IF I EVER wrote a book about the Chicago Bulls’ franchise history without Michael Jordan — don’t worry, I’d never consider it, it’s a horrible idea — I’d call it something like Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda: Jerry Sloan, Derrick Rose, and the Unwinna-bull Chicago Bulls.
To that end, let’s travel back to the 1971-72 season, when a stacked Bulls team led by a scary backcourt of Jerry Sloan and Norm Van Lier and an equally scary frontcourt of Bob Love and Chet Walker racked up 57 regular season wins before getting swept out of the playoffs by Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, and the 69-win Los Angeles Lakers. (Yes, the Bulls were in the Western Conference. WTF.)
Fast forward to 2010-2011, when MVP Derrick Rose dragged his squad to 62 regular season dubs and the Eastern Conference Finals, where they were easily dispatched by LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and the evil-empire-era Miami Heat.
Both of these Bulls units — which were super-easy to root for and uber-fun to watch — was sent to Cancun by a patently better team. No complaints. Just bad timing. Woulda, coulda, shoulda.
Being that I dug the hell out of both of these iterations, I got to wondering how they’d perform against one another. Would the deep 20th Century roster grind down their 21st Century counterparts? Or would Rose single-handedly drag Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer, et al across the finish line?
As is always the case when I have these sort of absurd space-time-continuum-busting questions, I turned to my pals at Strat-O-Matic for answers, and much to my thrall, they simulated a series between these two great-but-not-great-enough squads. And similar to our recent Knicks vs. Knicks sim, it was a beatdown for the ages.
After a 14–7 start, the 2010–11 Bulls ripped off 14 straight points to seize control and never looked back. Derrick Rose poured in 45 points, hitting 5-of-9 from distance in an easy wire-to-wire win
The 1971–72 team grabbed a late 7-point lead after a 14-point fourth quarter surge, but their offense stalled during crunch time, as they failed to score after the 2:06 mark. Rose, who posted had a modest 12-11-10 triple-double, gave the 2010–11 Bulls the lead for good with 7 points in the final 1:36.
Rose again led the way with 34 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists as the 2010–11 Bulls moved to the brink of a sweep. Bob Love poured in 23 points, leading six players in double figures for the 1971–72 team.
A Chet Walker slam gave the 1971–72 Bulls the lead with :38 seconds left, but Rose — who posted double-figures in points and assists for the fourth consecutive game — answered with a three-point bomb to put the 2010–11 team back in front for good, sealing the sweep.
Game recaps courtesy of Strat-O-Matic.