Greatest Team To Never Win a Ring Tournament: '87 Hawks vs. '95 Magic

[pandrade83]

This is a voting based tournament to determine who was the GOAT team to not win a title. The original thread for this is

here

Each matchup will utilize the rules, refs, & equipment of the older team in this tournament. This hopefully will eliminate a bit of the recency bias. Health is as it was at the close of the Regular Season; perhaps a team didn't win because of injury.

One last thing. Voting without any reason listed at all will not be counted. Each thread will be open until it slips to page 2 of the board.

'87 Hawks (have HCA) 57-25, lost in 2nd round to Pistons. SRS +7.18, Offense +4.3, Defense -3.1
Rollins
Willis
Wilkins
Wittman
Rivers

Levingston
Koncack
McGee

'95 Magic 57-25, lost in Finals to Rockets. SRS +6.44, Offense +6.8, Defense -0.5

Shaq
Grant
Royal
N. Anderson
Penny Hardaway

D. Scott
Shaw
Bowie

[pandrade83]

At first glance, this should be Magic in a walk. They have the best player, 2 of the 3 best for sure & a better bench. Orlando is on my contender list to win this tournament.

However, the Hawks do have HCA and the Magic will have to deal with a pushed back 3 point line, so let's look at why they might have a chance.

1. It starts with Wilkins. Orlando doesn't have an obvious shut-down solution for him and it's unclear how they are going to stop him from getting to the paint. He offers excellent TOV economy (often overlooked imo) and Orlando never forces turnovers. When Wilkins does miss, the Hawks are a great offensive rebounding team (37.2%, 2nd best in league) with Willis, Rollins, Wilkins & Levingston offering a lot of support in this area.

2. Orlando's defense is kind of "meh". They were just -0.5 in DRTG which is basically average. They can be scored on from the perimeter. Atlanta's is rock solid.

3. The Hawks have an edge in both TOV economy (+0.6 vs. -0.7) and winning the boards (roughly 2.5% better).

Ultimately, Atlanta's chances rely on:

-Rollins being able to slow Shaq
-Rivers being able to slow Penny
-Wilkins going berserk
-Winning the possession battle

That's not bad. I think they make this a competitive series but ulimately, I'm taking the Magic in 6. The Magic offense is too powerful & too diverse & I don't think Rollins will be able to slow Shaq enough.

[DavidSterned]

Does Tree Rollins beat Tree Rollins?

[pandrade83]

Does Tree Rollins beat Tree Rollins?

I think old man tree Rollins would walk away victorious.

[penbeast0]

Pandrake pretty much nailed it. Those ATL teams were well coached but there just aren't a lot of good answers for Shaq and no one on the ATL roster moves the needle enough to change that.