NBA Fantasy Finals: 1998 Bulls vs. 2007 Spurs
Mike & Scottie
Yesterday we posted our first NBA Fantasy Finals matchup, pitting the ‘95 Magic (Shaq and Penny) against the ‘08 Lakers (Kobe and Kobe).
In case you missed it the first time, this has nothing to do with the stat-driven “fantasy basketball” you play online. We’re taking NBA Finals teams throughout history and pitting them against each other to see what you think would happen. Assume both lineups are healthy, and the older team gets homecourt. Today it’s MJ vs. TD …
1998 CHICAGO BULLS (62-20)
G - Ron Harper (9.3 ppg)
G - Michael Jordan (28.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg)
F - Scottie Pippen (19.1 ppg, 5.8 apg)
F - Dennis Rodman (4.7 ppg, 15 rpg)
C - Luc Longley (11.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg)
Bench - Toni Kukoc, Steve Kerr, Jason Caffey, Scott Burrell, Randy Brown
Coach - Phil Jackson
2007 SAN ANTONIO SPURS (58-24)
G - Tony Parker (18.6 ppg, 5.5 apg)
G - Manu Ginobili (16.5 ppg)
F - Bruce Bowen (6.2 ppg)
F - Tim Duncan (20 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 2.4 bpg)
C - Fabricio Oberto (4.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg)
Bench - Robert Horry, Michael Finley, Brent Barry, Franciso Elson, Jacque Vaughn
Coach - Gregg Popovich
Who would win a best-of-seven series?
May 20th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
hucklebuck says:
Yikes, tough one,
Spurs have inside advantage, Bulls have outside advantage.
Parker would cause problems for Harper, even MJ.
Rodman would do a decent job on Duncan.
Pippen and Bowen would get into a fight.
Kukoc and Ginobli would be the most even matchup.
Advantage-MJ
NO ONE ON THIS TEAM, even Bowen, would contain him.
Spurs only win 1. Bulls in 5.
May 20th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Ian says:
Spurs of course hehe this voting is going to go me , ranger and thats whats up vs the world. I like 99 spurs better for this with the admiral and td vs poor longley.
Homecourt would be important whoever thinks rodman has a chance vs td just needs to lookup the few games they played head to head its like bosh was guardind td. Bowen would at least piss jordan off a couple of times or at least try to injure him. Harper cant stop parker but the spurs have nothing for pippen since jordan is getting his pts anyways i rather have bowen on pip and let jordan score 40. Is manu healthy dime???
May 20th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
hucklebuck says:
Ian-wut are the numbers of Rodman vs Duncan?
May 20th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Ian says:
Lol huckle its true bowen and pip would prob fight
May 20th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Ian says:
they are a bit higher than his career avgs i think the rebs he out rebounded him also but of course this includes a double or triple overtime game and i think they only played twice with rodman in chicago.
If someone remembers exactly if they played after in one of those weird comebacks please post but they shouldnt count since rodman wasnt the same so all we have is a two game sample from the 98 season.
May 20th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
hucklebuck says:
interesting. Hard to tell from those 2 games. Older Duncan 10 years later may be the difference to give Rodman the advantage.
May 20th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
that_dude says:
bulls baby, TP aint going nowhere wit pippen guarding em… MJ will give bowen hell, better believe dat… bulls 4-1
May 20th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
dmitry of jersey says:
bulls in 6 or 7.
man i wish duncan went up against rodman of the 90’s. that would have been a hell of a fight.
May 20th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Student Of The Game says:
I’d take the bulls in 6 games at the most. M.J. is still M.J. and NOBODY on the spurs is slowing him down. Bruce Bowen was a good defender but not THAT good. Pippen would do a very adequate job on slowing down Ginobili if M.J. decided not to take the challenge himself, or Pippen could use his length to apprehend Tony Parker’s drives. The only advantage the Spurs have is T.D. down low. Dennis Rodman in 98 would use mind games and all-out hustle to at least make Duncan work for his points. See what Rodman did to Karl Malone (who wasnt chopped liver back in the 90s)? The 98 bulls have TOO much for the 07 spurs with 2 of the 50 greatest players ever (including THE BEST) and maybe the greatest rebounder ever.
