Ewing and Malone could have been in that class as well. But for some odd reason decided to go back to school. The NCAA tournaments were off the hook back then with all the ridiculous abundance of talent.
Yes Indeed 💯 was a Great Loaded Draft & also my Grad Year. John Stockton/Charles Barkley/Sam Perkins & Otis Thorpe were also in that Loaded '84 Draft.🏀🏀🏀👏💙
It would've been great to see these teams battle in the 1994 Finals. Interestingly, the Rockets won 5 out of 6 from 1991-1993 and the Bulls won 5 out of 6 from 1996-1998 after Jordan returned.
FuShengAlex difference is once scottie grew up and stopped being soft and he came into his own he stepped up against Detroit it was over for them already because mike didn't have to worry about doing everything on his own anymore and carry the bulls while everyone else played like absolute shit u can literally see mike doing everything he can and everyone else was playing shit. And the Orlando series scottie played like shit and they were weak on the power forward position and even tho jordan had put up his usual numbers he wasn't the same guy anymore u can see that he wasn't as explosive as he was before he left and made a couple of bone headed mistakes that he usually never did before. And before u talk about the 55 point game and all that shit. Listen he had a hot night thays just one game but let's not act like he didn't have play like shit his first game back or he had some games we he struggled to get a shot off he averaged 26.9 ppg off of 41 percent shooting in the 17 games he came back. Thats not the Michael Jordan that everybody knew and that's not even Nicks anderson said that number 45 wasn't the same guy as number 23 and we all know what happened the next year when he got back on his shit
The Rockets with him went 7 games against the Sonics and only lost the series because of 2 bad calls against them in overtime. A few years later without him the Sonics swept them, he definitely would've made a difference if he was still there at that point.
@@ChrisM07 i wish they could've got clyde the glide a few years earlier him and hakeem with a few extra years of clyde's prime mightve been a serious problem for the bulls
@@ChrisM07 The stupidest call was when Perkins threw the ball into the sonics bench and they say Robert touched it last Perkins just got scared when he saw Robert coming, and didn't know what to do
Houston gave Chicago fits because that front court was fantastic defensively...Hakeem, Thorpe and Horry forced the Bulls put the paint. And unlike the Knicks, Maxwell and Smith could make you pay for doubling off them to Hakeem.
They say Rodman would've made a difference because the Bulls won both games in 96, completely glossing over the Rockets not having a legit PF at the time and the Rockets not being at full strength either game.
You always knew that MJ is gonna dominate and will be the Bulls' leading scorer in practically every game, but Mad Max alongside Gary Payton and Joe Dumars was one of the very few guards that was able to give him a hard time and somehow limit his offensive output
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@Roberto Coca No, Maxwell guards MJ, and does a good job at doing so. Hakeem will lock MJs ass up on the perimeter if neccessary, or swat his shit whenever he drives to the basket.
@ Ricardo Lozano- The Rockets eventually beat the Supersonics in the playoffs in 1997, and they maybe would have not have met them in the 1994 and 1995 playoffs especially in the finals. And also even if they did meet them then they probably would have beat them too, but these are just some of the many facts on these two teams right here.
The first championship team matched up well with the Sonics, Seattle was given 4 points in overtime of G7 off calls that incorrectly went against Houston. The 2nd championship team didn't match up as well because they didn't have a PF which made it easier for Seattle to draw Dream out to the perimeter taking away his effectiveness inside.
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@@ChrisM07 The refs screwed Houston in that game 7 so a potential Hakeem-MJ match-up wouldnt happen since Stern and co. knew that was the one team that could taint their golden boy's legacy. We already know how Phoenix would've folded against the Rockets when you look at 1994 and 95 in back-to-back years smh The best Finals throughout the entire 90s between the number 1 and 3 picks of the 84 draft that should've happened.
Rockets needed these wins more than the Bulls. Each time the Bulls faced the rockets they were at least 5 games above them while the Rockets were often times teetering right above .500
Jeremy Tucker Kinda reminds you of Jordans first few years having to lead the Bulls without Pippen or Pippen himself as the only all star when Grant left for Orlando huh?
FuShengAlex regular season. The two teams only met 2x a year. The same shit used to go down with Utah in the late 90's, Malone's Jazz beating Bulls in regular season. We all know how that ended up when they met both times in NBA finals.
meg Hakeem is 10x better than Karl Malone, and karl Malone was a great player but Hakeem was that good. Even MJ knew Hakeem was different from other stars during that era.
@@meg-k-waldren Or also the 1986 62-20 stacked defending champion Lakers who went 4-0 vs Hakeems Rockets. Or also the 95 Magic (who ousted Jordan and Pippen) went 2-0 vs Hakeems Rockets.
If the series between the rockets and the sonics was not rigged by the NBA, olajuwon 🚀 rockets wud have been the NBA champions in 93. And wud have won 3 peat in 93, 94 and 95.
In the 1993 regular season, the Knicks won 3 out of 4 against the Bulls... But in the Playoffs, the Bulls beat them 4 to 2 WITHOUT Home Court Advantage!! In the 1989 regular season, the Cavs went undefeated against the Bulls with 6 wins and 0 loses. But the Bulls beat them in the Playoffs 3 to 2. In the 97 and 98 regular season, the Jazz went 3 and 1 against the Bulls. But both years the Bulls beat them in the Finals!! When it came to the 90s Bulls, the regular season didn't matter! The PLAYOFFS ARE WHAT MATTERED!!!! And if the Bulls would have played the Rockets in the Finals, the Bulls WOULD HAVE BEAT THEM.....
@@mickeyjohnson5247 the knicks are not the rockets with the greatest center of that era who stepped up in the playoffs and didnt shrink like ewing would. i think we saw the difference between olajuwon and ewing in the 1994 finals
@@mickeyjohnson5247 the Orlando Magic that dumped Jordan and pippen out the 95 playoffs went 2-0 vs Houston in the regular season and got broomed outta the Finals...
@@mickeyjohnson5247 The Rockets were a match-up issue for the Bulls. Jordan even said it himself that he was happy they couldn't get out of the West because they didn't have big men to contain Olajuwon. And Phil would not have double-teamed him because his philosophy was that no one man could beat them. And bringing up the Knicks is not an apt comparison because the Knicks didn't have the shooters that the Rockets had. The Rockets were a better shooting team, and Hakeem was much more dominant than Ewing.
@@pomerlain8924 Even the Sonics had trouble with this Rockets team, the version of the team they swept a few years later played at a tempo more of the Sonics style and were overmatched at the PF spot.
@@TheSands83 it could of been the rockets if Kenny Smith made that 3 point shot to beat the sonics. You can tell Jordan didn't want to face the rockets in the finals. He would had huge problems with that rockets team of 93.
@@hectorlopez1069 Fresh Prince Of McAir was the best version of Horry. Clutch as shit and athletic as hell. The Rockets making him bulk up to play the 4 eventually lead to his trade and limited his all-star potential.
MJ was dunking and driving as if Hakeem never existed. Just amazing that a 6'6 player could have so much offensive impact against all those HOF centers during his era.
Jordan only scored 26 pts this game which was below his regular season scoring average. He wasn't dunking and driving as if Hakeem never existed. He had to save that for all those weaker Centers of that era and not the GOAT block king Hakeem.
The Bulls only faced 1 team in a series with a frontcourt as strong as this Rockets team in the Knicks, even though the Magic beat them that was more due to Kukoc being the starting PF Orlando still had some achilles heels too like they didn't have a top 10 defense and Dennis Scott was just a shooter that didn't have much athleticism. As good as the Knicks frontcourt was the Rockets slightly had the edge over their too as their frontcourt players were more versatile and their SF was 6-10 that was also a perimeter threat. It's small things like this that make the "Rockets were the Bulls kryptonite" claim very accurate.
Herrera had the size and speed to matchup with Kukoc. The matchup problem would be PG even if were against BJ Armstrong who was also a very good defender and shooter but the Rockets PGs weren't really facilitators like that anyway they would've found a way to get good shots since Dream was also effective at playing away from the basket which was someone other big men like Shaq and Alonzo Mourning couldn't do. Rudy T also could've used Elie as a guard that's what he did against the Magic when he eventually had Elie on Penny realizing Smith was clearly overmatched.
