How do you think the Bulls would have fared if Jordan and Jackson would have stayed for the lockout season?

Question

If the 97-98 Chicago Bulls would have been kept intact by Jerry Krause, how do you think they would have done in the 50 game lockout season and the playoffs? (I dont think they would have won another title) What do you think?

Answer 1

I would believe that they have gotten another title.

Answer 2

They would've won the championship in '99, period. At that point the Bulls were an old team - Jordan was 35, Pippen 33, Rodman 37 and Harper 34. They struggled past a young and scrappy Indiana Pacers team in making the '98 Finals. But the lockout-shortened '99 season should've benifitted the Bulls tremendously. With only 50 games to play in the regular season, the aging Bulls could've conserved much-needed energy for another playoff run. Indiana was not as potent that season while the Knicks missed Patrick Ewing so Chicago could still be the top-seed out in the East. In the Finals, Rodman could certainly shut down or at least limit Tim Duncan while Jordan would certainly have another MVP-performance. No doubt, the Bulls would've won it.

Answer 3

The 8th seed Knicks won the East that year. I dont think there was any way the Bulls would lose to them. And a very inexperienced San Antonio Spurs won the title. I think the Bulls would have easily beaten them and won the title.

Answer 4

I think the bulls would have won the tittle just because Jordan and Jackson were the best plairs at the time.The bulls would have plaid great and I whish they would have stayed. It would have been great to have seen the bulls with another tittle.

Answer 5

Jordan was hurt. they would have put up a goog fight if not winning it all

Answer 6

The Bulls would've won the Eastern Conference, but I think they would've lost to the San Antonio Spurs in 6 games. It was the Spurs time.

Utah may have been the best team even in 1998, though the Bulls won the series...(Thank God) Utah certainly would've been better than a Jordan/Pippen led Bulls in 1999. However, Utah wasn't better than their hated West rivals....... The San Antonio Spurs.

Utah & the Spurs played a heated playoff in 1998...(Karl Malone actually knocked out David Robinson in that series) The bad blood spilled over to the next meeting.....(2/28/1999....ironically, the last time the Jazz won a game in San Antonio) and the two played 3 highly combative games during the 1999 regular season. The Jazz won the 1st, but the Spurs won the last 2 games. The defining game of that series was 4/20/1999 in Salt Lake City. In that game while Malone was trying to punk Robinson, he was being unseated as the league's best power forward.....(and player) by a 22 year old kid from Wake Forrest.

Here's the story..............


*****************************************Game Story

SALT LAKE CITY (Ticker) -- Tim Duncan helped his case for Most Valuable Player honors while helping the San Antonio Spurs cool off the red-hot Utah Jazz.

Duncan scored 23 off his 36 points in the second half, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked seven shots as the Spurs ended the 11-game winning streak of the league-leading Jazz with an 83-69 victory.

While fellow frontcourt star David Robinson battled foul trouble and poor shooting, Duncan dominated throughout and posted his 30th double-double of the season. He trails only Sacramento's Chris Webber in that category.

"Just felt great out there," Duncan said. "It was a big game for us. ... I came out tonight and felt good. They were coming to me and things were going for me."

"He's obviously a special player," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "What he was was very aggressive. He didn't wait around. When he's aggressive right off the bat and thinking about taking over games is when he's at his best."

One night after clinching a playoff berth, the Spurs earned their fourth straight win and climbed within three games of the Jazz for the best record in the NBA and first place in the Midwest Division. Utah has knocked San Antonio out of the playoffs three of the last five years, including last season's conference semifinals.

Karl Malone and the Jazz uncharacteristically became unraveled in the fourth quarter and lost for the first time since an overtime setback at Sacramento on March 30. Their 11-game roll had been the longest in the NBA this season.

Malone had 23 points and 13 rebounds but was called for a pair of offensive fouls in the final six minutes and was whistled for a technical foul. Utah committed six of its 16 turnovers in the final period and went scoreless for nearly 4 1/2 minutes down the stretch as San Antonio pulled away.

"Maybe we thought, maybe we'll just show up at home with our 11-game winning streak and win another one and go on about our business," Malone said. "But teams get ready to play us and take nothing away from those guys. They played their butts off and they did everything they wanted to do down the stretch."

The Jazz also had a 10-game home winning streak snapped, last losing at the Delta Center on March 7 to the Los Angeles Lakers. They fell to 18-2 at home and saw their lead in the Western Conference shrink to 1 1/2 games over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Since suffering a 101-87 loss to Utah to cap a 6-8 start, San Antonio has dropped just four games in 27 tries.

"We're really thrilled to beat a helluva team like Utah because they're the best," Popovich added.

Duncan converted a three-point play with 6:37 to play, giving the Spurs a 70-61 lead. Malone answered with a jumper with 5:01 left, but the Jazz missed their next seven shots and did not score until his 19-footer with 1:40 to go.

The Spurs reeled off eight points during Utah's drought, including a layup by Duncan. Avery Johnson picked off a pass by Jeff Hornacek and fed Robinson for a dunk that capped the spurt and gave San Antonio a 78-63 advantage.

Robinson scored just 12 points on 3-of-12 shooting but added 11 rebounds. Sean Elliott chipped in 11 points, reserve Malik Rose pulled down 11 rebounds and the Spurs held the Jazz to 35 percent (29-of-82) from the field.

"You figure I play only 28 minutes and the team responds as well as it did," Robinson said. "I mean, Tim had to do some extra work and he did a great job. Hopefully, we'll be even better if I can stay on the floor."

Utah made only 1-of-10 from 3-point range and were mediocre from the foul line, hitting just 10-of-17. The Jazz held their only lead less than three minutes into the game at 6-5.

Duncan scored 11 points in the opening period, including a 16-footer with 18 seconds left that put the Spurs in front, 28-22. Even with Duncan sitting for much of the second quarter after picking up his third foul, San Antonio went to halftime with a 43-38 lead.

Utah crept within 53-51 with 5:13 left in the third on a 3-pointer by Hornacek. The Spurs responded with an 8-2 spurt and were comfortably in front the rest of the way. Duncan had two long jumpers around a pair of free throws to close that run, creating a 61-53 cushion.

Hornacek scored 11 points but he and Malone each committed four turnovers. John Stockton, who handed out just six assists, and Howard Eisley each scored eight points for the Jazz but both went scoreless in the fourth quarter.

"They were pushing our pick-and-rolls and usually when a team pushes our pick-and-rolls, we destroy them," Hornacek explained. "But tonight, we didn't get a lot of good things out of them." ******************************************

These two would meet a last time on 5/2/1999 in the next to last game of the regular season for both teams. The Spurs would prevail with Duncan again outplaying Malone. Most thought this clinched the regular season MVP for Duncan. (Malone would win the award anyway in what most sports journalist called MAILFraud...."The MAILman"...) This victory allowed the Spurs to tie the Jazz for best record in the league. The two teams would each win their last game, finishing in a 37-13 tie for best record. The Spurs clinched homecourt throughout the playoffs by winning the season series 2-1 against the Jazz.

The two were headed for a Western Conference Final showdown, except the Jazz looked past the Portland Trailblazers and were upset in the second round. The Blazers were no match for the Spurs in the West Finals and were promptly swept 4-0. I believe the Jazz would've lost in 6 or 7 to the Spurs, but they almost certainly would not have been swept as the Blazers were.

I for one would've loved to see a Bulls vs. Spurs NBA Finals. I would've without question rooted for my Chi-town Bulls, but I really believe a young Tim Duncan would have been too much for an old Bulls team to handle. The Spurs would've won in 6 games.