May 20th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Correction says:
Bulls all day. One word: Jordan.
May 20th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Ian says:
huck
sorry made a mistake the one that scored whenever was the admiral i had them mixed up td avged around 18ppg in those two game but 17 boards to go with them and he held rodman to 2ppg hehehehe. thats why i said the 99 team had a better chance because of robinson vs longley match up.
i think a 10 year duncan would be better still not over the hill and with more experience no?? look what happened at deke and martin vs duncan in the finals and both are great defenders.
that dude
the bulls can win in 5 sure but no way pippen stays in front of parker of course jordan would give anyone hell but its kinda one sided manu and td would also get theirs.
May 20th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
karizmatic says:
There is no way that bulls team loses to anyone. Bulls in 6.
May 20th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
SJ says:
Depends on home court advantage, but I would bet on the Spurs either way.
May 20th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Student Of The Game says:
@ karizmatic
yea. i take bulls in 5
May 20th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
The Oracle says:
How about the ‘03 Spurs instead - their bench would have been deeper with Stephen Jackson and Malik Rose, plus it would make a great matchup with the Admiral in his last year.
Spurs in 6
May 20th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Bruce says:
Mike versus any of Timmy teams, any single one of them.
Mike Bulls all day long.
May 20th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
David Brandon says:
chicago for this one. not even as close as we might think. san antone’s tough, but the bulls w/ mike, scottie and dennis??? w/ the bench they had that year playing solid too? yeah, i’m thinking bulls in 5. spurs might win game 2, but thats about as close as i see this one going. come on, mike would LOVE to put timmy, manu, tp and especially bowen on ice. lol
May 20th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Big Shot BOB says:
This is a very hard question. I think it goes Bulls in 7 with Mike hitting the clutch shot. I think every game would come down to the wire with Rob Horry hitting some key shots. Both of these teams were killer defenders. But Jordan would eat everyone on that team and so would Pip. But then you would have Duncan who the bulls would double and force to pass. I say it would come down to the bulls having home court advantage. And lets not forget the playoffs weren’t as soft back in 98′ you could still get physical.
May 20th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Gerard says:
I agree, 03 Spurs over the 98 Bulls. The 07 Spurs got lucky, they had severely weakened competition. They were better in 05 and 03. I don’t say 99 because Ginobili and Parker weren’t on the squad. 03 had Robinson as well as those 2, plus so much more (although the 05 team was solid outside of Nazr Mohammed)
May 20th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
dragonyeuw says:
I say the Bulls in 6. Who defends Jordan? Bowen? Ok, then who defends Pip? Or vice versa, take your pick. Bulls had the 3 headed center (Longley, Wennington,can’t recall the third) with plenty of fouls to spare for Duncan. Rodman also will play Duncan tough and make him work. Kukoc vs Ginobli is somewhat a wash, slight edge to Ginobli but not series changing. Parker will be a problem, but not insurmountable. Remember this version of the Bulls dynasty had to go through Shaq, Mourning, Mutombo, Malone,Ewing, so they saw their share of dominant big men.
May 20th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Drewstar says:
bulls would crush the spurs. rodman would cancel out TD down low. pippen and MJ would more than match up w/ TP and gino. but can the spurs guard MJ and pip? i doubt it.
May 20th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
ERIC says:
Bulls in 6
May 20th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
aj says:
I’ll take the Spurs in 7.
You’re fooling yourself if you think that Pip or Jordan could stop TP. They wouldn’t even guard him. That would leave one of the two to guard Bowen who only beats you if you help off him.
I also think Bowen could do an ok job on Jordan cause by ‘98 he was much more of a jump shooter.
The Spurs play D where they gang up on the best players and try to make the role players score and I don’t think Rodman, Tony, Longly, & Harper could score enough.
I know, I’m crazy.
