Michael Jordans performance in the 93' Finals against Phoenix was :merchant:

[Newzz]

Same people hating on Jordan's 1993 NBA Finals performance against The Suns, because their backcourt couldnt stop Jordan , are the same people who are quick to throw up Shaq's NBA Final performances against a broken down Rik Smits who only averaged 19 mpg in the Finals on the Pacers and a wack ass Center combination of Todd MacCulloch and Jason Collins on the Nets


Which one is it?

 

[Malta]

What does this year have to do w/back then? Suns defense (statistically) was slightly worse than the Bulls that year. (.474 vs. .479)

I guess the Bulls weren't a "great" team either.

Defenses today are better, that's really the point

Same people hating on Jordan's 1993 NBA Finals performance against The Suns, because their backcourt couldnt stop Jordan , are the same people who are quick to throw up Shaq's NBA Final performances against a broken down Rik Smits who only averaged 19 mpg in the Finals on the Pacers and a wack ass Center combination of Todd MacCulloch and Jason Collins on the Nets


Stop it

Only issue here is that Shaq gave Deke that work something SERIOUS, he could have gone against a prime Polar Bear back then and still got numbers.

 

[ghostwriterx]

Defenses today are better, that's really the point

Yeah, no dispute there. I was surprised the Bulls were that bad defensively.

 

[Malta]

Yeah, no dispute there. I was surprised the Bulls were that bad defensively.

Jordan would get monster numbers against any team (He scored at will against those Knicks) but that Suns team was just really bad defensively.

They were good defensively for their era, the second 3 peat Bulls were much better defensively and played defense more like teams today. I think Riley is the one who started the shift to be honest.

 

[MooseMouthMthafuga]

1993 Gary Payton is an elite offensive wing?

I'm talking about guys like prime lebron kobe Durant wade Tmac etc. They Would've all destroyed that team

They faced Sean Elliot in the 2nd round


In the 3rd round, the faced a 33 year old Ricky Pierce.He put up 18 ppg and shot nearly 50% from the field

Eddie Johnson was the back up SG and he put up 14 ppg.

Eddie Johnson was a decent player.I think he's one of the only dudes in NBA history to score 40 points in one half

He was aging by that time, though.



That Suns team wasn't the best defensive team.They were a resilient, high powered offensive team.They played their best ball with their backs against the wall.

I think the real problem with that team was focus.They loved to party.My aunt used to work at a club in Scottsdale AZ called "Maloney's"....she said Majerle and Barkley would be in there getting shyt faced the night before games.She specifically thought Majerle was a alcoholic.It was just too much of a "country club" atmosphere around the Suns organization at that time.Plus they had a lax ass coach in Paul Westphal.I believe he was the youngest coach in the league at that time.


That was the reason KJ didn't really like playing with Barkley.He thought he brought a bunch of unfocused energy to the organization and didn't take game planning seriously.


That was the only thing that I liked about that Suns team.....they always stepped up in the face of adversity


They just seemed to have that "magic"





I remember watching that game with my uncle.I was living in San Diego at the time and he came down to visit from Los Angeles.After Robinson hit that 3, he yelled out "THEY'RE DONE"......Even though it was just .5 seconds left, I just had a feeling the Suns were going to pull it out somehow...I remember telling my uncle "It's not over" he shot me a and screamed "MAN IT'S ONLY 5 TENTHS OF A SECOND LEFT"


Inbound, off the glass, Barkley scoops it up, and hits the miracle shot

Me:

Unk:"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS shyt

 

[holidayinn21]

no one's even hating on MJ, we're just saying the suns weren't that good defensively.

 

[Newzz]

Only issue here is that Shaq gave Deke that work something SERIOUS, he could have gone against a prime Polar Bear back then and still got numbers.

Jordan also gave that work to the Trail Blazers as well in 1992 (35.8 ppg on 52.6% FG) and they had the 3rd best opponents FG% defense in the NBA that season


We all know that Michael Jordan during that time period (late 80s/early 90s) was a juggernaut.


There wasnt any defense that was going to stop him from scoring like this.....especially with Scottie Pippen locking up the opposing teams best perimeter play

 

[NYC Rebel]

He was better than Divac?

Did Elden even start for the Lakers that year?

Elden was killing that series, scoring and blockif shots. He was their best player that series I recall. Had you thinking he was going to be a beast in his future

 

[nieman]

The suns were in the bottom 10 of the league in giving up ppg.

Yeah but they were avg like 115ppg....exaggerated but you get the point

 

[Newzz]

Elden was killing that series, scoring and blockif shots. He was their best player that series I recall. Had you thinking he was going to be a beast in his future

He had his spots in that series vs the Suns....but he still wasnt better than Divac or Sedale Threatt in that series if I recall.


I was more impressed with Divac thinking we had the next best Center in the league on the rise with Shaq and Mourning


The prospect of having Divac at C and Campbell at PF was at that time though

 

[NYC Rebel]

He had his spots in that series vs the Suns....but he still wasnt better than Divac or Sedale Threatt in that series if I recall.


I was more impressed with Divac thinking we had the next best Center in the league on the rise with Shaq and Mourning


The prospect of having Divac at C and Campbell at PF was at that time though

For real though, I thought we had something going with that squad.

 

[nieman]

And defenses today are not better. There are no shotblockers, no post defenders, no on the ball defenders on the wing. They play passing lanes and take the charge; hell they play a zone. Zones are designed to hide defensive deficiencies.

 

[Newzz]

And defenses today are not better. There are no shotblockers, no post defenders, no on the ball defenders on the wing. They play passing lanes and take the charge; hell they play a zone. Zones are designed to hide defensive deficiencies.

LeBron is being guarded by the 3rd consecutive very good to great on-ball defender in a row.

Jamar Butler, Paul George, and Kawhi Leonard are all very good man to man defenders

 

[dappadonna]

LeBron is being guarded by the 3rd consecutive very good to great on-ball defender in a row.

Jamar Butler, Paul George, and Kawhi Leonard are all very good man to man defenders

 

[Alexander The Great]

The GOAT doing GOAT Things