Rodman wasn't big and strong enough to guard Duncan. Kukoc wasn't strong enough either and Longley and Wennington were too slow.
O'Neal is the most bitter, sensitive, insecure athlete I've ever seen. His latest game is pretending Duncan had a lot of help (says the guy who almost always had an MVP caliber co-star; unlike Duncan) and that Webber was better, because he's jealous that Duncan got a 5th ring and is widely regarded as greater.
Good take
The Bulls wouldn’t have win in 99 even with Scottie
They were mentally and physically exhausted
And Jordan lost another step and his scoring average was still great because he got a lot of welfare free throws
TD also blocked Jordan twice in that game
Scottie fell off after '98.
That too
The Heat were likely energized by the sight of the Spurs legend being taken off the court
Short season, they would have needed 27 wins to just make the Playoffs. Tired?
Every team in the East was in decline. Actually every contender in 1999 was weaker than in previous/future seasons.
Thry were burned out
Kerr said it in an interview
And so was everyone else. Spurs had an even older team.
The Bulls won 3 straight les
That rakes a toll
Did other team win 3 straight les between 96 and 98? No
Same thing with their first 3peat they were mentally beat up, Jordan was even considering retirement in 91
During their times, both Tim and David owned his whiney ass. It's no wonder he's such a biyotch about both of them.
If Pippen fell off, then Elliot was a corpse. Same with Mario Elie.
Look at Sprewell and Houston in the 1999 Finals.
Interesting matchup of strength vs weakness for both teams. I think the strike shortened season is enough for the Bulls in 1999.
Elliott and Pippen were both good role players in 99. They would have both cancelled each other out in match ups. Sean was a pretty good defensive player that year. Spree and Houston did not light him up. Of course they scored over 20 a game against him but it wasn't efficient. Spree shot 41 percent for the series and Houston shot 42 percent. I wouldn't call that lighting it up.
In that series it wasTeams were scoring low 80s during those finals. I mean the close out game was like 78 points and we won. Scoring over 20 a game and contributing a 4th of your teams offense is lighting it up; ignore that field goal percentage bc in that series, against the best defensive team of all time numbers wise, 40 and 41 percent is the equivalent to 50%
No way you spin it low 40 percent shooting will always be trash in my eyes.In that series it was
Against a team that was giving up 83 points a game? Who the is gonna have a great shooting percentage against that? man, entire teams were shooting in the 30s% against the Spurs that year and you ting on low 40s? Not realistic expectations tbh.
Go watch how he guarded Durant in OT of Game 6 to carry us to the finals again.
Pop's moron obviously but he learned his lesson, even though I will never forgive him.
Ridiculous to say that Time didn't have the win at all costs mentality. If you need one instance to illustrate it, think back to game 7, 2013 Finals. He almost won that by himself, and when he missed that little bunny layup near the end, he didn't hang his head, he got back on D, got into his stance, and was slapping the floor, as if to say "bring it". That's a ing warrior. He wasn't demonstrative, but I think a lot of those guys are posers anyway, like KG, K Perkins, etc. They're actually betas trying to act like alphas.
Still think it's funny Jordan called him Will Vanderbilt since he didn't think Perdue deserved to share a name with a college with a competent basketball program.
Tim is an introvert-laidback personality and people just assume if you are laidback that you are not compe ive which is stupid. I have heard arguments from years about how KG was better than Tim simply because he had more fire and passion. Those arguments always make me laugh. Tim was a very physical player and there is no way he could have been that way without having fire and passion.
I agree with this. Pop definitely learned his lesson. 2014 WCF Game 6, OT was almost the exact same situation as 2013 Finals Game 6 - up by 3 with less than 30 seconds left. TD switched out, guarded KD very well - he missed, and Diaw grabbed the rebound. After Diaw made 1/2 FTs, TD was AGAIN switched out to the 3-point line, this time against Westbrook. TD guarded him so well that Russ had to force a wild desperation shot that hit the top of the backboard, lol.
Notice that on both of those 2014 possessions, the rotations were on point. Perhaps if TD was on the floor in 2013, maybe the communication is better and the rotations aren’t screwed up.
The other thing about 2013 (that nobody ever talks about) is when Pop took him out of the game the second time, the Spurs were actually only up 2. Kawhi had just missed the first FT. Remember, he was only 21 yrs old at this point. I remember thinking to myself - why is Pop taking TD out again- what if Kawhi misses this FT too? Then we would have only been up 2, and of course TD should be in the game then.
So, Pop’s thought process should have been:
1. 21 year old Kawhi might miss this second FT, we’d only be up 2, therefore TD should be in the game
2. Even if Kawhi makes second the FT, the Heat had just gotten the offensive rebound off a missed 3 on the previous possession without TD on the court, so we might as well have TD in the game to make sure that doesn’t happen again
Anyways, it’s all a moot point - personally, I don’t think we would have repeated in 2014 had we won in 2013 - the pain of 2013 really drove us in 2014. I think OKC would have taken us out in 2014. The only thing that sucks is that I believe TD would be looked at with higher regard on the All Time list - as he would likely have finished 5-0 in the Finals with 4 Finals MVPs (and everyone knows he was by far our best player in 2007 too). That being said, the revenge le in 2014 was so, so sweet.
Max thinks Hakeem is the 2nd best player of all time? Wow..
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