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Vern Gagne

ESPN's 25 greatest single season teams...

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ESPN is airing a special tuesday night. Figured we'd take a stab at what will be and what should be on the list.

Only including teams that won championships.

 

1998 New York Yankees.

 

1995-96 Chicago Bulls.

 

One of these two teams will top the list imo.

 

others

 

85 Chicago Bears. Could crack top 2 but, Yankees and Bulls were dynasties.Bears where more or less a one year team.

 

83-84 Edmonton Oilers

 

1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers

 

1982 North Carolina Tarheels (CBB)

 

1986-New York Mets

 

1985-86-Boston Celtics

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By including only championship teams you are leaving out a lot of really great seasons.

 

What about 1996 when Seattle went 64-18 and the Bulls went 72-10 and you legitimately had the 2 best teams in the NBA in the Finals? I would think both of their seasons would make the list considering the Sonics record was 10th best in history.

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That Bulls team was just absurdly awesome, and Seattle was far from a slouch also.

 

(misses the good old days)

 

I bet they'll include last year's Patriots.

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I would say that was one of the most evenly matched series I have watched in a long while. Kemp & Payton vs. Jordan and Pippen all in their prime.

 

Memories.....

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Guest Choken One

Espn is turning into the new VH1/E! with these fucking lists.

 

 

I could see them inducting all SIX championship Bulls team.

 

JORDAN! TIMES SIX!

 

I'm banking they'll give Jeff Gordon's 1997 championship(13 wins and 30 top 10s) the obilgatory Nascar nod.

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By including only championship teams you are leaving out a lot of really great seasons.

 

What about 1996 when Seattle went 64-18 and the Bulls went 72-10 and you legitimately had the 2 best teams in the NBA in the Finals? I would think both of their seasons would make the list considering the Sonics record was 10th best in history.

The list may very well include non-championship teams. I stuck with only champions. Winning your sports ultimate prize, should be first and foremost in making the list.

 

Totally forgot about the Dream Team. With the olympics coming this year. They'll make the list. Likely at Number 1.

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I'm working on a side-project for the best MLB teams of the past 25 seasons. In selecting great teams, I think a team should put together more than one good season. The Mariners for example won 91, 116, 93 and 93 games from 2000-03. That 2001 season was excellent, but the 90 win seasons are more indicative of their true level of ability.

 

The obvious MLB candidates as I see them are the late 90s Yankees, the late 80s Athletics, and the 90s Braves. After those three, the early 90s Blue Jays, the mid 90s Indians, and the mid 80s Mets.

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Oakland A's of the early 2000's might be candidates too. 2003: 96 wins, 2002: 103, 2001: 102, 2000: 91, 1999: 87. Oakland barely edges out Seattle in wins from 99-2003. I think the A's putting up 2 straight 100+ win seasons is better then the one 116 win season by Seattle.

 

From 99-2003: Oakland = 479 wins

From 99-2003: Seattle = 472 wins

 

Other Candidates: Damnit...keep screwing me over, lol.

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Jordan/Pippen > Any other combo ever. Shame Jordan wasn't on NBA Jam.

 

Horace Grant indeed...

Dumars/Thomas - Fraizer/Monroe - West/Baylor - Magic/Kareem own their faces.

 

Their fucking faces.

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Oakland A's of the early 2000's might be candidates too. 2003: 96 wins, 2002: 103, 2001: 102, 2000: 91, 1999: 87. Oakland barely edges out Seattle in wins from 99-2003. I think the A's putting up 2 straight 100+ win seasons is better then the one 116 win season by Seattle.

 

From 99-2003: Oakland = 479 wins

From 99-2003: Seattle = 472 wins

 

Other Candidates: Damnit...keep screwing me over, lol.

Oh certainly. They're top 10 when I did a three-year list. I just finished the four-year list, and they're top seven. They came just four wins away from becoming one of only five franchises to win 100 games three years in a row.

 

Not bad for an aberration.

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For the heck of it, I applied my three-year methods to the NBA. Here's what I've come up with.....

 

1. 96-98 Chicago Bulls

2. 84-86 Boston Celtics

3. 91-93 Chicago Bulls

4. 86-88 Los Angeles Lakers (the 85-87 group would rank equally)

5. 88-90 Detroit Pistons

6. 00-02 Los Angeles Lakers

7. 83-85 Los Angeles Lakers

8. 80-82 Boston Celtics

9. 81-83 Philadelphia 76ers

10. 96-98 Utah Jazz

 

96-98 Bulls are a clear #1. Any selections one slot apart are close, and open to debate.

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I bet they'll include last year's Patriots.

Well.....why not? If we're only talking single season here, they have plenty of reasons to appear on a Top 25 teams list.

 

- 14 straight wins, 2nd longest streak in NFL history. Add to that they beat some of the league's top teams in that stretch while dealing with injuries.

 

- Absolute dominance at home; 8-0 record with the defense giving up only about 13 PPG (and only about 4 PPG the last 4 games of the regular season).

 

- Beating both co-MVPs twice.

 

I wouldn't dare put them #1, or even in the top 5, but somewhere in the teens (I'd say 15) would be about right. They weren't really a team that tore apart their opponents, but the numbers don't lie.

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What about last year's Philly Eagles? Sure they didn't make it to the Super Bowl, but it wasn't McNabb's fault...

Well that's because Donovan F. McNabb is never at fault. If those stupid receivers weren't getting blocked, maybe he wouldn't throw so many interceptions!

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I wasn't really saying they wouldn't put the 2003 Patriots on there, Vern just neglected to include them in the championship teams that were probably candidates.

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Guest MikeSC
What about last year's Philly Eagles? Sure they didn't make it to the Super Bowl, but it wasn't McNabb's fault...

It IS Donovan's fault.

 

If he ONLY allowed them to clone him, so he could play WR, RB, and DB --- things would be OK.

 

He's just selfish.

 

Donovan --- victim since 2000.

-=Mike

...Who actually prefers hippie musician Donovan...

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What was the best 49er team? '84 or '89. '84 SF was 15-1. and '89 they where 14-2?

 

1984 goes under the radar screen, while the 1989 season was the peak of the Montana/Rice era. They also had the 55-10 S.B. win over the Broncos. I think 89 wins out.

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If he ONLY allowed them to clone him, so he could play WR, RB, and DB --- things would be OK.

But since Big Brother outlawed cloning, Donovan is SOL -- once again the Man is holding down Mr. McNabb.

 

Now onto serious questions that I have no resources for and will just be answering off the top of my head:

 

Which group of Jordan led Bull teams where better? 91-93, or 96-98?

 

I'd say the '91-'93 only because it seemed that in some of those later finals against the Jazz, Jordan WAS the team. In the other games it seemed the Grants, Pippens and Paxons, etc. played a bigger role. Hell, Utah should have won one of those fnals, but choked.

 

What was the best 49er team? '84 or '89. '84 SF was 15-1. and '89 they where 14-2?

 

I'd say the '89 team only because of Jerry Rice...

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A question.

 

Which group of Jordan led Bull teams where better? 91-93, or 96-98?

Hm. The first 3-peat had John Paxson, Horace Grant, and B.J. Armstrong, all good players. Bulls Mark 2 had Dennis Rodman, Toni Kukoc, and Steve Kerr alongside MJ and Scottie. I gotta say the first was better because of the teams they beat in the Finals.

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