May 20th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Marian says:
the bulls.
but i would like the matchup more when TD was still gettin near quadruple doubels
fight me:
http://zo33.mybrute.com/cellule
May 20th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Marian says:
the bulls.
but i would like the matchup more when TD was still gettin near quadruple doubels
fight me:
http://zo33.mybrute.com
May 20th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Matt B says:
Spurs would win in 6, to much defense and to much Timmy!
May 20th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
George W Kush Sr says:
Bulls take it in like 6.
I do believe however if it was the 96-97 Bulls it would be Chicago probably in a sweep.
But if you pit the 98 Bulls against the 03 Spurs, it’ll be a lot harder to Judge.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t Stephen Jackson, Big Dog and David Robinson on that squad along with Manu, TP and TD? I think that was the sickest Spurs team ever.
Now, the 03 Spurs vs the 96-97 Bulls. Who takes it?
May 20th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
karizmatic says:
@dragonyeuw
The third center was Will Perdue, and I’m sorry Timmy fans, Rodman would have given Tim Duncan an incredibly hard time. He wouldn’t have gotten his average against Rodman especially not in rebounds which completely changes the game.
May 20th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
George W Kush Sr says:
To answer my own question, Bulls is 6 like they always finish the Finals.
May 20th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Chaos says:
Bulls in 6…Rodman would be one of the few Pf’s to give Timmy problems, not only in defending him but he would get in his head. Duncan will still get his but it wont be as quality. bowen would be put on MJ, and wont slow him down, which moves ginobili to Pippen where he is outmatched and TP is just too small for Ron. you can stick MJ on TP, Pippen on Ginobili and Harper on Bowen because Bowen isnt really an offensive threat and and they could pull Ron into double teams. longley would actually bully oberto. i think the benches are even.
May 20th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
karizmatic says:
That about sums it up Chaos. Pippen would have switched every now and then and played TP just to stay in front of him and direct him whichever direction he was weakest in going…probably left.
May 20th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Guitar Hero says:
Bulls in 5.
The Spurs were VERY good, but we’re talking about one of the best teams of all time, if not THE best.
Yeah, TD would score 30-something per night, but MJ would eat Ginóbili alive and Harper was a great defender at the PG position.
And the brilliance of Toni Kukoc alone gives the Bulls the bench advantage.
May 20th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
bsteezy3 says:
OOOOOOH, good matchup. This is tough one to call. Since I’m biased, I’m going with MJ and the Bulls. Pippen could shut down anyone on the Spurs (except Duncan), Rodman on TD, MJ shuts down Ginobili… But the thing I always liked about the Spurs is how they can play the slow-down game, and the run-and-gun game. Still…the Bulls had MJ and in the end, that ALWAYS made the difference.
May 20th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
? says:
Y’all really think Mike would let his squad lose? Geeeeeeetdafuckouttahere
May 20th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Ian says:
Karizmatic
Td avged 17 rbg vs rodman and those mind games wont work vs timmy why are the people picking the bulls sayin td will be cancelled out?? Isnt that like sayin jordan would be cancelled by bowen?? Its not happening those type of players are unstoppable but i like the 03 spurs for this one most posts for either team make sense except the rodman stopping duncan part. Rodman didnt stop malone and kemp , td is a harder match up.
03 spurs with td at his quadruple double best would give the bulls a better series than my pick of the 99 team
May 20th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
hucklebuck says:
Ian,
I see a good matchup, I see what ur sayin.
May 20th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
alimoe says:
bulls swept a Shaq led 60-win magic team in 96, they would sweep the spurs here
May 20th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
AZ says:
Bulls in 6….even at SAN Ann. Jordan on park… pip on manu… TD get his.. but not in every game. Rodman was a good defender with two great help defenders.. and tp isn’t a great outside shooter. he’d hurt ya wit some shots, but just can’t sink enough to keep bulls honest on d. both pip and Jordan get theirs easy. I mean they have lots of experiance wit big men….hakeem, barkley, malone, ewing, shaq, alonzo, kemp, cwebb just about every type of bigs there is.
May 20th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
hucklebuck says:
AJ and Matt B,
Spurs would not beat the Bulls teams. NO way in any way shape or form.
