Who are the good 1 on 1 Defenders MJ faced?

HypeMode · Post #1 » by **HypeMode** » Wed May 13, 2020 7:29 pm

We all know that MJ was a spectacular offensive player. Looking back at his Last Dance highlights I noticed something that no one else caught on to. The disturbing lack of good defensive players that MJ went against that were his size. It seemed like every perimeter player on the MJ highlight videos were 3 inches shorter and 30 lbs lighter than MJ. Where are the size appropriate defensive wizards he faced off against like a Kawhi, Artest, Draymond, George, Allen, Marion, etc. I went back to see the guys MJ played against and they were all undersized.

Dennis Johnson: 6' 4, 185 lbs
Craig Ehlo: 6' 6, 190 lbs
Dumars: 6' 3, 190 lbs
Byron Scott: 6' 3, 195 lbs
Starks: 6' 3, 180 lbs
Majerle: 6' 6, 215 lbs
Kevin Johnson: 6' 1, 180 lbs
Hawkins: 6' 3, 190 lbs
Gary Payton: 6-4, 180 lbs
Hornacek: 6' 3, 190 lbs

I don't see many good defensive players on this list. It's not a coincidence that MJ had his biggest struggles when he faced the only 2 good defensive players on this list (Dumars and Payton). If you pay attention you will notice how undersized all of these defenders were in comparison to MJ. He never faced off vs a 6' 7, 230 lbs wing like Kawhi who could get physical with him.

Hullajelolt · Post #2 » by **Hullajelolt** » Wed May 13, 2020 7:34 pm

Nick Anderson comes to mind. He was big, basically MJ size (6'6, 220) and played good defense. Even had a crucial steal against MJ in the playoffs in '95, when the Magic eliminated the Bulls.

Post #3 » by **Duffman100** » Wed May 13, 2020 7:35 pm

Missing Byron Russell, 6'7, 220 from your list. He was a pretty good defender.

Hullajelolt · Post #4 » by **Hullajelolt** » Wed May 13, 2020 7:36 pm

Dan Majerle was also a big, tough defender.

EDIT: just saw he's in your list.

LKN · Post #5 » by **LKN** » Wed May 13, 2020 7:37 pm

The meltdown continues

jrask · Post #6 » by **jrask** » Wed May 13, 2020 7:39 pm

again?

Lockdown504090 · Post #7 » by **Lockdown504090** » Wed May 13, 2020 7:40 pm

richard dumas was pretty good

HypeMode · Post #8 » by **HypeMode** » Wed May 13, 2020 7:45 pm

Hullajelolt wrote:Dan Majerle was also a big, tough defender.

EDIT: just saw he's in your list.

Majerle was not a good defender. His lack of athleticism was exposed when he faced off vs MJ.

prophet_of_rage · Post #9 » by **prophet_of_rage** » Wed May 13, 2020 7:45 pm

MJ was oversized and an outlier athlete at his position. He always had a physical matchup at his position because you couldn't really defend Pippen with a 4 or a 2. Again more of the reason Jordan never won without Pippen and Pippen was able to win without Jordan.

Washington Jordan failed to make the playoffs. Houston and Portland Pippen continued to make the playoffs.

Sent from my SM-N970W using Tapatalk

prophet_of_rage · Post #10 » by **prophet_of_rage** » Wed May 13, 2020 7:46 pm

HypeMode wrote:
Hullajelolt wrote:Dan Majerle was also a big, tough defender.

EDIT: just saw he's in your list.

Majerle was not a good defender. His lack of athleticism was exposed when he faced off vs MJ.

He was strong.

Sent from my SM-N970W using Tapatalk

TheGOATRises007 · Post #11 » by **TheGOATRises007** » Wed May 13, 2020 7:59 pm

prophet_of_rage wrote:MJ was oversized and an outlier athlete at his position. He always had a physical matchup at his position because you couldn't really defend Pippen with a 4 or a 2. Again more of the reason Jordan never won without Pippen and Pippen was able to win without Jordan.

Washington Jordan failed to make the playoffs. Houston and Portland Pippen continued to make the playoffs.

