Best NBA Team of the Last 20 Years - Bracket

[Clarkmeister]

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I don't know what WhatIfSports is, but I do know the correct answer to this question is. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

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96 bulls? obviously.

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Take your pick. You've got 6 winning choices.

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I think 96 bulls are the winners because a) they cruise to the championship, and b) they had the best offense AND defense in the league according to Basketball Reference. They just killed opponents in 1996- they had an 18 game winning streak at one point that year.

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Well, if I had to force rank them, 96 would be #1, 98 would be #6, and the rest is up for grabs. The team that beat Seattle was filthy. That Seattle team is my #1 vote for the write-in candidates.

[Sadat X]

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Over the '87 Lakers Clark?

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Yes.

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I know this isn't going to be a popular opinion, but I think the '87 Lakers beat the '96 Bulls in a 7-game series. Here are the matchups:

PG R Harper v M Johnson - obviously Magic gets the edge but Harper is big and can do an admirable job on D.
SG - Jordan v Scott - Jordan can post-up, but the Lakers can bring in DPOY Michael Cooper to help out on MJ.
SF - Pippen v Worthy - Edge to the Bulls here, but not by much.
PF - Rodman v AC Green/Rambis - Rodman and Rambis play a similar style of ball, Rodman's defensive prowess doesn't really come into play here, though.
C - Longley v Abdul-Jabbar - Ouch for the Bulls.
Coach - Jackson v Riley - Toss up.

The bottom line is this, the Bulls never had to play a team of this caliber in their championship runs. Offense was very sparse in the NBA at that point. The Lakers, meanwhile, took out an exceptionally talented Celtics squad on two occassions and an up-and-coming Pistons team that dominated the Bulls in the late-80s/early-90s. I think the Lakers are the better (and deeper) team and win the series in 6 or 7.

[Clarkmeister]

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Over the '87 Lakers Clark?

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Yes.

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I know this isn't going to be a popular opinion, but I think the '87 Lakers beat the '96 Bulls in a 7-game series. Here are the matchups:

PG R Harper v M Johnson - obviously Magic gets the edge but Harper is big and can do an admirable job on D.
SG - Jordan v Scott - Jordan can post-up, but the Lakers can bring in DPOY Michael Cooper to help out on MJ.
SF - Pippen v Worthy - Edge to the Bulls here, but not by much.
PF - Rodman v AC Green/Rambis - Rodman and Rambis play a similar style of ball, Rodman's defensive prowess doesn't really come into play here, though.
C - Longley v Abdul-Jabbar - Ouch for the Bulls.
Coach - Jackson v Riley - Toss up.

The bottom line is this, the Bulls never had to play a team of this caliber in their championship runs. Offense was very sparse in the NBA at that point. The Lakers, meanwhile, took out an exceptionally talented Celtics squad on two occassions and an up-and-coming Pistons team that dominated the Bulls in the late-80s/early-90s. I think the Lakers are the better (and deeper) team and win the series in 6 or 7.

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You really stretch your credibility in my eyes by calling Pippen v Worthy "close". Offensively, yes, but it's a slaughter on the other end. Rambis/Rodman is a joke.

Jackson lords over Riley also. Jordan > Magic.

You simply cannot ignore the fact that a raw, unproven Bulls annihilated both the Pistons who had beaten the Lakers twice, as well as the Lakers themselves, albeit a different incarnation.

Bottom line is the Bulls lock down on D and that Lakers team, with an aging Jabbar, will be hard pressd to score enough points to win. I frankly don't see how they score.

[Sadat X]

Wild Card teams that have to be in:

'93 Suns
'97 Jazz
'03 Kings

I've decided to give the Spurs only one team in the final 16, so we have 3 spots to go. Nominees:

'92 Blazers (Drexler, Porter, Kersey, etc)
'95 Magic (Shaq, Penny)
'96 Sonics (Payton, Kemp, Perkins, Schrempf)
'98 Pacers (Miller, Mark Jackson, Smits - took the Bulls to 7 in the Eastern Finals)
'06 Mavericks (Dirk, Terry, Stackhouse)

[New001]

I don't see how #1 could be anything other than the 1996 Bulls, and I'm a Sonics fan. The Sonics team of the same year was top-notch as well, but it's not even close between the two (and I think Seattle won three games against them that year, too. One regular season and two in the finals). More interesting would be #2 and below.

[Clarkmeister]

Sonics, Blazers, Pacers. Magic and Mavs really not in the discussion IMO.

[antidan444]

I nominated the Magic, but after seeing the other wild card nominees, I agree with Clark.

[Sadat X]

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Sonics, Blazers, Pacers. Magic and Spurs really not in the discussion IMO.

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That's why they play the games...on an online simulator. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Sadat X]

I'm thinking Blazers, Sonics, Mavs to round out the 16. Any objections? Anyone want to throw out a pre-1990's squad?

[Clarkmeister]

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I'm thinking Blazers, Sonics, Mavs to round out the 16. Any objections? Anyone want to throw out a pre-1990's squad?

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Those Pacers would handle both this year's Heat as well as the Mavs.