Michael Jordan's Universe - Online Youtube Streaming Collection

After the success in the previous year's playoffs, the Bulls no longer had a target getting in the post season. They were shooting for the ultimate prize: the NBA title. Bulls’ management felt that Doug Collins did not maximize the potential of the talented team, replacing him with assistant coach Phil Jackson. Jackson's Philosophy was that in order to beat the top defensive teams in the league, everybody had to contribute on offense, not let everything fall on Michael Jordan. Therefore, together with assistant coach Text Winter, they instituted the triangle offense as backbone for the Bulls offense, a system which emphasized passing, moving without the ball and cutting, with all 5 players on the floor involved. Of course, if the offense would break down, Jordan would be free to bail them out based on his individual talent.
	Michael Jordan's individual game had expanded as well. Due to punishments received from the tough physical teams like the Pistons, he would start building up his strength and gaining a few pounds. He also added the 3 point shot as a consistent weapon in his arsenal. If until then he was just an occasional 3 point shooter, shooting around 20 percent for 5 years on a total of 68 made shots, he would amass 92 3 pointers on .37 shooting, making teams play for giving him the outside shot or clogging the lane on his drives to the basket. Michael would start the season where he left off, by scoring 54 points against Cleveland. Other great scoring games included efforts of 52 and 49 against Orlando, 49 against New York, 45 at Boston and fittingly, and ultimately career highs of 69 points and 18 rebounds in Cleveland a grueling overtime victory. He would end the season with an average of 33.6 ppg, good enough to bring him the 4th consecutive scoring title.
The Bulls finished the season with 55-27, the best record in the Jordan era, even though they again ended the season losing 4 of the last 6 games. In the first round of the playoffs they would face an old foe in the Milwaukee Bucks, the team that eliminated Chicago in Jordan's rookie year. The score of 3-1 would be similar for the series as it was in 1985, but this time the Bulls were victorious. Michael Jordan was again spectacular, scoring 38 and 36 in the two home wins. He would go 48 against Alvin Roberson in a game 3 loss, and needed to score just 25 in game 4, as the Bulls blew out the Bucks to move to the Eastern Conference semifinals. In the East semis they would meet a team who was hungry in search for past glory: the Philadelphia 76ers. With Hall of Famers Julius Earving and Moses Malone gone, the franchise was carried by Charles Barkley, who had one of the best seasons of his career. But that didn't impress Michael Jordan too much, as he put on another dominating performance against the Sixers. The Bulls would win the first 2 games in Chicago behind Jordan's 39 and 45 points, only to lose game 3 in Philly, despite Michael's 49 point effort (24 in the 4th quarter) and furious comeback from 20 down. Even if the comeback was too late to get them the win, it shifted the momentum back to the Bulls, as they dispatched the Sixers in the next 2 games. Jordan scored 45 in game 4 and needed "only" 37 in the game 5 blowout. Back in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Bulls met the team that eliminated them in the previous 2 seasons, the NBA champions Detroit Pistons. The key to the series was the home court advantage, which belonged to Detroit. The changes in the offensive philosophy that the Bulls made proved to even the match against the Pistons, as the Bulls seemed ready for the challenge. They lost the first 2 games in Detroit, with Jordan scoring 34 and 20 points respectively, but bounced back and evened the series to 2 games apiece with 2 victories at the Chicago Stadium. Jordan would be superb, scoring 47 and 42 in the 2 wins. Game 5 back in Detroit proved that the Pistons defense was still the best in the league, holding Michael again to just 22 points, the other Bulls being unable to produce. Game 6 back in Chicago was a resounding victory for the Bulls, and despite Jordan scoring just 29 points, they were confident about an upset in the decisive 7th game. However, good fortunes were not with Chicago that night, as 2 key players were unable to compete in the game: John Paxson, the beneficiary of many of Jordan's passes from penetrations, was sidelined with a sprained ankle, and the All-Star Scottie Pippen, the second offensive threat of the Bulls, was rendered ineffective by a migraine headache. With the team depleted, Jordan's 31 points were not enough to win the game, and the Bulls found themselves eliminated for the 3rd straight year by Detroit. Even if the final game of the season was a disappointment for the Bulls, they proved that they finally belonged among the NBA's elite teams. The championship core was formed; all they needed to do was add to their consistency. The game 7 against Detroit in 1990 would prove to be the last disappointment of Michael Jordan's championship quest, the road ahead in the years to come would prove to be full of success.