Orlando also beat them in 95 because unlike the bricks or should I say Knicks around Ewing, their perimeter players could make 3 pt shots and also critically important unlike Starks, Penny could create his own shot from anywhere on the floor. I think either Scott or Anderson were better offensively than Starks. But on a stacked starting 5 like Orlando they were like the 3rd, 4th or even 5th option offensively. Other than Steve Smith (who lost some athleticism from injuries) no other guard besides Penny in that 90s era was both tall and athletic enough to post up and shoot over either Pippen or Jordan 1 on 1. They'll never get the credit they deserve for ousting the 95 Bulls....instead the fixation is on what Jordan didnt do
True. Also, people forget that Hakeem was in the NBA Finals even before the Pistons. The 1986 Finals. The twin towers of Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson had pulled off a surprise upset against the Lakers in the Western Conference. Of course they were schooled in six games by Larry Legend and the Celtics. But it did allow a young Hakeem to know what it took to get to the next level. And they just might have too, if Sampson wasn't injured the following year.
2003 Draft: "Lebron, Camelo Anthony, D-Wade, Chris Bosh" 1984 Draft: "Jordan, Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, John Stockton" The Difference?: "Lebron team-up with D-Wade, Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony in order to win" 🤣 There is no GOAT debate.
Rockets went all in with that Barkley trade and almost made the finals again but the Jazz had an even better squad. Not to mention Malone had a clear hold on what should have been a waved off Stockton game winner in Game 6. After that season Drexler, Barkley and Hakeem were so banged up that that was pretty much it for that superteam.
The Rockets didn't even need Barkley, IMO. They could have gotten a much younger, and cheaper PF in free agency or the draft. Otis Thorpe was not an all-time great by any means, but he gave the Rockets a true power forward and allowed Olajuwon to stay home in the paint.
The addition of Sam Cassell made the Rockets Champions. They needed to get out of the West. They had the mismatches that gave the Bulls problems. Jordan and the Bulls were very Fortunate. If Jordan had not retired that team would have been too tired to four peat possibly impacting their second 3 peat.
I agree. There was a lot of drama happening with that Bulls team (from MJ's gambling allegations to Pippen's contract and Grant's feud with management). Plus, there had to be reasons as to why the Bulls needed a Ron Harper or needed Toni Kukoc to play at the level he played at or needed Dennis Rodman. If MJ plays, the Bulls possibly go 1-1 t Houston in the finals play, but they don't win six titles, much less eight. And, we would be debating who's the team of the 90s with the Bulls and Rockets as the lead contenders.
2 regular season games doesn't make a 7-game series. Yes, the Rockets gave the first 3-peat Bulls problems but a hypothetical playoff matchup would be a whole different ballgame.
The Rockets won 5 out of 6 meetings during the Bulls first 3-peat. And it was a match-up issue. The Bulls had no one to contain Hakeem in the paint. Cartwright was old and slow. Perdue, Williams and King were too small. And Phil did not like double-teaming. And if they did collapse on Hakeem, he could kick it out to his shooters. MJ himself said he was glad the Rockets couldn't get out of the West because they had no answer for Hakeem.
You mean pasted the refs, they pulled a 2002 kings v lakers on the Rockets that year. The Sonics didn’t dominate them in 1993, 1996 after the back to back they did.
@jaboo82681 Keep in mind that they should have won their final game of the season against the Spurs. David Robinson's tip-in to tie the game and force OT came after the buzzer. If that shot is properly waved off, the Rockets would have finished one game better than the Sonics, and had home court, which was vital in their series. That being said, it was inexcusable that they lost to 71-loss Mavericks squad at home.
@@joeman425 The Rockets had injuries in 96, while the Sonics were better, Houston went to get Charles Barkley, which helped them in 97. Houston wasn't on Seattle's level in 93 despite the series going seven games.
@@KWCline91 Horseshit, they were evenly matched because of mismatches at every position. Kenny didn't get infected with the clutch gene until he feared being replaced by a rookie Cassel, otherwise he nails that 3. That and the officiating if you want to go the crybaby route.
I think in 94 it would of been a coin flip. Bulls didn't have nobody to slow down Hakeem and Rockets had their number in regular season and bulls would of been tired trying to win 4 titles in row which is almost impossible to do. But MJ in playoffs and finals was a different beast. Rockets almost lost to knicks Took 7 to beat them. And bulls also beat them usually in 6 or 7. I think it could of went either way.
Toss up in 94, but no surprise if Houston won. But in 95, the Rockets get them and the Bulls don't win another title. There had be reasons why the Bulls needed Dennis Rodman. There had to be a reason why Toni Kukoc became an impactful player for them. The Bulls had drama going on in 93 with MJ and the gambling situation. There was also drama with Pippen's contract, Horace Grant vs. management and more. If MJ plays in 94, I don't think they can overcome that pressure as much. So Bulls fans should be grateful that MJ retired because if he hadn't, they don't win six titles, let alone eight. And, we would be having a debate on who's the team of the 1990's with the Bulls and the Rockets as the two leading contenders.
@Kenneth Cline I agree. Mj also was there in 95 and bulls lost fair and square to Magic. Yes without Rodman and Kukoc bulls don't win any titles after 93. I guess if I had to pick I wud say bulls wud of won in 7 games in 94. Had bulls beaten magic and made finals in 95 I think Rockets wud of won in 5 or 6.
Maxwell was wrong thinking they could beat the bulls cuz bulls beat rockets 3 out of 4 times without Jordan! Yea the rockets needed Clyde the glide! Bulls would have beat them had they met again in 1993.
whenever they met it was nothing but match up problems Cartwright not a dominant center against Hakeem or the Admiral Paxson, and Armstrong not fast enough to check Kenny or maxwell lastly Pippen is way better than Robert but never won defensive player of the year .
The difference was Dream in the paint. The matchups against Shaq, Ewing, and Robinson proved he was the best frontcourt player in the league at the time.
Jordan in the playoffs I know he would've adjust to those guys the same way he did with the pistons and swept them in the 1991 NBA eastern conference finals , because,you know he had those guys in his mind ,but never had the chance to go to the finals against them , knowing Jordan,in a series against the Rockets was going to elevate his game to a lever that we probably never saw before from him , because depending the team ,the the difficulty of the situation,the better he played...
The Rockets were not afraid of the Bulls. But in the finals you have Chicago running different plays and you have a more aggressive Pippen and Jordan. Who knows what would have happened.
The first 3-peat 91-93 Bulls have problems against the 93-94 Rockets team. They were 1-5 against Hakeem. If you ask me, can the Rockets beat the Bulls, I’ll say against the 91-93 first 3-peat Bulls, it’s a Yes. But if this Rockets team is up against the 2nd 3-peat 96-98 Bulls teams, it’s gonna be a more interesting battle coz both are equally equippe. That Bulls team will prevail but narrowly. This battle is gonna be like the Knicks vs Rockets in 1994 where the points are gonna be hard-earned coz both sets of defences are the best. Let’s take a look at the match-ups Ron Harper vs Kenny Smith - Smith is a much better shooter but Harper is a much better all-rounder. MJ vs Vernon Maxwell - Surely Mad Max will try to get into MJ’s head with his crazy antics but that’ll only motivate Jordan to drop 30-plus points on Max Scottie Pippen vs Robert Horry - Good matchup but Pippen’s tenacity will edge Horry in this one Dennis Rodman vs Otis Thrope - Thorpe is gonna have problems battling Rodman on the boards. The Worm will give Thrope the fits and frustrate him all day. Once Rodman gets him out of the game, he’ll come over to help stop Hakeem. Thorpe may have to sacrifice his game to keep Rodman from getting to Hakeem. Luc Longley vs Hakeem Olajuwon - This is the major edge the Rockets have over the Bulls. There’s little chance that Luc can stop the Dream. Hakeem will definitely give Longley the shake all day long. Bulls will have no answer to Dream in this department. The benches Bulls - Toni Kukoc, Steve Kerr, Jud Buechler, Bill Wennington, Randy Brown, Jason Caffey, Brian Williams Rockets - Sam Cassell, Mario Ellie, Carl Herrera, Scott Brooks, Matt Bullard, Chucky Brown, Pete Chilcutt. Kukoc and Kerr and Cassell and Ellie will be the x-factors for their teams off the bench.
