Has Rudy Tomjanovich compared Moses&Hakeem? [Archive] - Message Board Basketball Forum

fpliii

05-13-2013, 02:51 PM

Here's a start (very brief mention of Moses), I'll see what else I can find:

THE DREAM SHAKE/Legendary, elusive move earns place in history
Houston Chronicle - Sunday, May 28, 1995
It was the NBA's version of the old shell game, right there for millions of fans to see on a national television audience.

Hakeem Olajuwon turned, ready to make his move to the basket. David Robinson crouched low, muscles tensed as he readied himself for what was to come.

Perhaps if Robinson had known at the time, he might have just gotten out of the way. Maybe there could have been a way to avoid being made the pigeon in what so far has become the defining moment of the Western Conference finals. But there was no such foresight for Robinson.

Olajuwon took a hard dribble, pump-faked left, showed the ball, spun, pumped right and showed the ball again. Robinson, not biting on the first move, finally went airborne as he fell for the second. Yeah, now you see it, now you don't. The sucker play had worked again.

As Robinson flew by, Olajuwon went back to his left, ducked under and kissed the ball off the glass for two of his 41 points as the Rockets took Game 2 and a 2-0 lead in the series. The Spurs responded Friday night, winning 107-102 to cut the Rockets' lead to 2-1, but Olajuwon had another huge game with 43 points.

Indeed, there's trouble in Mr. Robinson's neighborhood and the reason is a nasty little move by Olajuwon called the "Dream Shake."

"Oh, it's just a move," said Olajuwon with a shrug, attempting to describe the maneuver.

No, the master con artist wasn't about to spill the beans and tip off all the unwitting dupes on what goes into this so-called Dream Shake.

There would be no detailed analysis of this mass of twitches, tics, feints, fakes and drop-steps that lead to so many hook shots, dunks and fallaway 15-footers. But would it help? Even those who are used to seeing Olajuwon 's athletic shell game are baffled.

"I don't know if I can describe it," said Clyde Drexler, who has been watching the move develop since the two played together at the University of Houston in the early 80s. "I really don't know if I'd want to describe it because I don't want people to be able to defend it."

Olajuwon just laughed when approached about the move that looks a bit like Houdini struggling to get out of a straitjacket (which isn't a bad analogy, considering the defenses Olajuwon faces every night).

According to Olajuwon , to find the genesis of the Dream Shake, you have to go back two decades to the dusty soccer fields of Lagos, Nigeria. Back before Olajuwon dreamed of playing basketball for a living, he played sports such as team handball, field hockey and his true love, soccer.

"Many people do not know this, but it's not really a basketball move," he said. "It's a soccer move. In a soccer game, when you're running to the ball and somebody's chasing you from behind, you have to misdirect them and control the ball. When they kick the ball towards your goal, you are chasing the ball, trying to stop it and go back the other way. So you have to fake the ball to misdirect him so you can control the ball and go the other way.

"So how can you control the ball and go the other way when somebody's chasing you at full speed? You have to misdirect him. It's much the same (in basketball) because there's somebody behind you. You want to confuse them."

Olajuwon stopped and looked up, his hands spread in a see-how-easy-it-is gesture. "I realized that in basketball, you have the man behind you, just like in soccer," he said. "I just translated it over to basketball. It's nothing much."

No, not much. Only the most effective weapon in basketball today.

In the history of the NBA, there have been few of what can be called signature moves -- unstoppable scoring maneuvers that are associated with a particular player.

If you dust off the old black-and-white films of the Minneapolis Lakers you'll find the first real signature move in the NBA. George Mikan, big No. 99, used to have a sweeping hook that was as automatic as any shot in the history of the league. Later years saw the arrival of Wilt Chamberlain's powerful Dipper Dunk and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's soft, graceful Sky Hook.

Then came the Dream Shake.

"Hakeem has probably combined parts of all of those (other shots)," said LA Lakers scout Stan Albeck. "That makes him completely different from any center in the NBA. He's a master of footwork, and footwork is what enables you to get your shot off in this league. It's not the shot itself and it's not the fake, it's the footwork that creates the situation where you get the shot off."

Pete Newell, the former Cal coach who runs an annual big-man's camp for the NBA, agreed. Olajuwon has attended Newell's camp twice, once as an observer before his junior year at the University of Houston and again the following year, right before being drafted by the Rockets. Newell was impressed by Olajuwon 's footwork, which he said is the best in the league because of the soccer background.

"I'm a great believer that soccer can help a basketball player because it gives him ambidexterity in his feet," Newell said. "If you're righthanded, then usually you're right-footed and if you're lefthanded, then you're left-footed. So many players don't develop their off foot. But in soccer, the pace of the game forces you to get ambidextrous with your feet. That's probably the main reason he has such tremendously advanced footwork."

Even with the sophisticated video breakdowns every team has at their disposal, the Dream Shake is a marvelous mystery. Albeck, who has worked with Chamberlain and Abdul-Jabbar among others in a career that stretches back to the old American Basketball Association, just shakes his head and smiles when he discusses Olajuwon 's Dream Shake.

"That move is unique to Hakeem," Albeck said. "I don't know who got ahold of him early, but they really did a great job of teaching him post moves. Like I said, I don't know who it was, but I'd sure be interested in finding out."

Guy Lewis, that's who. Lewis, Olajuwon 's coach at the University of Houston, taught a three-part system called the "Big Step" program to every big man who played for the Cougars. Elvin Hayes learned it. Ken Spain learned it. And Olajuwon learned it.

"It's easy to say, but so hard to teach," Lewis said. "When I name the steps, people will say, "Good gosh, anybody can do that,' but not everybody can do it. I've seen lots of college players who can't do it and I've seen pros -- centers -- who can't.

"It starts with a simple thing like catching the ball. You've seen a lot of big guys not pay attention to where the ball is and when the guards throw it in to them, they're not ready for it and they fumble the ball away. Hakeem very, very seldom fumbles the ball away.

fpliii

05-13-2013, 02:52 PM

continued...

"Step No. 2 is check the defense. Don't try to do something before you know where the defense is. And Step No. 3 is step to the basket. I always added a fourth thing to it. I always told them to step to the basket and dunk it."

