1998 Bulls vs Spurs 03-14-98

[Da_Realist]

This is the only game between the Spurs and Bulls that feature Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman. The matchup earlier in the year was missing Scottie.

David Robinson Even when you see him, you can't believe how athletic, fast and agile this guy really was. He got so many baskets because he was too for quick the Chicago bigs to keep up with him. He must have had 5 alleyoops this game.

David was beasting this game, but you can clearly see Duncan's potential. He knew how to use his size, he had excellent footwork and his skills were already quite polished on the offensive end. Marked difference between Tim Duncan and Karl Malone (the reigning MVP). Where Rodman could get in Malone's head and force (influence?) him to shoot fadeaway jumpshots, Rodman could do nothing with Duncan defensively...couldn't slow him down and couldn't rattle him. Duncan could get any shot he wanted because he used his size and he kept the ball high. There are players that are in the league for years before they learn not to bring the ball down low. This kid was rock solid from the beginning. I'm not surprised at all the Spurs won the title the next year. And I'm not surprised Duncan eventually won 4 of them.

Even in his last year, MJ could get to the rim anytime he wanted. Even against Robinson and Duncan, MJ found little cunning ways to get to the rim. His game just had no holes in it at all.

Pippen didn't have a great game offensively, he he made up for it defensively. He actually did a pretty good job defending Duncan for a little while.

And Rodman was Rodman. Zero points but 16 hard earned rebounds.

This is as close to a "changing of the guard" as you're going to get since the Bulls imploded after their 6th championship in June and the lockout shortened the following season. And there are some great plays. There was one sequence where Jordan gets the crown riled up by blocking one of Duncan's shots...and then they went crazy when Duncan returned the favor the next trip down the floor. Kukoc made an acrobatic layup. Robinson was all over the place. Jordan was hitting fadeaways, buzzer beaters and sneaking into the lane. You'll see Ron Harper look like the old Cleveland Cavaliers Harper for a minute. And Pippen gets in a nice dunk to finish off the Spurs.

Enjoy this battle (only one at full strength) of the 98 Champs vs the 99 Champs.

1998 Bulls vs Spurs 03-14-98

[Gotterdammerung]

That's not the game where Duncan had 22 rebounds?

[rodman91]

That's not the game where Duncan had 22 rebounds?

Nope.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/...803140SAS.html

Duncan : 14 pts (47%) & 12rbs

[SwooshReturns]

MJ beat them w/o Pippen earlier in the season.

GOAT

[rodman91]

Thx by the way.. Full games > player highlights.

[ShaqAttack3234]

Great upload, and you're right, Duncan entered the league as an extremely polished rookie. Probably the all-time great who entered the league as close to their prime level as any rookie.

Robinson came back surprisingly strong from that back injury as well. Not the same explosiveness as he had from '90-'96, but he started off the season really well getting some MVP talk, but interestingly, the transition from it being Robinson's team to Duncan's team took place during that season. Sometime as the season wore on that transition was made.

They were one of the great duos from '98-'01, really an overwhelming defensive duo in the paint and it was a huge luxury to have two seven footers who could guard either position/anchor a defense who were also mobile enough and versatile enough to face up, pass or hit 15-18 footers.

MJ beat them w/o Pippen earlier in the season

Not to mention that Jordan was playing injured and clearly wasn't himself in that early season match up due to that injury to his shooting hand or wrist, iirc. That made the whole early part of the season without Pippen that much tougher/more impressive, imo.

[Da_Realist]

Robinson came back surprisingly strong from that back injury as well. Not the same explosiveness as he had from '90-'96, but he started off the season really well getting some MVP talk, but interestingly, the transition from it being Robinson's team to Duncan's team took place during that season. Sometime as the season wore on that transition was made.

And it wasn't gradual at all. It's like one day everyone woke up and it was Duncan's team. No gradual shift, no subtlety or anything. Robinson was good, but it was clear as day that it was Duncan's team. And what was so amazing about it was that Robinson knew it...and willingly took the back seat. It's crazy when you think about how good Robinson still was at that time.

I was in college at the time. I remember watching Duncan against the Suns that year in the playoffs. We all knew he was going to be good. He had no fear at all.

I remember sometime during that season, reports of a scrimmage between Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal were coming out. I'm not sure if it was the Olympic team scrimmaging the college all-stars, but I think it was. People watching the scrimmages were amazed that Tim Duncan from Wake Forest was playing Shaq to a stand still. We all knew Shaq was a great player and was the best center in the league at this point so we couldn't believe 4 year Wake Forest guy Tim Duncan was that good. I always remembered that report (probably somebody saying it during one of the Spurs early games). I knew he was good in college but when I saw him play in the pros, I understood just how good he was. And I started to believe what I heard.

[ShaqAttack3234]

And it wasn't gradual at all. It's like one day everyone woke up and it was Duncan's team. No gradual shift, no subtlety or anything. Robinson was good, but it was clear as day that it was Duncan's team. And what was so amazing about it was that Robinson knew it...and willingly took the back seat. It's crazy when you think about how good Robinson still was at that time.

I was in college at the time. I remember watching Duncan against the Suns that year in the playoffs. We all knew he was going to be good. He had no fear at all.

