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ESPN.com names the 1996 Chicago Bulls as the Greatest Team Ever!

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D

DMczaf

Member
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=schoenfield/040614

1. 1996 Chicago Bulls
Record: 72-10
Playoffs: 3-0 vs. Heat, 4-1 vs. Knicks, 4-0 vs. Magic, 4-2 vs. Sonics

The Celtics and Lakers of the '80s have developed a certain mythology about them, but I'll take the Bulls. Consider:

They nearly led the NBA in both offense and defense, finishing No. 1 in points (105.2) and No. 3 in points allowed (92.9). The Celtics or Lakers never came close to doing that.

Chicago's average margin of victory was 12.2 points -- in a lower-scoring environment than the '80s. And the Celtics or Lakers never had margin even as great as 10 points per game.

The Bulls beat the 60-win Magic in the East finals and then the 64-win Sonics in the Finals. None of the three other NBA teams on this list beat even one 60-win team in the playoffs.

They went 72-10, best record in the NBA history.

They had Jordan.

jordan_jackson_91.jpg
jordan_highfive.jpg
jordan_pippen_97.jpg


jordan_piano.jpg


"Ray Charles ain't got shit on me!"
 
L

Loki

Count of Concision
They were only #3 in points allowed by a fluke, too. They were actually tied at #2 with 92.9 points/game allowed (I forget the other team). #1 that year was Mike Fratello's infamous Cleveland Cavaliers, which anyone who watched the NBA back then will tell you, purposely slowed the game down to absurd levels, and only shot when there was < 4 seconds on the shot clock. It was their "strategy" lol. This resulted in them allowing only ~81 ppg, iirc. Chicago played a legitimate style of ball and still accomplished what they did.

Taken from a post I made on OA about this particular iteration of the Bulls:

The Bulls lost 8 games by 6 points or less. That means that 8 out of their total of 10 losses for the SEASON were decided by 6 points or less, which shows you that they competed every game. Just insane when you think about it. In addition, of those 8 losses by 6 or less, 3 were by a single point and another was by 3 points.


That's crazy stuff imo. Give them those 3 games decided by one point and they go 75-7 at the very least, forget about the other close ones. They only lost by more than 6 points TWICE the entire season. Wow.
Click to expand...

And one more for good measure:

Also, what's amazing to me is that the Bulls had the largest average point differential I ever saw that year. I'll have to fish around the site to see if other teams have matched or exceeded that.


The '96 Bulls averaged 105.2 points/game, 6 points over the league average of 99.

They gave up an average of 92.9 points/game, which was 6.6 points below the NBA average for opponents points allowed.

The differential was 12.3 points/game.


As a comparison, the Lakers' highest differential during their run (all seasons from 2000-2004) has been 8.5 points/game in 2001, with it usually being ~5 points/game. San Antonio's differential last year when they won the championship was 5.4 points/game and this year was 6.8 points/game. And these differentials for LA and SA are with dominant big men, which helps their defense. Chicago never had any sort of inside, shotblocking presence, making what they accomplished all the more spectacular.
Click to expand...


That about sums up my thoughts on the matter. Say what you will, but the fact that they competed every single night was the most incredible thing about them imo. They were only blown out ONCE that entire season (by 32 points by the Knicks). 8 losses were by 6 or less, and the remaining loss was by 10. You can check it here -- that's a great referece site for bball fans. They lost 3 games by a single point and had a record of 39-2 and 41-3 at one point (two, actually lol).


Just insane. :)
 
Malakhov

Malakhov

Banned
Oh and this article is bullshite btw.

You've got the edmonton oilers from 84 and new york islanders from 82 but where are the 95-96 red wings?

82 games 62 wins 13 losses 7 overtime losses 131 points

Sergei Fedorov
Steve Yzerman
Paul Coffey
Vyacheslav Kozlov
Igor Larionov
Nicklas Lidstrom
Keith Primeau
Dino Ciccarelli
Slava Fetisov
Vladimir Konstantinov

etc...
 
A

aerodynamik

Member
It's bullshit, but I won't complain :).

How much fan I had that year... God bless them all (except Phil Jackson if they finally make it, lol).
 
