1996 Bulls 72-10 VS THE 2000/2001 Repeat Lakers 15-1

[timvp]

Laker Fan is delusional. I'm doubt the 2001 Lakers could beat the worst Bulls team ... much less the best.

[picnroll]

I don't think you can call Pippen a role player. He was one of the best defenders in the NBA, and his offensive skills were top notch. When Jordan retired (the first time) Pippen lead the Bulls to 55 wins, and that was before Rodman. Many considered him the second best player in the league that year, after Hakeem Olajuwon.

Yeah, if Pippen was a role player I guess that would make Kobe a role player too.

Comparing Shaq even "dominant Shaq" to Hakeem.

Pippen and MJ don't have a chance in of stopping Kobe.


Bulls in 5. They take one game off.

[mistwiya]

Rodman always guarded Shaq well. Pippen and Jordan don't have a chance in of stopping Kobe.

Before you make ridiculous comments like these, learn you're facts straight, Dennis Rodman, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen were all on the 1st All Defensive Team in 1996 Not one Laker was on the 1st All Defensive Team in 2001. What makes you think all of a sudden, that the Bulls won't be able to stop Kobe Bryant. Theres a reason why the Bulls had a 72 win season.

The only good thing Shaq will do for you is score when he wants to, thats the only 'dominant' thing you have in him. Remember we have Michael Jordan who can score when he wants to as well.(Gary Payton, one of the greatest defenders ever couldn't stop Jordan) No way Shaq can outrebound Dennis Rodman. Rodman won the rebounding le 6 in the last 7 years including the 1996 Season. Hakeem was quoted as saying "Whenever I face Rodman and the Bulls I always say to myself Im going to have a hard time now, because Rodman is the best Rebounder I've ever seen." I'm not saying Kobe will be stopped completely but no way Michael Jordan will let him put up his great numbers at a consistent basis seeing that Michael Jordan is the most compe ive player to ever play in the NBA.

[jacobdrj]

Playoff series almost never go the way we plan, or expect.

the 72 win bulls obviously didn't sweep the playoffs. The FINALS went SIX GAMES against the SEATTLE SUPERSONICS.
You are telling me that the Lakers 2000/2001 wouldn't win a game?
And the X factor isn't Shaq, or Jordan, or anybody on the court. The X factor is that Phil Jackson knows Phil Jackson better than anyone, especially older Phil Jackson.
In 2001, he had tools. It is possible he would have had a way to use them.

[anakha]

The Lakers could actually rotate several good perimeter defenders onto Jordan (Kobe, Fox, etc)

Fox?

Rick Fox?

Are you actually trying to argue that Rick Fox could slow Jordan down?

John Starks on Jordan >>>>>>>>> Rick Fox on Jordan. And Jordan still got his against Starks.

And your etc. - who else are you referring to?

Ron Harper? The best non-Bryant option the Lakers could put on Jordan. But the 2000-2001 Harper would have had fits trying to slow down the 95-96 Jordan.
Brian Shaw? At 35 years old? Not a chance.
Isaiah Rider? Don't make me laugh.
Devean George?

Face the facts. If you want to actually have a chance at slowing Jordan down, you have to stick Bryant on him. The Bulls have the luxury of assigning Pippen on Bryant - an advantage the Lakers do not.

Just as an aside, though. In terms of overall talent and production, I think that the 91-92 Bulls were as good, if not better, than the 95-96 Bulls.

[anakha]

Playoff series almost never go the way we plan, or expect.

Given the the entire premise of this thread is to predict the expected result of a theoretical series, how else are people expected to respond?

[The Franchise]

Would that even be a series, the lake show would suck them off.

[mistwiya]

John Starks on Jordan >>>>>>>>> Rick Fox on Jordan. And Jordan still got his against Starks.

Correction... Gary Payton on Jordan >>>> Rick Fox on Jordan
Joe Dumars on Jordan >>>>> Rick Fox on Jordan
Matt Bonner on Jordan >>>>> Rick Fox on Jordan

[possessed]

Jordan's Bulls never lost a series in six trips to the finals. I wouldn't bet against MJ.

[picnroll]

Kobe got his ass kicked by the '04 Pistons but MJ and Pippen couldn't stop him.

