Who is The best team in Chicago Bulls History?

The case as to why the 1991-92 Chicago Bulls are better than the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls.

Why the 1992 Bulls are better

Michael Jordan

The most prominent case as to why Michael Jordan was a better player in 1991-92 than in 1995-96 is the fact that he was a much better shooter in 1991-92: (.519 vs .495 in 1995-96). Furthermore, Jordan had a shorter 3 point line in 1995-96 yet his scoring average is only 0.3 points higher.  Jordan also produced nearly 2 more assists per game in 1992, you can either attribute it to Jordan himself being better, or the fact that the Bulls had power forwards and centers who were better offensive players in 1991-92.  Here is Jordan by the Numbers:

Year PPG FG% RPG APG STL BLK
Jordan in 1991-92 30.1 .519 6.4 6.1 2.3 0.9
Jordan in 1995-96 30.4 .495 6.6 4.3 2.2 0.5

Scottie Pippen

Pippen was a better player in all statistical categories in 1991-92. Scottie was also an established top notch defender by 1991-92.

Year PPG FG% RPG APG STL BLK
Pippen in 1991-92 21.0 .506 7.7 7.0 1.9 1.1
Pippen in 1995-96 19.4 .463 6.4 5.9 1.7 0.7

Horace Grant & Bill Cartwright vs. Dennis Rodman & Luc Longley

Dennis Rodman is a solid defensive inside player but so are Grant & Cartwright. The difference here is that Grant & Cartwright are much more productive on the offensive end. The Longley/Rodman duo is probably the most offensively inept starting PF-Center duo on an NBA champion since the implementation of the shot clock. Grant was not happy in Chicago because he wanted the ball more than what he got. The later Bulls team was forced to be constantly focused so that Rodman would not have time to engage in the circus antics that cost his 1995 San Antonio Spurs the Western Conference Championship.

Year PPG FG% RPG APG STL BLK
Grant/Cartwright 1991-92 22.2 .529 15.0 4.0 1.6 1.8
Rodman/Longley in 1995-96 14.6 .481 20.0 4.4 0.9 1.8

The "Other Guard"

John Paxson (1992) vs. Ron Harper (1996)

Both players are 2-guards who can start because of point-forward Scottie Pippen. Paxson is a one dimensional spot up shooter while Harper is a washed up star who still plays good defense.

Year PPG FG% RPG APG STL BLK
Paxson in 1991-92 7.0 .528 1.2 3.1 0.6 0.8
Harper in 1995-96 7.4 .467 2.7 2.6 1.3 0.4

The Benches

The 1995-96 bench scores more points per game (primarily because of Kucoc) but it is insufficient to make up the difference that the starters from 1992 create.  In the 1992 NBA Finals the Bulls bench rallied the team from a 17 point fourth quarter deficit to win game 6 and secure the second Bulls NBA Championship.  Here are the numbers from both benches:

1991-92 Prominent Bench Players PPG FG% RPG APG STL BLK
G B.J. Armstrong 9.9 .481 1.8 3.2 0.6 0.1
F Stacey King 7.0 .506 2.6 1.0 0.3 0.3
C Will Perdue 4.5 .547 4.1 1.0 0.2 0.6
G Craig Hodges 4.3 .384 0.4 1.0 0.3 0.0
F Cliff Levingston 3.9 .498 2.9 0.8 0.3 0.6
C Scott Williams 3.4 .483 3.9 0.8 0.2 0.3
G Bobby Hansen 2.5 .444 1.1 1.0 0.4 0.0
F Mark Randal 1.7 .455 0.6 0.4 0.0 0.0
1995-96 Prominent Bench Players
F Toni Kucoc 13.1 .490 4.0 3.5 0.8 0.3
G Steve Kerr 8.4 .506 1.3 2.3 0.8 0.0
C Bill Wennington 5.3 .493 2.5 0.6 0.3 0.2
PF/C John Salley 4.4 .450 3.3 1.3 0.5 0.6
F Jud Buechler 3.8 .463 1.5 0.8 0.5 0.1
F Dickey Simpkins 3.6 .481 2.6 0.6 0.2 0.1
C James Edwards 3.5 .373 1.4 0.4 0.0 0.3
F Jason Caffey 3.2 .438 1.9 0.4 0.2 0.1
F Randy Brown 2.7 .406 1.0 1.1 0.8 0.1

The '92 Squad was more resilient

From 1991 to 1993 the Bulls went through 47 playoff games over 3 years without suffering back to back playoff losses.  In contrast the Bulls of 1996 to 1998 never went more than 16 games without suffering consecutive losses: they had back to back losses in each of their 3 title runs from 1996 to 1998.

League Strength

The NBA was much stronger in 1991-92 than in 1995-96. For one thing there were no easy wins against expansion teams. Second, the league has experienced a steady decline in field goal percentage. This decline is due to a lack of good young shooters coming out of college. Overall the Eastern Conference was so weak in 1995-96 that the Cleveland Cavaliers won 47 games with Terell Brandon, Dan Majerle, Tyrone Hill & Danny Ferry in their starting line up.

Defending Champions in 1991-92

In 1991-92 the Bulls were defending champions who were successfully built to dethrone the two time Champion Detroit Pistons. In contrast the 1995-96 Bulls were a team put together to oust (successfully) the one time NBA Finalist Orlando Magic who failed to win a game in the 1995 NBA Finals.

When you are a defending Champion you are the intense focus of every team you play because every NBA team in league history has loved the thought of knocking off the defending champs. The 1995-96 Bulls repeated the following season but that has no effect on how their opponents approached facing them in 1995-96. The 1991-92 Squad won 67 Games with the burden of being defending Champions, a burden the 1995-96 team never had to bear.

Summary

Above I state the case as to why the 1991-92 Chicago Bulls are better than the 1995-96 version.  It is clear that Pippen was better in 1991-92, Jordan was a better shooter & passer in 1991-92 (his 8th season), and the Grant/Cartwright duo bring more to the all around game than Rodman/Longley.  Though the 1991-92 Bulls won 5 fewer regular season games and lost 4 more playoff games than the 1996 squad the 1992 Bulls carried the burden of being defending champions, they did not have expansion teams to thin the competition and they did not have a shortened 3 point line to strengthen their perimeter oriented offense.  If you try to argue that the 1995-96 Bulls are the best team ever because Jordan is unstoppable I must point out that your argument is flawed because the unstoppable Jordan was better & had a better supporting cast in 1991-92.


Page by Brian Jalas
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