Which is exactly what Olajuwon did in college. Often. But over the years, which included daily workouts at Fonde Recreation Center against Moses Malone, the Dream Shake has grown as Olajuwon learned the nuances of playing in the NBA.

Pump fakes that were successful on the college level didn't always work against pros such as Malone, Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton and Patrick Ewing. Along the way, adjustments had to be made, the biggest of which led to his most potent move.

Instead of turning towards the basket and the inevitable double teams, Olajuwon began spinning away, toward the baseline. The drop-step power move became a fallaway finesse move that usually resulted in a midrange jumper -- a shot that has become as accurate as any in the game.

"It's like when Moses (Malone) used to do all of his stuff," said Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich . "You can't stop it. There's no defense for that shot. He's fading away from 15 feet. What do you do?"

Newell agreed.

"In these last two years he has gotten so many moves that trying to guard him man-on-man is literally impossible," Newell said. "His fallback jumpshot on the baseline is almost automatic. He's so comfortable shooting that shot that he doesn't miss it very often."

The baseline fadeaway is just another example of Olajuwon 's offensive genius, Albeck said. The difference between good players and great ones is the ability to stay one step ahead of the league's defenses.

"He's expanded the move over the years," Albeck said. "The more you play in the league, the more concerned you become about how to create space between you and the defender. So he's creating that space with the same movement, only he's moving it out a bit farther.

"And when he has the ball around the free-throw line area, what makes him also dangerous is that he can face up. Now he puts the ball on the floor and he gets you going in one direction, but his offensive footwork is going to be better than your defensive footwork.

"You look at centers like Shaquille O'Neal and David Robinson. Those guys have monumental tasks every night, but Hakeem is so consistent and so steady that you say he's going to get his 28 points and 10 rebounds, and you're like in a state of shock if he doesn't. That's what makes him unique and separates him from the other great centers."

What's next? Over the years, the Dream Shake has slowly migrated out to 17-foot range, so what's next for Olajuwon ? Lewis said to stay tuned.

"Pro scouts asked me when he came out, "Will he improve in the pros?' " Lewis said. "I said, "Good gosh, he'll improve for the next seven or eight years.' Well, last year he got the MVP, and that was his 11th year, so he improved for 11 years.

"And I'll tell you something -- I think he was a better player this year than he was last year. I really do. I see no reason why he won't be better next year, either."

But one day, Olajuwon will join Mikan, Abdul-Jabbar and Chamberlain, not only in retirement, but into the Hall of Fame. But before he does, could Olajuwon pass on the move that frustrated so many an NBA opponent to a young, up-and-coming center? Indeed, can the Dream Shake be coached?

"You can teach him the basics," said Olajuwon , stroking the small wisp of a goatee. "What he then has to develop is the reaction and the quickness. I can teach him the basic footsteps -- how you can misdirect and the principal of how you can use it effectively.

"But he would have to make it his own. You have to develop it to be yours."

Albeck had a suggestion for Olajuwon :

"People will pay a million dollars to learn that move," he said. "He'd better patent that move, put it on a tape and sell it. They'd sell a million of those." ____________

Evolution of a dream.

The five steps in which Hakeem Olajuwon 's offensive game -- and the "Dream Shake" -- evolved:

1 -- The footwork in the Dream Shake was, according to Olajuwon , originally a soccer move. As a youth, Olajuwon developed superior footwork playing soccer.

2 -- At the University of Houston, coach Guy V. Lewis taught Olajuwon the "Big Step" method for big men that also helped develop such players as Elvin Hayes and Ken Spain. This gave Olajuwon a power move to the basket in the paint.

3 -- Late in his career at UH, Olajuwon began playing against veteran Moses Malone and other pros at the Fonde Rec Center in Houston, which allowed Olajuwon to develop fakes and moves to the basket that would be effective in the NBA.

4 -- Olajuwon began to develop a fallaway, baseline jumper that complemented his power moves.

5 -- Olajuwon has developed more shooting range at this stage of his career, making his other moves more effective. __________

What they say about the Dream Shake

Stan Albeck, LA Lakers scout -- "It's not the shot itself and it's not the fake, it's the footwork that creates the situation where you get the shot off."

Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich -- "You can't stop it. There's no defense for that shot. He's fading away from 15 feet. What do you do?"

Pete Newell -- "In these last two years he has gotten so many moves that trying to guard him man-on-man is literally impossible. His fall-back jumpshot on the baseline is almost automatic. He's so comfortable shooting that shot that he doesn't miss it very often."

Clyde Drexler -- "I don't know if I can describe it. I really don't know if I'd want to describe it because I don't want people to be able to defend it."

Hakeem Olajuwon -- "Oh, it's just a move." ___________

40-something.

Hakeem Olajuwon has two 40-point games in this series. Here is a list of his career 40-point playoff games:

Year..Opp.....Pts...Result..

1987..Seattle ....49..L 128-125..

1984..Portland ....46..W 114-104..

1995..Utah ....45..L 102-100..

1995..San Antonio....43..L 107-102..

1988..Dallas ....41..W 104-99..

1994..Utah ....41..W 104-99..

1995..San Antonio....41..W 106-93..

1995..Utah ....40..W 104-99..

-Game 1, first-round; -Game 3, Western Conference finals; -Game 2, Western Conference finals; -Game four, first round

fpliii

05-13-2013, 03:07 PM

Another (not great, but there's some mention of each)...

NBA ALL-STAR GAME - Moses Malone - If the blue collar fits, he'll wear it - and go about his business like no player before or since
Houston Chronicle (TX) - Friday, February 17, 2006
NOBODY ever worked harder on a basketball court than Moses Malone.

Maybe longer. Maybe prettier. Occasionally better. Never harder.

It is trite to say that Malone was the ultimate blue-collar worker. To describe him as carrying a lunch pail doesn't begin to scratch the surface. What he carried mostly was his team.

"More than any player I've watched or worked with closely, nobody did more to fulfill his responsibility to try to win a game than Moses ," said Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson. "He absolutely loved to play the game and did it to his physical limits every time he ever played."

He jumped from high school in Petersburg, Va., straight to the old ABA as a 19-year-old and played six seasons with the Rockets from 1976 to 1982, winning two Most Valuable Player awards and leading the club to the NBA Finals in 1981.