I remember sometime during that season, reports of a scrimmage between Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal were coming out. I'm not sure if it was the Olympic team scrimmaging the college all-stars, but I think it was. People watching the scrimmages were amazed that Tim Duncan from Wake Forest was playing Shaq to a stand still. We all knew Shaq was a great player and was the best center in the league at this point so we couldn't believe 4 year Wake Forest guy Tim Duncan was that good. I always remembered that report (probably somebody saying it during one of the Spurs early games). I knew he was good in college but when I saw him play in the pros, I understood just how good he was. And I started to believe what I heard.

Yeah, Robinson was still a 20/10 guy and DPOY-caliber defender, and was capable of that through Duncan's first 3 seasons, but took a backseat very willingly.

I always liked Duncan's offensive skill set better than Robinson's though. Just had a lot more confidence in his back to the basket game and thought his footwork and moves were vastly superior. Robinson scored a lot in large part due to his quickness and face up ability and unmatched ability to run the floor for a man his size, as well as being the ideal target for lobs. But I think you can rely on those things less in the playoffs and to be honest he never looked natural to me with his back to the basket, he usually went to the turnaround(but didn't get as much separation as Olajuwon or Ewing) or that awkward looking hook, but didn't really have that killer or move down low.

I don't think the Spurs built the right kind of team around him because it demanded he average 25-30 ppg and I just don't think he was comfortable doing that in the playoffs. It's probably why the duo with Duncan would've worked even if both were in their primes. From '90-'96, the best cast for Robinson may have been the one in his rookie year.

I don't remember the report of the scrimmage, but I can believe it. Shaq and Duncan always played each other tough when they got the chance to match up. Even more impressive is that Shaq was entering his prime when Duncan entered the league.

[rodman91]

I watched entire game...

1.Even though Duncan didn't have a good game 14 pts (%47 ,most of them tips) He had polished game already as a rookie. I think we can say his post game was better than Robinson.

2.Robinson's athleticism after injury and 32 years old quite impressive. So fast,so quick and jump high... He had many alleyoops.

3.Rodman at 36 years old had 16 rebounds and many balls that he cleared somehow. Still throwing himself out of bounds to get those balls.

4.Most amazing thing is Twin Towers (combined) only 4 times scored on Rodman when he was guarding them, which is entire game.(Duncan 2 time on low post, Robinson 1 alleyoop and 1 low post) (i might missed some maybe but he stopped them in low post)

5.Jordan were still trying to get inside and didn't mind to finishing over twin towers.Not settling for jumpers at 35 years old.

6.Kukoc definetely underrated. 21 points and some of them were lay ups over Duncan.

7.Spurs perimeter players were horrible.

8.Bulls had great chemistry..even scrubs knew what they were doing.

[97 bulls]

I watched entire game...

1.Even though Duncan didn't have a good game 14 pts (%47 ,most of them tips) He had polished game already as a rookie. I think we can say his post game was better than Robinson.

2.Robinson's athleticism after injury and 32 years old quite impressive. So fast,so quick and jump high... He had many alleyoops.

3.Rodman at 36 years old had 16 rebounds and many balls that he cleared somehow. Still throwing himself out of bounds to get those balls.

4.Most amazing thing is Twin Towers (combined) only 4 times scored on Rodman when he was guarding them, which is entire game.(Duncan 2 time on low post, Robinson 1 alleyoop and 1 low post) (i might missed some maybe but he stopped them in low post)

5.Jordan were still trying to get inside and didn't mind to finishing over twin towers.Not settling for jumpers at 35 years old.

6.Kukoc definetely underrated. 21 points and some of them were lay ups over Duncan.

7.Spurs perimeter players were horrible.

8.Bulls had great chemistry..even scrubs knew what they were doing.

Point 7 is most telling. Its why I feel the spurs would've lost to the bulls if they played in 99. And don't forget longley didn't play in this game. That's another big body the bulls could've used.

[AintNoSunshine]

Bulls of course. Duncan was a rookie, DRob was out of prime. Bulls was simply too stacked for this transitional version of Spurs.

[3ball]

.
Let's compare Lebron and MJ's performance vs. Duncan/Popovich:



[COLOR="DarkRed"]Lebron missed his walk-off attempt and needed Ray Allen to save him:[/COLOR]






[COLOR="DarkRed"]Otoh, Jordan MADE his walk-off attempt [COLOR="blue"]from the exact same spot[/COLOR] in his first meeting against Duncan/Popovich to send the game into overtime:[/COLOR]






[COLOR="DarkRed"]After hitting the walk-off, MJ dominated overtime, including 2 dunks over Duncan:[/COLOR]






[COLOR="Navy"]In his 2nd meeting against Duncan, MJ dominated Duncan even more thoroughly:[/COLOR]










It's obvious that Jordan only ever DOMINATED Duncan and guys like Duncan - they weren't "rivals" like they are for Kobe and Lebron.. 6/6

[Smoke117]

.
Let's compare Lebron and MJ's performance vs. Duncan/Popovich:

Of course this ****er has to bring up Lebron...

[3ball]

Of course this ****er has to bring up Lebron...

It is telling how Jordan dominated Duncan/Popovich, while Lebron is their bitch

The video don't lie

[NBAGOAT]

It is telling how Jordan dominated Duncan/Popovich, while Lebron is their bitch

The video don't lie

This video says nothing about Lebron . You're right about film not lying but you sure do it a lot.