[jacobdrj]

You can easily argue that the series would be a Bulls win. And I would agree with that on virtue of Rodman's smothering defense alone.
But to predict a 4 or 5 game series... it could happen, but that isn't giving enough credit to the Lakers, as they were certainly better than the 96 Sonics, or the 96 New York Knicks.

[TheMadHatter]

For me, the series still comes down to Shaq vs. MJ. Shaq was so dominant that he forced double teams nearly every single time he was in the post. This alone would have negated a lot of advantages the Bulls had on defense IMHO, as a team they historically struggled against teams with dominant centers (NYK, HOU, etc.).

I just don't buy into the idea that MJ would have been harder to stop than a prime Shaq. LAL had the defenders to at least attempt to slow Jordan down, the Bulls had nobody outside of Rodman who could even stand a chance at stopping a prime Shaq.

[anakha]

Matt Bonner on Jordan >>>>> Rick Fox on Jordan

Let's not get ahead of ourselves there.

[mistwiya]

For me, the series still comes down to Shaq vs. MJ. Shaq was so dominant that he forced double teams nearly every single time he was in the post. This alone would have negated a lot of advantages the Bulls had on defense IMHO, as a team they historically struggled against teams with dominant centers (NYK, HOU, etc.).

I just don't buy into the idea that MJ would have been harder to stop than a prime Shaq. LAL had the defenders to at least attempt to slow Jordan down, the Bulls had nobody outside of Rodman who could even stand a chance at stopping a prime Shaq.

The series doesn't come down to Shaq vs MJ, we all know Shaq was going to get his 30 points, and we all know Jordan was going to get his 30 points... What are you trying to say here?

The series really comes down to which team was better defensively,

The 96 Bulls (Jordan, Rodman, Pippen on the 1st All Defensive Team) vs 01 Lakers (Shaq on the 2nd defensive Team)

[anakha]

I just don't buy into the idea that MJ would have been harder to stop than a prime Shaq. LAL had the defenders to at least attempt to slow Jordan down, the Bulls had nobody outside of Rodman who could even stand a chance at stopping a prime Shaq.

Defender.

If anybody but Bryant gets Jordan as the primary defensive assignment, no way is Jordan not scoring 30 a game in that series.

[mistwiya]

Defender.

If anybody but Bryant gets Jordan as the primary defensive assignment, no way is Jordan not scoring 30 a game in that series.

2 powerful thumbs up

[TheMadHatter]

The series doesn't come down to Shaq vs MJ, we all know Shaq was going to get his 30 points, and we all know Jordan was going to get his 30 points... What are you trying to say here?

The series really comes down to which team was better defensively,

The 96 Bulls (Jordan, Rodman, Pippen on the 1st All Defensive Team) vs 01 Lakers (Shaq on the 2nd defensive Team)

Yes it does come down to Shaq vs. MJ. Pippen and Kobe cancel each other out. The rest of the Laker role players were not that much worse collectively than the Bulls, in fact during the 15-1 playoff run they were playing at a ridiculously high level.

The fact that you think a battle between two Phil Jackson coached teams would come down to defense is laughable. It's all about exploiting mismatches on offense, and quite frankly with Shaq in the paint the Lakers have the biggest mismatch.

[mistwiya]

Yes it does come down to Shaq vs. MJ. Pippen and Kobe cancel each other out. The rest of the Laker role players were not that much worse collectively than the Bulls, in fact during the 15-1 playoff run they were playing at a ridiculously high level.

The fact that you think a battle between two Phil Jackson coached teams would come down to defense is laughable. It's all about exploiting mismatches on offense, and quite frankly with Shaq in the paint the Lakers have the biggest mismatch.

Listen to what I said.. We know Shaq is going to get his 30 points and Michael Jordan was going to get his 30 points.... Basically they cancel each other out, what other powerful dominant category can Shaq dominate besides Scoring....

[TheMadHatter]

Listen to what I said.. We know Shaq is going to get his 30 points and Michael Jordan was going to get his 30 points.... Basically they cancel each other out, what other powerful dominant category can Shaq dominate besides Scoring....