Doing his work quietly

"It was amazing to see Moses ' development in those years," said former teammate Rudy Tomjanovich . "I've been so lucky to have been a part of Hakeem Olajuwon 's career as a coach. But to watch Moses ' development up close, as one of his peers, was really something unique and special.

"I remember when he first came into the league, he was just a skinny kid who wanted to get the ball and face up to the basket and shoot jumpers. At that time, he wanted to be Dr. J and get by people with his quickness. He was so skinny. You wondered if he was even going to survive.

"But what none of us knew in those early days, even playing with him, was the kind of pride Moses had, the willingness to work and really work hard. One day I went into a gym just off the Southwest Freeway, where I'd occasionally go to get in a little extra workout with the weights. I got to talking to one of the trainers, and he said, ?Oh yeah, Moses is in here every morning, pumping the iron.' He was conscious of his body. He was working his butt off to get bigger and stronger. He just never said anything. I don't think he wanted any of us to know it."

It wasn't long before it was obvious. From 1978 to 1982, Malone never averaged fewer than 24.8 points and 14.5 rebounds for the Rockets.

Just as important, it was Malone who took a young Olajuwon downtown to Fonde Recreation Center and taught him what it meant to be a pro.

"The times I spent with Moses at Fonde were like going to basketball college," said Olajuwon . "He pushed me to get better. He tested me all of the time. He challenged me. He showed me how he worked."

Dawson just shakes his head.

Leaving it all on the floor

"Idealistically, you'd like to think that everybody in the NBA could be like Moses ," he said. "But realistically, you know that's not possible. I used to sit on the bench and watch him work like nobody else to get rebounds, to put in follow shots. I'd see him play 48 minutes and then come into the locker room and literally collapse in his locker. It would actually take five or 10 minutes before he could even move."

Malone played 19 NBA seasons, won his third MVP award in 1983, when he led the Philadelphia 76ers to the championship, and finished as the league's fifth all-time leading scorer and rebounder. He was named to the Hall of Fame in 2001.

At age 50, Malone can still be found in the gym playing ball most days, and he's currently acting as an unofficial rebounding coach for the Sixers.

"When you look back over the 25 years that I played, the game did me good," Malone said. "The opportunity to be an All-Star, to be one of the 50 greatest players and then to get the call to the Hall of Fame."

According to Rudy T, the coming-out party for Malone was the 1977 first-round playoff series when the Rockets beat the Washington Bullets.

"Actually, it was Moses beating the Bullets," Tomjanovich said. "They had Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld, a pair of Hall of Famers, on the front line, and he beat them both. Nothing fancy. No strategy. No secrets.

" Moses just worked."

fpliii

05-13-2013, 03:10 PM

This seems to be the last one I can find, not ideal either:

[QUOTE=Jerome Solomon, Houston Chronicle]
This was old school, with whine SOLOMON: Big matchup
Houston Chronicle (TX) - Saturday, March 7, 2009
LISTENING to the talk this week, you might wonder if Shaquille O'Neal received a pacifier for his 37th birthday.

Perhaps Yao Ming re-gifted one of his. Yep, the two big ol' 7-foot-plus stars gathered on the floor Friday night at Toyota Center to wrap up Whiner's Week in the NBA.

That lesser-known annual celebration comes after All-Star weekend, typically with about 20 games left in the regular season.

Shaq (7-1) and Yao (7-6) led the way this week, whining about how they are officiated differently than the normal-size players.

"It's not my fault I ate my Frosted Flakes when I was little, and you ate Wheaties," O'Neal joked about the little fellas in the league before the Rockets' 116-112 victory.

Yao, following the script, agreed there is a double standard. They are right. Every now and then they get hacked and it isn't called, but unless Wrestlemania breaks out in the paint, who besides biased home fans wants to hear the whining?

Well, it's not just for them.

"(Big men have) been doing it for 50 years," Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler said. "It's to get an edge. They know the officials watch the news and read the newspaper."

Rudy Tomjanovich , who played with Moses Malone and coached Hakeem Olajuwon , recognized the whining.

"It's one of those things," Tomjanovich said. "I'm telling you, 10 years from now, the next group of really good big guys will be saying the same thing. I don't think it's a conspiracy. It's just basketball."

This was fun basketball. Every bump and grind, every twist and shout, every hack of a Shaq and every pow of a Yao.

"Tonight was a lot of weightlifting for me," Yao said. "It was a 400-pound guy, I'm playing. He always says,

fpliii

05-13-2013, 03:20 PM

This one doesn't talk much about Moses, but here Rudy puts Hakeem alongside Wilt/Russ (and therein ahead of him):

PLAYING LIKE A DREAM - NBA FINALS: While lesser lights become heroes for a day, the Rockets' Olajuwon rarely turns in anything less than a stellar performance.
The Orange County Register - Tuesday, June 13, 1995
In Game 1, it was Kenny Smith. Game 2, it was Sam Cassell. Game 3, it was Robert Horry. In every game, it is Hakeem Olajuwon .

Rarely does Olajuwon get to play the hero's role. When you are as consistently great as he is, you tend to get overlooked by the media, always on the lookout for a fresh story. But there is no ignoring Dream.

He is the real reason the Rockets can sweep the Magic on

Wednesday for its second consecutive NBA title. Houston leads the best-of-seven series, 3-0. Smith, Cassell, Horry and mostly Clyde Drexler have played major roles in The Finals, but they would not be playing for the title if not for Olajuwon , at 32 arguably the best center in the league.

"I don't really like to be compared to others," said Olajuwon , who is averaging 32.0 points, 10.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists in The Finals. "It's very difficult to say `the best' because everybody has a style of play that is their own."

Olajuwon definitely has his own style. Jump hook, drop-step fadeaway, spin move, 18-foot spot-up jumper, pass. He can do it all.

"Guarding Hakeem is like having one of my worst nightmares," Orlando forward Horace Grant said. "He has so many moves in the post, it's unbelievable. You can't compare him to anyone. He's the best in my book, and he has been for a long time."

It's hard to believe he didn't start playing basketball until he was 15. Is it any wonder " Olajuwon " in one Nigerian language translates into "always being on top"? Blessed with coordination and footwork, basketball came pretty easy to the guy who excelled in soccer, field hockey and team handball. All he had to do was learn the rules.