ANYONE commenting on this article will think aj is FOOLISH for saying Bowen may do an ok job on MJ.
MJ is the EXCEPTION in almost anything regarding basketball. MJ’s jumper is as potent as his drives to the basket. this ain’t no Kobe or Wade shooting jumpers, its MICHAEL JORDAN.
Bowen is a weenie, and he is definitely not John Starks or Nick Anderson, much less Joe Dumars. MJ is too good of a player.
Parker would have the greatest chance of any Spur to be an effective player on a consistent basis, Ginobli would be SHUTDOWN by Pippen, and Duncan would get frustrated with Rodman (remember Karl Malone, former MVP, Dream Teamer, and one of the 50 Greatest Players?-even HE got fed up with Rodman, and Duncan is only 2 inches taller than Malone).
Bulls in 5 still. on ANY SPUR CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM.
May 20th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Luigi says:
This is Michael Jordan were talking about here…NO WAY he lets his team lose no matter the situation… Bulls in 6.
May 20th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
BERN BROGDEN aka BINO BROWN STR8 UP N DOWN says:
MJ n PIP…ALL DAY.
May 20th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Bruce says:
Jordan led Bulls versus any team, past, present, and future! Go get them, Mike!
The question team: Which of Mike team is the most dangerous? I like the squad that won against Phoenix.
May 20th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Clutch says:
ok we all know the spurs win in the backcourt, Jordan and Pippen are just better than Parker and Ginobli, they are bigger more athletic and just better.
Front Court, Rodman is possibly the best defensive player of all time. And he could and did gaurd anybody, Shaq, Malone, Barkly, Admiral, Ewing, Magic etc. Timmy would score but not enough and effeciently against rodman to win a series. And Rodman is a nightmare for Timmy, Strong, intense, Atheltic, and Smart as hell. He rarely got in foul trouble.
Bulls in 5
May 20th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
aj says:
@ huckle,
I’m not going to argue against Jordan about anything. He is the best. By saying Bowen would do ok, that meant Jordan wouldn’t be driving and creating on Bowen too much. Bowen was tough. You look pretty FOOLISH undermining Bowen when comparing him to Starks and Anderson. Any player shooting J’s all game every game gives the other team a better chance than a Jordan or Kobe or DWade driving and creating and getting to the line.
You’re also pretty nutso thinking TD is like Malone. TD probably would get his every game w/in the offense. He was too efficient to be bothered by someone so much smaller.
Just creating some counter arguments is all.
May 20th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
rangerjohn says:
i say dime picked the worst year for the spurs to match up these 2 teams. put any other spurs championship team and spurs win or at least a bit closer but 07 IMO was realatively weak solely due to duncans age. i put the 99 spurs against ANY TEAM in a 7 game series, and the 03 spurs not that far behind but 07 IMO was the weakest of the 4 titles.
LMAO at ian, i am surprised the spurs have gotten even a single game out of any of the other haters around this place.
May 20th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
hucklebuck says:
coo, no hard feelings wit the comments, always up for a good one.
on MJ-I mentioned Starks and Anderson cuz I think they are better defenders than Bowen. They gave Jordan the most problems due to a combo of strength, size, and smarts. I think Bowen is okay, but in his day he did way more handcheckin. Starks and Anderson were able to move their feet better, plus they are better offensively which may force Jordan to use more energy than he would on Bowen (all I’ve seen Bowen do is shoot corner 3s, pretty sure MJ could take that away from him). I will still stick to Jordan being really effective even with the jumpers, and being the all-time leading scorer in playoff history, I would say the Spurs would need more than Bowen.
on Duncan-to make it a little more clearer for myself n u, I mentioned Malone cuz of how great of a player he was, and as tough physically and mentally he was, he did get into with Rodman alot. Duncan, thru out his career, has had occasions where (like vs the Lakers during their 3 championsip ring yrs) he was mentally broken down, his shots were goin, and his confidence was shaken. In this particular series, I believe Rodman of ‘98, with the helpside of Longley and Kukoc and Pippen, could contain Duncan of ‘07. Duncan can have good games, but him 10 yrs into his career would have his body bruised by The Worm )(the Cavs had NO ONE that could guard Duncan in ‘07).
