Believe it or not, you can tell who's stronger by looking carefully.
You're judging a book by its cover, Robby. Sure, Malone looks better, but you can't definitively claim that he's stronger than Shaq. You just don't know.
See, if you read the examples I posted carefully, you'll see that the quotes were made by people not associated with the Jazz or Utah. But this does show me your anti-Jazz feelings though.
I read your examples carefully, and I do understand that the statements made were from independent third parties. Similarly, there were people not associated with the Jazz that felt Malone
shouldn't have won the award over Jordan, but you won't find their opinions espoused on the Jazz website. Basically, it offers a one-sided perspective, and why shouldn't it? It's the team's site. I'm just pointing out the other side to your argument, so I'm not sure where you're detecting my anti-Jazz sentiments. Sheesh, Robby, talk about putting words in my mouth! I'm starting to wonder about your credibility!
Ok, so if Jordan was taken out of the equation, the Bulls make the playoffs and maybe lose in the second round. If Malone was taken out of the equation. the Jazz don't even make the playoffs.
I'm not sure the Jazz don't make the playoffs without Malone. Who knows. But what I do know, is if you take Jordan off the Bulls' roster, you don't have that fifth championship. And a title (Jordan's work) is infinitely more valuable than a failed Finals appearance (Malone's work). On a side note, I'm extending your aforementioned "what if you took each player away" analogy, so please don't remind me that the MVP's a regular season distinction.
As for the Shaq and Kobe example, I didn't quite understand what you're trying to say. Please eloborate.
Hmmmm, I thought I was pretty clear. Just try re-reading it. It's not a main point, though, so don't worry if you can't figure it out.
That elbow, unlike many Malone elbows, was inadvertant yet he was suspended for the incident.
Kudos to you for admitting that many of Malone's elbows were intentional.
I hardly agree with that remark about Malone's jumpshots. I'm starting to have doubts about you credibility Bourbon.
LOL. Of course Malone didn't kick the defender
every time he shot the ball. It's unfortunate I have to explain hyperbole to you, but Heaven forbid you start doubting my credibility. Truth be told, Malone did come under fire for kicking at players as he shot the ball. That's where sportswriter Peter May derived the term "kick jumpers."
Did you know that or were you just superficially assuming that since it's the Jazz, it must be dirty?
If you read my post carefully (remind you of anyone?), you'd find examples of questionable play left and right. You'd also find that Utah had earned a reputation throughout the league as a dirty team. So no, I wasn't making a superficial assumption; I was concurring with a prevailing majority.
Lastly, I never complained about the refs, I simply pointed out that MJ's game would have suffered had he not gotten beneficial calls from the refs. It seems as though your habit of putting words in people's mouths is creeping up again.
I said you were taking issue with the referees, which you did in your Jordan Rules critique. While "taking issue" certainly encompasses complaining, I never pinpointed your words as "complaints" about the officiating, did I? Looks like the pot just called the kettle black. Again.
Wow, talk about being a hippocrite, after telling me off for getting stuff from the Jazz website.
When did I "tell you off?" Look, it's fine to cite the Jazz website if it suits your purpose, but I just pointed out its inherent lack of objectivity. I didn't tell you off.
Oh, and even though you can't spell hypocrite, you do know what it means, right? Maybe you were just messing with me when you used the word, because it doesn't look like you do.
See, I told you that people like you are obsessed with mixing in the NBA Finals with the Regular Season awards to make MJ look better.
You missed my point entirely, and I'm not the least bit surprised. I was pointing out the significance of an AP sports writer saying, " ... after again showing that he probably didn't deserve to beat out Jordan for MVP honors." My point, since I'll have to spell it out for you, is that the Associated Press, like other news organizations, holds itself accountable for providing balanced accounts, and here, the writer diverged completely from presenting the story bias-free, and instead pandered to the prevailing, popular opinion at the time.
Same thing as above, this quote is way after the 97 Season.
Does that make it less relevant? Does the advantage of additional 20/20 hindsight cripple the writer's ideas? You're killing me.
Again you're contradicting yourself. First you claim that Malone won because of sentiments, then you bring in a question of if 1996-97 was MJ's comeback year, would he have won the award? Isn't that also based on sentiments.
Popular sentiment would've given him a boost, but MJ still had to deliver. Remember, in his comeback season with the Wizards, Jordan wasn't an MVP front-runner, despite the return of Jordanmania. I really don't see where I'm contradicting myself here. While I acknowledge the power of sentamentalist movements in MVP voting, I don't value it higher than a player's on-court performance. So to return to our hypothetical question, I think that (given Jordan's 95-96 season, nothing else) he would've won the award, and yes, sentiment would be on his side, but the bottom line is, he would've won because he deserved to. After all, the best don't need emotional pleas to win.
Funny how you haven't said anything about the numbers of both players that year? Perhaps since the numbers don't lie.
Not much to mention. I agree they both had great seasons, and yes, Malone was deserving of the honor. I just don't think he deserved it over Jordan.
But as far as Jordan is concerned, there is no controversy or any reason to be outraged.
What, you mean MJ didn't cause a ruckus over this? Of course he handled it well, what would you expect? I'd also like to mention, however, that after the votes were in and the Mailman won, Jordan grew especially excited at the prospects of meeting Utah in the Finals again. Hmmmm, I wonder why.
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