Forced to develop an inside game when his college coach, Guy Lewis, instructed the other players not to pass to Olajuwon unless he was in the paint, Olajuwon looked forward to summers when he could play his outside game. Once in the pros, going up against Moses Malone built his confidence.

Now Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich ranks Olajuwon with Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell.

"And you could make the argument that he may be even above that level," Tomjanovich said. "He's so versatile. He goes inside, outside. He's a defender. He's a passer. He just does everything. I've been with him since his first day here. I scouted him for the draft, and he still amazes me."

Olajuwon was most amazing in the Western Conference finals against San Antonio's David Robinson. After what Olajuwon did to Robinson, the Spurs center should have considered handing over his MVP trophy. Assistant Rockets coach Carroll Dawson had seen the moves before _ at various times.

"But for him to constantly do it time and time and time again, to stay up as high as he did, I had never seen that before," Dawson said. "If he missed a shot, it was almost surprising."

Never has Dawson seen Olajuwon 's concentration or confidence higher. Perhaps, it has to do with Olajuwon 's spirituality.

"He has an inner peace about him that's just changed his whole game," Dawson said. "I thought, at times, he would get a little too excitable and it would affect his overall game. It doesn't happen now. He stays within himself."

There was no single thing that made Olajuwon , Nigerian-born but a U.S. citizen since 1993, return to his Islamic faith. Just a part of maturing, he said. His spirituality has helped him put everything in perspective and helped him to understand life.

"You are more mature. You have inner peace. It makes your job so much easier and fun," Olajuwon said.

Olajuwon seems to reach his objective every time out. Sunday's 31-point performance marked the 15th time in 21 games this postseason he has scored 30 or more points. He likely will join Michael Jordan as the only other player to win back-to-back Finals MVP trophies, if he can beat out sentimental favorite Drexler.

Whoever gets it, Drexler is glad to see former college teammate Olajuwon getting so much long-deserved attention.

"It has taken a long time," Drexler said. "This guy has been great for a very long time. I mean great, not just good, great. It's good to see him get the recognition that he deserves. He's certainly worthy of it and has been for a long time."

fpliii

05-13-2013, 03:22 PM

Unrelated, but thought it'd be worth the post:

Better than Jordan - But is it enough for Houston?
Sun Herald, The (Sydney, Australia) - Sunday, June 11, 1995
HAKEEM Olajuwon acknowledges that only a few players inspire him to read the small print scores in the newspaper and that Shaquille O'Neal is one of them.

So as Olajuwon sat at his locker last week in Houston, brushing his hair and trying to be humble about the way he had just humbled David Robinson, it was not surprising that the brush stopped in midstroke when he was asked about O'Neal.

"My task is going to be even bigger," Olajuwon said with a smile of anticipation. "I'm jumping from the frying pan into the fire."

But Olajuwon has no intention of being cooked.

As the defending champion Rockets were preparing to open the National Basketball Association finals against O'Neal's Orlando Magic, Olajuwon 's game had ascended to a level reserved for legends. His dominance of Robinson and the San Antonio Spurs was so extraordinary in the Western Conference finals that people stopped arguing about which centre was better.

Instead, he was being compared to the great centres of all time, not only for his numbers, but for his combination of speed, agility, and improvisation that make him perhaps the most athletic and graceful centre ever.

The challenge of facing Robinson inspired Olajuwon to new heights. Will the challenge of O'Neal do the same? The Rockets hope so. Because when Olajuwon is at his best, the Rockets believe that nobody is better. Not even No 45, or No 23, who plays for the Chicago Bulls.

"Michael Jordan is a close second right now," said Rockets guard Kenny Smith when asked to assess who is the best player in basketball. "But in terms of right this second, Hakeem is the best basketball player. He's on a different level. Jordan's the only one I've seen take it to that level. Right now, Hakeem is there. It makes the game easy for everybody."

Olajuwon has averaged 33 points a game in the playoffs. And while he will be tested by O'Neal, that is what Olajuwon wants. At 23, Orlando's gifted centre has reached the finals in his third NBA season. He is trying to do what Olajuwon could not - win a championship in his first finals appearance.

OLAJUWON has been where O'Neal is. The Rockets reached the finals in Olajuwon 's second season in 1986, but were beaten by Boston. There were flaws in Olajuwon 's game then, the same way that free-throw shooting is a flaw in O'Neal's game.

But while O'Neal's awesome game is still unfinished, Olajuwon , at 32, is a complete work of art. A devout Muslim, he rededicated himself to the Islamic religion in 1991, and he has found the peace and contentment he did not have earlier in his career. A well-liked player who is affectionately called "Dream" by his teammates, Olajuwon laughs easily and enjoys the game more than ever. He is an intelligent player who studies his opponents, and playing with an unselfish team has allowed him to maximise his skills.

After winning the league's most valuable player award last year, as well as his first championship, Olajuwon hired a trainer to improve his strength and stamina. As a result, his already remarkable endurance became even better.

He averaged 43.5 minutes during the conference finals, yet he rarely appeared to be breathing hard. Even when he missed eight games in late March and early April with anemia, he turned that into a positive. He lifted weights and worked out until he was cleared to play.

It is hard to fathom, but possible. Olajuwon may still be getting better.

"One of my biggest pet peeves with some players is that they don't work on their game," said Leslie Alexander, the Rockets' owner. "Some guys are the same player five years later. But Hakeem never stops working. Sometimes when you watch him on the court, you'll catch him smiling. He just seems so happy."

Any player with moves like Olajuwon 's would be happy. Footwork is the key to his game, and many of his moves are based on principles of soccer, the sport that he played growing up in Lagos, Nigeria. Teammates argue about which Olajuwon move is their favourite.

There is no way to guess what he may do when he catches the ball in the low post. He has up-and-under moves, a patented fadeaway jumper, head fakes, a variety of spin moves, and a deadly mid-range jumper.

His shot is rarely blocked because defenders rarely time his moves. Dave Cowens, one of San Antonio's assistant coaches and formerly a great centre with the Celtics, played against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, and Moses Malone. So Cowens knows a thing or two about pivot play.

