I went back and watched game one in Chicago when we went up by like 20 points and then Jordan went off. Clyde did jack shit. The entire team froze. Dame would not have let that happen.
To me, the team comparisons only make sense if one believes that if you replaced Drexler with Lillard on those teams, you'd expect them to do worse. Despite the fact that they played different positions, I don't think the team quality diminishes with Lillard in place of Drexler. In fact, I think the current Lillard makes them a superior team. Drexler was never as good as Lillard is right now. And sure, Drexler was doing it against more physical defenses; Lillard is doing it against much more schematically sophisticated defenses, against legal zone defenses and with far more switchable defenses with better athletes to power them. At most, it's a wash and it's entirely possible that Lillard faces the greater defensive challenge between the two.
I think you underestimate just how tough defenses were back then with being able to use hands and arms and dirty play by guys like Stockton. Dame would have done well in that era but he needs to get them to the finals a couple times.
Perhaps you're underestimating the benefit defense have no with no "illegal defense" which opens up many more potential schemes. Coaches have said that allowing zone defenses really opened up defense and made a huge difference. And the screen switching with lots of long athletes makes getting clean shots a lot tougher than it was in the '80s. If you go back and watch a bunch of games from the 1980s, you'll be struck by how many open jumpers were given up.
There has only been one Blazer who has won league MVP. And it's the same Blazer who won a championship. And went 50-10 before he got injured the next year. Sadly, of course, he's also the only Blazer to sit out an entire season in protest and leave in free agency the next year.
The game was changed to benefit the offense and put more points on the board. It worked too. Just my opinion.
Referees have been ordered to emphasize what often is called "the no-touching rule." As the league continues its battle to keep scoring up and thuggery down, it is focusing on perimeter contact as never before. Though team scoring is holding steady, all those trips to the line have resulted in higher averages for players at the top of the scoring charts. For the first time in 24 seasons, three players--Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson and LeBron James--are likely to average more than 30.0 points for the season. Two years ago, there wasn't a single 30-point scorer. Entering the week, there had been 95 performances of 40 points or more, compared with 67 last season and 41 two seasons ago. Indeed, the league has created a statistical whirlwind, but there has been a price. The ebb and flow of an 82-game season has added a bit too much ebb, with the continuous whistles creating points for players who are more than capable of creating them for themselves. The aesthetics that result from increased scoring are being negated by all the whistles. The league's stance is this is nothing new, at least this season. "It's actually been in effect for two years." says NBA senior vice president Stu Jackson. "It was really an outgrowth of the hand check. What evolved is players originally used the hand check in an effort to deter the offensive player or reroute him. And then we saw a real influx of body checks by players in an effort to reroute the offensive player off his path." On one hand, the no-touch policy has coaches giving the ball to their slashers, which clears the court for either dynamic dunks or frequent free throws. On the other, those same coaches are at their wits' end trying to orchestrate an effective defense. It is an officiating style that would have turned the smart folks who employed the Jordan Rules into Jordan's fools. "There is so much stuff being called out on the perimeter," Knicks coach Larry Brown says. "I can't imagine what Michael would have gotten with the hand-check rules the way they're calling it now." Jordan's former running partner is not so sure he could have reached his own level of success under the current rules. "I'm glad I'm not playing now," Scottie Pippen says. "I wouldn't be a good defensive player." Even Rothstein, now a Heat assistant coach, is conflicted. Like many who were on Chuck Daly's Pistons staffs in the late '80s, he is consumed with the science of NBA defense. He sees little reason for any player to shoot 20 or 25 free throws in a game. But he appreciates that offense sells and that it's what commissioner David Stern wants and what fans expect in this video-driven era of individual theatrics. "I understand the nature of the business and who we are and what we are," Rothstein says. "Do I like it? No. But it doesn't matter if 1 like it. There are still very good defenders in this league who do a very good job, who have adjusted to the rules. It used to be you'd get a forearm on and it gave you certain leverage. So you've got to move your feet better. There's no way you can be as good under the current rules." Rothstein's boss says it is undeniable that the game has changed for today's offensive stars. "I think guys are just warming up to the whole thing," Heat coach Pat Riley says. "Everybody's starting to realize, 'Hey, I can get a ton here.' So I think this year has really been the first year where the rule is starting to have an impact. We're going to have a 200-point game by a team pretty soon."
Yes, they changed the rules to open up the game, but then they later changed further rules to give defenses more options. The result has actually given us (IMO) the best era in basketball, where offenses can play free-flowing basketball unimpeded by grabbing and holding (which was never a particularly skilled style of defense) but defenses have been given the ability to play new styles of defense to combat that.
This Game? "Portland got a big boost early in Game 6 from Jerome Kersey, whom the Bulls liked to play off because he wasn’t a good shooter. Both Jordan and Scottie Pippen liked to play the passing lanes for steals to ignite the break. But Kersey burned Pippen early as Portland took a 25-19 first quarter lead. Phil Jackson had created controversy early in the series saying the Trail Blazers would self destruct, and their reputation was of an athletic but mistake prone team. They did take a lot of bad shots, but really because they had few great shooters. They were a terrific transition and open court team, but their half court play was weak and I always thought the failure to employ Kevin Duckworth more was fatal. Drexler began to go at Jordan in the second quarter with some success and a dunk and Portland especially began crashing the boards and taking away the inside from the Bulls. The Trail Blazers went on a 10-0 run to take a 43-28 lead and it began to look more and more like another seventh game after the Bulls were pushed to the edge by the Knicks in the conference semifinals. The Bulls continued to hang in, though, trailing 50-44 at halftime. But Portland was clearly the aggressor. The Bulls opened the second half badly with turnovers and fell behind by 17. B.J. Armstrong made a pair of baskets to keep the game from getting away, but the Trail Blazers still led 79-64 entering the fourth quarter and 42-14 on inside points. But it all would change in an instant. Jackson took a flier on Hansen, playing for the injured Craig Hodges, and Hansen came through with a quick three with a group that included King, Armstrong and Scott Williams with Pippen. King, who had struggled and was unable to beat out Horace Grant after being the sixth pick in the 1989 draft, had one of his best sequences with a free throw on a flagrant foul by Kersey and then a drive for a score. Pippen went into the post for a score after another Armstrong jumper three minutes into the quarter and the Bulls were within 81-76. Portland, as Jackson predicted, was imploding with turnovers and bad fouls. King then hit a banker, making it scores on seven straight possessions for the Bulls to get within three points midway through the quarter when Jackson sent Jordan back into the game. Jordan scored right away with a floater as Portland began to become even more distracted, claiming bad foul calls. Pippen hit an unlikely three at the 24-second buzzer, and amazingly the Bulls were tied at 85. Shortly thereafter, the Bulls took the lead, their first since it was 4-2. John Paxson stripped even the usually reliable Terry Porter and Jordan would finish it up with a driving score and post up to begin the wild celebration, the first home celebration after a title victory for a Chicago team in decades. Oh, what a night it would be in anticipation now of three." https://www.nba.com/bulls/news/bullsclassics_smith_111206.html
Dame is alot like Chauncey Billups to me....great leader, unselfish and willing to make the right play...great loyal high character guy...lucky to have him
Shoulder Shrug from Jordan? That wasn't Game one I don't believe. I think you guys are mixing games up.
Yeah, but we weren't up big in this game. I think the game you were thinking of was the one I posted the article about?
I think by "big" I was thinking "in control." I hadn't watched the game in a while, but man we were looking so good to start the first quarter. And then Jordan just started going off. He wasn't really a three point shooter and the guy dropped 6/10 from deep and I think it was all in the first half.
