The Painted Area: Was The Admiral In The Big O's Class?
Statistics are awesome!!
over 2 years ago
pollackj
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Just watching it, even I was duped by the Dream Shake (and the up-and-under). I mean, if I were a ref, I’d be so disoriented and be like, “Where the f&#k did he go? Travel!”
"Yes, it's important that I have good numbers, and I'm well-respected as a player. But I think it's more important that I'm respected as a man." - Some Tall Guy Who Wore #50
romeo, he had some of the best moves of all time but...
looking at some of those times he scored on david, I bet David wishes he could have a redo on some of those. He bit on the first fake a few too many times.
That’s what the greats make you do. Even if you’re great yourself – you can wind up being foolish.
Hakeem would likely have taken that fall away if Robinson hadn’t jumped so early. He was so tuned in and watching what David was trying to stop and what he was giving up on each and every possession that any of those “ball fakes” would have turned into shots if he had seen that he was free.
Just an amazing athlete at the height of his powers (mental understanding of the game and physical prowess) executing almost without error. Incredible.
From under the radar to hanging in the rafters - Big50
5 in 10
Ehlo and Russell are also wishing for redos on guarding Jordan.
Either way, I don’t think Robinson could have stopped Hakeem. I doubt if even Duncan could. Olajuwon just has to be doubled. Still, I think any of the Spurs championship teams could beat the ’94 and ’95 Rockets.
Wennington and/or Longley couldn’t have stopped Hakeem either (understatement), but I have no doubt in my mind that the ’90s Bulls would still beat the shit out of those Rockets.
"Yes, it's important that I have good numbers, and I'm well-respected as a player. But I think it's more important that I'm respected as a man." - Some Tall Guy Who Wore #50
by theonlyromeo on Sep 11, 2009 12:40 AM CDT up reply actions
Those Rockets remind me somewhat of the recent Spurs teams. If you want to compare ‘95 (Rockets) and, say, ’05 (Spurs), we’ve got Timmy playing The Dream’s role (with Hakeem obviously more flashy), Manu playing the Clyde role (with Gino a little more hard nosed and long nosed, and the Glide perhaps more smooth), Parker as a better version of Cassell, maybe Bowen could be considered a similar type of player to Mario Elie with the perimeter D and 3-pt shot, and both teams had Robert Horry. Both teams also had a plethora of outside shooting (the aforementioned players plus the Rockets’ Kenny Smith and the Spurs’ Brent Barry, et al), heart and solid defense.
Please don’t forget Vernon Maxwell. He not only made up part of the “plethora of outside shooting” you mention, but he played the role of Cap’n Jack for the Rockets, as well as matching up with Jordan whenever Houston played the Bulls. No one outside of serious Rockets fans remember this (since they only faced each other twice a year) but he played Jordan as well as anyone else in the league did. He was just quite a good defender, had great lateral quickness and he was crazy enough to keep getting back in Jordan’s chest without being intimidated.
No one could guard MJ by themselves, but Mad Max was among the best and he always had Hakeem waiting at the rim to help. And if you’ve never read the Dream’s book, there’s an entire section where Olajuwon talks about the best ways to defend (and block) Jordan.
From under the radar to hanging in the rafters - Big50
5 in 10
Yeah, you guys are right. The Rockets and the Spurs are very similar. Plus, they’re from the same state, California.
Jordan’s Bulls were just a different mold altogether. No legitimate post presence, but they somehow pulled of winning a championship. 6 winning years, and yet with only two decent bigs (Rodman counted). But I still think that if Jordan didn’t retire (not resign), the Bulls would have won 8 straight.
"Yes, it's important that I have good numbers, and I'm well-respected as a player. But I think it's more important that I'm respected as a man." - Some Tall Guy Who Wore #50
by theonlyromeo on Sep 11, 2009 1:25 AM CDT up reply actions
That’s just like the asterisk that PJ tried to pin on the Spurs ’99 chip,
You simply can’t win without that competitive fire, and when Jordan realized that he didn’t have it after the first 3, he went to find something else that would keep it going. I don’t buy the gambling thing, so it comes down to wanting it, which he just didn’t those years, which means that he didn’t play. And if he had, it wouldn’t have been the same.
No, the Rockets had those in-between years either way. It’s not a popular opinion, but I’m not going to cave on this.
From under the radar to hanging in the rafters - Big50
5 in 10
At least no one will ever wonder if Jordan was juiced while playing baseball. Unless he took some sort of performance decreaser.
If you haven't lived with a squirrel, you haven't lived. - Bob Ross
Performance decreaser …
Let’s revisit this later this year, after the season has begun.
From under the radar to hanging in the rafters - Big50
5 in 10
Youngevity? Or maybe Mike Finley’s knockoff version of it?
ACLs are like crutches. They’re only for the weaklings who can’t get along without them. -jollyrogerwilco
Youngevity = When (read: If) Theo (not me) gets 6 points, 6 blocks and 8 rebounds in a certain game.
Oceanevity = Finley (or RJ) shoots 0 of 6 from the field and 4 of 9 from the line.
"Yes, it's important that I have good numbers, and I'm well-respected as a player. But I think it's more important that I'm respected as a man." - Some Tall Guy Who Wore #50
by theonlyromeo on Sep 13, 2009 8:50 PM CDT up reply actions
Right. Although while Mad Max was the starting 2-guard in ‘94, he didn’t really play in the postseason in ‘95. He was sent on a leave of absence after one game when he reportedly couldn’t handle Drexler taking so many of his minutes. Hey that reminds me of Cedric Ceballos taking a mini-vacation to Lake Havasu when Magic Johnson came back in ‘96 and took some of Ced’s opportunities…
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