How the 1994 Chicago Bulls Won 55 Without MJ from Basketball reference

[Bigsmoke]

they had three guys who were All Stars

[32jazz]

they had three guys who were All Stars

But, But....I thought MJ as 'carrying' these guys? I'm a Magic fan who doesn't need pages of excuses . Magic's(even Birds) impact after retirement in '91 was swift & obvious with no need for explanations.

[juju151111]

But, But....I thought MJ as 'carrying' these guys? I'm a Magic fan who doesn't need pages of excuses . Magic's(even Birds) impact after retirement in '91 was swift & obvious with no need for explanations.

Your a special one

[SwooshReturns]

More like the Bulls entire championship experienced cast felt slighted everyone was considering them underdogs heading into the '94 season and were considered to be "nothing" w/o MJ.

So they played their HEARTS out for an entire season, and wound up a 2nd round exit.

So basically w/o MJ, they were a championship level supporting cast, who couldn't get out of the 2nd round.

Which we all knew.

With Jordan they were multiple, consecutive championship winners.

You don't see the difference? Are you fellas THAT retarded?



The next season in '95, with people taking them more seriously in the regular season (granted the loss of Horace), they played well below the expectation of the previous season.

Before ... GASP

Getting back MJ with 12 - 15 games left and automatically becoming what many considered to be a title contender.

[Soundwave]

But, But....I thought MJ as 'carrying' these guys? I'm a Magic fan who doesn't need pages of excuses . Magic's(even Birds) impact after retirement in '91 was swift & obvious with no need for explanations.

Pretty different situations there dude. Magic's retirement was *shocking*. A lot of people thought he'd probably be dead within 3-4 years. That's really what people felt at that time, imagine being a teammate and going with that into training camp.

The Bulls ... it was shocking too, but everyone sorta laughed off the rest of the Bulls and no one expected anything from them. Obviously that group reacted very differently, but I think these two situations are very different. For one, a lot of people though Jordan would come back by the All-Star break or playoffs.

The Celtics were just older than dirt. They would've declined either way, Bird's injuries/retirement just accelerated that by about 20x.

Taking a team to 55 wins isn't some massive accomplishment. The Bulls were still a good team. They added Kukoc and BJ Armstrong was a young player coming into his own. With those two + Grant + Pippen they had 4 legit options that could drop 15-20 points on any given night.

Grant Hill led a team with Lindsay frikkin' Hunter as the second best player to 54 wins in 96-97 too, lol, you don't hear anyone wanting to give him a medal for that.

[SwooshReturns]

The Celtics were just older than dirt. They would've declined either way, Bird's injuries/retirement just accelerated that by about 20x.

Losing two MAJOR potential 90's superstars to pre-mature deaths that would have made them well a contender well into the next decade to transition from the Bird generation to the 90's didn't help matters.

RIP

Len Bias
Reggie Lewis

[gengiskhan]

Agree.

stupid retarded kobe'tard

MJ is 3 x steals leader. Pip is not
MJ has done 100+ blks, 200+ stls TWICE & missed the 3rd time marginally. Pippen did it only once marginally

MJ was robbed of all-D 1st Team despite 100+ blks, 200+ stls in 1987.

Only wannabe overrated trash who doesnt deserve Last 3 all-D first team selection over Wade is Kobe.

Kobe fails to ever be in Top 3 Steals ever.
Kobe fails to lead NBA in Blk Shots by Guard despite beince 6'6" even Once.

[32jazz]

More like the Bulls entire championship experienced cast felt slighted everyone was considering them underdogs heading into the '94 season and were considered to be "nothing" w/o MJ.

So they played their HEARTS out for an entire season, and wound up a 2nd round exit.

So basically w/o MJ, they were a championship level supporting cast, who couldn't get out of the 2nd round.

Which we all knew.

With Jordan they were multiple, consecutive championship winners.

You don't see the difference? Are you fellas THAT retarded?



The next season in '95, with people taking them more seriously in the regular season (granted the loss of Horace), they played well below the expectation of the previous season.

Before ... GASP

Getting back MJ with 12 - 15 games left and automatically becoming what many considered to be a title contender.

In '95 without MJ & Grant? How well did MJ do before Grant & Pippen?

The things is the 94 Knicks were allowed to improve from the previous season & get a legit NBA SG(Derek Harper) ,but for some reason the Bulls (lowballing the Mavs ) who needed a Sg badly went to battle with Pete 'frigin' Myers.

The phantom foul on Pippen, not going after a legit Sg like Harper(even let the Knicks get him) & the fact that the Bulls went 3-7 without Pippen costing them HCA against Knicks cost them another possible trip to the finals?

