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What We and Everybody Else Can Learn From the San Antonio Spurs

Alasippi said:
I'm not so sure about that. The Spurs are a pretty complete team, and they would have said, "Bring it" when that old Piston's team thought they'd intimidate them. Those Piston's teams had an ok track record, but it doesn't even compare with the consistency of this Spurs team. They've been champions, or in contention, every year, for a long long time. sip
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The Pistons had to deal with Magic, Bird, and Jordan. The pistons were loaded in 89, the had Thomas, Dumars, Rodman, Lambier, Mahorn, Johnson, and Salley; all under the age of 32 and most in their twenties. The last team to handle MJ. They were a handful.
 
Living in SA, the Spurs are class acts and worthy of an Alabama fan to support. Very selfless players, fundamental coach, and a supporting community.
 
BamaPokerplayer said:
When the Bulls trot out, Ron Harper at PG, Jordan SG, Pippen SF, Rodman PF, Luc Longely at C. I really want to know, where the Spurs production is going to come from, and who in the heck is going to guard Jordan.
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I haven't read this entire thread but I don't have to read it to know that, at the end of the day, MJ dominated everyone that was put in front of him. Every team, every player. Sure he lost games, sure some defended him better than others, and sure....he struggled early with Detroit. But for 6 1/2 years he flat out owned the NBA in a way that I have not seen before or since. The only reason it wasn't 8 straight is because he got bored and left for 18 months. He never had a D-Wade counterpart, no Worthy or Kareem, no Robert Parrish or Kevin McHale. He was not blessed with teammates who possessed the skills and worth ethic of the current Spurs.

MJ was a one man show--much by his own preference and design--and he was still unstoppable.
 
AgentAntiOrange said:
I haven't read this entire thread but I don't have to read it to know that, at the end of the day, MJ dominated everyone that was put in front of him. Every team, every player. Sure he lost games, sure some defended him better than others, and sure....he struggled early with Detroit. But for 6 1/2 years he flat out owned the NBA in a way that I have not seen before or since. The only reason it wasn't 8 straight is because he got bored and left for 18 months. He never had a D-Wade counterpart, no Worthy or Kareem, no Robert Parrish or Kevin McHale. He was not blessed with teammates who possessed the skills and worth ethic of the current Spurs.

MJ was a one man show--much by his own preference and design--and he was still unstoppable.
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Wow. You really have no idea what you are talking about do you?

ETA: When Jordan left to play baseball the Bulls won 55 games and went to the 2nd round of the playoffs.
 
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CoachJeff said:
Uh, Scottie Pippen is a top 50 player all time. He's in the Hall of Fame.
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If you watched the Bulls when SP came into to the league and you think he would have ever been half of what he ended up becoming without the presence of MJ then, IMHO, you are sadly mistaken.

Bulls prior 3 years to MJ going on vacation: 3 rings
Bulls 3 years after he came back: 3 rings

Bulls 1 year w/out MJ at all: 55 wins yes...but 2nd in division and lost in EC semifinals.
Bulls 1 year with MJ at 1/2 speed: .500 much of the season, again lost the division (3rd this time), and again out in the semifinals.

The next year with MJ back at full strength? Possibly the greatest team ever. Pippen was a worthless string bean upon entering the league and spent his first several years being so timid of a player (especially vs Detroit) that it was a team weakness--that is, when he wasn't busy crying from the pressure MJ exerted on him. He again showed that weakness during the off year for MJ with the tantrum in the playoff game when Kukoc got the last shot and he didn't. As someone who was a fanatical basketball and Bulls fan during that time, I recall how frequently Pippen was talked about as being a liability. SP was absolutely a byproduct of MJ more so than MJ was a beneficiary of Pippen.
 
AgentAntiOrange said:
If you watched the Bulls when SP came into to the league and you think he would have ever been half of what he ended up becoming without the presence of MJ then, IMHO, you are sadly mistaken.
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Pippen was a dominant defender - he put awesome offensive players totally off of their game, but he was a head case.
 
Jordan's Bulls teams beat the Lakers led by Magic, Portland led by Drexler, Seattle led by a great defender in Gary Payton and let's not forget about Shawn Kemp when he was probably in his prime, then beat a Phoenix team who had a pretty good player in Barkley, and the Jazz who had two of the top 50 players of all time. I feel pretty good about Jordan's chances against the Spurs or even the Houston Rockets that were spoken of earlier in this thread. The Rockets didn't get to play the Bulls during Jordan's run because they couldn't beat the teams that Jordan's Bulls beat in the finials. It is that plain and simple. When the Bulls wanted to put the clamps on another team' offense, they did. When they did, their defense was a site to behold.
 
So the Bulls weren't as good when the greatest player in history left and that means Pippen isn't good? That's some twisted logic. Pippen was a great player and if you think otherwise you're showing just how little you know basketball. Pippen was the PERFECT complement to Jordan. He didn't need slot of shots to be successful on offense (he was more of a slasher)and he was one of the best SF defenders in history, if not the best.
 
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