RealGM

So i was about to mention penny being slowed down heavily by the 96 bulls as a criticism in the peaks thread....then i wondered how many perimeter stars -wouldnt- struggle a bit against a team like the 96 bulls?

Honestly the amount of stars i -confidently- thought about who could be resilient in penny place could be counted on 1 hand (magic, lebron, jordan if it was not his own team,etc) and even them may have issues

So when have offensive players took on that kind of monster defensive challenge....and passed it with an A+?

What are the best offensive series against -elite- defenses

Stephen Curry vs. 2019 Raptors

Shaq and Kobe vs the Spurs in 2001.
MJ vs the pistons in 91 and probably the knicks in 92 and 93. He actually performed pretty well in 90 ecf.
Lebron vs the Pistons in 2006.

Not all time defenses but against -4.0 rDRtg teams

Some of LeBron’s

2014, Pacers, -7.4 rDRtg, +9.6 rTS%, +13.1 reFG%, 22.8 ppg., 5.5 apg
2011, Bulls, -7.0 rDRtg, +4.6% rTS%, +.7 reFG%, 25.8 ppg., 6.8 apg
2012, Celtics, -6.4 rDRtg, +6.0 rTS%, +10.3 reFG%, 33.6 ppg., 3.9 apg
2009, Magic, -6.4 rDRtg, +4.7% rTS%, +5.8 reFG%, 38.5 ppg., 8.5 apg
2013, Pacers,-6.1 rDRtg, +7.4 rTS%, +11.0 reFG%, 29 ppg., 5.3 apg
2016, Hawks, -5.0 rDRtg, +3.2 rTS%, +8.0 reFG%, 24.3 ppg., 8.3 apg
2017, Warriors, -4.8 rDRtg, +7.8 rTS%, +12.9 reFG%, 33.6 ppg., 10.0 apg
2018, Celtics, -4.7 rDRtg, +5.4 rTS%, +8.4 reFG%, 33.6 ppg., 8.6 apg
2014, Spurs, -4.3 rDRtg, +13.8 rTS%, +16.6 reFG%, 28.2 ppg., 4.0 apg

Some of Jordan’s

1989, Cavs, -4.9 rDRtg, +6.1 rTS%, +5.3 reFG%, 39.8 ppg., 8.2 apg
1990, Pistons, -4.6 rDRtg, +2.9 rTS%, +2.4 reFG%, 32.1 ppg., 6.1 apg
1986, Celtics, -4.6 rDRtg, +4.3 rTS%, +4.5 reFG%, 43.7 ppg., 5.7 apg
1992, Blazers, -4.0 rDRtg, +8.6% rTS%, +9.4 reFG%, 35.8 ppg., 6.8 apg

Some lesser LeBron and Jordan performances vs. ATG, great, and/or very good defenses:

LeBron, 2008 Celtics, -8.6 rDRtg, -6.0 rTS%, -7.3% reFG%
Jordan, 1993 Knicks, -8.3 rDRtg, -1.4 rTS%, -1.2 reFG%
LeBron, 2011 Celtics, -7.0 rDRtg, +1.2 rTS%, +5.0 reFG%
LeBron, 2007 Spurs, -6.6 rDRtg, -11.3% rTS%, -9.3 reFG
Jordan, 1997 Heat, -6.1 rDRtg, -6.1 rTS%, -7.1 reFG%
Jordan, 1996 Sonics, -5.5 rDRtg, -.4 rTS%, -4.0 reFG%
Jordan, 1997 Hawks, -4.4 rDRtg, -3.0 rTS%, -1.0 reFG%
LeBron, 2013 Spurs, -4.3 rDRtg, -.6 rTS%, + .7 reFG%
Jordan, 1985 Bucks, -4.3 rDRtg, +2.2 rTS, -2.5 reFG%
LeBron, 2015 Warriors, -4.2 rDRtg, -5.7 rTS%, -3.9 reFG%
Jordan, 1996 Knicks, -4.1 rDRtg, -.8 rTS%, -1.0 reFG%
Jordan, 1992 Knicks, -4.0 rDRtg, +2.1 rTS%, +1.8 reFG%

Kobe Bryant vs Spurs in 01

31.7 pts per 75 (rTS% of 8.9%). I think this is incredibly impressive because he only shot about 42% from the midrange. Lakers had a raw rORTG of 13.2


Some series that haven't been mentioned:


Nikola Jokic vs Warriors in 22

33.8 pts per 75 (rTS% of 8.9%). Denver had a raw rORTG of 8.


