How the F did 98 Bulls win 62 games.

[Derivative]

-Jordan was 34 years old, comming off 2 straight champions with a broken finger

-Pippen was injured and didn't play half of the season

-Rodman was 36 years old and average 4ppg

-Besides Pippen, only 2 other Bulls averaged over double digit in scoring. So for half of the season the only help Jordan had was Kukoc (13.3ppg) and Longley (11.4ppg)

-Out of all the players of the Bulls main rotation, no one shot a higher FG% than MJ (46.5%)


So my question is, how the hell did the Bulls win 62 games that season.

[sportjames23]

Short answer: InB4 weak era

Long answer: GOAT gonna GOAT

[madmax]

-weak ass era with expansion teams and terrible competition all around
-no other great team for Bulls to contend with
-Shaq, Duncan and Bryant still too wet behind the ears to seriously challenge Bulls hegemony
-transitional era

[sportjames23]

-weak ass era with expansion teams and terrible competition all around
-no other great team for Bulls to contend with
-Shaq, Duncan and Bryant still too wet behind the ears to seriously challenge Bulls hegemony
-transitional era


Did I call it or what?

ISH never disappoints.

[Derivative]

Did I call it or what?

ISH never disappoints.

lol thats pretty bang on

[Rose'sACL]

Did I call it or what?

ISH never disappoints.
actually same can be said about you. whenever there is a thread in which even a little bit negative is said about jordan, you and swish show up. Swish is a little unpredictable with his replies now a days but pretty much anyone on this board can tell what your reply is going to be.

[QuebecBaller]

-weak ass era with expansion teams and terrible competition all around
-no other great team for Bulls to contend with
-Shaq, Duncan and Bryant still too wet behind the ears to seriously challenge Bulls hegemony
-transitional era

http://gifs.gifbin.com/062010/1275389857_naked-gun-facepalm.gif

[DCL]

focus, hunger, and experience.

and even though they were older, they still had great deal of talent.

they had the real league mvp, the best pound-for-pound rebounder ever, and a cast that did what they were supposed to do. kukoc was their 4th best guy, but he was probably good enough to be the 2nd best guy for most other regular teams. they had more firepower than you give them credit for.

[L.A. Jazz]

a team who knew the system and each other etremely well.
they had a great bench and everybody did what he was supposed to do.
the tempo in the game was very slow, in the PO mainly halfcourt offense with one on one plays (the rules on D were different than now). so age wasnt that big of a problem.
only 2 teams had a chance of beating the Bulls. Pacers and Jazz. All others werent well rounded or deep enough.
The Jazz should have won the Title in 97 and in 98, but they let the Bulls of the hook. they had the better team but the Bulls were at there best when the game was close at the end (MJ, Kukoc, Kerr).
And the Jazz were never known for winning close games. thats why they didnt reach the finals in the years before 97.

To sum it up, the Bulls were proven champs and when you didnt kill them and they were within reach at the end of the game, they killed you.

For me it's pretty simple: Dont let championship teams hang around, put them away, otherwise they will come back and kick your ass. Do you feel comfortable with a one point lead with MJ, Kobe or Melo having enough time to get a try for a gamewinning shot? i dont!

[DCL]

they also had ron harper, a highly underrated vet who used to be a legit 22ppg firepower. when ron harper is your 5th or 6th best contributor, you know you probably got a championship team.

[Soundwave]

For all those pissing their pants over Pippen leading the Bulls to one 55 game win season with a considerably younger team, the 98 Bulls were 24-11 without Pippen, riding an 34/35 year old MJ, which pro-rates to a 56 game win season and they were actually starting to really find their groove without Pippen as that stretch went on.

The other amazing thing about MJ in the second threepeat is he played *every single game*. 82 games + playoffs three years in a row.

Pippen missed about 40 games and Rodman missed quite a few as well.

Also weak era my ass, five Eastern Conference teams won more than 50 games that season and 10 teams overall with a .500 or better record. This past year, only two teams in the East managed over 50 wins and only 7 managed a better htan .500 record.

[Trollsmasher]

No competition

[Soundwave]

No competition

You're thinking of this past year's Eastern Conference where a pathetic 2 teams only managed to win more than 50 games.

