If you want to know the real value of a player, don't watch his games against MJ because he makes everybody looks ludicrous on the court. Hersey Hawkins was a great defender at that time but he doesn't look like that against MJ...
And remember? He had no preseason and missed almost all of the regular season. He was doing this on God given talent!!! I'm convinced Jordan arrived here by a spaceship
@@rechoopslegend9833 I specifically said, "He's one of them". Guys like Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Rick Barry, David Thompson, Larry Bird, Adrian Dantley, Chris Mullin, Steve Nash, Dirk Norwitzki, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul are all lethal from mid-range. You seem to forget MJ didn't have a reliable jumper his first few years in the league, and part of the reason of his career fg percentage at a 49 percent clip also comes from countless dunks and lay-ups as well.
ZO and LJ were beasts. MJ the king of aesthetic basketball. That's a huge part of why he is the goat. Beautiful aesthetics. The highest elegance, body control, proportionality, symmetry... I recall only Grant Hill and kobe having come close to his beautiful game. And my favorite swag-master Shawn Kemp.
It's really funny how people say that MJ wasn't in shape coming back in '95,but this 48 pt game and the regular season 55 pt game on the NYK,shows he was in perfect shape.Just Orlando wasn't playing around with Jordan&the Bulls that year in the playoffs.
It doesnt work like that. U cant just look at a few games from a statistic point of view decide if a player was in shape or not. Anyway the statistics of the reguler season dont back up ur claim. In the 17 games Mike played in the 1994 - 95 season he shot the lowest fg% he ever shot with the bulls and averaged the lowest amount of points (outside of the 1985 - 86 season). He was rusty and out of shape period.
@@Sytadel And the The G.O.A.T. came back and swept them the following year. See the difference it took them 6 Game's to beat him and that was with Pippen playing like pure shit in that series. 19ppg on 38% from the field, MJ 31.8ppg 6.7rpg 4.9apg 2.8spg 1.8bpg 48% from the field and that's after a two year layoff. Undisputed G.O.A T. KID!
@@AHMAD-2324 Yeah the Bulls just added a hall of famer in '96 no big deal right? Not to mention Horace grant was injured in game 1 and missed the entire series in '96. I guess long as it's MJ excuses are cool. 🤷🏻♂️
@@2008sALINAs That Hall of famer was averaging 5ppg, was past his prime and was kicked out of the Spurs. He was on route to go to a crappy team, because he was a pariah in the league. Don't act like Rodman was a superstar. He had massive contribution on the boards and interior defense, but the rest of the team, mainly Jordan, had to make up for his lack of offensive output. Grant was a big part of the team, but nobody was beating that 72-10 Bulls while they were hungry for revenge. Maybe the series would have gone to 5 or 6 games.
@Thekingpac2014 con't. MJ also has more: A) playoff seasons shooting OVER the league avg in 3pt% (4 > 2) B) playoff runs of CONSECUTIVE 35% 3pt shooting (5 > 2) C) playoff runs of 38% or better 3pt% (6 > 2) Aside from reg season 3pt% (which he holds a 2% edge), kobe has NOT consistently shot better from the perimeter than MJ. This is simply NOT true..
This series had me realizing the real reason they lost to Orlando was because Grant locked down Kukoc, he played like an All Star against Charlotte but Orlando did a great defensive job on him which led to MJ trying to carry the team throughout the entire series with everyone else struggling and wasn't able to.
Chris M - it wasn't Grant locking down but his dominance on the boards, especially the offensive boards. Chicago always relied on those extra possessions that came from offensive rebounding and it's why they needed either Grant or Rodman.
Boogie Loo I agree with you sir. That same year. There is news that when MJ returned in the BULLS LINE UP. Horace grant has mixed emotions and regreted why he lives THE BULLS back then. That is why when they matched up in the 95 semis.. you can see also that GRANT was eager to knock them out in the playoffs. That is why that series actually ITS GRANT and PENNY'S real domination on the BULLS..
@@2008sALINAs The Magic probably would've still lost the series with Grant, but him not being on the floor in G2 was a major factor of them collapsing in the 2nd half. By G3 the Magic were without both Grant and their top reserve Shaw they had no chance at that point.
When he came back you could see the skils were still there but he just got tired during 4th quarters and the quickness and sharpness wasnt the same. HE just needed one summer to prepare to get back.
The reason in my opinion he only averaged 26.9ppg(ast,rbs were basically the same before)cause of the amount of time he had left in the '94-'95 season(17 games played).I think if he had came back in December of '94(instead of March of '95)his avg would've been higher(IMO:29.8ppg). His averages from the Orlando series:30.1ppg,3.7ast,6.5rbs,2.5stls,1.8blks,and shot 47% from the field.In my opinion,MJ was in shape enough to deal with Orlando.They just got out-rebounded in that series.
Yeah true they needed a big but MJ also looked tired at the end of games. I remembered that. His legs were shaky. And his usual drives layups were not as accurate as it used to be. usually he averages 50% or higher FG -- there were a lot of drives he just missed and that's from not playing nearly two years. If you remember he had no practice until like a few weeks before coming back. He didn't have a proper offseason. While he played in games, it's really different if you didn't prepare in the off season. Even Kobe said that in 2004-2005 when he had to go to Denver for his court case all summer. He never really was able to prepare seriously for the next season.
