Red Mosquito

The thing about the Sonics game 4 and 5 wins is they came directly after the total ass kicking the Bulls gave them in game 3. Jordan wanted to golf after game 3 and knew his team needed to be in control for Phil to allow it. Jeff and Eddie were at the game and supposedly kept Dennis out all night. They came back for game 4 and thought they could just go through the motions. It put a slight dent in that season, since they would go from one phantom loss to the Knicks in the semis to needing 6 games in the Finals to complete the "don't mean a thing without a ring" run.

I'm going to watch both Jazz series and the 98 ECF against the Pacers too. Strong argument the Bulls should have dropped 2/3 of those.

Jim Grey interviewed Dennis at halftime of game 4. Grey seemed really scared of Dennis and asked weird questions, like Dennis was a freak show destroying society. Jim Grey was the worst.

Just started game 5!! Crazy that Marv Albert was only 39 in 96

Frank Brickowski should have started all the Finals games. The Bulls were always most vulnerable at Center. It's why the argument the Rockets could have stopped their run exists. Hakeem would have been a matchup nightmare. Hell, Ric Smits made life tough too.

What if I told you...

The NBA Finals once featured a team starting Frank Brickowski at center

Brickowski was a fairly skilled player. He had a respectable career. 10/5/2 in over 700 career games. He was putting in 17 a game just three years before this series.

I forgot Paxson was an assistant coach by now. He's sitting right behind Phil on the bench. Supposedly he's been trying to get Kerr's shooting right (which has NOT worked).

I am greatly enjoying these posts.

The Sonics got their game 5 win. After the buzzer they stayed on the court with the fans who were going nuts. I saw someone with a "Legalize Kemp" sign. These guys were championship caliber any other year. Kemp was on a superstar trajectory. The Jim McIlvaine signing really pissed off Kemp, who should have been paid. That unraveled the whole thing.

An underrated aspect of the second three peat is just how broken down and ineffective Pippen was. He went 5-20 in game 5 and from what I recall his back was hurting against the Jazz. Ron Harper was hurt a lot too it seemed. Sometimes I wonder how Jordan pulled it off in retrospect. The bench wasn't that great. Rodman was already 35 in 96.

As good a time as any to mention this...

https://awfulannouncing.com/espn/espn-a ... icial.html

I gotta get through Game 6 against the Sonics and then both Jazz series before they drop that. I kind of want to go back and watch some of the Eastern conference series too. Relive how hilarious it was to watch Rodman check Shaq in the post and the Bulls sweep that magic team.

Monkey_Driven wrote:I am greatly enjoying these posts.

It's brought me a lot of comfort watching these games. I was an NBA obsessed 13 year old and life was simple then.

Did you hAve these on demand from League Pass or something or did you dig these out on VHS?

verb has me watching game 1 of the bulls/Sonics on YouTube

Monkey_Driven wrote:Did you hAve these on demand from League Pass or something or did you dig these out on VHS?

They are all on YouTube. Tons of classic NBA games are

verb_to_trust wrote:

Monkey_Driven wrote:Did you hAve these on demand from League Pass or something or did you dig these out on VHS?

They are all on YouTube. Tons of classic NBA games are

I guess I knew that. Been a long while since I did a YouTube deep dive.

Monkey_Driven wrote:

verb_to_trust wrote:

Monkey_Driven wrote:Did you hAve these on demand from League Pass or something or did you dig these out on VHS?

They are all on YouTube. Tons of classic NBA games are

I guess I knew that. Been a long while since I did a YouTube deep dive.

SB Nations YouTube channel has some cool NBA content. They have a series called " Collapse" that talks about great teams and their abrupt downfall. Also a series where they do a 15/20 min breakdown on why certain stars or teams never won a title: Barkley, Stockton Malone Nash, ect.

Game 6 about to tip! What will be interesting is what level of fight the Sonics put up in game 6. Were the Bulls just going through the motions during games 4 and 5 knowing the knockout blow had already been delivered in the game 3 blowout? Probably.

Pump Up the Jams is playing during warm ups while Bob Costas is delivering a monologue on each team being on the verge of history. His hair looks great.

The opening keys to Van Halens Right Now are playing before tip, and off we go!