[sportjames23]

actually same can be said about you. whenever there is a thread in which even a little bit negative is said about jordan, you and swish show up. Swish is a little unpredictable with his replies now a days but pretty much anyone on this board can tell what your reply is going to be.

You sound like a little bitch. Reason me and Swish respond to this is because fools like you, who probably never saw MJ play with the Bulls, spew garbage. All we're doing is countering the lies and misimformation, being among the few here old enough to remember the NBA during that time.

[sportjames23]

For all those pissing their pants over Pippen leading the Bulls to one 55 game win season with a considerably younger team, the 98 Bulls were 24-11 without Pippen, riding an 34/35 year old MJ, which pro-rates to a 56 game win season and they were actually starting to really find their groove without Pippen as that stretch went on.

The other amazing thing about MJ in the second threepeat is he played *every single game*. 82 games + playoffs three years in a row.
Pippen missed about 40 games and Rodman missed quite a few as well.

Also weak era my ass, five Eastern Conference teams won more than 50 games that season and 10 teams overall with a .500 or better record. This past year, only two teams in the East managed over 50 wins and only 7 managed a better htan .500 record.


This. AND MJ played every pre-season game, including the McDonald's Tournament in Paris that last season, in which Pippen and Rodman both missed due to injuries, and the Bulls still won.

[QuebecBaller]

1 - Goat
2 - Perfect sidekick
3 - Ultimate rebounder
4 - Awesome sixth man
5 - Great coach
6 - Perfect team chemistry

[jlip]

They scored more points than their opponents in 62 games.

[Psileas]

My question is, how the F did the '98 Jazz win 62 games?
Care to answer this?

[SilkkTheShocker]

My question is, how the F did the '98 Jazz win 62 games?
Care to answer this?

This. Those Jazz teams were far from stacked.

[STATUTORY]

This. Those Jazz teams were far from stacked.
but Utah home cooking gets them to outperform their talent in the regular season pretty consistently.

[jzek]

Jordan is the GOAT and is therefore capable of doing unthinkable things.

[SilkkTheShocker]

but Utah home cooking gets them to outperform their talent in the regular season pretty consistently.

That is another good point. Those Mormons really know how to intimidate NBA refs

[Sarcastic]

Better question actually is how did the Nuggets only win 11 games that year. They had a chance to break Filly's record and blew it.

[Trollsmasher]

You're thinking of this past year's Eastern Conference where a pathetic 2 teams only managed to win more than 50 games.
Nope, even worse

[riseagainst]

Lebron* stans in here mentioning "weak era". The irony. :oldlol:

[Bigsmoke]

This. Those Jazz teams were far from stacked.

Malone had an amazing year, stockton fell off a bit but still good, and they gotta great coach

[HoopsFanNumero1]

Ref help like with all Jordan teams.

[deja vu]

GOAT of all GOATs :bowdown:

[SilkkTheShocker]

Malone had an amazing year, stockton fell off a bit but still good, and they gotta great coach

Thats not really a case for a stacked team. Their 4th option was Byron Russell and their bench wasn't anything special.

[deja vu]

My question is, how the F did the '98 Jazz win 62 games?
Care to answer this?
Malone was still beasting. He also won MVP the next year (lockout season).

[SilkkTheShocker]

Ref help like with all Jordan teams.

This also. Most ref aided championship team that wasn't the 3 peat Lakers

[Bigsmoke]

Thats not really a case for a stacked team. Their 4th option was Byron Russell and their bench wasn't anything special.

The team knows the game. Dyamic duo with Veterans and a great coach can do that

[sekachu]

-weak ass era with expansion teams and terrible competition all around
-no other great team for Bulls to contend with
-Shaq, Duncan and Bryant still too wet behind the ears to seriously challenge Bulls hegemony
-transitional era



Bullshit excuses :facepalm

Expansion teams virtually irrelevant. There are always terrible team in every era.

[97 bulls]

Its a testament to their depth. I always lump that particular Bulls team as being the 94-98 team. They showed they could win without Jordan, without Rodman, and without Pippen. How many teams can boast that. And when they were relatively healthy they won 72 and 69 games. Its another reason why theyre the greatest ever.

[SamuraiSWISH]

How?

35 year old GOAT gonna GOAT

:applause:

[andgar923]

How?

