Does anyone actually think this Heat team gets Jordan's Bulls to a Game 6?

Takes em to 7 and quite possibly wins. I'd say this Heat team actually matches up well to what the Bulls had.

The butthurt is too obvious, but obsessive hate noted.

Who cares?

I thought the WCF was the NBA finals because the Thunder and Spurs were just so dominant.

Then the Heat won the NBA finals in 5, and in impressive fashion.

instead of the emoticon, combat what I posted. The Heat's roster matches up VERY well against what the Bulls had.

Jordan > LeBron
Pippen > Wade
Rodman > Bosh
Bulls bench > Heat bench
Phil Jackson > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Erik Spoelstra

Jordan would eat LeBron's lunch. But that statement would be true regardless of what name you put at the end of the sentence.

The Heat were the best team. It was ugly ball, but they were the best.

quote:

---

Jordan would eat LeBron's lunch

---

uhh, no. 1 on 1, Lebron would abuse MJ as much as MJ would abuse Lebron.

Lebron is a better defender and distributor than Jordan. Jordan has the better offensive game.

However, comparing this series, Jordan is a better defender and distributor than Durant, but lacked the size. Pippen, a great defender, would have defended LBJ and Jordan would have been on Wade. Wade is also a savvy defender.

Many of the teams the Bulls went up against had their stars play different positions than the Bulls big 2, which made the superstar matchups very exciting, but more open to the better players (Jordan/Pippen)

Magic said tonight LBJ could go on to be if not the greatest, 1 of the 2 greatest players of all time. Magic is a joke of a commentator, but that's completely true.

Obviously after the entire career MJ had the 6 rings. I think LBJ will win multiple rings anyways, but Lebron would play better D on MJ than anyone who ever D'd up on MJ during his entire career. The NBA today is different from 20 years ago. Lebron's size/speed/strength/athleticism was unmatched in Jordan's era. Which makes it fun to speculate.

Time for Lebron to make it happen like MJ did in the finals over and over...but this Heat team is the same type of team that the Bulls were. Solid defense, big 3's, 2 main superstars.

[This message has been edited by Bunk Moreland (edited 6/22/2012 12:07a).]

quote:

---

The NBA today is different from 20 years ago

---

True. Defenders were allowed to be a LOT more physical during Jordan's heyday. Play under those rules and today's prima donnas wouldn't know what to do.

LJ would benefit from the league allowing more physical play.

quote:

---

Pippen > Wade

---

LJ would be guarded by SP. That would be fun to watch. I think Pippen has more length than James but gives up 20+ pounds. With James new post game, I give the slight edge to him.
MJ would shut down DW. Has 3 or 4" on him. Wade would get posted up the whole game.

The rest is a tossup. I don't think the heat's role players would keep up their shooting %. They were extremely hot for this series.

Wade is probably a similar athlete to Jordan... just smaller and the first time he flopped against Jordan would be funny to see MJ's reaction.

quote:

---

Wade would get posted up the whole game.

---

Lebron would guard MJ. You are right that Pippen would guard Bron though.

It wasn't MJ's physical characteristics that made him the best ever. There were plenty of guys in Jordan's day that were just as talented. What set MJ apart was the fact that he was a total psychopath when it came to winning. The only person who really compares in the last twenty years is Kobe--but his problem is that he dedicated too much of his psychosis into being seen as better than MJ, instead of just into winning.

LeBron's psyche is marshmallow soft compared to MJ's. That's why MJ would eat his lunch and make him cry. LeBron certainly took a big step this year, but lets not forget the near collapse against a crappy (and really old) Celtics team. The Heat (and LeBron) still have no idea what to do at the end of a tight game. They got lucky in that they were facing a team with even less experience than they had. The Spurs would have won that series (and I'm NOT a Spurs fan).

this heat team doesn't even come close to Jordan's bulls

Jordan's Bulls in 4 or 5

quote:

---

LeBron certainly took a big step this year, but lets not forget the near collapse against a crappy (and really old) Celtics team.

---

What world do you live in where nearly losing tarnishes or even matters when you are ultimately the champ?

quote:

---

LeBron's psyche is marshmallow soft compared to MJ's. That's why MJ would eat his lunch and make him cry. LeBron certainly took a big step this year, but lets not forget the near collapse against a crappy (and really old) Celtics team. The Heat (and LeBron) still have no idea what to do at the end of a tight game. They got lucky in that they were facing a team with even less experience than they had. The Spurs would have won that series (and I'm NOT a Spurs fan).

