sidsanders wrote:ekstarks94 wrote:sidsanders wrote:ekstarks94 wrote:sidsanders wrote:ekstarks94 wrote:sidsanders wrote:DJMUSIC wrote:sidsanders wrote:when this happened, i thought they had em. they were not gonna lose, title was on the way.
Knicks shoulda won that series..
MJ was pushed to limit and excelled.
Knicks was right there.
1 missing piece for Patrick & John Starks ,
Oak, Mase wasnt enough
needed better shooting then, and now. up 2-0 and never won another game. bad bulls, bad memories. charles smith.... argh
Knicks of that era were mentally scarred by MJ after losing to him in the clutch so much....
The year that I was most confident we would beat them was in 1997....we were primed that yr then the brawl with MIA killed that....
i cant see that they were beating jordan after he came back. that bulls team won 69 games in 96-97. 92-93 was the year to beat jordan, the mystique hadnt gotten as big as it would get.
We played them tough during the season not sure if we split the series or was 3-1....there is no doubt in my mind that we would have beat him...we were the only team that had historically faced MJ....maybe outside of the Pacers...we were due....I go to the grave believing that...I think one of the NY beat writers wrote something several years ago saying the same thing...
94 playoffs vs nets is my view on regular season comparison vs how teams step up in the playoffs. nets were talking before that series in 94 since they went 4-1 vs ny that year. the next year, knicks were 3-1 vs pacers in the reg season. miller ruined any chance to get back to the finals. i dont see that next gear with an older knicks team to get past jordan in 96-97. they had split reg season 2-2.
i have seen others say the same about 97 what ifs.
Older team???...We had Houston..LJ before his back went out..and Childs....Chicago was the older team...I know reg season record against a team may or may not mean much but I believe that year was different if not for BS with Miami which we were trouncing before PJ Tucker changed the series...we where on our way...
lj hurt his back before ny, his athleticism from his 1st 2 seasons was pretty much cooked well before he got to the knicks. houston did not posses that level to beat jordan. to me, it would have been up to ewing to be the man. bulls were lead by older cats, however those guys had that level they could activate and the knicks just didnt or they didnt when they really needed it. no one beat jordan during those runs as it would turn out, so it isnt something i get mad over anymore (well...). 93 playoffs was the one that bothers me far more since they actually did face them unlike 97. up 2-0, then g5, charles smith -- finish strong, get fouled. will never understand why he did not do that.
LJ was actually a good player for us from ‘97-‘00
Yes he lost his explosiveness after the back injury but he modified his game and became an improved 3point shooter.
