1989-90 - Weird start: The Mailman and Dominique dominate the play-offs - TheDukeOrange's Blog

TheDukeOrange's Blog

1989-90 - Weird start: The Mailman and Dominique dominate the play-offs

Posted on May 20, 2020 at 05:38 PM.

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Here is short summary of the first season. A couple of things worked out as expected (The bulls not winning the championship) and some things went completely off rails, with the Utah Jazz and the Atlanta Hawks being the two teams in the finals.

But let's go step by step:

Adopted Team: Seattle Supersonics
I moved the OKC Thunder to Seattle, rebranded as Supersonics... and boy it felt good to see Shawn Kemp throwing down some ferocious dunks. I did have some injury misfortune and ended up missing the play-offs. The biggest challenge is, how to position myself in the off-season to pick Gary Payton in the draft. I don't want to mess with the draft order, but I really would miss the dynamic duo of The Glove and the ReignMan being re-united.

Best game of the season: Beating the Utah Jazz by 2 points in the season opener

The West
Utah dominated the Western Conference with a 67-15 record (inflated by the poor three teams without any real players. The Rockets lined up on second plays with a 58-24 record.
The Lakers and the Blazers have been 7th and 8th seed, both with some significant injuries involved.

The East
Boston took care of Business, winning 66 games and keeping the Atlanta Hawks on the second place with 61 games. The Hawks have been led by Dominique and a very strong Moses Malone. Knicks on third place, Bulls and Pistons positioned as 5th and 6th team for the season.

Awards

MVP: Hakeem Olajuwon

Rookie of the yearMookie Blaylock

Defensive Player of the year: Hakeem Olajuwon

Most improved player: Blair Rasmussen

All- NBA First Team: M. Jordan, J. Stockton, C. Barkley, K. Malone, H. Olajuwon
All- NBA Second Team: M. Johnson, K. Johnson, K.McHale, D. Wilkins, P. Ewing
All- NBA Third Team: C. Drexler, J. Dumars, L. Bird, T. Cummings, D. Robinson

All- Defense First Team: M. Jordan, R. Harper, L. Nance, K. McHale, H. Olajuwon
All- Defense Second Team: J. Stockton, D. Harper, K. Malone, T. Corbin, P. Ewing

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The Play-Offs - Adopted Team

I took the Utah Jazz as team of choice. To be honest, that fan base has been tortured over the years and the idea to get them to the finals, and maybe avoid the Bulls altogether and get the Lakers in a down year.

The Play-Offs - First Round
In the first round, I finished off the trailblazers in 4 game. Portland did not match up very well with the Mailman and the defense was able to contain the Glide. And (knocks fans can get used to that), the Bulls beat the NY Knicks in round one in seven games, after trailing 3:1. A very dramatic but not unrealistic result of the simulation.

Other results:
PHO - LAC: 4:3
DAL - SA: 4:3
HOU - LAL: 4-1
BOS - IND: 4.0
PHI - DET: 4:1
ATL - WAS: 4-2

The Play-Offs - Conference Semifinals
In the second round I had to face the Phoenix Suns. Good news, without Kevin Johnson for the first 3 games and the Jazz jumped to a three nothing lead. We lost one game in Phoenix but have been able to seal the deal in the game 5.

Other results:
HOU - DAL: 4:2
BOS - PHI: 4:3 (Barkley could not get past the Celtics)
ATL - CHI: 4:3 (Somehow Dominique had a very good game 7 against Air Jordan)

The Play-Offs - Conference Semifinals

The Houston Rockets have been the next opponent. And they crushed me in Game 1. I tweaked the defensive settings against the Hakeem The Dream and somehow have been able to ty the series with 2 games a piece. Than Magic happened: A 30+ Points game from Thurl Bailey and a 40point game from John Stockton pushed the Jazz into the finals. Where they meet the Atlanta Hawks who dispatched the Boston Celtics in 6 games. Maybe this is the parallel universe where Michael Jordan remains in the shadow of the Mail Man...

The Finals

Game 1: Utah wins 106-91. Karl Malone with 21 Points and 19 Rebounds. Puh
Game 2: Atlanta wins 94-91. Dominique with 41 points in 40 minutes...
Game 3: Utah 122-99. Karl Malone again dominating the boards with 22 rebounds
Game 4: Utah 88-84 nail-biter. Dominique had 31 points, but not enough
Game 5:Atlanta wins, 117 -107, Dominique again, 39 points
Game 6: Atlanta wins, 115-111, crushing defeat.
Game 7: Dominique over 50 points, Karl Malone disappears,...but Stockton saves the day with 37 points

Finals MVP: Karl Malone