---

spoken like a true lakers fan that got its ass handed to them

quote:

---

LeBron certainly took a big step this year, but lets not forget the near collapse against a crappy (and really old) Celtics team.

---

So just to be clear, we're using a 7-game series where Lebron averaged 38 points on 60% shooting, 13.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in back-to-back closeout games to win the series as evidence of mental weakness? Good grief.

It's not like his numbers were awful in the first 5 games either; in those games he averaged 31.8/10/4/1.4/1.6 and 50% from the field.

Bosh was also out for a majority of that series.

Bulls in 6

The point isn't that going to 7 with the Celtics tarnishes their Championship, it's that it exposed their weakness. That weakness was totally covered in the finals because the other team was was even worse at closing out games.

And this thread really has nothing to do with these playoffs. It is about the silly contention that this Heat team could somehow beat the Bulls. LeBron was a beast in these playoffs, but there were still times where he wanted no part of the last shot. Maybe that changes now that he has a ring and the confidence that goes with it. Maybe the Heat are good enough to run off a string of titles without needing LeBron to hit a bunch of clutch shots at the end. We'll see. But at this point I still think 1996 MJ would take his lunch and make him cry.

quote:

---

spoken like a true lakers fan that got its ass handed to them

---

5 titles for Kobe. I didn't care who won once the Lakers were out, as long as it wasn't the Celtics. I'm happy LeBron got the monkey off his back, because it was becoming a really overdone story. The Thunder winning would have been fine too. I like KD, because he is awesome and seems like a good guy. I just think that Pop could have gotten the Spurs to do a lot better job of getting in LeBron's head than the Thunder did.

quote:

---

I'm happy LeBron got the monkey off his back, because it was becoming a really overdone story.

---

and yet you prolongue it with this ridiculous reach to try to poop on the achievement:

quote:

---

The point isn't that going to 7 with the Celtics tarnishes their Championship, it's that it exposed their weakness. That weakness was totally covered in the finals because the other team was was even worse at closing out games.

---

Both the Heat and Thunder closed out teams with a lot of stripes and experience in the playoffs to get to where they were. To say either team are weak closers at this point is nothing short of looney.

Said it during the conference finals, but the Spurs would have had a ton of trouble with that Heat team for exactly the reasons they struggled with the Thunder eventually: they don't have the athletes to hold down what both Finals teams have on their wings.

The Thunder had been closing games very, very strong throughout the playoffs... and they did it against the Mavs, Lakers, and Spurs. The Heat get no praise for closing out the Pacers or whoever they played in the first round, but the Celtics aren't a pushover.

[This message has been edited by Ulrich (edited 6/22/2012 6:01p).]

Basketball in the 1990s was so much better than it is today. No champ from the last 5 years (2008-2012) could even beat the runners up from 20 years ago (1993-1994 Knicks, 1993 Suns, 1997-1998 Jazz, 1998 Pacers, etc.) The depth and coaching on those teams would overwhelm the Heat (just like last year).

Lebron > Jordan
Bulls > Heat

Heat's bench sucked. I was pleasantly surprised to see them win it

quote:

---

LeBron certainly took a big step this year, but lets not forget the near collapse against a crappy (and really old) Celtics team.


So just to be clear, we're using a 7-game series where Lebron averaged 38 points on 60% shooting, 13.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in back-to-back closeout games to win the series as evidence of mental weakness? Good grief.

It's not like his numbers were awful in the first 5 games either; in those games he averaged 31.8/10/4/1.4/1.6 and 50% from the field.

---

It blows my mind that so many people think that losses & wins sit squarely on the shoulders of the team's best player. It's a team game. It's like saying Lebron is a loser because of the Orlando series a few years back when, in losses, he scored 49, 41, 44, and 25. Newsflash: when a player scores 49 on 67% shooting and plays lockdown D, it's not his fault that his team lost.

quote:

---

Lebron > Jordan
Bulls > Heat

---

You got the second one right.
And I am having a hard time remembering the bulls bench. The Heat got a solid performance from their bench in this one...

Id actually really like to see pippen guarding Lebron, and wade and jordan going back and forth.