Quote:
Originally Posted by LuckyLloyd
Phil Jackson built the team, not MJ.
Phil inherited a championship team because the 89' Bulls nearly made the Finals and were the only team that won any games against the Pistons during that run - the Pistons were 11-0 against everyone but 4-2 against the Bulls and most people don't realize that Pippen didn't play in Game 6 of that series, just like he missed Game 7 the following year in 1990 - he "migrained" 2 years in a row!
Most people don't know that about the 89' series (that pippen didn't play in the final game) - this hurts Doug Collins because people give Phil a pass for losing in 1990 due to the "mirgraine", even though Collins actually experienced the same choke from Pippen in 89' when he missed Game 6.. Pippen also had 7 points in Game 5 and averaged 9.7 on 40% for the series..
(edit: pippen played 1 minute in Game 6, aka "migraine".. his first one.. boxscore
here).
Even though the Bulls were a low seed and 1-man team in 89', they were still a championship team because of how well MJ was playing - he led the Bulls to historic upset over the #1 SRS Cavs who had 3 all-stars plus Ron Harper (20/5/5).. Then he upset Ewing's Knicks.. Of course 10 points from pippen in Games 5 and 6 easily wins the ECF vs Pistons, while the Finals would be an easy matchup vs the injured Lakers (no Magic, Worthy or Scott).
Quote:
Originally Posted by SABR42
Are you capable of following an argument or are you just incoherently babbling?
My post was in response to TWOG's claim that Jordan had the "least help" ever.
If your team wins 55 games without you, you can't ever say that you had the "least help" ever. It's complete bullshit.
The Pippen-led Bulls had not developed a 55-win record from scratch by toiling away in previous years with weaker records and eventually becoming a good team..
it was JORDAN that was a good enough to be a franchise player and build a team, not Pippen... it took 40/6/8 and "the shot" against the #1 SRS Cavs to achieve historic upset and make the ECF,
which built the Bulls into contenders.. Could Pippen do that because that's what it took to build the Bulls from 85-90' - it took the GOAT like fighting through injury to make the playoffs and playoff history in 1986, or the historic upsets during the 89' run, or the historic 88' season of 50 wins with zero cast or coaching (dpoy/mvp season).
Otoh, history shows that a Pippen-led team that developed from lottery to 50 wins could never exist because Pippen was averaging 8 and 9 ppg in the playoffs until he was 26 years old.
So it was Jordan that built the Bulls into 3-peat champions and then told the cast to try it alone in 94'.. Opponents no longer had to circle their calendar or plan what to tell their grandkids - no one gave a sh** about playing the Bulls - it was a massive letdown to see the Bulls on the other end of the court without the GOAT..,. But the cat was out of the bag in 95' and the "real" bulls without MJ were barely .500 before he returned to bring another 3-peat