1998 what if: Jazz vs Pacers finals, who you got?

[LukeWalton]

1998 Eastern Conference Finals
one of the two times the Bulls got pushed to Game 7 and the Bulls and Pacers were neck and neck
say the Pacers won that series, they would go on to face the Jazz

who you got?

Jazz:
Karl Malone, John Stockton, Jeff Hornysex, and some others
Jerry Sloan coach

Pacers:
Reggie Miller, Mark Jackson, Fred Hoiberg, Jane Rose, Chris Mullen, Rik Smits, etc
Larry Bird coach

Will Reggie or Malone get their first ring?

[Axe]

Isn't there an existing thread that compares these two teams already?

[aceman]

Pacers don't have athletes to stop Jazz offense.

[SATAN]

Jazz. Can't see the Pacers getting it over them.

[Roundball_Rock]

Pacers. 10.7 PPG from Hornacek and 9.7 PPG from Stockton isn't going to cut it no matter who the finals opponent is.

[aceman]

Pacers. 10.7 PPG from Hornacek and 9.7 PPG from Stockton isn't going to cut it no matter who the finals opponent is.

Jazz were one of the top offenses in the NBA - just bulls were a bad match up with their length & athleticism. Pacers had nobody like Pippen to tag centers & play free safety.

[eliteballer]

Pacers don't have athletes to stop Jazz offense.

The Lakers had the athletes and got swept, you don't need athletes to stop them. Pippen was on a bad back, Jordan was on fumes and the rest of the Bulls weren't great athletes at that point.

[Reggie43]

Jazz were one of the top offenses in the NBA - just bulls were a bad match up with their length & athleticism. Pacers had nobody like Pippen to tag centers & play free safety.

Pacers have one of the biggest lineups in the league with 7'4" Smits 6'11" Dale Davis, 6'10 Derrick Mckey and 6'7" Reggie Miller so there goes your length argument. Athlete wise Dale,Antonio Davis and Derrick Mckey (who at 6'10 has made all defensive teams years prior) provide the defense in the frontcourt while Jalen and Travis best are their young guns that provide perimeter defense.

Pacers were one of the top Nba offenses while maintaining a top 5 nba defense and also having arguably the deepest team in the league allowing them to have 9-10 man rotations easy.

Utah at that point rely too much on one player (Karl Malone) for their success and even if they have the top offense in the league they were an average defensive team (def rtg 17th) mainly because of lack of athletes and their core declining outside of Malone. While the Pacers have proven they could win games against Chicago even if their players got shutdown (Pippen on Jackson) or is suffering an injury (Miller ankle sprain) because of their aforementioned depth. Malone having a bad game or an injury is a death sentence for the Jazz so thats why I think the Pacers are better.

[aceman]

Pacers have one of the biggest lineups in the league with 7'4" Smits 6'11" Dale Davis, 6'10 Derrick Mckey and 6'7" Reggie Miller so there goes your length argument. Athlete wise Dale,Antonio Davis and Derrick Mckey (who at 6'10 has made all defensive teams years prior) provide the defense in the frontcourt while Jalen and Travis best are their young guns that provide perimeter defense.

Pacers were one of the top Nba offenses while maintaining a top 5 nba defense and also having arguably the deepest team in the league allowing them to have 9-10 man rotations easy.

Utah at that point rely too much on one player (Karl Malone) for their success and even if they have the top offense in the league they were an average defensive team (def rtg 17th) mainly because of lack of athletes and their core declining outside of Malone. While the Pacers have proven they could win games against Chicago even if their players got shutdown (Pippen on Jackson) or is suffering an injury (Miller ankle sprain) because of their aforementioned depth. Malone having a bad game or an injury is a death sentence for the Jazz so thats why I think the Pacers are better.
Which of Harper, Jordan & Pippen are less athletic than Mullin, Miller & Jackson?
Pacers simply don't have the side to harass Stockton & throw jazz offense off which was key to Bulls success.

[aceman]

The Lakers had the athletes and got swept, you don't need athletes to stop them. Pippen was on a bad back, Jordan was on fumes and the rest of the Bulls weren't great athletes at that point.

