Magic after that game. Oh Magic's the real champion and Jordan's the selfish bastard who'll never win shit but scoring titles. It's like a carbon copy of the media semen cloud after the Spurs pulled game 1 out. Hopefully it ends better for us Spurs fans than that did for you faggot Laker fans though thb.

[TIMMYtoZO]

97-98 Jazz, tbh. If they force a game 7 against Chicago, they win the 1998 championship due to Pippen being badly hurt with his back, and Jordan being worn out. That Bulls team was running on fumes and they wouldn't have survived a 7th game without Pippen, and Utah having that surge of momentum and being at home. Jordan scoring very quickly (4 seconds I believe) after the Stockton 3 changed everything.

[jstep13]

Utah Jazz imo, close second Suns

[Clipper Nation]

97-98 Jazz, tbh. If they force a game 7 against Chicago, they win the 1998 championship due to Pippen being badly hurt with his back, and Jordan being worn out.
Hence why Stern made damn sure a Game 7 wasn't happening by waving off Eisley's on-time three, counting Harper's late three, and ignoring Dad Killer's push-off :lol

[baseline bum]

97-98 Jazz, tbh. If they force a game 7 against Chicago, they win the 1998 championship due to Pippen being badly hurt with his back, and Jordan being worn out. That Bulls team was running on fumes and they wouldn't have survived a 7th game without Pippen, and Utah having that surge of momentum and being at home. Jordan scoring very quickly (4 seconds I believe) after the Stockton 3 changed everything.

Playing the worst of the Bulls title teams doesn't make Utah the best, lol.

[baseline bum]

Hence why Stern made damn sure a Game 7 wasn't happening by waving off Eisley's on-time three, counting Harper's late three, and ignoring Dad Killer's push-off :lol

Harper's shot was a two and could have gone either way in the pre-replay era. Bavetta waving off Eisley's three is probably the worst call in NBA history though. He literally released that shot with about 2 seconds left on the clock.

[hitmanyr2k]

I would go with the 92-93 Knicks. '93 was supposed to be New York's year and it felt like it that entire year. They had followed the same pattern as the Pistons and Bulls before them where it took the Pistons a few years to get it all together and rise up over the Celtics. Then it took a few years for the Bulls to put it all together and rise up over the Pistons. Then the Bulls took over and the Knicks had lost two years straight to the Bulls but took them to Game 7 the year before in '92. In '93 the Knicks were obviously the hungrier team, this time had home court advantage, and were catching a weary Bulls team trying to 3peat and Jordan and Pippen hadn't rested the entire summer playing for the Dream Team. Everyone was talking 3peat and all that but I really thought the Knicks were going to take it and wasn't surprised what I saw in the first two games when they put the Bulls in a hole. I was very surprised by the backdoor sweep by the Bulls but it seemed to take monumental efforts to get over that Knicks team. Jordan's 54 point eruption in Game 4 and Pippen's game-saving blocks on Smith in Game 5 (ending a 25+ game MSG winning streak for the Knicks), and then Game 6 came down to the final minute but Pippen came up big and saved the Bulls from a Game 7 at MSG. I honestly think the Knicks would have taken that final game at home.

[baseline bum]

I would go with the 92-93 Knicks. '93 was supposed to be New York's year and it felt like it that entire year. They had followed the same pattern as the Pistons and Bulls before them where it took the Pistons a few years to get it all together and rise up over the Celtics. Then it took a few years for the Bulls to put it all together and rise up over the Pistons. Then the Bulls took over and the Knicks had lost two years straight to the Bulls but took them to Game 7 the year before in '92. In '93 the Knicks were obviously the hungrier team, this time had home court advantage, and were catching a weary Bulls team trying to 3peat and Jordan and Pippen hadn't rested the entire summer playing for the Dream Team. Everyone was talking 3peat and all that but I really thought the Knicks were going to take it and wasn't surprised what I saw in the first two games when they put the Bulls in a hole. I was very surprised by the backdoor sweep by the Bulls but it seemed to take monumental efforts to get over that Knicks team. Jordan's 54 point eruption in Game 4 and Pippen's game-saving blocks on Smith in Game 5 (ending a 25+ game MSG winning streak for the Knicks), and then Game 6 came down to the final minute but Pippen came up big and saved the Bulls from a Game 7 at MSG. I honestly think the Knicks would have taken that final game at home.

I knew that Knicks team wasn't doing shit after they traded Mark Jackson. What the hell was that stupid franchise thinking trading all their young talented point guards away for pennies on the dollar? (like they did with Strickland too)

[StrengthAndHonor]

Pacers was dat team. That was a great team that almost caught up to the Bulls strategy.

Sonics would be my second pick. I've seen all games live and still have it on tape. Man, Gary fucking Payton was a bad dude. First time I've seen Jordan rattled offensively. GP was talking shit the whole time and Jordan couldn't respond. I believe that was his worst Finals performance ever. Sonics were a Nate McMillan appearance away from pushing it to 7. Keep in mind it was an ugly series butnif yiure a fan ofdefense this series was a pure joy to watch.

[djohn2oo8]

Sonics, since they kept Hakeem from the Finals multiple years.

[DeadlyDynasty]

Do people forget that the Sonics were almost swept in the Finals?

[gnsf0946]

i'ma go with Sonics aswell, they had a genius of a coach tbh

[baseline bum]

Do people forget that the Sonics were almost swept in the Finals?

By a 72-win team.

[Phillip]

This.

All the teams that lost to them in the finals are overrated as :cry teams that would have won any other year :cry

The 1997 and 1998 Western Conference was in a weak transition period. The Payton Sonics and Olajuwon Rockets had peaked and were going downhill, the Barkley Suns were dismantled, and the Drexler Blazers were long gone. Meanwhile the Duncan Spurs and Shaq Lakers hadn't hit their stride yet. It was a fluky two year period the Jazz capitalized on when they previously couldn't get by the Rockets or Sonics. Thus the late 90's Jazz are one of the most overrated teams in the modern era.

most people dont want to admit it, but this is the truth.

[TheSullyMonster]

Not a poll? You fail, OP.

[Killakobe81]

By a 72-win team.

and they still won 2 games