But in dismantling Robinson, Olajuwon showed Cowens things he had never seen. It was not so much that Robinson played poorly. It was that Olajuwon played so well.

"No question about it, he's a phenomenal player," Cowens said. "If you look at the way he's built, he's a big guy, but his centre of gravity is remarkable. He doesn't really have long legs or a long torso. It's great for balance. Plus he has the soccer background as well as a great amount of concentration."

THAT will be Orlando's job during the finals. O'Neal will have one advantage over Olajuwon that he enjoys against everyone he faces - strength. But avoiding foul trouble will be a major challenge for O'Neal against a player with so many moves. Meanwhile, Olajuwon fouled out of just three games this season.

The Rockets have needed more than just Olajuwon to get this far, and they will need more to beat Orlando. But the Rockets are confident.

The mid-season trade that brought Clyde Drexler was a shrewd move, giving the Rockets a versatile, experienced player who improved their running game, their passing, their defence, and their perimeter game. And as the defending champions, the Rockets, coached superbly by Rudy Tomjanovich , have shown great character by beating the teams that had the top three regular-season records - San Antonio, Phoenix, and Utah.

And Olajuwon has been sensational. The Rockets believe he should have won the MVP award again. Instead, he finished fifth.

When asked who he believed to be the best player in the game, Olajuwon would not say. But he did say: "I'm happy with myself. I like my game."

He would also like another championship. And so far during the play-offs, no one has stopped him from getting what he wants.

fpliii

05-13-2013, 03:23 PM

Another unrelated, but good article:

OLAJUWON JOINS THE NBA LEGENDS
SACRAMENTO BEE - Friday, June 9, 1995
If there is one player in these 1995 NBA Finals wholly equipped to recognize greatness, it could be Orlando forward Horace Grant.

He has played with Michael Jordan, generally regarded as the best player in the world. He currently plays with Shaquille O'Neal, generally regarded as the NBA's center of the next decade.

But ask Grant about Houston's Hakeem Olajuwon , and the 6-foot-10 power forward has little difficulty making his feelings known.

"He is the best center out there and you don't compare the best to anyone," said Grant, who likely will spend another very uncomfortable part of tonight's pivotal Game 2 attempting to defend Olajuwon .

"Guarding him is like one of my worst nightmares," Grant said. "He just has so many moves in the low post."

These NBA playoffs have been a pseudo-emergence for Olajuwon . That in itself is a fairly strong feat.

Consider that the 7-foot Nigerian native is coming off a 1993-94 season in which he became the first player to win the NBA regular-season Most Valuable Player award, the Defensive Player of the Year award and the NBA Finals MVP award. He also led the Rockets to their first league championship.

This season, Olajuwon 's 11th, he appears to be even better. It came as no surprise that Olajuwon just happened to be in the right place at the right time Wednesday night, tipping in the game-winning shot in overtime in Game 1. He had 31 points, six rebounds, seven assists, four blocked shots and two steals.

"Hey, we double-and triple-teamed him and he still scored 31 points," said Wayne (Tree) Rollins, Orlando's backup center and assistant coach. "What are" we supposed to do, shoot him?"

Olajuwon has played at such a high level during the playoffs that many ar beginning to believe he belongs in the class of legendary NBA centers - a list currently occupied only by Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Next season, Olajuwon 's 96th point will make him the ninth player to accumulate 20,000 points and 10,000 rebounds. Chamberlain, Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Elvin Hayes, Bob Pettit, Moses Malone, Walt Bellamy and Robert Parish are the others.

"Anybody who cannot see that ( Olajuwon ) has more tools than all of those guys doesn't know the game," said former Kings guard Reggie Theus, who played with and against Olajuwon . "Kareem had the best hook in the history of the game. Russell was the best defender and Wilt did it all inside. Each one had his own one or two areas of specific dominance.

"But Hakeem Olajuwon dominates in so many different areas. And none of them could take you out to 18 feet, shake you and bake you, use the crossover dribble, spin and fake you and either go up and under you or fade away. On top of that, he's a great defensive player and a great team player."

To think, just three seasons ago, Olajuwon was being suspected of a professional athlete's worst offense - feigning an injury. The Rockets suspended him during the 1991-92 season for failing to render services.

But Olajuwon went through a major personal change when he reaffirmed his dedication to the Islamic faith, under which he had grown up in Nigeria. He made his first pilgrimage to Mecca during the summer of 1992.

"Going back to Islam has given me the ability to put everything into perspective," Olajuwon said. "It has given me a better vision of life. You are more mature and your life has new meaning.

"Life without Islam for me was like being without a foundation, and if you don't have a foundation, you can't be whole. I was short-tempered and would react to situations without thinking."

Olajuwon 's focus now is unparalleled.

"I've been with him since the first day," Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "I scouted him before we drafted him, and he still amazes me. He has to be right up there with the best because he can do so many things. He's so versatile offensively. He can score inside and outside. Defensively, he's great and he has been passing out of the double-teams so effectively during the past couple of seasons."

All-time great centers

Here's how Hakeem Olajuwon of Houston and Shaquille O'Neal of Orlando stack up against the three best centers of all time:

Player Seasons Pts. Reb. Titles

Bill Russell 13 15.1 22.5 11

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 20 24.6 11.2 6

Wilt Chamberlain 14 30.1 22.9 2

Hakeem Olajuwon 11 24.0 12.4 2

Shaquille O'Neal 3 27.3 12.8 0

Odinn

05-13-2013, 03:31 PM

Great finds fpliii. Thanks a lot.:cheers: :cheers:

fpliii

05-13-2013, 03:32 PM

Another fun article (a year early with the prediction):

NBA '93 - Why not the Rockets as champs?
Houston Chronicle - Sunday, OCTOBER 31, 1993
IN the days since Michael Jordan stunned the world with the sudden news of his retirement, the film librarians and the print archivists have been working overtime. Newsweek puts out a special collectors edition, newspapers turn out more retrospective words than greeted the conclusion of World War II, and the highlight reels show us such a numbing succession of dunks and dunks and dunks that we begin to wonder how the game of basketball was ever played before this bald-headed extraterres trial beamed down from another planet.

