Who wins playoff series, 1996 Bulls or 1996-1997- 1998 Sonic Jazz

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

Best of each of the paired Jazz and Sonic player combined talents vs the 1996 Bulls. Do the Sonic-Jazz beat the bulls.
Best qualities of each player as they were from 1996 to 1998. One Jazz player is paired with one Sonic player into a hybrid Sonic Jazz player. Hershey Hawkins and Hornacek have slightly different skills and they get to combine their skills to make a better player. Hornacek gets to use Hawkins speed and Hawkins gets to use Hornacek’s size and so on. (I was wrong about Hornacek being bigger than Hawkins but they get to incorporate each others advantages into their own combined game.) Howard Eisely can hit shots and Eric Snow can play defense.

Ostertag - Earvin Johnson
Kar Malone- Shawn Kemp
Byron Russell- Nate Mcmillan
Jeff Hornacek-Hershey Hawkins
John Stockton- Gary Payton


Antoine Carr - Sam Perkins
Adam Keefe- Detlef Scremph
Gregg Foster- Frank Brickowski
Shandon Anderson- Vincent Askew
Howard Eiseley- Eric Snow

Chris Morris- David Wingate

[Matt15]

I’d go with the Jazz/Sonics too much talent/depth for the Bulls to handle.

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

I’d go with the Jazz/Sonics too much talent/depth for the Bulls to handle.

But the upgrades of the Jazz Sonics over the actual Jazz are not that big.
Kemp blocks shots better than Karl Malone. Both of them were strong, not an upgrade. I love Kemp's dunks which makes an upgrade in the team being fun but Kemp's dunks are not any more effective than Karl Malone's layups.

Payton can play defense on Jordan an Stockton can't. Stockton is a better passer.

Byron Russell better at catch and shoot. Byroron Russell good defender but Nate McMillan was better defender. Nate McMillan better passer.


Teams that get Earvin Johnson tend to have their best season with him. Bucks, Twolves and Sonics all peaked with Earvin Johnson as a player but he does not add much to Ostertag. Maybe he adds a little mobility to Ostertag. The good luck charm thing may be coincidence or maybe he is a good locker room guy.

Hawkins adds a little speed and playground moves to Hornacek but it is not much.

Schrempf is a better shooter, passer and player than Keefe. This guy is the 6th man despite being a better player than Ostertag. Ostertag is underated.

Carr can benefit from Perkins shooting. Perkins can benefit from Carr's grit.

Brickoski adds a little bit of post moves to Foster.

Vincent Askew is a better passer than Shandon Anderson. Askew might have the ocassional defensive move that Anderson lacks. They both were athletic. Anderson is the better shooter and finisher. Askew had a little more experience. Anderson was young.

Snow adds defense to Eisely and is taller. This Eisley Snow combo helps depth. Eiesley Snow only get minutes when Stockton Payton sits so the Eisley Snow upgrade does not matter much.

Morris was a shooter and scorer while Wingate was an athletic defensive specialist. The resulting pkayer combination is more playable. Actually compketely playable. Maybe still not much of a passer but otherwise a complete player. Wingate improves Morris's threat to drive because of Wingate does drive he can get to the rim fastee. Morris did like to fake drives to set up his shot. Morris did not actually drive that much.

The team is deep. Deeper than the Jazz were.
But the upgrades are not that spectacular except perhaps adding Payton to Stockton.

I don't know if these upgrades improve the Jazz enough to get them past the 1996 Bulls, a team that was better than the Bulls teams that the Jazz faced. Both the Jazz and sonics were competive enough to win games from the Bulls but I felt like the Bulls were safely better than both teams. The Bulls almost let the Jazz win but ai always felt like the Bulls could kick into a higher gear if they really got in trouble.