Was Jordan 1995-6 Better Than Ever?

  During the 1996 NBA finals a number of sports writers and NBA 
players said that they thought that Michael Jordan was playing the 
best basketball of his career.  Is this true?
  
  From watching him play on TV, he appears to shoot from the 
outside better and pass the ball as least as good as in the past.  
When he wants to, he appears to score and rebound as well as 
ever. 

  But to me, he doesn't appear to be as quick as he once 
was.  I base this on the following:

  1.  This past season I have seen a number of his jump shots 
      blocked, while five years ago I don't remember ever 
      seeing this.

  2.  He now seems to turn the ball over more than in the past.

  3.  He seems not to have as good of control of the dribble 
      when driving to the basket.

  4.  He doesn't seem to drive to the basket as much as he has in 
      the past.  This could be because he is more confident of 
      his outside shooting and also wants to conserve energy.

  5.  He is 33 years old.

  If we compare his statistics of this last season with previous 
years we find the following:

  1.  Scoring about the same.
  2.  Field goal percentage down.
  3.  Three point percentage up.
  4.  Rebounding about the same.
  5.  Assists down a lot.
  6.  Steals down.
  7.  Blocked shots down a lot.

  What does this mean?  His field goal percentage is down because 
he doesn't drive to the basket as much as in the past, and being 
a step slower, defenders can bother him more when he shoots.  His 
three point shooting is higher because he IS a better shooter 
from the outside.  His rebounding has held up because he still 
has superior jumping ability, is as strong as in the past, and 
has the desire to rebound when the team needs a rebound. 

  I believe his steals and blocked shots are down because he 
isn't as quick as he once was, and also because he appears to 
conserve his energy due to advancing age.  He wants to save 
his energy for when he needs it most.  I other words, he is a 
slower but smarter player. 

  He assists being down is harder to explain, because to me, he 
appears to pass the ball better than in the past.  I thought that 
if Pippen's assists were up, then that would show that Jordan 
just doesn't have the assist opportunities because Scottie had 
more opportunities than in previous seasons.  But the statistics 
show that Pippen's assists were also down. 

  I think his Jordan's assists were down for the following three 
reasons:  His teammates, other than Pippen, are more involved in 
the game. (This was done by coach Jackson.)  Michael is slower and 
can't create as many assist opportunities.  And he is letting his 
teammates do more than in the past to conserve his energy for 
when the game is on the line.  

  Well, what do you think?  Was 1995-6 Jordan better than ever?
I think that he was not.  But not by much.  He is still the most 
exciting player in the NBA.  He worked very hard during the off 
season, and played much better than most people thought possible.  
He was much more consistent than I thought he would be.
  
  Dem Bulls are a great show, and I hope they are back next 
season.