No more Air Jordan. No more takeoffs from the foul line, levitating along the baseline, double-pumping, 360-spinning miracles. No more over the freeway, through the window, off the scoreboard, nothing but net. It is a time to be a bit wistful.

But there are two ways to look at Jordan's now-I'm-here-and-now-I'm-gone departure: as either the door closing on a wondrous era of running and soaring with the Bulls or a gaping window of opportunity opening for the rest of the NBA.

So why not the Rockets?

The team that has teased us and tormented us, dazzled us and disappointed us, streaked and struck out, cruised and cratered, risen and fallen more times than a schizophrenic souffle is now in the best position in the history of the franchise to go all the way.

Better than after the 1981 playoffs when Moses Malone and the gang pulled their upstart wagon into the NBA Finals against the Celtics? Yes, because that group was strictly a one-year wonder that finished with a losing record in the regular season, then rode on the back of their tireless center through a magical spring.

Better than after the 1986 playoffs when the Twin Towers lineup of Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson fast-forwarded its maturation process and pushed into the Finals once more against the Celtics? Yes, because while the Rockets had so many young and talented pairs of legs, Boston still had Larry Bird in his prime, LA still had a hungry Magic Johnson and Detroit under Chuck Daly was coming together as an irresistible force that would not be denied.

But now the dance floor is clear as the NBA opens a season for the first time since the late 1970s without a defending champion intact and a dominant superstar in residence.

Why not the Rockets?

It may have taken a gutsy 3-point basket by Vernon Maxwell late in the fourth quarter to get the Rockets past the Clippers in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series last May and enable them to shed their long-running label of underachievers. Yet the Rockets also came within a whisker of having Mad Max's desperation shot in Game 7 beat Seattle, which would have propelled them into the Western Conference finals and made them very credible overachievers.

Why not the Rockets?

They are anchored by Olajuwon , who used last season to put the charges of selfishness and malcontent behind him and re-established himself as the best center in the game. Were it not that the balloting becomes a popularity poll and Charles Barkley gained votes simply for being outrageous and a member of the Olympic Dream Team, Olajuwon would have justly been named the league's MVP in 1993. Now he is content to be in Houston, has confidence in his teammates and has learned how to use the pass-off to elevate his game and his team to the next level. If he stays healthy, we can expect more of the same.

Why not the Rockets?

With Otis Thorpe and Robert Horry holding down the forward spots, the Rockets have unquestionably the best starting frontline in the league. There are individuals who do some things better than Thorpe and other things better than Horry. But when combined with Olajuwon there is no team that can match them in terms of overall athleticism and ability to run the floor. All that's missing up front is depth.

Why not the Rockets?

You might like to see more stability at guard. You might like to see Kenny Smith grow a spine. But Maxwell toned down some of his wild streak last season, and he demonstrated his dedication to winning while playing with a broken wrist in the playoffs. With the addition of Mario Elie and Sam Cassell and the usual feistiness from Scott Brooks, there just might be enough quality minutes among the whole group to make this a formidable backcourt.

Why not the Rockets?

In Rudy Tomjanovich , the Rockets have their best coach in history and one of the sharpest minds in the NBA. You can't overestimate his contribution to bringing the Rockets together as a cohesive unit that went 55-27 a year ago.

The contenders are everywhere, but they all have their flaws. Can the Suns duplicate last season without Richard Dumas and with questions concerning the health of Barkley? Can the Sonics and George Karl keep from tearing each other apart? Can Clyde Drexler and the Blazers get up off the floor? Can the Knicks stop talking and do the job? Can Shaquille O'Neal and Anfernee Hardaway work what will have to be big magic with the Magic? Can the young Hornets sting in the heat of the playoffs? Can Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant and Toni Kukoc carry on for the Bulls?

In a few more years, the NBA might be in the era of Shaq or Alonzo or Penny or Chris or Larry Johnson. But for now it is a league in transition that is seeking a new identity.

Jordan is gone and, for the first time in more than a decade, the window is wide open for the next NBA champion to fly in.

Why not the Rockets?

Indeed.

CHRONICLE WRITERS' PREDICTIONS.

............MIDWEST...PACIFIC...CENTRAL...ATLANTIC ......

............DIVISION..DIVISION..DIVISION..DIVISION ......

Eddie Sefko: Houston..Seattle...Chicago...New York......

............WESTERN CONF...EASTERN CONF...NBA FINALS....

............Houston........New York.......New York......

............over Seattle...over Charlotte.over Houston..

............MIDWEST...PACIFIC...CENTRAL...ATLANTIC ......

............DIVISION..DIVISION..DIVISION..DIVISION ......

Ed Fowler:..Houston...Seattle...Cleveland.New York......

............WESTERN CONF...EASTERN CONF...NBA FINALS....

............Seattle........New York.......New York......

............over Houston..over Cleveland..over Seattle..

............MIDWEST...PACIFIC...CENTRAL...ATLANTIC ......

............DIVISION..DIVISION..DIVISION..DIVISION ......

Fran Blinebury:Houston.Seattle..Cleveland..New York.....

............WESTERN CONF...EASTERN CONF...NBA FINALS....

............Houston........New York.......Houston.......

............over Seattle..over Charlotte..over New York.

............MIDWEST...PACIFIC...CENTRAL...ATLANTIC ......

............DIVISION..DIVISION..DIVISION..DIVISION ......

Dale Robertson:Houston.Phoenix..Cleveland..New York.....

............WESTERN CONF...EASTERN CONF...NBA FINALS....

............Phoenix........New York........Phoenix......

............over Houston..over Cleveland..over New York.

............MIDWEST...PACIFIC...CENTRAL...ATLANTIC ......

............DIVISION..DIVISION..DIVISION..DIVISION ......

John P. Lopez:S. Antonio.Phoenix.Chicago..New York......

............WESTERN CONF...EASTERN CONF...NBA FINALS....

............Phoenix........New York........New York.....

...........over San Antonio.over Orlando..over Phoenix..

............MIDWEST...PACIFIC...CENTRAL...ATLANTIC ......

............DIVISION..DIVISION..DIVISION..DIVISION ......

Terry Blount:Houston..Phoenix....Chicago..New York......

............WESTERN CONF...EASTERN CONF...NBA FINALS....

............Phoenix........New York........Phoenix......