Signs that you are in trouble when Mike comes to town: Full tongue extensions, fingers fanned out, bouncing on one leg after a jumpshot...and the most obvious..if you have an all-star opponent like Mourning and Gran Mama.
One of my favorite MJ games. He's so beautiful to watch with the black shoes. This was before he bulked up that summer. He would have been still effective even if he didn't bulk up IMO. If you look at LBJ and the players of today, they're slimmer even until their thirties. It hurt MJ's explosiveness. He was still explosive but it was different here -- he looked light on his feet.
damn I remember that logo "I Love this game" in my NBA 97 game on psx. I was in 4th grade and MJ became my role model in basketball. Now I just dont have that interest anymore ever since MJ left.
NAH but seriously how would feel being l.j and morning being like we are the superstars then the king comes back having one hell of a fn ball game just cruising there
A)When did i say Kobe's jump-shot was more consistent? B)Kobe's jump-shot looks better than Jordan's during his first 5-6 seasons IMHO.That's the main reason why i said that. C)Everybody and there mama knows Jordan's shot was 3x more efficient than Kobe was/is,Kobe hasn't even shot over 50% from the floor in his whole 17 years.
Kobe has a little better shot from beyond the arc than MJ, but definantly not midrange and he certainly does'nt have anything near that killer fadeaway MJ devoloped later in his career.
Lol,yeah I agree.I didn't look at Wilt's back-round or anything when I wrote that comment nearly a year ago.I agree 100% that Chamberlain was the most physically talented center EVER! But I still think Hakeem was the most Skilled Center in NBA History. But anyway,I laugh now at how people can actually put Hakeem over Wilt or ANY other center for that matter. The two closest Center in my opinion would be Kareem.In terms of greatness of career.
I can't disagree with that,I was just talking overall career.Jordan had an nearly unstoppable fadeaway when he came back in '95,and it became even more deadly in '96.But yeah,Kobe has a better shot from the arc,overall his shot selection is not as immaculate as Michael's was though.
I wished MJ didnt bulked up too much for his second run. He was so much fun to watch lighter on his feet. The added bulked robbed him of some of his 'springiness'. But he went for a more efficient post game during the second three peat but I think he couldve been a bit more lighter and still be effective in the post.
I completely agree. I think adding his long distance game in 1990 and willingness to shoot the ball instead of driving all the time, were far more important elements in overcoming the Pistons than him bulking up. If anything, that cut away his stamina. By 1992 his stamina in the playoffs wasn't the same as it was in 89 or 90, see the knicks series where he simply got tired at times, and he was still in his prime. I wish he would have stayed in his 1990 season body, I think it was perfect for basketball. He had a little more muscle in the upper body than in 1989, while retaining 95% of his quickness.
Yeah,i agree.Rodman was at the time the best rebounder in the game(and Jordan was still rusty but at full power).And i agree,Pip was the best all around player during that period.That must've been a dream to watch MJ in his prime,in MSG.Yeah Kobe does have a better jumpshot,but when MJ had a full season back his Fadeaway was deadly.Yep!Dr.J and MJ had air on their side.What do you think about LBJ,Wade,Rose of today.Also about Shaq,and Ewing in their primes.Just a question i wanted to ask.
Valid point, you sound like you know the game and was around during that period watching the NBA but if you remember Jordan had many games where he was up and down and it came out in the Orlando series. He did have two monster 40 point games but in the other games he was shaky down the stretch; that doesn't happen to Jordan - he was not in basketball shape. He admits this himself and spent that summer on the set of Space Jam working out and getting his timing down and getting in shape.
Wilt Chamberlin is the most talented center in the history of the NBA! Hakeem was great for most of his career! Wilt is the greatest center that ever lived over 31,000 points, Over 23,000 rebounds, over 4,000 assist and over 14,000 blocks! The only player to average 50 points a game for an entire season and the only player to score a 100 points in one game! Hakeem is not anywhere close to this man!
Yeah,Hakeem was the most talented Center in NBA History in the post.I have him #7 all time greatest on my list.I personally think Kareem was the greatest center ever,but Hakeem was certainly the most talented.McHale was also a beast,part of the greatest front-line in NBA History.I think Shaq could've been more skilled,if he had tried to learn.He was the best though when he was in his prime.I agree with TD being more skilled his hey day than Shaq.LBJ's one of those once in a lifetime players IMO.
He never used that as an actual excuse he admitted after getting eliminated by the Magic the problem was not having a legitimate PF. Any team with a strong frontline would've given the Bulls problems the Hornets didn't really have the size to exploit it outside of Mourning so the Bulls had a favorable 1st round matchup.
Watching this, MJ still looked rusty. (Least by MJ standards) but the Bulls lost to Magic cuz we had no rebounding and in the paint defense. Toni wasnt a PF & will Perdue was will perdue
He hadn't played baseball for over 6 months before returning to the league he was actually on a basketball court numerous times during the MLB strike including playing a charity game that September scoring 52 points. There was also the private practices he had with the Warriors where the players said he did have good conditioning he had been training for months to return to his usual form people act like he just decided to comeback the week beforehand or something. The problem was not his conditioning it was the Bulls not having a legitimate PF, any team with a strong frontline would've given them problems. The Hornets were a good 1st round matchup with them not having a big frontline outside of Mourning, Kukoc was able to get away with playing PF matched up against LJ.