Steph vs Celtics in 22

31.3 pts per 75 (rTS% of 7%). GSW had a raw rORTG of 0.8 (seems almost too low but via Backpicks this is the case).


Steve Nash vs Spurs in 07

In the second round against a vaunted Spurs defense (had a rDRTG of -6.5, which is #16 all-time, just barely behind the 06 Spurs for the #15 spot), Nash played closer to what you would expect of an all-time offensive player in the box-score. First off the Suns had a better rORTG (7), hinting at a resilient offense. Even without his full squad for the whole series,

Nash averaged 21.3 pts per 75 possessions on a rTS% of 8.6%. He is estimated to have created about 17.3 shots per 100 possessions. Dating back to 2001, that shots created per 100 possessions would be the highest ever up until that point in his history. His PlayVal (Playmaking value, an estimate of a player’s points per 100 impact from playmaking only) of 3, would be the fourth highest on record up until that point with 2 of the 3 spots ahead of it being records set by none other than Nash himself.

Steve Nash vs Spurs in 2010

23.1 pts per 75 (rTS% of 12.40%). Suns had a raw rORTG of 11.4.


94 Hakeem's Finals might be one of the most dominant performances ever.

Hakeem Olajuwon vs Patrick Ewing in the 1994 Finals (IA per 75):

•) 29.5 points
•) 10.0 rebounds
•) 3.9 assists
•) 1.8 steals
•) 4.3 blocks
•) +5.5 opponent adjusted rTS%
•) Knicks were a -8.1 defense (top 10 all-time)



Also I found these tweets. I don't know if this is true, because I didn't calculate it but interesting nonetheless:

LukaTheGOAT wrote:
Also I found these tweets. I don't know if this is true, because I didn't calculate it but interesting nonetheless:

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

I mean, the sample size for Jordan is like 15 games, and the sample for LeBron conveniently misses 07 and 08, which are the only true all-time defenses he faced (the 09-13 east have some all-time defenses on paper, but ehh, weak period).

Jaivl wrote:

LukaTheGOAT wrote:
Also I found these tweets. I don't know if this is true, because I didn't calculate it but interesting nonetheless:

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

I mean, the sample size for Jordan is like 15 games, and the sample for LeBron conveniently misses 07 and 08, which are the only true all-time defenses he faced (the 09-13 east have some all-time defenses on paper, but ehh, weak period).

To be fair, 2008 and 2007 are before his prime really started

falcolombardi wrote:

Jaivl wrote:

LukaTheGOAT wrote:
Also I found these tweets. I don't know if this is true, because I didn't calculate it but interesting nonetheless:

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

I mean, the sample size for Jordan is like 15 games, and the sample for LeBron conveniently misses 07 and 08, which are the only true all-time defenses he faced (the 09-13 east have some all-time defenses on paper, but ehh, weak period).

To be fair, 2008 and 2007 are before his prime really started

I mean, only cause LeBron is so damn good that he reached yet another level after 2008, but I see no reason not to count top-5-in-the-league kind of seasons.

Jaivl wrote:

falcolombardi wrote:

Jaivl wrote:I mean, the sample size for Jordan is like 15 games, and the sample for LeBron conveniently misses 07 and 08, which are the only true all-time defenses he faced (the 09-13 east have some all-time defenses on paper, but ehh, weak period).

To be fair, 2008 and 2007 are before his prime really started

I mean, only cause LeBron is so damn good that he reached yet another level after 2008, but I see no reason not to count top-5-in-the-league kind of seasons.

The issue here is that lebron prime is as long as jordan full bulls career. Literally

If 2007 or 2008 lebron counts because he was top 5 we probably should include 85-87 for jordan as his prime too