Pressure? The Pacers were the clutchest team the Bulls faced their entire run, if they woulda faced the Rockets, they would’ve been the clutchest team they faced. They weren’t called clutch city for nothing.
It's not about pressure. It's about match-ups. And it was plain as day that the Bulls didn't have anyone that could handle the Dream down low. That wouldn't have changed just because it was the finals. It would have just been made more glaringly apparent.
no, rockets didn't want them problems, funny how they would always choke in the playoffs and out of nowhere mysteriously steps up as soon as Jordan retired, then right on cue, Jordan plays his first full season in the NBA since coming back and Hakeem and the 2 time defending champ rockets get swept by the sonics in the second round of the playoffs, while Jordan proceeds to kick the sonics ass in finals for his 4th ring, Jordan goes on to win 2 more championships while Hakeem and choke city is never herd from again, rockets got lucky Jordan decided to play baseball or the dream and the rockets would have been just like blazers, Suns, sonics, jazz, great teams from the West but couldn't beat Jordan in the finals
@@joeman425 how come the rockets couldn't make it to the finals anytime before Jordan retired if they were so good? I can tell you the bulls only considered the blazers and Lakers in 91, blazers in 92, and the sonics and suns in 93, true threats to them in the west the bulls did not consider the rockets as a threat in the first championship run so the rockets did win most of the regular season games against us, but once Jordan returned the rockets were now 2 time defending champs the bulls from then on took them very seriously and then proceeded to routinely whoop the rockets ass in the regular season during the bulls second 3 peat run.
@@michaelmcnair8033 what tha heck are you talking about? When olajuwon had Ralph healthy and they throttled Showtime.....they advanced to the Finals.....I didnt see no #23 or Chicago there. And once Jordan "returned" , his Bulls squad was dumped out by Orlando who Houston mopped the floor with.
@@FuShengAlex MJ was rusty and coming off retirement when they played Orlando in the playoffs. That's why him and the Bulls lost that playoff series. MJ came back from retirement late in the season and he didn't have enough games to get back to his regular playing shape and was off rhythm with his body in the playoffs. I don't think the Bulls would beat Rockets in 95 with MJ playing off the way he did. Then 96, MJ had time in the off season to get himself back and then the Bulls regrouped for their 2nd Dynasty run.
I'm telling y'all in a 7 games finals series these rockets would have beaten the bulls in 94,95 Hakeem was dominating the paint and had an outside 3 point threat. I mean the rockets beat the bulls 8 games outta 10 n there's a reason why Jordan hated playing against the big African Hakeem lol.
If Chicago beat the best team from the western conference that year(Phoenix)then why would they wouldnt be able to beat Houston had they met in the finals?
Record set straight ‼️🙏🏼 in 94-95, with the Bulls @ their weakest during the Jordan/Pippen "6peat years", 87-88 to 97-98: the Bulls split with the Rockets 1-1. This, without Horace Grant 🏆🏆🏆(Orl), without Cartwright 🏆🏆🏆(Sea), without Scott Williams 🏆🏆🏆(Phi). This, against the 1994 defending champion Rockets pre-Drexler for Thorpe trade. This, with Perdue 🏆🏆🏆, who was discarded in 94 because Williams, Cartwright, Longley, and Wennington were all more useful. This, also with Longley (0 rings by 95), with Corie Blount (no Rodman or Grant), with Wennington and Simpkins. The Bulls had a combined 3 trophies amongst their big men in 95, as compared to 12-15 trophies amongst their 94 big men. These center-challenged '95 🐂Bulls🐂 held Hakeem to 2/18 shooting, .111 % ‼️‼️‼️1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk and won 100-83. Meanwhile the Bulls retarded tandem of Purdue, Blount, Longley, Wennington and Simpkins went for 27 pts, 23 rebs, 8 assists and 4 steals vs Hakeem, Thorpe and Herreras combined 27 pts ,15 from Hakeem, 23 rebs, 2 asts, 1 stl, 1 blk. Not to mention 1993-94 , the biggest year in question for the Jordan and Chicago vs Hakeem and Houston "what if?"... The Bulls were again 1-1 with Houston and they were 1-0 with Pippen vs Hakeem, 0-1 with Grant vs Hakeem. The Grant game: when Houston was in the middle of their 22-1 1993 start to the 94 season and playoff. Houston didn't really own Chicago in 94 or 95. In the only two seasons in the 90's where Houston proved they were even good enough to challenge Chicago, they were 2-2 vs a transitional Bulls team without Jordan for all 4 games, without Pippen for 1, Pippen 2-1 vs Hakeem & Houston, and without Grant for 2 games, 1-1. Another major caveat is that the 94 Bulls were adding Kukoc to Jordan, Pippen and Grant. Which is the second best 4some Chicago would have ever had with potential to be no.1 because it is only arguable that Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, Kukoc are better than the former (but 72-10 and 🏆🏆🏆 is hard proof to surpass 🤣). The 1994 Bulls with Airness, Scottie, Horace and Toni, may have been the best Bulls team of the 90's and maybe their best offensive team ever as Kukoc / Grant > Rodman on offense. The 1994 Rockets were not facing the 1993 Bulls. It would have been 1993 Bulls plus Kukoc and Airness back for a 4 peat. The Rockets would have played a different Bulls team in 94 and 95 finals then their regular season foe from 91-93 in Chicago... in regards to those seasons of 91 and 92, and the 61-21 and 67-15 Bulls vs 52-30 and 42-40 Rockets... in the playoffs? Good luck to Houston even winning a game. The only realistic chance when it counted, that Houston ever had was in 1993 when Houston was 55-27, and Chicago was 57-25 (still Chicago has home court 🤣) . The 1993 Bulls were already fortunate enough to upset NY and PHX teams with home court advantage. Not saying Houston wouldn't have done the same upsetting of Chicago in a 93 series, just saying no guarantee and that Chicago already climbed greater mountains in 93 playoffs than facing Houston would have been. Just saying that the Bulls 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 proves their pedigree really well. And if they faced Houston in every final from 91-95 with Airness in all finals, with Kukoc in 94 and 95, Pippen in all finals, Grant in all finals, the Bulls would have been the favorite. They would have had home court, and they would have had the better team with question mark over 93.... All that considered, the Bulls are @ worst 4-1 vs Houston in finals from 91-95, potential to be 5-0 like 60's Celts on Lakers tip, and had they gone to 8 straight from 91-98, and with combinations of rosters with Grant, Rodman, Kukoc, Harper, Airness, Armstrong, Cartwright, Pippen, the Bulls would most likely be 7-1, if not 8-0 vs Houston in all finals. But this myth that the 5-1 reg season records of Houston vs Chicago in 91-93 affects the 94 Bulls or even upsets 91 and 92 Bulls teaams is ridiculous, far-fetched, short-sided and ultimately disrespectful and ignorant. Which is why Maxwell and Horry woofing is as annoying as a Trump rally. It's called being wrong and not caring how stupid you sound.