35 year old GOAT gonna GOAT

:applause:

This.

Put that same team in today's era and they win more.

With no bigs the Bulls would be beasting. MJ makes Luc into an all star.

[Rose'sACL]

You sound like a little bitch. Reason me and Swish respond to this is because fools like you, who probably never saw MJ play with the Bulls, spew garbage. All we're doing is countering the lies and misimformation, being among the few here old enough to remember the NBA during that time.
you sound a cranky woman in her final trimester. where have i talked shit about MJ? I don't worship any NBA player and i won't worship MJ either. He is the best ever but i don't suck his dick all the time like you.
I never make threads like "lebron>MJ". Guys like you think that if anyone thinks that lebron is a great player then he must have started watching basketball a few years ago. I have most probably watched more basketball than most people on this board.

[Flash31]

-Jordan was 34 years old, comming off 2 straight champions with a broken finger

-Pippen was injured and didn't play half of the season

-Rodman was 36 years old and average 4ppg

-Besides Pippen, only 2 other Bulls averaged over double digit in scoring. So for half of the season the only help Jordan had was Kukoc (13.3ppg) and Longley (11.4ppg)

-Out of all the players of the Bulls main rotation, no one shot a higher FG% than MJ (46.5%)


So my question is, how the hell did the Bulls win 62 games that season.


Oh I see the agenda here
come on Really?

Using Rodmans ppg,What were his rebound num#
So besides MJ and Pippen they had two other guys score
13.4 and 11.4 ppg so between the 4 of them thats what 70-80 pts hmm
and Rodmans rb num#
sounds already like a good team

Then you had Ron Harper who wasnt far removed from avg 20 ppg
and he was a bench player
You add Kerr and his 45-50% 3 pt shooting
and that sounds like a very good team

Also considering
Jordan,Pippen,Rodman ALL made the Defensive team
not to mention you had 4 new expansion teams added not too long ago

Tor,Vancouver were terrible
The Spurs were tanking for Duncan
The Ind Pacers had an older cast as well
The NY Knicks were relying on an older Ewing and the original Jr Smith in Starks
the Det Pistons werent good
The Cavs were irrelevant

playing in an easy division relative to everybody else

Having an Untouchable Star
having one of the goat rebounders ever
having 3 top defensive players and solid defenders and 3 pt shooters

Coming off of 72-10
That sounds like a really good team
Just how did they win 62 with all that

Rose and his Bulls won 60 plus
LeBron and the horrible cast won 66

Just how did The repeating back to back finals winners
a team that won 72 games,had great defenders,one of goat rbs,jordan
win 62

Hmm,Okay

[clipps]

a team who knew the system and each other etremely well.
they had a great bench and everybody did what he was supposed to do.
the tempo in the game was very slow, in the PO mainly halfcourt offense with one on one plays (the rules on D were different than now). so age wasnt that big of a problem.
only 2 teams had a chance of beating the Bulls. Pacers and Jazz. All others werent well rounded or deep enough.
The Jazz should have won the Title in 97 and in 98, but they let the Bulls of the hook. they had the better team but the Bulls were at there best when the game was close at the end (MJ, Kukoc, Kerr).
And the Jazz were never known for winning close games. thats why they didnt reach the finals in the years before 97.

To sum it up, the Bulls were proven champs and when you didnt kill them and they were within reach at the end of the game, they killed you.

For me it's pretty simple: Dont let championship teams hang around, put them away, otherwise they will come back and kick your ass. Do you feel comfortable with a one point lead with MJ, Kobe or Melo having enough time to get a try for a gamewinning shot? i dont!

I took this post serious until Melo.

[Sarcastic]

I took this post serious until Melo.


Are you implying that Melo can't hit game winning shots? Because he is statistically one of the best of the generation, and better than Kobe at hitting them.

[TheBigVeto]

Two words: David Stern.

[Soundwave]

Then you had Ron Harper who wasnt far removed from avg 20 ppg


LOL, Ron Harper was a complete shell of the offensive player he used to be by 98. He was never close to being the same player after his injury.