Sent from my SM-N970W using Tapatalk

TheGOATRises007 · Post #12 » by **TheGOATRises007** » Wed May 13, 2020 8:00 pm

Kawhi would be too slow to guard Jordan.

Jordan didn't routinely struggle against Dumars and Payton.

There's plenty of games where he lit up Detroit.

twyzted · Post #13 » by **twyzted** » Wed May 13, 2020 8:00 pm

prophet_of_rage wrote:MJ was oversized and an outlier athlete at his position. He always had a physical matchup at his position because you couldn't really defend Pippen with a 4 or a 2. Again more of the reason Jordan never won without Pippen and Pippen was able to win without Jordan.

Washington Jordan failed to make the playoffs. Houston and Portland Pippen continued to make the playoffs.

Sent from my SM-N970W using Tapatalk

this is the stupidest thing i have read

LKN · Post #14 » by **LKN** » Wed May 13, 2020 8:02 pm

HypeMode wrote:
Hullajelolt wrote:Dan Majerle was also a big, tough defender.

EDIT: just saw he's in your list.

Majerle was not a good defender. His lack of athleticism was exposed when he faced off vs MJ.

MJ was much quicker than anyone else his size.

There were plenty of good defensive players who had trouble with/were bad at defending MJ.

I mean, would you say someone is a bad defender because they have trouble guarding LeBron?

That seems really dumb

LKN · Post #15 » by **LKN** » Wed May 13, 2020 8:02 pm

prophet_of_rage wrote:MJ was oversized and an outlier athlete at his position. He always had a physical matchup at his position because you couldn't really defend Pippen with a 4 or a 2. Again more of the reason Jordan never won without Pippen and Pippen was able to win without Jordan.

Washington Jordan failed to make the playoffs. Houston and Portland Pippen continued to make the playoffs.

Sent from my SM-N970W using Tapatalk

Oh the meltdown isn't just continuing... it's getting much worse

akward17 · Post #16 » by **akward17** » Wed May 13, 2020 8:16 pm

Rodman had to defend MJ before going to bulls.

prolific passer · Post #17 » by **prolific passer** » Wed May 13, 2020 8:16 pm

Alvin Robertson, Reggie Lewis, Ron Harper, Gerald Wilkins, Stacey Augmon, Moncrief.
Jordan complimented Sprewell even on how well he guarded him.

HurdyGurdyMan · Post #18 » by **HurdyGurdyMan** » Wed May 13, 2020 8:18 pm

no one, good defenders where introduced to the league with the 2003 draft

dhsilv2 · Post #19 » by **dhsilv2** » Wed May 13, 2020 8:23 pm

HypeMode wrote:
Hullajelolt wrote:Dan Majerle was also a big, tough defender.

EDIT: just saw he's in your list.

Majerle was not a good defender. His lack of athleticism was exposed when he faced off vs MJ.

Dude, stop with the exposed crap. I don't care what your parents did to you as a kid!

That said Majerle had extremely fast and strong hands that made it hard to dribble past him and as a result was very good man to man. As he got older his foot speed dropped (like everyone's) but he was by no means a poor athlete. The guy was freaking called Thunder Dan.

nfmos · Post #20 » by **nfmos** » Wed May 13, 2020 8:23 pm

prophet_of_rage wrote:MJ was oversized and an outlier athlete at his position. He always had a physical matchup at his position because you couldn't really defend Pippen with a 4 or a 2. Again more of the reason Jordan never won without Pippen and Pippen was able to win without Jordan.

Washington Jordan failed to make the playoffs. Houston and Portland Pippen continued to make the playoffs.

Sent from my SM-N970W using Tapatalk

Just more ridiculousness. Jordan was 38 when he returned after taking 3 seasons off and that team won 37 games. The best player playing with him was Richard Hamilton that year and basically trash after that.

When Pippen was 38, he was playing for the Bulls and they won 23 games, and he retired after that season. He also had players like Rasheed Wallace, Z Randolph, Sabonis, Stoudamire, Olajuwan, Barkley etc on those Houston and Portland teams with him.

Even at 38, Jordans advanced stats were better than Pippens last 4 years.

The stuff you guys come up with, I swear.