The reason why the Rockets (before their 2nd championship) matched up better with them compared to every other team is for a good number of reasons: -The Rockets had Herrera in their 2nd unit who had the size and speed to match up with Kukoc, Kukoc dominated smaller forwards or forwards that struggled with defending on the perimeter. -Dream was more difficult to defend compared to other big men because he could play away from the basket and was very unpredictable on offense, there's a reason even all time great defenders like Ewing and Robinson struggled with him. -Their offensive system wasn't completely run by the PG like other teams, this made it difficult to game plan when it came to taking them out of the offense and cutting off their passes because everyone on the Rockets shared the facilitating duties, the Rockets PGs were more shooters than facilitators. -Their defensive identity was pretty similar with their half court pace, a lot of trapping, and very good in transition. -They were a pretty good FT shooting team. -The most important one, Dream in the paint. Arguably the best defensive frontcourt player of all time. Now I'm only referring to this Rockets team with Elie and Cassell added since this was Dream's peak as a player overall. The 2nd championship season he was still the same dominant player but the team was more vulnerable in the frontcourt with Thorpe and Herrera both gone. The seasons after that while still good he was definitely slowing down with injuries catching up to him and the Rockets never were the same team again defensively after they lost Thorpe.
@Infinit 0 The team that was most similar to the Rockets at the time was the Knicks who did give the Bulls the problems in the playoffs with their methodical style of play. Unlike the Rockets though they didn't have a lot of shooters and Charles Smith was in the SF spot which wasn't his natural position and it got exploited.
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@@ChrisM07 Don't forget that they also had pf Matt Bullard who could stretch the floor with his occasional outside shooting.
Great games..Too bad The GOAT retired for two consecutive years, because Rickets-Bulls in the finals would have been EPIC... Though I still think MJ would have beat this badass Rockets
Was this game where in the postgame interview Jordan and Pippin said they didn’t want to face the Rockets in the Finals. Of course Rod Thorn, Jordan’s Daddy, made sure of that!
I just dont imagine the bulls beating the rockets in 94 or 95 with m.j. in the FINALS unless bad zilla RODMAN is there to back up the bulls as he did in 96 97 & 98 yo.
What people don’t understand is that for the two different 3 peats MJ had, the Bulls had literally two players that were a part of both runs. MJ and Scottie. There wasn’t even a situation where bench guys were retained. It was an identical situation. Rodman replaced Horace Grant Kerr replaced John Paxson Harper replaced Armstrong Langley replaced Cartwright Wennington replaced Perdue The only addition that was meaningful and didn’t replace anyone was Toni Kukoc. He was a stud. But that just goes to show you the brilliance of MJ.
No answer for Dream. Offensively, the Bulls bigs were chopped liver. Defensively, Dream made it tough for MJ and Pippen to drive into the lane. Thorpe & Horry matched up well against Grant & Pippen. Maxwell was one of the few guys not intimidated by Jordan and held his own and Kenny Smith could hit the 3 or drive the lane. A bad matchup for the Bulls. It's a shame that we didn't get to see them square off in the Finals.
Considering how big and athletic the Rockets were up front I truly doubt that. The Bulls beat the Knicks in 6 because of Charles Smith, Horry would've dunked it he wasn't getting blocked like that.
Rockets ran they ass out the gym. Bulls don't have nobody but Jordan and because he's privileged. Your not allowed to play him tough, so he'll be the only one scoring for the most part.
@Grant420 With Dream in the paint would've been easier said than done. Only way to throw him off defensively was have him go out to the perimeter which the Sonics usually did, especially when the Rockets didn't have a PF after the OT/Drexler trade.
That Rockets team I felt matched up better than those teams the Bulls faced since they had Herrera in their 2nd unit who had the size and speed to match up with Kukoc which was something the majority of teams didn't have. Dream also would've been a lot more difficult matchup than the other bigs with his ability to play away from the basket, unpredictability on offense, and his defensive impact in the paint. Not saying the Rockets would definitely win but it would be very competitive. The Rockets with Drexler is probably a different story they didn't have a PF and outside of Dream relied heavily on jumpshooting. Despite that I still think their worst matchup overall was the Sonics with their ability to take away Dream's effectiveness in the paint.
2 things happen when jordan met the rockets. he either scored all the points and took an L. or he would get D'ed up and take an L. look who is scoring for both teams and HOW they scored. you not gonna win when the other team is raining 3s on you and controlling the paint
I’ll be the first to say it. Jordan is the Obama of the nba. The refs were whistling every time they touched or breathed on Stockton They did not want the Rockets and bulls to clash because a Jordan loss would taint the saga and legacy. Rockets should’ve smeared them in 96
Love Jordan & Olajuwon two of the best on both ends, 84 NBA draft class, I think it was the best draft ever.
Ewing and Malone could have been in that class as well. But for some odd reason decided to go back to school. The NCAA tournaments were off the hook back then with all the ridiculous abundance of talent.
I guess so.
Agree also add 96’ and 03’
@@MrEOM41 Yes...these two classes are in the conversation as well...for sure
Yes Indeed 💯 was a Great Loaded Draft & also my Grad Year.
John Stockton/Charles Barkley/Sam Perkins & Otis Thorpe were also in that Loaded '84 Draft.🏀🏀🏀👏💙
It would've been great to see these teams battle in the 1994 Finals. Interestingly, the Rockets won 5 out of 6 from 1991-1993 and the Bulls won 5 out of 6 from 1996-1998 after Jordan returned.
yeah, probably 7 games series but Phil Jackson (coaching the bulls with mj) have always found a way to win playoff and finals series...
alexmj basketball I've always wanted the same haircut as Robert Horry
alexmj basketball Kenny Had game back then I liked him better when he the high top fade
alexmj basketball yeah what happened vs the Phil Jackson coached Bulls in 7 games vs Detroit in '90 or vs Orlando in '95?
FuShengAlex difference is once scottie grew up and stopped being soft and he came into his own he stepped up against Detroit it was over for them already because mike didn't have to worry about doing everything on his own anymore and carry the bulls while everyone else played like absolute shit u can literally see mike doing everything he can and everyone else was playing shit. And the Orlando series scottie played like shit and they were weak on the power forward position and even tho jordan had put up his usual numbers he wasn't the same guy anymore u can see that he wasn't as explosive as he was before he left and made a couple of bone headed mistakes that he usually never did before. And before u talk about the 55 point game and all that shit. Listen he had a hot night thays just one game but let's not act like he didn't have play like shit his first game back or he had some games we he struggled to get a shot off he averaged 26.9 ppg off of 41 percent shooting in the 17 games he came back. Thats not the Michael Jordan that everybody knew and that's not even Nicks anderson said that number 45 wasn't the same guy as number 23 and we all know what happened the next year when he got back on his shit
Otis Thorpe was a dam good player.
Oh yeah Thorpe was a bad man 4 sure highly underrated
The Rockets with him went 7 games against the Sonics and only lost the series because of 2 bad calls against them in overtime. A few years later without him the Sonics swept them, he definitely would've made a difference if he was still there at that point.
@@ChrisM07 i wish they could've got clyde the glide a few years earlier him and hakeem with a few extra years of clyde's prime mightve been a serious problem for the bulls
@@ChrisM07 The stupidest call was when Perkins threw the ball into the sonics bench and they say Robert touched it last Perkins just got scared when he saw Robert coming, and didn't know what to do
Thorpe was an all-star in 92.
Houston gave Chicago fits because that front court was fantastic defensively...Hakeem, Thorpe and Horry forced the Bulls put the paint. And unlike the Knicks, Maxwell and Smith could make you pay for doubling off them to Hakeem.
It was the same thing with the Spurs, as well. They also took 5 out of 6 meetings during the Bulls first 3-peat.
They say Rodman would've made a difference because the Bulls won both games in 96, completely glossing over the Rockets not having a legit PF at the time and the Rockets not being at full strength either game.
Mad Max guarded Jordan so well you’d think he was a Bad Boy. I hated watching the Bulls play at The Summit.
Just good basketball, the league was so competitive
You always knew that MJ is gonna dominate and will be the Bulls' leading scorer in practically every game, but Mad Max alongside Gary Payton and Joe Dumars was one of the very few guards that was able to give him a hard time and somehow limit his offensive output
@Roberto Coca No, Maxwell guards MJ, and does a good job at doing so. Hakeem will lock MJs ass up on the perimeter if neccessary, or swat his shit whenever he drives to the basket.
Wow two great teams.
