Quote:
Originally Posted by RedKingGold
You mention many "good" teams, but not elite teams. Other than the Bulls, the only other team you could put in that "eliteosphere" is the 90' Rockets.
Let's look at this decade (primarily in the Western Conference). The Spurs and Kobe/Shaq Lakers are elite teams. You could probably put the Pistons in there as well (with, like, seven consecutive trips to the conference finals). How about the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns at full strength? I'd take either of those teams over the Magic with an underdeveloped Shaq/overrated Penny and a Hornets team that did next to nothing. As for the Knicks, when were they relevant outside of that brief period of time when Jordan retired? Maybe I'll give you the Pacers, but I have trouble naming anyone on that team other than Reggie Miller, Mark Jackson, and Rik Smits. Only Jackson may have the stats, but Miller is the only one that screams HoF there. 1990 Hawks/Heat? Please! The current Hawks are better than those Hawks.
Methinks a lot of your arguments are steeped in nostalga instead of fact.
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I think the early part of this decade was strong with great teams. I do think they all came from the West though. That Pistons team did reach an astounding number of Conference Finals, but if you put them in the West, they reach maybe a couple.
I'm not arguing that though. I'm arguing this year's playoffs. You can't honestly tell me that this year's Magic were a tougher challenge than any of the Finals teams in the 90's that the Bulls went through? There were 3 elite teams in the league throughout the year and only one made it to the Finals. The Cavs were exposed and the Celtics were missing their best player.
I also think you are overdoing the love for teams like the Mavs and Suns. They are good teams from this era, but that's it. They look great because they put up a lot of points but that is more a factor of the era they play in. The 90's were about defense and wasn't as flashy as the wide open era we currently have.