............over Houston...over Charlotte.over New York.

............MIDWEST...PACIFIC...CENTRAL...ATLANTIC ......

............DIVISION..DIVISION..DIVISION..DIVISION ......

Bill Sullivan:.Houston.Seattle...Cleveland..New York....

............WESTERN CONF...EASTERN CONF...NBA FINALS....

............Seattle........New York.......New York......

............over Phoenix..over Charlotte..over Seattle..

............MIDWEST...PACIFIC...CENTRAL...ATLANTIC ......

............DIVISION..DIVISION..DIVISION..DIVISION ......

Alan Truex:.S. Antonio.Seattle..Cleveland..New York.....

............WESTERN CONF...EASTERN CONF...NBA FINALS....

............Seattle..........New York........Seattle....

............over S. Antonio.over Cleveland.over New York

fpliii

05-13-2013, 03:34 PM

Last one (seriously, this time, lol):

'94 NBA FINALS/RUDY'S TEAM/Plain and simple, Tomjanovich has transformed Rockets into winners
Houston Chronicle - Wednesday, June 8, 1994
A year ago, when the Rockets finally had been bounced out of the playoffs by the Seattle SuperSonics in a grueling seven-game series, Rudy Tomjanovich retreated to his house near Lake Conroe to work out his frustrations

The plan was to immerse himself in household repairs to take his mind from the bitter defeat, and so it was off to a building supply store to pick up materials. Tomjanovich was looking through bins, gazing up at shelves like any other weekend handyman, when he heard the click of the loudspeaker coming on and then the voice echoing down from the ceiling.

"Attention, shoppers!," said the voice. "We are proud to announce we have a celebrity in aisle seven. . . . No, now he's in aisle eight . . . now nine . . . "

The celebrity was headed for the door.

A year later, on the day after the Rockets eliminated the Utah Jazz and advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in eight seasons, Tomjanovich and his 10-year-old son, Trey, were trying to relax and unwind from the playoff pressure with a guys' day out, shopping and hanging around the mall.

They eventually made their way to the food court, ordered lunch and were beginning to settle into a conversation, maybe about the Knicks, maybe about the Pacers, maybe about conning Dad into buying one more T-shirt or another pair of shorts, when it happened.

Clapping. Applause. Soon a rousing ovation for a couple of fellas who had to take napkins and wipe the fast food grease from their chins before they could look up into the faces of admiring strangers.

"For the first couple of seconds, we looked around to see if somebody famous had come in," said Tomjanovich . "Then we looked at each other and we started to laugh. It was like, "Who me?' "

Yes, him. Rudy T. Just Rudy.

The guy next door has the Rockets ready to cross the threshold and deliver Houston its first major sports championship, yet you get the feeling he'd be just as happy with hot sand between his toes, a cold one in his hand and the reggae rhythms of Bob Marley filling the air. That's because he would.

"Hey, I'm as dedicated to my job as the next guy," Tomjanovich said. "I just don't want my whole identity to be wrapped up in being a coach. I'll put in the hours and give it everything I've got. I'll live and I'll die with the players on my team who have done all this. But at home, I want to be Dad, and everywhere else, I'd like to be the same guy I've always been."

Just Rudy.

After 24 years with the Rockets organization as a player, scout, assistant coach and now head coach, it's like waking up one day to discover the old clock sitting on your grandmother's mantel actually is a priceless antique.

In only two full seasons on the job, Tomjanovich has transformed the same nucleus of Rockets from fakers into favorites to win it all. He's compiled a franchise-best 115-49 regular-season record in back-to-back seasons and guided the Rockets to consecutive Midwest Division titles for the first time.

Tomjanovich has had a hand in everything from the full flowering of Hakeem Olajuwon into the league's MVP to the speedy emergence of rookie Sam Cassell as a vital cog in the machinery. His fingerprints are everywhere, and now he's close to putting them in a place where Del Harris, Bill Fitch and Don Chaney could not with the Rockets -- on the NBA championship trophy.

Harris, Fitch and Chaney all had MVP talent -- either Moses Malone or Olajuwon -- in the middle of their lineups. But none of them could blend the elements to produce the proper mix. So while the rest of the country probably still thinks first of Rudy T being on the receiving end of the near-fatal punch from Kermit Washington on Dec. 9, 1977, in Houston he's become the most well-known chemist since Madame Curie.

Just Rudy.

It is about 30 minutes after the Rockets have equaled the NBA record for consecutive wins to start a season -- 15 -- by whipping the Knicks 94-85, and Tomjanovich is standing in a hallway outside the locker room at Madison Square Garden answering questions.

His lucky black suit is so damp, you'd think it had been squirted with a garden hose, and the knot in his tie is pulled off to one side. His hair is disheveled. There are dark circles under his eyes. He is alternately taking sips from cans of beer in each hand as a cigarette dangles from his mouth.

"It's a tough job," Tomjanovich repeatedly told his family and friends through the years when they pushed him to make a bid to become head coach. He knew the commitment and the toll it would take on him physically and mentally if he made the step up from being an assistant.

"He'd become a tyrant just talking about it," said his wife, Sophie. "Rudy would say that he was happy doing what he was doing. He was working hard and getting satisfaction from basketball, and he wasn't comfortable taking on all of the rest of the stuff that goes with being the head coach.

"Rudy knew that once he stepped across the line and into that job, there was no turning back. He wasn't going to do it halfway. He told us all that, me and the three kids. He said it wasn't going to be easy.

"There are two things you have to know about Rudy -- he hates losing, and he's direct."

Since Tomjanovich took the job, the Rockets have done little of the former in large part because of the latter.

fpliii

05-13-2013, 03:35 PM

continued...

In two years, he has turned a fractured cast of characters into a solid unit that feeds off the strength of the whole by being uncomplicated and unscheming.

"He made us a team," said Olajuwon .

Look no further than Olajuwon , who deserves the praise for raising his game to the level of an MVP. But it was Tomjanovich who assisted in the heavy lifting. It was Tomjanovich who convinced Olajuwon it would benefit everyone if he trusted and relied more on his teammates.

It is no coincidence that in two years under Tomjanovich 's system, Olajuwon has shot the ball better than at any time in his career and finished two straight seasons with more assists than turnovers.