[Soundwave]

Two words: David Stern.

http://i.qkme.me/3rkcq0.jpg

[Duncan21formvp]

MJ was too good. Also the Jazz that year beat the Spurs with Duncan and Rob both getting 21 and 11 for the season. The Lakers with 4 allstars and the Rockets with Hakeem, Drexler and Barkley.

[magnax1]

My question is, how the F did the '98 Jazz win 62 games?
Care to answer this?
They had a lot of depth with pieces who did a couple things really well. Stockton was still amazing running an offense Hornacek was still an amazing shooter Bryon Russell was a really great defender, and they had a couple guys who could fill roles at the center position. Ostertag rebounded and protected the rim, Carr could score a bit and play great post D. Also, despite his flaws Malone was pretty damn great that year. Sloans offense also made a big difference.
EDIT:Think of the championship mavs for a similar team. Nobody was dominant but everyone did a couple things really well and made a positive impact.

[SamuraiSWISH]

SMH @ these clowns not around in the 90's.

The '97 and '98 Jazz were near perfect well rounded basketball teams. Lead by perfect chemistry of their two best players. They had shooters, rebounders, athletes, defenders, quick back up PGs. You name it. With ELITE all-time coaching.

These Stockton / Malone Jazz spanked Hakeem / Drexler / Barkley Rockets, they beat the GP / Kemp / Shremp Sonics, and even bounced Shaq / Eddie Jones / Van Excel / young Kobe's Lakers.

Get with the program. Those teams were nice. All-time great level even. Stop with the agenda hating.

Just because they had white boys with bball IQ, toughness, skills, roles, and niches doesn't mean they aren't better than a modern team with their over focus on an abundance of useless, athletic, dumb, black versatile players with no true skill sets or positions.

Kids these days. As for OP question, answer is obvious as I've said. It's Michael Jordan.

GOAT gonna GOAT

:facepalm

[bdreason]

Defense.

[TheMan]

You sound like a little bitch. Reason me and Swish respond to this is because fools like you, who probably never saw MJ play with the Bulls, spew garbage. All we're doing is countering the lies and misimformation, being among the few here old enough to remember the NBA during that time.
:applause:

[TheMan]

SMH @ these clowns not around in the 90's.

The '97 and '98 Jazz were near perfect well rounded basketball teams. Lead by perfect chemistry of their two best players. They had shooters, rebounders, athletes, defenders, quick back up PGs. You name it. With ELITE all-time coaching.

These Stockton / Malone Jazz spanked Hakeem / Drexler / Barkley Rockets, they beat the GP / Kemp / Shremp Sonics, and even bounced Shaq / Eddie Jones / Van Excel / young Kobe's Lakers.

Get with the program. Those teams were nice. All-time great level even. Stop with the agenda hating.

Just because they had white boys with bball IQ, toughness, skills, roles, and niches doesn't mean they aren't better than a modern team with their over focus on an abundance of useless, athletic, dumb, black versatile players with no true skill sets or positions.

Kids these days. As for OP question, answer is obvious as I've said. It's Michael Jordan.

GOAT gonna GOAT



:facepalm
The 86 Celtics, a "White" team would trounce the 13 Heat, with that Bird, McHale, Parish, Walton FC...fougeddaboutit.

These young punks got the nerve to talk shit about an era they never saw, lmao...

[Micku]

This. Those Jazz teams were far from stacked.

I was, still am, amazed how the Jazz just swept the Lakers in 98. Wtf? The Lakers had four All-Stars with Shaq, Kobe, Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel. I think they were more talented than any team in the league, but aside from Shaq, everyone performed terribly against the Jazz.

But still, they should've won at least one game. Some ppl were expecting a Lakers vs Bulls Finals that year.

[97 bulls]

I was, still am, amazed how the Jazz just swept the Lakers in 98. Wtf? The Lakers had four All-Stars with Shaq, Kobe, Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel. I think they were more talented than any team in the league, but aside from Shaq, everyone performed terribly against the Jazz.

But still, they should've won at least one game. Some ppl were expecting a Lakers vs Bulls Finals that year.
Very true. Just goes to show its not always about talent. That Jazz team was well coached, everyone knew their roles and never tried to do more than what was required, and still had some damn good players.

[Poetry]

I was, still am, amazed how the Jazz just swept the Lakers in 98. Wtf? The Lakers had four All-Stars with Shaq, Kobe, Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel. I think they were more talented than any team in the league, but aside from Shaq, everyone performed terribly against the Jazz.