You don't think the Celtics who replaced Bird ,who went down(back), with Reggie Lewis(an actual NBA player) in '88 wanted to prove something?

Or Worthy & Scott,etc....wanted to prove something when Magic retired & was replaced by an actual NBA player(Threatt)?

Compare how poorly it went in Comparison.

Hell, Even replace Kobe with Smush Parker or better yet a lesser DLeague guy after 2008,09 or 10, lol.


Smush Parker/ D Leaguer plus D Fisher backcourt would get ugly quick.

[tmacattack33]

I hope anyone using the "Bulls won 55 without MJ in 1994" argument realize that they were 34-31 the following year before MJ said "I'm Baaaaaaack".

MJ came back and then they went 11-4 (whoops, Edit: 13-4). Just like that.

What is your defense of that?

[Soundwave]

I hope anyone using the "Bulls won 55 without MJ in 1994" argument realize that they were 34-31 the following year before MJ said "I'm Baaaaaaack".

MJ came back and then they went 11-4. Just like that.

What is your defense of that?

A pretty rusty MJ at that.

[bwink23]

In '95 without MJ & Grant? How well did MJ do before Grant & Pippen?

The things is the 94 Knicks were allowed to improve from the previous season & get a legit NBA SG(Derek Harper) ,but for some reason the Bulls (lowballing the Mavs ) who needed a Sg badly went to battle with Pete 'frigin' Myers.

The phantom foul on Pippen, not going after a legit Sg like Harper(even let the Knicks get him) & the fact that the Bulls went 3-7 without Pippen costing them HCA against Knicks cost them another possible trip to the finals?

You don't think the Celtics who replaced Bird ,who went down(back), with Reggie Lewis(an actual NBA player) in '88 wanted to prove something?

Or Worthy & Scott,etc....wanted to prove something when Magic retired & was replaced by an actual NBA player(Threatt)?

Compare how poorly it went in Comparison.

Where was Derek Harper in the playoffs when the Bulls LOST to the Knicks???

AGAIN TROLL...the Bulls added more than Pete Myers....

[StateOfMind12]

I hope anyone using the "Bulls won 55 without MJ in 1994" argument realize that they were 34-31 the following year before MJ said "I'm Baaaaaaack".

So, what is your defense of what happened in those 65 games?

Horace Grant left the Bulls after the '94 season and signed with the Magic in the off-season. Horace Grant is one of the reasons why the Bulls lost to the Magic in the '95 playoffs anyways. He was money from mid-range especially in the '95 playoffs and the Bulls had lacked a PF. Bulls then signed Dennis Rodman in the following off-season to fulfill their PF spot.

[bwink23]

A pretty rusty MJ at that.

They actually went 13-4....

[hitmanyr2k]

More like the Bulls entire championship experienced cast felt slighted everyone was considering them underdogs heading into the '94 season and were considered to be "nothing" w/o MJ.

So they played their HEARTS out for an entire season, and wound up a 2nd round exit.

So basically w/o MJ, they were a championship level supporting cast, who couldn't get out of the 2nd round.

Which we all knew.

With Jordan they were multiple, consecutive championship winners.

You don't see the difference? Are you fellas THAT retarded?



The next season in '95, with people taking them more seriously in the regular season (granted the loss of Horace), they played well below the expectation of the previous season.

Before ... GASP

Getting back MJ with 12 - 15 games left and automatically becoming what many considered to be a title contender.

Just the loss of Horace? How about Scott Williams? Bill Cartwright? Luc Longley (injury). You want to see how weak the Bulls frontline was in '95 and the scrubs they had replacing the title team players? It's amazing Pippen even had that team competitive defensively. He had to do this stuff all year just to keep that team afloat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SGe-vp_l8U

There's a reason the Bulls lost even after Jordan came back. They got dominated on the inside. The addition of Rodman took care of that weakness.

[Soundwave]

Just the loss of Horace? How about Scott Williams? Bill Cartwright? Luc Longley (injury). You want to see how weak the Bulls frontline was in '95 and the scrubs they had replacing the title team players? It's amazing Pippen even had that team competitive defensively. He had to do this stuff all year just to keep that team afloat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SGe-vp_l8U

There's a reason the Bulls lost even after Jordan came back. They got dominated on the inside. The addition of Rodman took care of that weakness.

I honestly think they would've beat Orlando even in 1995 had Jordan come back a little earlier to work out the kinks in his game.

They had the first game wrapped up and likely could've taken control over the young, easily rattled Magic after that.