Lakers played Shaq all game & couldn't take advantage of defender drifting off bigs other than Malone to harass Stockton. Don't think Jones or Kobe could defend 5 anyway

[Duncan21formvp]

Pacers. 10.7 PPG from Hornacek and 9.7 PPG from Stockton isn't going to cut it no matter who the finals opponent is.

Somehow they beat us with me, Robinson and company and then the Lakers with Shaq, Kobe, Van Exel and Jones and dominated 8-1 against both.

[Reggie43]

Which of Harper, Jordan & Pippen are less athletic than Mullin, Miller & Jackson?
Pacers simply don't have the side to harass Stockton & throw jazz offense off which was key to Bulls success.

What part of them having the 5th best defense in the league dont you understand? You dont need a harper, jordan or pippen to contain a 35 year old stockton who was averaging 12pts 8asts in the regular season.
Pacers didnt need godly athletes to shutdown Jordan Pippen Rodman in game 7 of their series holding Jordan(with Miller guarding him)to 36% Pip to 33% and Dennis to 6 rebounds. What about the other end of the floor? Nobody to contain Mark Jackson like Pip and having no one as good defensively as harper/jordan to defend a Healthy Miller? Dale and Antonio Davis both outplayed Rodman in their series providing defense and toughness so you know they will do a good job on Malone.

[Reggie43]

What people dont realize is that the 98 Pacers basically had 2 starting lineups due to their depth while the Jazz rely heavily on the play of Malone to be succesful. Pacers winning in 6-7 is not that hard to imagine.

[aceman]

What part of them having the 5th best defense in the league dont you understand? You dont need a harper, jordan or pippen to contain a 35 year old stockton who was averaging 12pts 8asts in the regular season.
Pacers didnt need godly athletes to shutdown Jordan Pippen Rodman in game 7 of their series holding Jordan(with Miller guarding him)to 36% Pip to 33% and Dennis to 6 rebounds. What about the other end of the floor? Nobody to contain Mark Jackson like Pip and having no one as good defensively as harper/jordan to defend a Healthy Miller? Dale and Antonio Davis both outplayed Rodman in their series providing defense and toughness so you know they will do a good job on Malone.

Pacers matched up better against Bulls - made them shoot to beat them. That won't work against Jazz with Hornacek, Stockton & Russell.

[Roundball_Rock]

Somehow they beat us with me, Robinson and company and then the Lakers with Shaq, Kobe, Van Exel and Jones and dominated 8-1 against both.

He is claiming to be Duncan?:lol

[Reggie43]

Pacers matched up better against Bulls - made them shoot to beat them. That won't work against Jazz with Hornacek, Stockton & Russell.

Hornacek, Stockton, Russell each averaged 11ppg on lower percentages for the playoffs with lower all around numbers compared to the regular season. It goes downhill outside of those 3 in terms of scoring help for Malone. 6.7ppg for anderson and 5.6 for eisley with the rest at 4 pts or lower.

They are primarily an offensive team with mediocre defense with an aging core which rely too heavily on one player to succeed

Jazz could win the matchup but lets not act like the Pacers dont have a chance because they actually matchup better against the Jazz compared to the Bulls. Their 2 toughest defenders in Dale and Antonio Davis who are one time allstars are at their peak, both physical and athletic enough to do a decent job on an aging Malone.

[Akeem34TheDream]

He is claiming to be Duncan?:lol

Insidehoops is full of crazy people. You can never know.

[aceman]

Hornacek, Stockton, Russell each averaged 11ppg on lower percentages for the playoffs with lower all around numbers compared to the regular season. It goes downhill outside of those 3 in terms of scoring help for Malone. 6.7ppg for anderson and 5.6 for eisley with the rest at 4 pts or lower.

They are primarily an offensive team with mediocre defense with an aging core which rely too heavily on one player to succeed

Jazz could win the matchup but lets not act like the Pacers dont have a chance because they actually matchup better against the Jazz compared to the Bulls. Their 2 toughest defenders in Dale and Antonio Davis who are one time allstars are at their peak, both physical and athletic enough to do a decent job on an aging Malone.

Pacers were a good defensive side with length inside - they doubled bulls in post & forced others to make shots (or Jordan to try to beat double which is why his fg% was down). Plus series was pretty rough.
Pacers perimeter players weren't great athletes & remember only Pippen coming to double really gave Stockton trouble in 97 & 98. Utah still run it's plays but yeah this is just speculation & we'll never know