May 20th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Big Shot BOB says:
Yeah it would be closer than people think. It’s essentially the best shooting guard of alltime vs. the best power foward of alltime. But the reason I went with the Bulls is the home court advantage, Mikes clutch, and Pippen - this is the biggest one. There is a reason the Bulls won all those chips and it has a big deal to do with the defense of Pippen. I think even Phil said it.
May 20th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Ian says:
huck
duncan is bothered by long players like camby not the physical ones like rodman duncan will get his pts ill say it easy. jordan would out play manu but you cant say manu isnt doing anything back. comon you are sayin that the bulls defensive players will stop the spurs stars but the spurs defensive players have no chance against the bulls??? every star is getting theirs in this series.
ranger
im surprise more than three votes but its true what some of the comments say about the 03 spurs being better since they had the same 3 allstars plus the admiral , rose and jackson.
May 20th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
hucklebuck says:
AJ-
let me add a stat to that MJ only shooting jumpshots argument. MJ averaged close to TEN free-throw attempts during the playoffs that year. that stat alone doesn’t mean he just settled and put up 15 ft fadeways all game.
He also shot 46% from the field was well, so he hurt ANYONE from ANYWHERE on the floor.
May 20th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Austin Burton says:
@rangerjohn — It was tough picking between the ‘07 and ‘05 Spurs, but I picked ‘07 because that’s when Parker and Ginobili were at their best as a backcourt. I think Duncan is Duncan, whether it’s ‘99 or ‘07. Plus Horry was still at a stage where he was dangerous, Bowen was still an elite defender (he did as good as you could expect against LeBron that year), and Finley would still bang on you. It could have gone either way, though. Although the ‘03 team had Robinson, Parker was just getting started then.
May 20th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Fresh says:
Bulls of course win the serie in 5 - 6 games…
The Spurs are lil’ bit similar as ‘98 Jazz’s team…
Malone at his prime was much better than Duncan in ‘07, he was the ‘98 NBA MVP…
May 20th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Ian says:
huck
i looked up the mailmans numbers vs rodman in the finals 25 10 and 3 shooting over 50% so rodman did exactly what the rest of the league did vs the mailman. no way he stops td.
shawn kemp went for 23 and 10 after avg 19 in the regular season shooting 55%.
when rodman was in detroit i think (someone correct me) he guarded kersey and he avged 20 ppg in the finals. again more than his regular season avg.
tell me again how rodman is stopping a player better than all of those i mentioned? i dont need to post how well he did vs boston back when he was in detroit?
May 20th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
rangerjohn says:
ian where are you looking these numbers up at?
austin, IMO teh 99 team would have beaten all but maybe the 96 bulls due to teh simple fact that the 99 spurs where the best defensive team ever. looking at their numbers, they held teams to 40% average, and 84 ppg. out of 17 playoff games, only 2 games did the opp score more then 90 pts, and only one game did they break 100. they held shaq and kobe to 89 pts, they only lost 2 games and held all teams in the playoffs to a combined average of 81 ppg. NASTY defense wins titles. they also had an ave 8 pt margin.
May 20th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
AZ says:
tell US how spurs are winning against the bulls? Pretty much unanimous the bulls win in 5 or 6 games, cuz jordan don’t play game 7..
May 20th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Ian says:
basket ball reference ranger
May 20th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Fresh says:
I always wondering what could happen in the ‘99 nba season & playoff…
If the final was Bulls vs Spurs, since i’m young i’m asking about this series that never happen…
I would love to see it…!!
May 20th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
QQ says:
Bulls.
Come on now, all the teams the Bulls faced in the Finals are much tougher (or as tough) as the 07 Spurs, and you know how all those Finals went down.
Yes, SA has Duncan, but Chi-town has Jordan. We all know who’s better.