This game foreshadowed that the rockets were contenders in 1994 and 1995 they were the best team in the NBA
Existent David they struggled against Seattle though
@ Ricardo Lozano- The Rockets eventually beat the Supersonics in the playoffs in 1997, and they maybe would have not have met them in the 1994 and 1995 playoffs especially in the finals. And also even if they did meet them then they probably would have beat them too, but these are just some of the many facts on these two teams right here.
The first championship team matched up well with the Sonics, Seattle was given 4 points in overtime of G7 off calls that incorrectly went against Houston. The 2nd championship team didn't match up as well because they didn't have a PF which made it easier for Seattle to draw Dream out to the perimeter taking away his effectiveness inside.
@@ChrisM07 The refs screwed Houston in that game 7 so a potential Hakeem-MJ match-up wouldnt happen since Stern and co. knew that was the one team that could taint their golden boy's legacy. We already know how Phoenix would've folded against the Rockets when you look at 1994 and 95 in back-to-back years smh The best Finals throughout the entire 90s between the number 1 and 3 picks of the 84 draft that should've happened.
In Dennis Rodman's biography he stated there were three players he played against that were from another planet: Bird, Jordan, and Olajuwon.
your channel and editing skills are amazing, thanks for bringing back great memories from the 90's
The Bulls losing to Houston with Hakeem as usual piling up a boatload of blocks.....nothing new to see here folks! Lol.
Rockets needed these wins more than the Bulls. Each time the Bulls faced the rockets they were at least 5 games above them while the Rockets were often times teetering right above .500
Jeremy Tucker Kinda reminds you of Jordans first few years having to lead the Bulls without Pippen or Pippen himself as the only all star when Grant left for Orlando huh?
FuShengAlex regular season. The two teams only met 2x a year. The same shit used to go down with Utah in the late 90's, Malone's Jazz beating Bulls in regular season. We all know how that ended up when they met both times in NBA finals.
meg Hakeem is 10x better than Karl Malone, and karl Malone was a great player but Hakeem was that good. Even MJ knew Hakeem was different from other stars during that era.
@@meg-k-waldren Or also the 1986 62-20 stacked defending champion Lakers who went 4-0 vs Hakeems Rockets.
Or also the 95 Magic (who ousted Jordan and Pippen) went 2-0 vs Hakeems Rockets.
If the series between the rockets and the sonics was not rigged by the NBA, olajuwon 🚀 rockets wud have been the NBA champions in 93. And wud have won 3 peat in 93, 94 and 95.
Just no answer for Hakeem. Notice everything was a jump shot, nothing inside.
From watching the two games these teams played tht year the Bull's better be happy they played the Sun's instead of the Rockets in the 93 finals
In the 1993 regular season, the Knicks won 3 out of 4 against the Bulls...
But in the Playoffs, the Bulls beat them 4 to 2 WITHOUT Home Court Advantage!!
In the 1989 regular season, the Cavs went undefeated against the Bulls with 6 wins and 0 loses. But the Bulls beat them in the Playoffs 3 to 2.
In the 97 and 98 regular season, the Jazz went 3 and 1 against the Bulls. But both years the Bulls beat them in the Finals!!
When it came to the 90s Bulls, the regular season didn't matter! The PLAYOFFS ARE WHAT MATTERED!!!! And if the Bulls would have played the Rockets in the Finals, the Bulls WOULD HAVE BEAT THEM.....
@@mickeyjohnson5247 the knicks are not the rockets with the greatest center of that era who stepped up in the playoffs and didnt shrink like ewing would. i think we saw the difference between olajuwon and ewing in the 1994 finals
@@mickeyjohnson5247 the Orlando Magic that dumped Jordan and pippen out the 95 playoffs went 2-0 vs Houston in the regular season and got broomed outta the Finals...
@@mickeyjohnson5247 The Rockets were a match-up issue for the Bulls. Jordan even said it himself that he was happy they couldn't get out of the West because they didn't have big men to contain Olajuwon. And Phil would not have double-teamed him because his philosophy was that no one man could beat them.
And bringing up the Knicks is not an apt comparison because the Knicks didn't have the shooters that the Rockets had. The Rockets were a better shooting team, and Hakeem was much more dominant than Ewing.
@@pomerlain8924 Even the Sonics had trouble with this Rockets team, the version of the team they swept a few years later played at a tempo more of the Sonics style and were overmatched at the PF spot.
This 93 Jordan is the best player to ever live
oh yeah, getting destroyed by Olajuwon in Chicago Stadium and the Summit.
@@hectorlopez1069 93 Olajuwon won Dpoy & finished 2nd in MVP voting behind Barkley. He was a bad man
@@hectorlopez1069 who won the title dummy in 93?
@@TheSands83 it could of been the rockets if Kenny Smith made that 3 point shot to beat the sonics. You can tell Jordan didn't want to face the rockets in the finals. He would had huge problems with that rockets team of 93.
I USED TO LOVE 💘 THIS GAME
Horry's double dunk attempt is in this game i believe
Yes, that was kind of cool.
@@hectorlopez1069 Fresh Prince Of McAir was the best version of Horry. Clutch as shit and athletic as hell. The Rockets making him bulk up to play the 4 eventually lead to his trade and limited his all-star potential.
Man after watching this don't you all miss the days when wilt, Russell, Kareem, and west was playing it don't get better than that!!!!
How old are you 90
MJ was dunking and driving as if Hakeem never existed. Just amazing that a 6'6 player could have so much offensive impact against all those HOF centers during his era.
@jaboo82681 Hey Jaboo Jordan jocker you wanna see and hear "crying" listen to Bulls announcers here:
th-cam.com/video/TNZN_eHderg/w-d-xo.html
🤣
Jordan only scored 26 pts this game which was below his regular season scoring average. He wasn't dunking and driving as if Hakeem never existed.
He had to save that for all those weaker Centers of that era and not the GOAT block king Hakeem.
Hakeem always block Jordan.
@@hectorlopez1069 Jordan dunked on Hakeem more than Hakeem blocked his shot.
@@nbagoats4819 come on, give me a break, Jordan never dunked on the dream.
I’d love to see a whole post season in the 90s each year each game highlights like this
The Bulls only faced 1 team in a series with a frontcourt as strong as this Rockets team in the Knicks, even though the Magic beat them that was more due to Kukoc being the starting PF Orlando still had some achilles heels too like they didn't have a top 10 defense and Dennis Scott was just a shooter that didn't have much athleticism. As good as the Knicks frontcourt was the Rockets slightly had the edge over their too as their frontcourt players were more versatile and their SF was 6-10 that was also a perimeter threat. It's small things like this that make the "Rockets were the Bulls kryptonite" claim very accurate.
Herrera had the size and speed to matchup with Kukoc. The matchup problem would be PG even if were against BJ Armstrong who was also a very good defender and shooter but the Rockets PGs weren't really facilitators like that anyway they would've found a way to get good shots since Dream was also effective at playing away from the basket which was someone other big men like Shaq and Alonzo Mourning couldn't do. Rudy T also could've used Elie as a guard that's what he did against the Magic when he eventually had Elie on Penny realizing Smith was clearly overmatched.
Orlando also beat them in 95 because unlike the bricks or should I say Knicks around Ewing, their perimeter players could make 3 pt shots and also critically important unlike Starks, Penny could create his own shot from anywhere on the floor. I think either Scott or Anderson were better offensively than Starks. But on a stacked starting 5 like Orlando they were like the 3rd, 4th or even 5th option offensively.
Other than Steve Smith (who lost some athleticism from injuries) no other guard besides Penny in that 90s era was both tall and athletic enough to post up and shoot over either Pippen or Jordan 1 on 1.
They'll never get the credit they deserve for ousting the 95 Bulls....instead the fixation is on what Jordan didnt do
Maxwell was unbeatable...
He was so good against the bulls.
Bulls could matchup with the other guys but they didn't have an answer for hakeem
True. Also, people forget that Hakeem was in the NBA Finals even before the Pistons. The 1986 Finals. The twin towers of Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson had pulled off a surprise upset against the Lakers in the Western Conference. Of course they were schooled in six games by Larry Legend and the Celtics. But it did allow a young Hakeem to know what it took to get to the next level. And they just might have too, if Sampson wasn't injured the following year.
