Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So I'm about to watch this whole series and then post my thoughts on it. I'll probably watch the other championship series by the Bulls eventually. Probably The 2 Rockets championships too.
Any thoughts? My initial thoughts are the NBA on NBC theme song is the GOAT song. Great job John Tesh.
In the intro they announce the game as Magic vs. Michael. Then Jordan does a taped intro where says something about "this is what America's been waiting for, Michael vs. Magic." Then Marv Alberts talks about how Jordan has been trying to downplay the Michael vs. Magic angle and says it's the Lakers vs. Bulls. I can't help but wonder if Marv Alberts is wearing women's panties.
Phil Jackson has a MEAN mustache. He would embarrass the cast of Tombstone with that stache. BJ Armstrong looks like he's 12 years old. None of the big men on either team look like they've ever seen the inside of a weight room.
Jordan is very skinny but super athletic here. I'm not sure he's faster than Lebron in a straight sprint but he's definitely quicker from side to side and when starting and stopping. The game starts off really sloppy then settles down. Jordan has a good first half, scoring mostly off of drives and dunks. A couple jumpers, and one turnaround jumper off of a post up. Once he gets in the lane he hop steps, jumps off both feet, and dunks. It happens really quickly. The lane is open a lot more than in today's game but he also does it so fast the big men can't get there in time. I love how he leans towards the basket almost at a 45 degree angle when he dunks sometimes. You don't really see anyone else do that. Pippen is also very skinny but very quick. He has about the same muscularity as Kevin Durant.
At one point Jordan gets matched up with Divac guarding him around the 3-point line. I'm sitting here thinking poor Divac. MJ does a lightning fast crossover on Divac and Divac strips him! I wasn't expecting that. Early in the 2nd quarter they call a travel on Jordan and he is absolutely livid. He jumps up throwing his hands at the ref and yelling at the ref. That would be an automatic technical today. Magic also throws a fit towards the refs on one call. He just stands there with his arms up in the air staring at the refs while the Bulls fastbreak down the court and score.
Stylistically, these teams look like they're from different eras. Bulls look more like a 90s team, Lakers look like an 80s team. Lots of hooks and running sweeping hooks from Lakers players. Worthy, Divac, Magic, everyone over 6'5". Jordan's doing crossovers and hop steps, and the Lakers are throwing up hook shots. It's kind of weird to see the contrast.
The interior play is not very physical at all by either team, much less physical than the 2013 finals. There is not much help defense in the post either. Less team defense and more man-to-man. No one is coming to help until someone backs down to about 6-8 feet from the rim.
The 3-pointer is not a factor. There are no 3s in this game. There might have been 1 3-point attempt in the first half. It's not even an afterthought. It's like the 3-point line doesn't exist.
Another play where Horace Grant thought he got fouled and turns towards the crowd flailing his arms while Magic pushes the ball down the floor (what someone recently claimed is the epitome of what's wrong with today's NBA), throws a no-look pass to Divac who fakes out Jordan and lays it in. A little while later Divac blocks Jordans shot to the other end of the floor. Divac's kind of owning Jordan so far.
Jordan is scoring very efficiently, but wild and out of control at times with the turnovers. Scottie Pippen is a joy to watch. He was my favorite player growing up. His penetrating ability is underrated, he's a little out of control at times too though. The Bulls' defense forces a lot of turnovers and scores on the break. Their half court offense isn't so great though.
There is definitely a lot of bellyaching at the refs just like today. James Worthy probably would have gotten a technical on one of his outbursts. He has a sprained ankle and limps around a lot during the game. Byron Scott doesn't look very good either.
The Lakers do a really good job packing the lane and stopping Jordan's penetration for most of the 2nd half. He still scores off a pullup in transition (a lost art in today's league) and some nice turnaround jumpers. Divac blocks Jordan again, at least I think it was him, someone else might have gotten it though.
Jordan does a good job hitting open teammates. The Laker's defense keeps losing guys though. Way too many one-handed passes from around the 3-point line to a wide open Bulls player standing right under the rim. I'm not sure how they keep losing guys inside. Aside from Divac the Lakers' interior defense is non-existant. Divac has a really nice game for a 22 or 23-year old or however old he was then.
Bulls are up 2 points with ~20-25 seconds to go, they focus all their attention on Magic, he passes to Sam Perkins who drains a wide open 3. Jordan comes down the court and drives and tries to bank it in but it misses. Bulls get the ball back and Jordan drives to the paint and tries to dump it off to Grant or one of the big men, it was pretty congested and the ball goes out of bounds. Byron Scott chokes on one of the free throws (or maybe both, but I think it was just the first one). Jordan drives again and shoots another bank shot that rims out. Great game by Jordan scoring, assisting, and defending Magic, but came up empty on 3 straight possessions at the end.