To cats saying ‘its the best sg vs the best pf’, yeah, you that’s probably true, but the difference in talent level between these two is TOO great. Duncan is great, great, great but Jordan is 10x greater than that.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:26 am
Marvin says:
I think if you really want to compare the best teams. What about the two best teams of this century, the 67′ 76ers (68-13) and 96′ Bulls (72-10).
Look that 67′ sixers team had that powerful frontcourt in Chamberlain (rebounds and assists leader that year crazy), Jackson and Walker (they were basically the orig big 3 before the 80’s celtics big 3) a go to scorer in Hal Greer and a HOFer OFF THE BENCH in Billy “The Kangaroo Kid” Cunningham they go 6 deep in double fig scorers and they can play any kind of game pace.
While the 96′ Bulls team had MJ (G.O.A.T.), Pip (the best second best player) and Rodman (should be HOFer by the way if not for the craziness), a scorer off the bench in Kukoc and a host of other role players in Longley, Harper, Kerr etc.
This is the dream match up I would pay everything to watch.
May 21st, 2009 at 1:17 am
heartbreaker85 says:
depends on the RULES.
if we’re playing 90s style ball, 07 spurs would get their asses-whooped. that team doesnt have an enforcer to speak of.
if we’re playing with the present rules (soft, no hand checking), it would still be the bulls because MJ would average 50 free throws a night easily.
mj on tp
pip on manu
ron on bowen
rodman on duncan
kukoc/longley on oberto
May 21st, 2009 at 1:34 am
Ian says:
qq sorry i respect your opinion on the bulls winning of course this is a what if game it doesnt really matter but you are off on something. jordan is ten times better than duncan??? really how??? arent both of them top ten players? yup. i know both td and jordan have good teams but can someone have a more stacked team than jordan?? best second best player best rebounder best three point shooter best sixth man best coach. dude when he left the bulls got to the second round game 7 and won 50 plus games can you say the same happens with the spurs if duncan leaves?? doesnt that mean duncan has a heavier load to carry? how many players have won rings being the best player on the team with diff teammates?? i can only think of One and its not jordan. about that oh jordan wouldnt let the team lose its sounding like the kobe thing because i dont remember jordan winning all the seasons he played.
yes jordan is the best sg and arguably the best ever im not bashing him im just sayin that if you think that the gap is that big you are wrong.
you guys talk like pippen and jordan can shut down parker and manu do you remember the sg talent level in the 90s??? not even half as good as today MAYBE they have a harder time guarding todays players who knows.
May 21st, 2009 at 3:37 am
Dave says:
I think that Spurs team of 2007 was the weakest of the four Spurs title winning sides … and it’s compounded again by having the worst matchups with the Bulls out of the Spurs title sides.
I think Chicago win this series in 5. No answer for MJ, they can defend Duncan well enough to make other guys beat them, and Pippen can stop Parker (especially if it’s pre-rule changes).
May 21st, 2009 at 5:29 am
biggeddy says:
How about the 1996 bulls (72 wins) vs the 2001 Lakers (15-1 in playoffs)??? That match up needs to be looked at… I got the Lakers… Kobe would lose the battle with MJ, but it would be close. Fox could D up Pippen, Fish v. Harper is a wash. Horry would force Rodman to guard him in the perimeter and Shaq would dominate Longley. Lakers baby!
May 21st, 2009 at 5:55 am
QQ says:
@ Ian:
Good points, buddy.
Here’s my take:
Jordan has every intangible that the game requires written down. Mental toughness, poise and confidence, clutch, the fear he strikes at his defender, etc. Yeah, TD also has those, but Jordan MASTERED all of those to the point that it became an art.
And about the argument that MJ has the best rebounder, best right hand man, etc… I think that those guys reached that level because they were playing with MJ. As cliche as it sounds, great players elevated their teammates, and the greatest of all time sure did the BEST job ever when it comes to elevating his peers.
Don’t you think? Because I think TD did the same job with Parker and Manu. I just think that Jordan did it MUCH, MUCH better.
May 21st, 2009 at 9:56 am
doc says:
This was the worst of Mike chip teams but its still Mike.Bulls in 7.