@@invisiblesun6595 yeah. None of the Jordan jockers bring that up when they talk of "didnt make it far enough to face the Bulls" smh
Maxwell was badass against the bulls. He was on fire against the bulls. The only man that could kind of slow Jordan down.
2003 Draft: "Lebron, Camelo Anthony, D-Wade, Chris Bosh"
1984 Draft: "Jordan, Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, John Stockton"
The Difference?: "Lebron team-up with D-Wade, Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony in order to win" 🤣
There is no GOAT debate.
its so sad, houston traded away their youth to wash up barkley. drexler was great addition on 1995. but not so good 1996 season
Rockets went all in with that Barkley trade and almost made the finals again but the Jazz had an even better squad. Not to mention Malone had a clear hold on what should have been a waved off Stockton game winner in Game 6. After that season Drexler, Barkley and Hakeem were so banged up that that was pretty much it for that superteam.
The Rockets didn't even need Barkley, IMO. They could have gotten a much younger, and cheaper PF in free agency or the draft. Otis Thorpe was not an all-time great by any means, but he gave the Rockets a true power forward and allowed Olajuwon to stay home in the paint.
Vernon Maxwell got me here
He was dunking all over the bulls. Man, the bulls could not stop madmax too.
Thanks for the awesome game! Subscribed!
The addition of Sam Cassell made the Rockets Champions. They needed to get out of the West. They had the mismatches that gave the Bulls problems. Jordan and the Bulls were very Fortunate. If Jordan had not retired that team would have been too tired to four peat possibly impacting their second 3 peat.
I agree. There was a lot of drama happening with that Bulls team (from MJ's gambling allegations to Pippen's contract and Grant's feud with management). Plus, there had to be reasons as to why the Bulls needed a Ron Harper or needed Toni Kukoc to play at the level he played at or needed Dennis Rodman. If MJ plays, the Bulls possibly go 1-1 t Houston in the finals play, but they don't win six titles, much less eight. And, we would be debating who's the team of the 90s with the Bulls and Rockets as the lead contenders.
2 regular season games doesn't make a 7-game series. Yes, the Rockets gave the first 3-peat Bulls problems but a hypothetical playoff matchup would be a whole different ballgame.
The Rockets won 5 out of 6 meetings during the Bulls first 3-peat. And it was a match-up issue. The Bulls had no one to contain Hakeem in the paint. Cartwright was old and slow. Perdue, Williams and King were too small. And Phil did not like double-teaming. And if they did collapse on Hakeem, he could kick it out to his shooters.
MJ himself said he was glad the Rockets couldn't get out of the West because they had no answer for Hakeem.
Gotta love that logic. Bulls are guaranteed to win in the finals because they couldn't beat them in the regular season.
Hakeem Olajuwon
Always getting his double-double in the games. Nice game by Olajuwon against Jordan bulls.
Between 1987 and 1996, Chicago only defeated Houston thrice.
If the Rockets were in the same Conference with the Bulls, the 91-93 three-peat would have never happened. The Bulls would have never SEE the Finals.
So why didn’t the rockets make it to the finals in 93?
This would have been a hell of a final series, but the Rockets couldn't get past the Sonics.
You mean pasted the refs, they pulled a 2002 kings v lakers on the Rockets that year. The Sonics didn’t dominate them in 1993, 1996 after the back to back they did.
@jaboo82681 Keep in mind that they should have won their final game of the season against the Spurs. David Robinson's tip-in to tie the game and force OT came after the buzzer. If that shot is properly waved off, the Rockets would have finished one game better than the Sonics, and had home court, which was vital in their series.
That being said, it was inexcusable that they lost to 71-loss Mavericks squad at home.
@@joeman425 The Rockets had injuries in 96, while the Sonics were better, Houston went to get Charles Barkley, which helped them in 97. Houston wasn't on Seattle's level in 93 despite the series going seven games.
@@KWCline91 Horseshit, they were evenly matched because of mismatches at every position. Kenny didn't get infected with the clutch gene until he feared being replaced by a rookie Cassel, otherwise he nails that 3. That and the officiating if you want to go the crybaby route.
Rockets big men dominated this series in the 90's.
Right
Announcer: “Pippen from deep!” (It was an 18 footer) 😭 lol
Nowadays that’s close range .. dudes be pulling up from the logo 😅
Anybody has the full game?
I think in 94 it would of been a coin flip. Bulls didn't have nobody to slow down Hakeem and Rockets had their number in regular season and bulls would of been tired trying to win 4 titles in row which is almost impossible to do. But MJ in playoffs and finals was a different beast. Rockets almost lost to knicks
Took 7 to beat them. And bulls also beat them usually in 6 or 7. I think it could of went either way.
Toss up in 94, but no surprise if Houston won. But in 95, the Rockets get them and the Bulls don't win another title. There had be reasons why the Bulls needed Dennis Rodman. There had to be a reason why Toni Kukoc became an impactful player for them. The Bulls had drama going on in 93 with MJ and the gambling situation. There was also drama with Pippen's contract, Horace Grant vs. management and more. If MJ plays in 94, I don't think they can overcome that pressure as much. So Bulls fans should be grateful that MJ retired because if he hadn't, they don't win six titles, let alone eight. And, we would be having a debate on who's the team of the 1990's with the Bulls and the Rockets as the two leading contenders.
@Kenneth Cline I agree. Mj also was there in 95 and bulls lost fair and square to Magic. Yes without Rodman and Kukoc bulls don't win any titles after 93. I guess if I had to pick I wud say bulls wud of won in 7 games in 94. Had bulls beaten magic and made finals in 95 I think Rockets wud of won in 5 or 6.
I was at this game. Good ass game!
6:43 Collision in high altitude !
What is the right ruling in that case ??
Maxwell was wrong thinking they could beat the bulls cuz bulls beat rockets 3 out of 4 times without Jordan! Yea the rockets needed Clyde the glide! Bulls would have beat them had they met again in 1993.
No, they didn't 🤣🤦🏾♂️ Bulls had 1 win again at the Rockets and the Rockets bench was top tier
1:34 Kenny Smith with the razzle dazzle!
whenever they met it was nothing but match up problems Cartwright not a dominant center against Hakeem or the Admiral Paxson, and Armstrong not fast enough to check Kenny or maxwell lastly Pippen is way better than Robert but never won defensive player of the year .
The difference was Dream in the paint. The matchups against Shaq, Ewing, and Robinson proved he was the best frontcourt player in the league at the time.
Jordan in the playoffs I know he would've adjust to those guys the same way he did with the pistons and swept them in the 1991 NBA eastern conference finals , because,you know he had those guys in his mind ,but never had the chance to go to the finals against them , knowing Jordan,in a series against the Rockets was going to elevate his game to a lever that we probably never saw before from him , because depending the team ,the the difficulty of the situation,the better he played...
So your logic is, they're guaranteed to win in the finals against them because they couldn't beat them in the regular season? Ok then
The Rockets were not afraid of the Bulls. But in the finals you have Chicago running different plays and you have a more aggressive Pippen and Jordan. Who knows what would have happened.
It would have gone to 7 games for sure.
Two players aren't beating 5 starters and a better bench
I'm a rocket fan. Yeah two of the best teams in the 90s
Rockets owned the bulls in the early 90s.
Damn Horry was a MAJOR problem for the Bulls. My gut feeling is that he would be the difference in a series between the two. But we’ll never know…
I promise, I watched this game live on wgn ....
The first 3-peat 91-93 Bulls have problems against the 93-94 Rockets team. They were 1-5 against Hakeem.
If you ask me, can the Rockets beat the Bulls, I’ll say against the 91-93 first 3-peat Bulls, it’s a Yes. But if this Rockets team is up against the 2nd 3-peat 96-98 Bulls teams, it’s gonna be a more interesting battle coz both are equally equippe. That Bulls team will prevail but narrowly. This battle is gonna be like the Knicks vs Rockets in 1994 where the points are gonna be hard-earned coz both sets of defences are the best.
