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82 sats \ 12 replies \ @Undisciplined 9 Aug \ on: Final 4:39 of Last Bulls vs Jazz - 1998 NBA Finals Game Stacker_Sports
This was the only game I had recorded on VHS. I'm sure I've seen it 50 times.
Rodman and Malone had been tangled up in constant wrestling matches for the whole series and it finally wore Malone down. As much of a physical specimen as Malone was, Rodman was one of the true freaks of nature this game has ever seen.
The illegal defense rules were different then, making it a lot harder to bring help defense on a post player if the offense was playing 4-out, which the Jazz usually did. That's why you don't see Rodman fronting Malone more.
If Stockton hits that last shot, it's crazy to think how different our whole sense of this era would be. I don't think the Bulls win a game 7 and they've said as much in the years since.
I thought Rodman was fading by 1998
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For sure, but he was still the only one who could defend Malone. They lose that series without him.
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yes he did but Malone had a bad shooting series from the perimeter and it wasn't great defense, he missed open shots
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I recall a graphic from that series that showed Malone absolutely scorching everyone except for Rodman. There are a lot of intangibles to Rodman's defense. He gets under guys' skin and in their heads and throws them off their game.
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Ya if I recall his nickname was the worm, but that’s why he looked the way he did. Was all in an effort to f with you. You are right there were levels to his defensive game. This was at a time when no one was looking like that on TV. Guy was even different in high school.
can you find that graphic?
I thought Longley did a decent job on Karl in 1997 and 98
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Exactly the Jazz could have gone down as the only team ever to take down the Jordan Bulls. I think they still deserve a ton of praise. Jerry Sloan was just as a savant as Phil Jackson was. He literally was a Chicago Bull.
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