May 21st, 2009 at 10:51 am
Ian says:
Qq
Rodman was the best rebounder before he came to chicago and pip we cant judge since his prime was but i do understand what you mean about elevating the teammates games. Its like you said they both did the samething with their teams i just dont think jordan is that much better since they both are top ten players even if jordan ranks higher.
Remember i agree on everything you said and i chose the spurs because thats my team ( weakest of the four that won the 03 team was the best) the only thing was the gap u mentioned between jordan and td.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:44 pm
AmazingDesign says:
I say the bulls will take this one, the bulls had a tougher road to win the title in 1998 than the spurs in 2007. Bulls had to face the jayson williams/van horn nets in the first round (sweep), then play a good charlotte (hornets) team “won in 5″, then play a tough experience indiana pacers with reggie, mark jackson, smits, davis brothers and co (won in 7).. in the finals play rematch of 1997 finals utah jazz with stockton and malone (won in 6)
the spurs had a easier road to their championship in 2007. Played young ball hogging denver (AI and Melo, who else was going to get the ball)then play the suns (steve nash robert horry incident) play the young non experience jazz and in the finals played one man lebron cavs to win the title.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:50 pm
hucklebuck says:
Ian,
I’ll give u that on the numbers bout Rodman vs Kemp and Malone, but I will say this-I would take Karl Malone over Duncan anyday. not by a longshot, but just barely. regardless of the championships won, Karl Malone was arguable the greatest power forward ever in the game, and is 2nd on the all-time scoring list.
in regards to this article, Rodman vs Duncan is only one matchup. I’ll still take Bulls in 5.
May 21st, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Ian says:
huck
I didnt post the numbers to change your opinion just to say that rodman didnt stop the elite fowards. Malone over duncan personally i think malone is 4 th best but uf u pick him one nothing wrong with that.
May 21st, 2009 at 5:39 pm
ariesprincess says:
Michael Jordan lose in the finals…I think NOT! Bulls is 6.
May 21st, 2009 at 6:56 pm
MSG1 says:
What the fuck is everyone talking about, the ‘98 bulls would swwep or win it in five the spurs wouldn’t even beat the utah jazz. MJ and SCOTTIE are unstoppable and the spurs only have TD fuck Tony Parker and MANU would be fucking scared of MJ and DENNIS RODMAN would fuck up everyone in the paint area
May 21st, 2009 at 9:18 pm
delfra says:
i will say the bulls in 6, while this probally was the weakest of CHICAGO’S 6 championship teams, too much hunger, passion and still too much M.J.
May 22nd, 2009 at 4:25 pm
vinny del negro says:
Scottie Pippen is a nightmare matchup for TP. Bulls in 6.
May 22nd, 2009 at 5:07 pm
osmosis11 says:
spurs in 6,
The bulls were not that great in 98, they barely beat the pacers in 98. They won by 5 pts in game 7. And the 2007 spurs were way better than those pacers teams.
Jordan was still great and will get his, but pippen was on the decline in 98.
Duncan would dominate rodman just as much as jordan would have dominated bowen, the spurs just had a deeper team, and the bulls had nobody to match up with tony parker.
May 23rd, 2009 at 10:52 am
nilo says:
The Dobermans would dominate this Series all day every day.
Bowen has nothing on Pippen
TP and Manu have nothing on Jordan.
Don’t forget you have Kukoc coming off the bench…yikes
Bulls in 5
May 23rd, 2009 at 11:08 am
Dagomar says:
This Bulls team was very clearly on the decline. Jordan was still the best player in the league but he was scoring on smarts and fadeaway jumpers more than anything (though he was still an artist in the post). Pip was on the decline. Still, that team was not going to lose - 98 was indeed their last stand, and everybody knew it. The ‘07 Spurs were great but not even the best of the Spurs championship teams. I say the Bulls win in 6 because, while Bowen is a great defender, he can’t guard Jordan. Now if I take the best of those Bulls teams against the best of those Spurs teams, I say the Bulls win in 4. The NBA is watered down now, sadly.