Let’s take a look at the match-ups
Ron Harper vs Kenny Smith - Smith is a much better shooter but Harper is a much better all-rounder.
MJ vs Vernon Maxwell - Surely Mad Max will try to get into MJ’s head with his crazy antics but that’ll only motivate Jordan to drop 30-plus points on Max
Scottie Pippen vs Robert Horry - Good matchup but Pippen’s tenacity will edge Horry in this one
Dennis Rodman vs Otis Thrope - Thorpe is gonna have problems battling Rodman on the boards. The Worm will give Thrope the fits and frustrate him all day. Once Rodman gets him out of the game, he’ll come over to help stop Hakeem. Thorpe may have to sacrifice his game to keep Rodman from getting to Hakeem.
Luc Longley vs Hakeem Olajuwon - This is the major edge the Rockets have over the Bulls. There’s little chance that Luc can stop the Dream. Hakeem will definitely give Longley the shake all day long. Bulls will have no answer to Dream in this department.
The benches
Bulls - Toni Kukoc, Steve Kerr, Jud Buechler, Bill Wennington, Randy Brown, Jason Caffey, Brian Williams
Rockets - Sam Cassell, Mario Ellie, Carl Herrera, Scott Brooks, Matt Bullard, Chucky Brown, Pete Chilcutt.
Kukoc and Kerr and Cassell and Ellie will be the x-factors for their teams off the bench.
좋은 영상 감사합니다
Yea but its different in Finals....regular season way less pressure
This is the weakest take ever...
Pressure? The Pacers were the clutchest team the Bulls faced their entire run, if they woulda faced the Rockets, they would’ve been the clutchest team they faced. They weren’t called clutch city for nothing.
It's not about pressure. It's about match-ups. And it was plain as day that the Bulls didn't have anyone that could handle the Dream down low. That wouldn't have changed just because it was the finals. It would have just been made more glaringly apparent.
2:05 looks like dream aint want to get in the poster
Bulls Nation he didn't want to be in foul trouble
He doesn't want to be in the poster where Jordan is dunking.
Jordan's 90s bulls are lucky, not meet rockets in finals ...others, Jordan might lose most championships
no, rockets didn't want them problems, funny how they would always choke in the playoffs and out of nowhere mysteriously steps up as soon as Jordan retired, then right on cue, Jordan plays his first full season in the NBA since coming back and Hakeem and the 2 time defending champ rockets get swept by the sonics in the second round of the playoffs, while Jordan proceeds to kick the sonics ass in finals for his 4th ring, Jordan goes on to win 2 more championships while Hakeem and choke city is never herd from again, rockets got lucky Jordan decided to play baseball or the dream and the rockets would have been just like blazers, Suns, sonics, jazz, great teams from the West but couldn't beat Jordan in the finals
Lol, anyone who saw the Rockets play, knows how great they were, the Bulls would of lost, sorry bud.
@@joeman425 how come the rockets couldn't make it to the finals anytime before Jordan retired if they were so good? I can tell you the bulls only considered the blazers and Lakers in 91, blazers in 92, and the sonics and suns in 93, true threats to them in the west the bulls did not consider the rockets as a threat in the first championship run so the rockets did win most of the regular season games against us, but once Jordan returned the rockets were now 2 time defending champs the bulls from then on took them very seriously and then proceeded to routinely whoop the rockets ass in the regular season during the bulls second 3 peat run.
@@michaelmcnair8033 what tha heck are you talking about? When olajuwon had Ralph healthy and they throttled Showtime.....they advanced to the Finals.....I didnt see no #23 or Chicago there.
And once Jordan "returned" , his Bulls squad was dumped out by Orlando who Houston mopped the floor with.
@@FuShengAlex MJ was rusty and coming off retirement when they played Orlando in the playoffs. That's why him and the Bulls lost that playoff series.
MJ came back from retirement late in the season and he didn't have enough games to get back to his regular playing shape and was off rhythm with his body in the playoffs.
I don't think the Bulls would beat Rockets in 95 with MJ playing off the way he did. Then 96, MJ had time in the off season to get himself back and then the Bulls regrouped for their 2nd Dynasty run.
I'm telling y'all in a 7 games finals series these rockets would have beaten the bulls in 94,95 Hakeem was dominating the paint and had an outside 3 point threat. I mean the rockets beat the bulls 8 games outta 10 n there's a reason why Jordan hated playing against the big African Hakeem lol.
They should met in the NBA finals.maybe M Jordan would of had half of them rings just saying!!......
That dont make any sense ,the rockets never made it to the finals so basically weren't good enough in the west ,to play the bulls in the finals.
Jazz owns Rockets😂👎
@@alfonsorojas5523 huh....they mopped the floor with the Magic team that ousted Jordan and pippen
If Chicago beat the best team from the western conference that year(Phoenix)then why would they wouldnt be able to beat Houston had they met in the finals?
Record set straight ‼️🙏🏼
in 94-95, with the Bulls @ their weakest during the Jordan/Pippen "6peat years", 87-88 to 97-98: the Bulls split with the Rockets 1-1. This, without Horace Grant 🏆🏆🏆(Orl), without Cartwright 🏆🏆🏆(Sea), without Scott Williams 🏆🏆🏆(Phi). This, against the 1994 defending champion Rockets pre-Drexler for Thorpe trade. This, with Perdue 🏆🏆🏆, who was discarded in 94 because Williams, Cartwright, Longley, and Wennington were all more useful. This, also with Longley (0 rings by 95), with Corie Blount (no Rodman or Grant), with Wennington and Simpkins. The Bulls had a combined 3 trophies amongst their big men in 95, as compared to 12-15 trophies amongst their 94 big men. These center-challenged '95 🐂Bulls🐂 held Hakeem to 2/18 shooting, .111 % ‼️‼️‼️1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk and won 100-83.
Meanwhile the Bulls retarded tandem of Purdue, Blount, Longley, Wennington and Simpkins went for 27 pts, 23 rebs, 8 assists and 4 steals vs Hakeem, Thorpe and Herreras combined 27 pts ,15 from Hakeem, 23 rebs, 2 asts, 1 stl, 1 blk.
Not to mention 1993-94 , the biggest year in question for the Jordan and Chicago vs Hakeem and Houston "what if?"... The Bulls were again 1-1 with Houston and they were 1-0 with Pippen vs Hakeem, 0-1 with Grant vs Hakeem. The Grant game: when Houston was in the middle of their 22-1 1993 start to the 94 season and playoff.
Houston didn't really own Chicago in 94 or 95. In the only two seasons in the 90's where Houston proved they were even good enough to challenge Chicago, they were 2-2 vs a transitional Bulls team without Jordan for all 4 games, without Pippen for 1, Pippen 2-1 vs Hakeem & Houston, and without Grant for 2 games, 1-1.
Another major caveat is that the 94 Bulls were adding Kukoc to Jordan, Pippen and Grant. Which is the second best 4some Chicago would have ever had with potential to be no.1 because it is only arguable that Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, Kukoc are better than the former (but 72-10 and 🏆🏆🏆 is hard proof to surpass 🤣).
The 1994 Bulls with Airness, Scottie, Horace and Toni, may have been the best Bulls team of the 90's and maybe their best offensive team ever as Kukoc / Grant > Rodman on offense.
The 1994 Rockets were not facing the 1993 Bulls. It would have been 1993 Bulls plus Kukoc and Airness back for a 4 peat. The Rockets would have played a different Bulls team in 94 and 95 finals then their regular season foe from 91-93 in Chicago... in regards to those seasons of 91 and 92, and the 61-21 and 67-15 Bulls vs 52-30 and 42-40 Rockets... in the playoffs? Good luck to Houston even winning a game.
The only realistic chance when it counted, that Houston ever had was in 1993 when Houston was 55-27, and Chicago was 57-25 (still Chicago has home court 🤣) . The 1993 Bulls were already fortunate enough to upset NY and PHX teams with home court advantage. Not saying Houston wouldn't have done the same upsetting of Chicago in a 93 series, just saying no guarantee and that Chicago already climbed greater mountains in 93 playoffs than facing Houston would have been.
