Michael Jordan Vs Real Defenses

Michael Jordan faced the most traps & double/triple teams in NBA history, MJ also DEFEATED the most traps, double teams, and triple teams in NBA history. Unlike other players presented with a double team, Jordan shows his ultimate team IQ by giving up the ball and re-establishing himself for a better shot. Jordan could score over anyone and any type of defense. As long as Jordan had his dribble, you virtually almost could not ever trap him. He was too fast. Jordan would either make a move to defeat the trap, or get the ball out of there to an open teammate swiftly. Jordan's decisionmaking can be seen in this video like no other video. Zones allow defenders to play an area, rather than stick to a man. I don't know about you, but I prefer playing against a zone because it is so much easier to find space in a zone if you are good at working without the ball. When you are facing man to man it requires that you run your defender into screens, and it requires more effort to create space. This was especially true in the Michael Jordan era where perimeter contact was allowed. The Jordan era featured man to man with rotating traps and weakside help which is very hard to defeat as an individual player. The NBA created the defensive 3 second rule & it opened up the lane like never before, you see layups now in the half court set more often than ever before. You would think these guys were getting layups in transition they get to the hoop so easy sometimes. I remember watching the dunk contest in Jordan's era and it was so exciting because players rarely got dunks in the half court set so it was nice to see them show their stuff at the dunk contest. Usually you were lucky to see your favorite player show off on a breakaway, the game was more hard nosed than that at the time. Also keep in mind that with no contact rules, it does not matter if you double or triple a player in today's game, the great players should be able to back out, slip out, split, slip through, or shake the double. I mean hell, if the offensive player draws contact he's gonna draw a foul anyways. It's not like the old days where you actually had to fight through traps and double teams. Players in Jordan's era were like track athletes, most of them were so fast. The dunk contests in the 80's and 90's are a testiment to the athletes in the game at the time. Forget the creativity of the dunks, look at the athleticism. Old era teams were also better at getting back on transition defense. Creating all-time rankings takes research and film study. Highlight videos show you Michael Jordan scoring, but not what he had to do to get open in most cases, or the plays he was stopped. Never scout with highlight videos, use raw film. The only way to seal off penetration today is to get directly in the path of the ball handler with both feet planted, outside of the circle in the paint, to get credit for drawing a charge. Now keep in mind that the offensive player already has the advantage of decision; defenders have no choice but to react, it puts the defender at a 1/4 a second disadvantage anyways. Jordan's era utilized handchecking, which is similar to what offensive linemen & defensive backs use in the NFL to detain receivers and pass rushers. In the NFL, allow a pass rusher to penetrate the pocket, it's a sack. A defensive back lets the receiver penetrate the secondary & catch the ball, first down or TD. In the NBA, allow players to penetrate the paint, it makes it easier for them to score. At the very least physical resistance should be offered to make it a level playing field. This is not allowed in today's game. Of course in any era, under any rules, there are defensive breakdowns, coaches who use bad coaching schemes, among other factors that can contribute to non-contested shots. There are those players who are able to shake defenders in such a fashion that it doesn't matter if you double, or triple them, they are gonna get loose. Tex Winter and Joe Dumars opinions of today's defenses:
http://hoopshype.com/articles/defense_lazenby.htm
-Bruce Blitz
Featured in this video:
Scenes from Jordan scoring 55 points/other on the 90's Knicks.
Scenes from Jordan scoring 69 points on the Cavs.
Scenes from Jordan dropping a routine 30+ and 40+ on the Hornets.
Jordan vs an 80's Sixers team playing with subs. (still doubled)
Jordan vs an 80's Blazers team playing with subs. (still doubled)
A scene from Jordan scoring 61 on the Pistons
I did not use many games folks. Keep that in mind.
I enjoyed watching MJ play Jim Jackson, Rolando Blackman, Clyde Drexler, Gerald Wilkins, Nick Anderson, Kendall Gill, Reggie Miller, Michael Cooper, Glen Rice, Mitch Richmond, Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Calbert Cheaney, and many more. Joe Dumars was one of the better defenders in that era, that doesn't mean they were all Dwyane Wade's height. Thanks for watching and reading.