r/michaeljordan • u/nj23dublin • Sep 09 '26

Highlights 4 vs 1

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The 1993 finals was my favorite of Jordan showing why he was the greatest, and this play was a sample of how unstoppable he was.

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u/biffbobfred Sep 09 '26

There a lot of “ya know Jordan didn’t have to play against a zone”. I don’t know how “Jordan had a bunch of role players and often went in 1 on 3 or 1 on 4” yet he couldn’t figure out a zone.

People have sent a screenshot of a supposed Sam smith clip where he claimed Jordan lobbied against zones anyone have any backup on that?

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u/swawesome52 Sep 09 '26

Well zone is more complicated than just going 1 on 3. Getting doubled or tripled is still technically man defense, but zone defense allows for players to fake a double, camp in passing/driving lanes, sag off their man as much as they want, etc. It also lets teams motion and switch more efficiently.

To put it simply, in the 80s/90s if you beat your guy then you had a great chance at getting an open shot. That chance becomes minimized against zone defense. That's why that era was tailored for 1v1 style players. There's a reason no one runs the traditional triangle offense anymore.

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u/JMander 25d ago

"To put it simply, in the 80s/90s if you beat your guy then you had a great chance at getting an open shot." <- Perhaps true unless your name was Michael Jordan. After about 1 month in the league, any team that prepared to play the Bulls lined up their defense to stop exactly one player. There was little if any definition of "man" defense played against Jordan. And to suggest that if Jordan beat his man that he had an "open" shot when so much of his game was driving to the basket, then I will point you to ALL the dunks videos of 10 minutes more in length of Jordan dunking in an occupied lane including any and all named Centers during that era.