Just saying that the Bulls 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 proves their pedigree really well. And if they faced Houston in every final from 91-95 with Airness in all finals, with Kukoc in 94 and 95, Pippen in all finals, Grant in all finals, the Bulls would have been the favorite. They would have had home court, and they would have had the better team with question mark over 93.... All that considered, the Bulls are @ worst 4-1 vs Houston in finals from 91-95, potential to be 5-0 like 60's Celts on Lakers tip, and had they gone to 8 straight from 91-98, and with combinations of rosters with Grant, Rodman, Kukoc, Harper, Airness, Armstrong, Cartwright, Pippen, the Bulls would most likely be 7-1, if not 8-0 vs Houston in all finals.
But this myth that the 5-1 reg season records of Houston vs Chicago in 91-93 affects the 94 Bulls or even upsets 91 and 92 Bulls teaams is ridiculous, far-fetched, short-sided and ultimately disrespectful and ignorant.
Which is why Maxwell and Horry woofing is as annoying as a Trump rally. It's called being wrong and not caring how stupid you sound.
94/95? Meh.... you can stop everything else regarding that year, because Jordan choked and the Rockets won it all.
The reason why the Rockets (before their 2nd championship) matched up better with them compared to every other team is for a good number of reasons:
-The Rockets had Herrera in their 2nd unit who had the size and speed to match up with Kukoc, Kukoc dominated smaller forwards or forwards that struggled with defending on the perimeter.
-Dream was more difficult to defend compared to other big men because he could play away from the basket and was very unpredictable on offense, there's a reason even all time great defenders like Ewing and Robinson struggled with him.
-Their offensive system wasn't completely run by the PG like other teams, this made it difficult to game plan when it came to taking them out of the offense and cutting off their passes because everyone on the Rockets shared the facilitating duties, the Rockets PGs were more shooters than facilitators.
-Their defensive identity was pretty similar with their half court pace, a lot of trapping, and very good in transition.
-They were a pretty good FT shooting team.
-The most important one, Dream in the paint. Arguably the best defensive frontcourt player of all time.
Now I'm only referring to this Rockets team with Elie and Cassell added since this was Dream's peak as a player overall. The 2nd championship season he was still the same dominant player but the team was more vulnerable in the frontcourt with Thorpe and Herrera both gone. The seasons after that while still good he was definitely slowing down with injuries catching up to him and the Rockets never were the same team again defensively after they lost Thorpe.
Infinit 0 u call it good shit because it’s right
@Infinit 0 The team that was most similar to the Rockets at the time was the Knicks who did give the Bulls the problems in the playoffs with their methodical style of play. Unlike the Rockets though they didn't have a lot of shooters and Charles Smith was in the SF spot which wasn't his natural position and it got exploited.
@@ChrisM07 Don't forget that they also had pf Matt Bullard who could stretch the floor with his occasional outside shooting.
Great games..Too bad The GOAT retired for two consecutive years, because Rickets-Bulls in the finals would have been EPIC... Though I still think MJ would have beat this badass Rockets
90s bulls just lucky, not meet olajuwan rockets in the finals... Jordan is just lucky !!!
Was this game where in the postgame interview Jordan and Pippin said they didn’t want to face the Rockets in the Finals. Of course Rod Thorn, Jordan’s Daddy, made sure of that!
Matchup issues
Jordan was glad he faced the suns in 93 NBA Finals. He would of had problems if he faced the Rockets in the 93 NBA Finals.
6:45 Seen that dunk from NBA Jam Session.
What kink of a dunk was that?
I just dont imagine the bulls beating the rockets in 94 or 95 with m.j. in the FINALS unless bad zilla RODMAN is there to back up the bulls as he did in 96 97 & 98 yo.
4:29 heads up
What people don’t understand is that for the two different 3 peats MJ had, the Bulls had literally two players that were a part of both runs.
MJ and Scottie. There wasn’t even a situation where bench guys were retained. It was an identical situation.
Rodman replaced Horace Grant
Kerr replaced John Paxson
Harper replaced Armstrong
Langley replaced Cartwright
Wennington replaced Perdue
The only addition that was meaningful and didn’t replace anyone was Toni Kukoc. He was a stud.
But that just goes to show you the brilliance of MJ.
jordan wear air jordan 7 ? why not air jordan 8 in 1993.2.28
Back then, he didn't usual debut the newer shoes until around All-Star weekend
Mj always wore the previous year variant until the asg
6:46 LMFAOOOOOO
Crazy dunk I don't why they didn't count that
why did the bulls struggle so much against the rockets back then?? Even with MJ!!
Matchups! The Bulls didn’t match up good with the Rockets. We had super quick guards and long athletic big men
@@iAmEdwinHamilton good point!
The bench
No answer for Dream. Offensively, the Bulls bigs were chopped liver. Defensively, Dream made it tough for MJ and Pippen to drive into the lane. Thorpe & Horry matched up well against Grant & Pippen. Maxwell was one of the few guys not intimidated by Jordan and held his own and Kenny Smith could hit the 3 or drive the lane. A bad matchup for the Bulls. It's a shame that we didn't get to see them square off in the Finals.
The bulls in six
TheNegrobaez nope....thats what Orlando said to Chicago in 1995.
Not against this Rockets team, unlike the Knicks they actually had shooters and were a lot more athletic.
Considering how big and athletic the Rockets were up front I truly doubt that. The Bulls beat the Knicks in 6 because of Charles Smith, Horry would've dunked it he wasn't getting blocked like that.
Lol
There's no way the bulls can beat this rockets team.
Les rockets aurais du être champion nba en 1993 car ils avais largement le talent pour, comme en 94 et 1995...
Mismatches all over the Court . Bulls no match for Rockets
Rockets ran they ass out the gym. Bulls don't have nobody but Jordan and because he's privileged. Your not allowed to play him tough, so he'll be the only one scoring for the most part.
90s bulls is lucky,not meet rockets in the finals, otherwise,bulls can't get any ring
Maxwell fully blocked Jordan!!!
Chen Rio you're dumb dude
Chen Rio how they lucky if Rockets was so good where was they during the other years
Aden Martinez how
@Grant420 With Dream in the paint would've been easier said than done. Only way to throw him off defensively was have him go out to the perimeter which the Sonics usually did, especially when the Rockets didn't have a PF after the OT/Drexler trade.
6:38 wtf... Hakeem screams "HAAA" to MJ ?! ))
Forcing him to miss the jumper
Can you believe this MJ retired 5 months later? WTF
Secret Suspension due to gambling
Because his dad was killed, that was painful.
The 1995 -1996 bulls destroys 1993 -1994 rockets.......realtalk
That Rockets team I felt matched up better than those teams the Bulls faced since they had Herrera in their 2nd unit who had the size and speed to match up with Kukoc which was something the majority of teams didn't have. Dream also would've been a lot more difficult matchup than the other bigs with his ability to play away from the basket, unpredictability on offense, and his defensive impact in the paint. Not saying the Rockets would definitely win but it would be very competitive.
The Rockets with Drexler is probably a different story they didn't have a PF and outside of Dream relied heavily on jumpshooting. Despite that I still think their worst matchup overall was the Sonics with their ability to take away Dream's effectiveness in the paint.
real talk? Destroy? You don't know 90's basketball saying that.
2 things happen when jordan met the rockets. he either scored all the points and took an L. or he would get D'ed up and take an L. look who is scoring for both teams and HOW they scored. you not gonna win when the other team is raining 3s on you and controlling the paint
Don't compare Michael Jordan with Hakeem Olajuwon. BECAUSE MICHAEL JORDAN IS REALLY SHORTER THAN HAKEEM OLAJUwON.
Right plus Hakeem was better anyway
I’ll be the first to say it. Jordan is the Obama of the nba. The refs were whistling every time they touched or breathed on Stockton They did not want the Rockets and bulls to clash because a Jordan loss would taint the saga and legacy. Rockets should’ve smeared them in 96