But still, they should've won at least one game. Some ppl were expecting a Lakers vs Bulls Finals that year.

And beyond their excellent core, the Lakers had a handful of great role players, it really does show just how good that Jazz team was.

In back-to-back playoffs, the Jazz spanked a stacked Lakers team 8-1 (4-1 and then 4-0).

[MiseryCityTexas]

-weak ass era with expansion teams and terrible competition all around
-no other great team for Bulls to contend with
-Shaq, Duncan and Bryant still too wet behind the ears to seriously challenge Bulls hegemony
-transitional era


You fools didn't watch basketball during the mid 90s. teams like the rockets, spurs, and utah jazz used to eat the shaq and so called Kobe's Lakers up(he rarely even played back then idiots) back in the mid 90s.

[SamuraiSWISH]

You sound like a little bitch. Reason me and Swish respond to this is because fools like you, who probably never saw MJ play with the Bulls, spew garbage. All we're doing is countering the lies and misimformation, being among the few here old enough to remember the NBA during that time.
Thanks for holding the fort down, my dude. You, TheMan, Young X ...

[dunksby]

Oh I see the agenda here
come on Really?

Using Rodmans ppg,What were his rebound num#
So besides MJ and Pippen they had two other guys score
13.4 and 11.4 ppg so between the 4 of them thats what 70-80 pts hmm
and Rodmans rb num#
sounds already like a good team

Then you had Ron Harper who wasnt far removed from avg 20 ppg
and he was a bench player
You add Kerr and his 45-50% 3 pt shooting
and that sounds like a very good team

Also considering
Jordan,Pippen,Rodman ALL made the Defensive team
not to mention you had 4 new expansion teams added not too long ago

Tor,Vancouver were terrible
The Spurs were tanking for Duncan
The Ind Pacers had an older cast as well
The NY Knicks were relying on an older Ewing and the original Jr Smith in Starks
the Det Pistons werent good
The Cavs were irrelevant

playing in an easy division relative to everybody else

Having an Untouchable Star
having one of the goat rebounders ever
having 3 top defensive players and solid defenders and 3 pt shooters

Coming off of 72-10
That sounds like a really good team
Just how did they win 62 with all that

Rose and his Bulls won 60 plus
LeBron and the horrible cast won 66

Just how did The repeating back to back finals winners
a team that won 72 games,had great defenders,one of goat rbs,jordan
win 62

Hmm,Okay
This :applause:

[Nevaeh]

Very true. Just goes to show its not always about talent. That Jazz team was well coached, everyone knew their roles and never tried to do more than what was required, and still had some damn good players.

Not to mention they were one of the most fundamentally sound teams of all time. The only thing that they really lacked was consistent clutch play during the end of games. Sure, B Russell, Stockton, and even Malone would hit clutch shots, but never when they needed them the most. Had Malone had Duncan's mentality, for example, I think they could have stolen the 98 championship from the Bulls, or at the very least, forced a game 7.

With that, the 98 Bulls were just a rugged, slower, grind it out version of the 97 team, with Jordan on that "final quest", so to speak. Had Pip not hurt his back during game 6, I don't think MJ would have been as hell bent to wrap things up, with that steal and game winner to end the series. He knew they'd be up the creek without Pip in a game 7, on the road.

[madmax]

You fools didn't watch basketball during the mid 90s. teams like the rockets, spurs, and utah jazz used to eat the shaq and so called Kobe's Lakers up(he rarely even played back then idiots) back in the mid 90s.

I've watched the basketball since late 80's thank you very much:cheers:
Those 90's Lakers teams with Shaq, Van Exel, Jones and Bryant were very immature, badly coached and frankly wet behind the ears. Any well coached team would kick their asses with disciplined play, so stop acting like every poster here is a 13 year old

[guy]

LOL, Ron Harper was a complete shell of the offensive player he used to be by 98. He was never close to being the same player after his injury.

:oldlol: There are many overexaggerations and misconceptions of Jordan's supporting casts, but out of the ones that are brought up relatively frequently, the claim that Ron Harper was still capable of being a 20 ppg scorer in Chicago is easily the most ridiculous.