Huey Lewis and the News and REO Speedwagon play on the PA. Good game overall, lots of nostalgia.
Last edited by EugeneOnegin; 06-22-2013 at 07:23 PM..
REO Speedwagon, ugh. Its nice being 40 and remembering all that crap. Neither one of those teams were physical, its not surprising. Back when the Bad Boys ruled, the NBA looked down on them. Stern didn't seeing the NBA's brightest star get beat up by the likes of Laimbeer, Salley, Rodman, Dumars and Isiah.
Last edited by James420; 06-22-2013 at 08:29 PM..
Reason: T
Game 2 was a prison raping by the Bulls. Really fast paced, helter skelter game in the first half, lots of turnovers. Similar to a college game. Same pace in the 2nd half, though not as sloppy. Not at all the type of game the Lakers wanted to play.
Magic really struggled and was frustrated by the Bulls' defense. Pippen guarded him mostly this game and just completely hounded him at all times. Jodan guarded him well, but Pippen guarded him better. Magic was complaining to the refs all game and kind of lost his cool.
Lakers doubled Jordan a lot more this game, who laid back and passed to teammates in the first quarter instead of coming out attacking line in game 1. Horace Grant completely obliterated LA's soft-as-a-marshmallow front court defense inside. Later on Jordan started picking his spots and taking good shots and was almost flawless. He hit 13 shots in a row at one point, culminating in the infamous "going to dunk right handed, but since no one is trying to block the shot I'll pointlessly switch to the left hand for a layup" play. He finished like 14-16 or something ridiculous. Paxson was MONEY. I think he was 8/8. On one play Jordan drew the double team and passed to Paxson who was wide open for a 3. As soon as the ball left Jordan's hands on the pass he turned around, threw his hands up in the air for a 3-point signal and started walking down the court.
Bulls had a "spy cam" pointed at the Lakers' bench so they could tape Dunleavy all game and try to figure out his signals. Maybe that's where the Patriots got the idea.
In the second half until garbage time (about 6 minutes left) the Bulls shot about 80% (literally) from the field.
Apparently Paxson had been unhappy with the officials recently and said he was going to change his number to 99 so the officials would have to work harder.
REO Speedwagon, ugh. Its nice being 40 and remembering all that crap. Neither one of those teams were physical, its not surprising. Back when the Bad Boys ruled, the NBA looked down on them. Stern didn't seeing the NBA's brightest star get beat up by the likes of Laimbeer, Salley, Rodman, Dumars and Isiah.
I almost wish they hadn't cut the commercials, those are really a trip.
I was somewhat young during this finals, and it's the one I remember the least, so it's nice to go back and watch it again.
I've watched a lot of basketball lately on youtube.
There's some great old games. The 69 Finals, Lakers vs Celtics (I think the 4th quarter). Knicks vs Lakers, 1970. And there's a game with Jabbar (Lew Alcindor) in 1971. Things you don't see everyday on tv.
The players in the 90's were skinny, but they had miles more passion than players today. Case in point, Dennis Rodman. I don't think there's one guy in the league now who plays with his intensity.
The two things I remember about the 1991 NBA Finals:
1) The Lakers won Game 1 in Chicago, and I thought the Bulls would have to pass one final course in losing (in the NBA Finals), ala the late 1980s Pistons (who had to lose to the Celtics in the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals and the Lakers in the 1988 NBA Finals before they were able to win the NBA title in 1989 and 1990). However, the Bulls won Games 2 and 3 (the latter of which was the first game played in Los Angeles) and ended up winning 4 straight games after losing the series opener. It was the second straight year the NBA champion split the first two games at home and then swept the middle three road games in the NBA Finals. (Detroit did the same thing to Portland in 1990; incidentally, that was the last year CBS televised the NBA.)
2) That year's Finals, or really more accurately that season, is when Scottie Pippen became a star-caliber player (probably one of the 15 or so top players in the NBA). Not coincidentally, that's when the Michael Jordan-era Bulls won their first NBA title. Pippen scaled to superstar-caliber status not too long after that.
The players in the 90's were skinny, but they had miles more passion than players today. Case in point, Dennis Rodman. I don't think there's one guy in the league now who plays with his intensity.
*sigh*
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
