Quote:
Originally Posted by Najee
On a typical 12-man team, you're going to have five backcourt players and two small forwards. If you are going to face Michael Jordan in his prime, you're going to need tall point guards who can distract him, aggressive shooting guards who can get in his face and small forwards who can help out on defense while driving the lane on offense.
POINT GUARDS: Micheal Ray Richardson, Clyde Frazier, Gary Payton.
Sugar Ray was an outstanding defender, one of the few who actually gave Jordan fits. Richardson's size (6-foot-6) allows him to see eye-to-eye with Jordan and his long arms and quick hands allow him to guard Jordan straight-up. Frazier gets the nod over Jason Kidd because he provides similar skills while being an overall better offensive player. The Glove will be able to help out and occasionally play Jordan man-up while hoping his infamous trash-talking will get on his nerves. Also, Payton can post up guards on offense, and may force Jordan to come over to help.
SHOOTING GUARDS: Alvin Robertson, Michael Cooper.
Dog Robertson was another guard who gave Jordan fits. Very strong and hyper aggressive, Robertson was strong enough that Jordan couldn't post him despite being only 6-3. He also hounded Jordan in the passing lanes. Cooper was another brilliant defender, also with the requisite size to look eye-to-eye with Jordan and the long arms to give him resistance in the passing lanes.
SMALL FORWARDS: John Havlicek, Dennis Rodman.
A top-flight defender with good feet, swift hands and his incomparable endurance, Hondo also would make Jordan work on the offensive end. Havlicek was known for his unflappable discipline, so he wouldn't get frustrated when Jordan gets hot. In his Detroit days, Rodman could guard players of virtually any size and playing style, so he would be an excellent choice to complement the man facing up with MJ. The Worm also could be an antagonist who can match up with Jordan face-to-face.
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Don't get me wrong, the team you've constructed stands as good a chance as any of containing Jordan. But I have to chuckle when people say things like "gave so-and-so fits." I realize it probably wasn't your intention to act like any of these guys ever did the job on Jordan (at least for any significant period of time; I'm sure Jordan had poor or subpar games against all of his contemporaries that you listed).
For instance, Jordan averaged 38 pts/8 reb/7 ast/3+ stl/1+ blk/53% FG vs. Robertson (and Pressey, another great defender) in the 1990 playoffs. Robertson was 1st team defense that season and 27-28 years old. He also lit up the Bucks for 40-50+ several times in the late 80's/early 90's. So I don't think "gave him fits" is the proper way to describe the situation.
Richardson, too, never "gave Jordan fits." Jordan stated in an interview once towards the end of his rookie year that Richardson was one of the players who played him the toughest defensively, but there's a difference between that and what actually happened on the court. Besides, Richardson only played against a(n incredibly raw)
rookie Jordan, not prime Jordan ('89-'93). But even as a raw rookie, Jordan had games of 34/8/8, 27/7/7, 37/14/5, 31/8/9, and 29 pts/9 ast against Richardson.
Ditto Rodman, who used to switch off with Joe Dumars against Jordan in '87 and '88. In 12 meetings vs. Detroit over those two seasons, Jordan averaged 39.8 ppg, including games of 36/10/10, 47 pts, 49 pts, 59 pts, and 61 pts. This is why Detroit devised "The Jordan Rules" going into the '88 playoffs and beyond, because even with two of the premier defenders in the league tag-teaming him, Jordan couldn't be contained.
I guess what I'm saying is: success is relative when talking about defending Jordan.