B

bionic77

Member
80s Lakers >> 90s Bulls. FACT. MJ wouldn't have been enough to stop this juggernaut in it's prime. Hell, 80s Celtics >> 90s Bulls. The Bulls one upped the Lakers of the 80s, but at the same time they didn't have nearly the competition. Stupid Stern and his watered down league. :(
 
L

lordmrw

Member
I remember watching just about every game that season that year. That was when i actually gave a damn about sports. Not a bad pick in my opinion.
 
K

KilledByBill

Member
You've got the edmonton oilers from 84 and new york islanders from 82 but where are the 95-96 red wings?

82 games 62 wins 13 losses 7 overtime losses 131 points

Sergei Fedorov
Steve Yzerman
Paul Coffey
Vyacheslav Kozlov
Igor Larionov
Nicklas Lidstrom
Keith Primeau
Dino Ciccarelli
Slava Fetisov
Vladimir Konstantinov

etc...
Click to expand...

But their great regular season was wasted when they got bounced by the Avalanche in 6 games in the playoffs. The other 2 NHL teams on the list won the Stanley Cup.

That said, I hope the real ESPN 25 ranking tonight is better than this....
 
S

SickBoy

Member
But their great regular season was wasted when they got bounced by the Avalanche in 6 games in the playoffs. The other 2 NHL teams on the list won the Stanley Cup.
Click to expand...

Exactly.

Just to test it, I just "what iffed" the series: 95-96 Wings vs. 83-84 Oilers

Oilers win the series 4-2

Game 1: Red Wings 3 Oilers 2
1st:
Wayne Gretzky shoots and scores on the rebound
2nd:
Powerplay - Goal scored by Glenn Anderson assisted by Mark Messier and Paul Coffey
Goal scored by Steve Yzerman assisted by Paul Coffey and Nicklas Lidstrom
Goal scored by Vyacheslav Kozlov assisted by Igor Larionov
3rd:
Goal scored by Keith Primeau assisted by Darren McCarty and Viacheslav Fetisov

Game 2: Oilers 4 @ Red Wings 1
1st:
Goal scored by Sergei Fedorov assisted by Dino Ciccarelli and Bob Errey
2nd:
Goal scored by Glenn Anderson assisted by Mark Messier and Paul Coffey
Goal scored by Jari Kurri assisted by Wayne Gretzky and Jaroslav Pouzar
3rd:
Paul Coffey shoots and scores on the rebound assisted by Raimo Summanen
Goal scored by Jaroslav Pouzar assisted by Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri

Game 3: Red Wings 3 @ Oilers 1
1st:
Goal scored by Steve Yzerman assisted by Viacheslav Fetisov
2nd:
Goal scored by Wayne Gretzky assisted by Jari Kurri and Jaroslav Pouzar
Goal scored by Steve Yzerman assisted by Viacheslav Fetisov
Igor Larionov shoots and scores on the rebound assisted by Nicklas Lidstrom
3rd:
No scoring

Game 4: Oilers 5 Red Wings 1
1st:
Powerplay - Goal scored by Paul Coffey assisted by Glenn Anderson and Mark Messier
Powerplay - Goal scored by Dino Ciccarelli assisted by Bob Errey and Sergei Fedorov
2nd:
Goal scored by Ken Linseman assisted by Kevin McClelland and Raimo Summanen
3rd:
Powerplay - Goal scored by Glenn Anderson assisted by Raimo Summanen and Don Jackson
Goal scored by Wayne Gretzky assisted by Jari Kurri and Randy Gregg
Goal scored by Wayne Gretzky assisted by Jari Kurri and Dave Semenko

Game 5: Oilers 5 @ Red Wings 4
1st:
Goal scored by Darren McCarty assisted by Steve Yzerman
2nd:
Powerplay - Glenn Anderson shoots and scores on the rebound assisted by Charlie Huddy
Goal scored by Wayne Gretzky assisted by Jari Kurri and Charlie Huddy
Goal scored by Igor Larionov assisted by Viacheslav Fetisov and Vladimir Konstantinov
Goal scored by Jari Kurri assisted by Wayne Gretzky and Randy Gregg
3rd:
Powerplay - Goal scored by Paul Coffey assisted by Steve Yzerman and Viacheslav Fetisov
Goal scored by Nicklas Lidstrom assisted by Doug Brown and Vyacheslav Kozlov
Goal scored by Wayne Gretzky assisted by Jari Kurri and Dave Semenko
OT:
Goal scored by Paul Coffey assisted by Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri

Game 6: Oilers 6 Red Wings 3
1st:
No scoring
2nd:
Goal scored by Igor Larionov assisted by Doug Brown and Vyacheslav Kozlov
Goal scored by Glenn Anderson assisted by Mark Messier
Goal scored by Jari Kurri assisted by Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey
3rd:
Goal scored by Glenn Anderson assisted by Mark Messier and Paul Coffey
Goal scored by Jari Kurri assisted by Wayne Gretzky and Dave Semenko
Goal scored by Vyacheslav Kozlov assisted by Doug Brown and Igor Larionov
Goal scored by Sergei Fedorov assisted by Dino Ciccarelli
Goal scored by Dave Semenko assisted by Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri
Goal scored by Randy Gregg assisted by Glenn Anderson and Mark Messier

www.whatifsports.com ...always a fun site :)
 
S

Shinobi

Member
lol.gif
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How did the '80 US hockey team make this list, even with an asterisk? The Islanders would've punked their ass.

At least the Bears were ranked high...best NFL team I've ever seen, and one of the most entertaining teams I've seen in any sport.

BTW, where are the '91 Redskins? They beat every team they played that year, only losing to the Cowboys at home in week 13, and a meaningless week 17 game against the Eagles in Philly. Otherwise they owned the NFL, and ripped shit up in the playoffs. This is far and away the most underrated NFL team ever.

And if teams from non-American sports teams were included, you'd only have to look at this year's Arsenal squad and the dominant Ferrari mark in F1 for easy inclusions. The treble winning Man United (1999 I think) would also be a shoe in. But then we'd be getting into all sorts of stuff including great World Cup teams (Argentina, Brazil), rugby teams, cricket teams...it would never end.
 
D

DMczaf

Member
Bah! ESPN named the 1998 Yankees the best team of the last 25 years

But what was funny is that the Bulls were #2 on this list, but on the NBA's own Best Teams Ever list, 1996 Bulls were #4. Makes no sense lol
 
I

impirius

Member
Shinobi said:
BTW, where are the '91 Redskins? They beat every team they played that year, only losing to the Cowboys at home in week 13, and a meaningless week 17 game against the Eagles in Philly. Otherwise they owned the NFL, and ripped shit up in the playoffs. This is far and away the most underrated NFL team ever.
Click to expand...
They aren't on the list?! That's a tragedy, and a sham and a mockery.
 
Blackace

Blackace

if you see me in a fight with a bear, don't help me fool, help the bear!
-Fightnfire- said:
I believe this news ...


And im in Seattle :(
Click to expand...

Yeah.. I remember those games.... GP and Kemp...the young upstarts taking on the Bulls.. MJ, Pip, and the Worm....
 
C

Crazymoogle

Member
You can't argue with those Bulls 96 stats, but damned if I'll ever take the 80's oilers off of the top of my list. That team had so much scoring you could blink and confuse them for a Lacrosse team based on the scoreboard.
 
S

Shinobi

Member
The '98 Yankees is one of the most overrated teams ever. The '92 Jays would've punked their ass.

And yeah, I fear the '80's Oilers...deep as hell. So good they kept a Flames team that could've been a dynasty themselves off the cup chart for much of that decade.
 
D

DMczaf

Member
Wolfy said:
The Braves old pitching staff eats Michael Jordan for breakfast.
Click to expand...

And what do they have to show for all those division titles? 1 World Series win. And it was over the Indians, so it shouldn't have counted!
 
K

Kon Tiki

Banned
Malakhov said:
Oh and this article is bullshite btw.

You've got the edmonton oilers from 84 and new york islanders from 82 but where are the 95-96 red wings?

82 games 62 wins 13 losses 7 overtime losses 131 points

Sergei Fedorov
Steve Yzerman
Paul Coffey
Vyacheslav Kozlov
Igor Larionov
Nicklas Lidstrom
Keith Primeau
Dino Ciccarelli
Slava Fetisov
Vladimir Konstantinov

etc...
Click to expand...

American Press. I am not suprised by the absence of other sports either.
 
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