GOLDEN STATE 2016 vs CHICAGO BULLS 1996

[dansbasketball]

So currently sitting at 71-9 the Golden State Warriors have pretty much guaranteed they will at worst tie the 1995-96 Bulls 72-10 season, perhaps going one better?

The Warriors are about to set an NBA record for most victories in a single season and it brings up the debate of who really was the better team? Who would you back and I guess more importantly, who would you pay $$$ to go and see if you could choose just one.

NBA hall of famer Scottie Pippen doesn't think the Warriors would match up well against his 95-96 Chicago team, going on record as sating that his Bulls would sweep the Warriors.

It brings up the debate of where the current game and state of the league currently stands compared with the standards of play in the mid to late 90s.

I'd suggest the popularity world-wide has gone through the roof, but in the actual nuts and bolts department what as far as superstars compared to that time has changed?

Interesting debate and one for a worthy discussion. Who and why?

 

[dansbasketball]

So we've got a tie... Golden State defeating San Antonio (in their house) has them on the verge of a 73 win season. One home game remains between them and the record!

 

[dansbasketball]

Thoughts continue on the debate and I figured I'd add some more for discussion:

Here are 5 reasons why the 2016 Warriors wouldn't beat the 1996 Bulls:

5. Steve Kerr vs Steve Kerr

Steve Kerr the player averaged 8 pts, 2 reb and 2 ast per game through the five years of service in Chicago and knocked down 48% of his three point attempts as a sharpshooting specialist off the bench.

4. Rule changes

The game has been cleaned up, some of the physicality has been taken out. Small ball lineups, such as the Warriors thrive in this new regime, where aggressive hand-checking, trash talk and more are harshly penalized by tech fouls, ejections and fines.

3. Dennis Rodman

Rodman is the ultimate X-factor in the debate. In 1996 he was in rare form, leading the league in rebounds with 15 per game. He was more than capable of battling against the likes of Karl Malone and Shaquille O'Neal, before boxing out, cleaning the glass and snapping off quick outlet passes. It would be an impossible task for Draymond Green, Festus Ezeli and Andrew Bogut to keep Rodman off the glass.

2. Size

The Bulls have the size and strength to overwhelm the Warriors at every position. By the fourth quarter, the Bulls would have worn down the diminutive Warriors with timely post ups and physical play. Rodman, Ron Harper, Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan can switch off screens and guard multiple positions. The Splash Brothers would be suffocated under this defensive pressure having to work in and out of screens.

1. Michael Jordan

The Warriors obviously would have to contend with the great one, the most competitive athlete to ever lace up a pair of shoes. Jordan appeared to take pleasure in breaking the will of every opposing player and fan by halftime. For motivation, Jordan would have promptly dismissed any talk of the Warriors matching the Bulls, before coming out all guns blazing to drop 50, while also demanding the Curry assignment at the other end.

Last season James kept Cleveland in the Finals by himself, after both Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving went down with injuries. For Game 2, he put up 39 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists to steal a victory. He would back that up in Game 3 with 40 points, 12 boards and 8 assists. We could expect Jordan to be even more efficient than James in this marquee match-up, with the benefit of a healthy supporting cast at his disposal.

 

[TheGodFresco]

The only one discussing anything here is you..... 2 great teams in different eras, can't compare either...

Lock this up

 

[danikerhino]

Gotta do best of 7, it would be close.

 

[Retroballer]

Yeah but could they beat the 2016 Lakers?