No they don't cancel each other out. Shaq HAS to be double teamed, Jordan does not. Shaq is going to score 30, and he's going to get his 30 shooting a ridiculously high FG% (high 50's to low 60's) while putting several Bull's players into foul trouble. Jordan isn't going to shoot anywhere near that for the series and will have to take far more shots to get his 30.

So no, they don't cancel each other out. You people have no recollection of how much a prime Shaq could actually impact the game.

[mistwiya]

No they don't cancel each other out. Shaq HAS to be double teamed, Jordan does not. Shaq is going to score 30, and he's going to get his 30 shooting a ridiculously high FG% (high 50's to low 60's) while putting several Bull's players into foul trouble. Jordan isn't going to shoot anywhere near that for the series and will have to take far more shots to get his 30.

So no, they don't cancel each other out. You people have no recollection of how much a prime Shaq could actually impact the game.

Are you kidding me? You think all Jordan will do is shoot jumpshots? From 91-98 in the seasons that Jordan played, he led the NBA in freethrow attempts every year including 96 which he had a whoppin 1850. Jordan will just drive to the lane, shaq will foul him, Shaq will get benched, and bam you have a happy Bulls team.

One more thing, if Jordan doesn't get double teamed you just guaranteed yourself a 40+ ppg in the Finals by Jordan....

[stretch]

Are you kidding me? You think all Jordan will do is shoot jumpshots? From 91-98 in the seasons that Jordan played, he led the NBA in freethrow attempts every year including 96 which he had a whoppin 1850. Jordan will just drive to the lane, shaq will foul him, Shaq will get benched, and bam you have a happy Bulls team.

One more thing, if Jordan doesn't get double teamed you just guaranteed yourself a 40+ ppg in the Finals by Jordan....

That is a huge problem that the Lakers would have. You got two guys that would be getting Shaq into all kinds of foul trouble. You got Jordan slashing through the lanes, and then Rodman flopping. Facing that team would be Shaq's worst nightmare, because he would probably get ejected every game for acting a fool over the fouls he would be picking up.

[anakha]

The rest of the Laker role players were not that much worse collectively than the Bulls, in fact during the 15-1 playoff run they were playing at a ridiculously high level.

1995-1996 Bulls Playoff Stats (outside of Jordan & Pippen):
896 total points = 49.77 ppg
532 total rebounds = 29.56 rpg
227 total assists = 12.61 apg
Shot 332/741 = .448 FG%
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CHI/1996.html


2000-2001 Lakers Playoff Stats (outside of O'Neal and Bryant):
696 total points = 43.5 ppg
408 total rebounds = 25.5 rpg
217 total assists = 13.56 apg
Shot 253/607 = .417 FG%
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAL/2001.html

I'd actually argue that the Lakers were more reliant on O'Neal and Bryant than the Bulls were on Jordan and Pippen.

Those Bulls stats are skewed by the fact that Kukoc had a horrible playoffs run that season. And they still put up better stats than the Lakers' 'ridiculously high' bench did.

[Spuradicator]

No they don't cancel each other out. Shaq HAS to be double teamed, Jordan does not. Shaq is going to score 30, and he's going to get his 30 shooting a ridiculously high FG% (high 50's to low 60's) while putting several Bull's players into foul trouble. Jordan isn't going to shoot anywhere near that for the series and will have to take far more shots to get his 30.

So no, they don't cancel each other out. You people have no recollection of how much a prime Shaq could actually impact the game.

No, people just have a recollection of how good that Bulls team was, how good Jordan was.

The role players don't even compare. Bulls would win this easy in 5. I'll give the lakers 1 win against them.

[lefty]

umm the 1996 bulls in 5 games

Bulls in 4

[TheMadHatter]

You can easily argue that the series would be a Bulls win. And I would agree with that on virtue of Rodman's smothering defense alone.
But to predict a 4 or 5 game series... it could happen, but that isn't giving enough credit to the Lakers, as they were certainly better than the 96 Sonics, or the 96 New York Knicks.

To all the idiots predicting 4-5 game series, the Bulls got taken to 6 games by the Sonics and Knicks that year. If your saying the '96 Sonics and '96 Knicks were better than the '01 Lakers you don't know .