May 24th, 2009 at 1:21 am
djKianoosh says:
2005 Spurs would win. I like that Spurs championship team the best of their recent run, but while I really like the Spurs, I think those Bulls teams with MJ were really well balanced defensively.
Tony Parker would be a big mismatch, and so would TD, but I can’t see a Jordan team losing. I’d like to say Spurs win, but “how can you guard the unstoppably unstoppable!?!” LOL
May 24th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
S-SiN says:
MJ all the way. any Bulls title team sticks any other champ, so shut the fuck up with that spurs bullshit. oh, better yet, get a loan and buy a drink.
May 25th, 2009 at 12:50 am
q says:
Who’s Tony Parker when Bulls succesfully dealed with 97 and 98′ Stockton? He was much better than TP.
May 25th, 2009 at 1:23 am
hooper5013 says:
MAn Mike is unfuckwitable. Stop putting him against anyone they can’t beat him, like homey above me said he mastered the intangibles on top of having an insane skill set, period! JORDAN is far and away the best player the world has seen. When Lebron learns how to score from somewhere besides the top of the key, and when he defends on the ball like mike, and when he averages damn near two blocks a game holler at me. And don’t get me started on Pip, kid WAS LOCK down on defense. Son dominated games by making opposing PG’s pick up there dribble and make it hell for them to penetrate lower than the 3 point line. Dennis GAVE everyone hell drawing charges and creating turnovers, he wasn’t necessarily shut down. But he reaked havoc, he made it hard for the opposing teams 4 to score. Then U got Ron Harper who was a damn good defender himself following the rules made by Mike and Scottie, and then Luke Longley did exactly what he needed to do, grad a couple boards and hit mid range jumpers. Job done…GREAT TEAM….SPURS don’t stand a chance
May 25th, 2009 at 4:45 am
S-SiN says:
and kukoc hit his damn trees in the finals as far as i remember. or should i check with detlef on that one?
May 25th, 2009 at 4:48 am
S-SiN says:
@78
97-98 Stockton was nice, not as sick as 96 Glove tho.. Stockton played for 19 insanely consistent seasons, but u’d have to believe his prime hit around 92-94
May 25th, 2009 at 4:56 am
S-SiN says:
Spurs wouldn’t come out if they heard about Mike’s flu-like symptoms and fever! NO TEAM STICKS THE BULLS. FORGET IT.
May 27th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
delfra says:
while i do think that OSMOSIS does raise some points about the ‘98 BULLS vs. the “07 SPURS, which is while i said before the BULLs in like 6. the SPURS have been a freat team in the 90’s and they get tey’re props from me. i also have to agree with DAGOMAR on this point, if you put the best of the BULLS teams (96,91,97) againt the best of the SPURS teams (03,05,07) not even close, CHICAGO would annihilate SAN ANTONIO. probally the better question would be if the bulls owner had kept the BULLS togeher for one more year in ‘99. that team against the spurs, could you imagine. a well rested MJ,PIP,WORM,TK,HARP,etc…. having to play only 50 regular season games. lets just say the SPURS would probally have one less championship.
July 4th, 2009 at 3:46 am
God says:
Wow, you kids are dumb. You talk about how it was rougher when MJ was playing, BUT it was also easier to score one on one since there was that pesky illegil defense rule stopping lots of zone and traps, one thing the Spurs are known for(getting the ball out of the best players hand).
And I like how you blow Bruce Bowen off as if he’s a huge step down from some of the premier defensive stoppers in Jordans “time”. He’s not. Its also nice to hear how Rodman automatically cancels out the great Tim Duncan, nice biased opinions everyone!
September 10th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Adam says:
I think the Spurs would take it in 6 or 7. Why? Defense…. In response to all the Jordan lovers who say “No one can stop him” Wrong! The Spurs did stop him in 92 when David Robinson was really the only defense they had… Don’t believe me??? See for yourself http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDndDpnR9kI The 07 Spurs would have shut down the Bulls… Maybe not Jordan but the rest of the team… Yes. Especially if we played with the rules of Jordan time…. Bruce Bowen would have been all over that!!!!