Tomjanovich also went to work on Vernon Maxwell, convincing the lightning rod in the backcourt that he frequently could be effective in the role of a playmaker, and it has worked. Maxwell's shots-per-game have been cut drastically, and though the progress may seem, at times, as imperceptible as watching grass grow, Mad Max hasn't been quite so off-the-wall this season.

Tomjanovich dealt with the bizarre episode of the midseason trade that wasn't and turned what could have been a negative with Robert Horry into one of the biggest positives of the postseason. He told Horry he had actually been traded because the Rockets felt the young forward could do so much more.

This reluctant coach has even managed to get the most out of the perpetually pouting Kenny Smith, who in the first half of the season didn't like riding the bench while Scott Brooks played the fourth quarters and who now gives up significant minutes to the rookie Cassell.

Perhaps most important of all has been Tomjanovich 's ability to get the unheralded Otis Thorpe to give up most of his offense in order for the Rockets' inside-outside game from Olajuwon -to-the-bombers to work. On many other teams, Thorpe would be getting 15 to 18 shots a night. There are games when Thorpe doesn't get five with the Rockets. Yet he gives them stout defense and solid rebounding.

The true measure of a leader is not in how he is regarded by the men he favors and who reap the spoils but by those who give up individual glory in the name of the greater good. Players like Thorpe. Players like Brooks, who played a key role in the 15-0 start and is now strictly a cheerleader.

"I have nothing but respect for Rudy and his system," Brooks said. "He didn't play games with me. He never tried to lie to me. At the middle of the season, he said Kenny and Sam were on a roll, they were playing well together, and something had to give. It eats at me, sure. I want to play. But the guy was honest. He was direct."

Just Rudy.

He's taken the black hole that was the Rockets' ability to mine the college draft and hit a rich vein that's produced back-to-back winners in Horry and Cassell. He's assembled a team filled with long-range shooters in his own image as a player -- a 3-point bomber before the NBA painted a line on the floor -- and turned them loose.

Yet he's gone from being one of the worst defenders to ever lace up a pair of sneakers to being a coach who prefers suffocating the other guy with defense than drowning him in offense. Maybe you respect most the things you can't do.

What he has done is worked and worried and fretted and frowned and done all of the things he told his family and his friends he would do if he ever took this job. What he's also done is brought the Rockets to the very brink of a championship without the self-absorption of Pat Riley, the professorial aura of Larry Brown, the philosophical mysticism of Phil Jackson or the look-at-me-I'm-a-genius attitude of Don Nelson.

"I don't know if I'm in this thing for the long term," Tomjanovich said. "Right now, I'm only trying to get through one more series. I love the job, but I'm not comfortable being the celebrity. I can go to Galveston or go to Lake Conroe, and I can't get away. I like to go to a club, have a beer and listen to music, and it's getting tougher for me to do that all the time. Man, I've been missing my music.

"I accept the attention and I try to treat people graciously, and still it does take a toll. It would be the greatest thing if I could coach and still be able to go to the grocery store.

"You know, I want this championship real bad. But once in a while, I want to go out someplace, get something to eat, bite into it and then let all the grease run down my chin and not even worry about wiping it off. That's me."

Just Rudy

fpliii

05-13-2013, 03:35 PM

Great finds fpliii. Thanks a lot.:cheers: :cheers:

No problem. Sorry I couldn't find anything more useful, but these should be a good read.

:cheers:

NugzHeat3

05-13-2013, 03:41 PM

Great finds fpliii, are you subscribed to the Houston Chronicle?

fpliii

05-13-2013, 03:44 PM

Great finds fpliii, are you subscribed to the Houston Chronicle?

Nope, NewsBank is one of the sites I have access to, and it contains Chronicle archives going back a bit.

Gotterdammerung

05-13-2013, 03:53 PM

Thanks fpliii :cheers:

NugzHeat3

05-13-2013, 04:04 PM

Some stuff I have that may also help answer this question.

With all due respect to Robinson and Barkley, while it is undeniable that Olajuwon had superb athletic gifts, what really set him apart was the tremendous effort he devoted to honing those gifts. Former Rockets Coach Rudy Tomjanovich said, "He worked very hard to become a great player. He had legendary matchups with Moses Malone in a recreational center called Fonde." Tomjanovich declared of Olajuwon, "I think he's the best all-around center to have ever played the game."
http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.ca/2008_08_31_archive.html

There's Olajuwon, of course, who now is considered one of the greatest centers ever with Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
"I think you have to argue he can be the best of them," said Tomjanovich, noting Olajuwon recently became the ninth player to have more than 20,000 points and 10,000 rebounds.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1996-01-03/sports/9601030073_1_rockets-houston-coach-rudy-tomjanovich-olajuwon

"This is a hell of a sports era we're living in," said Rudy T. "Guys like Jordan and Wayne Gretzky and now Tiger Woods are all-time greats. And Hakeem is in that group. There are some people who would argue he is the greatest center of all time, and I would be one of them."
chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1997_1406988

Olajuwon's teammates agree that Hakeem is truly a dream player. They say he is not only relentless, but he makes the other players better.

Beyond that, Olajuwon joins such all-time greats as Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.

Houston guard Kenny Smith said comparing Olajuwon to other greats in the past is "like apples, oranges, bananas - they're all fruit."

However, he went on to say that "in offensive terms, as a center, he's been the best, or you'd have to rank him No. 1 or 2 along with Wilt Chamberlain."

Smith continued, "Defensively, he's 1 or 2. A lot of players did a lot of things good, but I think he does a lot of things great."

* * *

Perhaps one day they will make a movie of Olajuwon's life, from a childhood in Nigeria to his college days in Houston to the best player in the NBA. Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich agrees it is an intriguing story.

"What a wonderful story. For a guy who comes to this country and hasn't played a bunch of organized basketball, and he becomes the best player in the league," said Tomjanovich.

Tomjanovich went on to call Olajuwon "right up there" with some of the best inside players ever, saying he'd played against Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/355250/MAILMAN-OTHERS-LAUD-MVP-CHOICE.html?pg=all

Nope, NewsBank is one of the sites I have access to, and it contains Chronicle archives going back a bit.
Any way you can possibly locate a Chron archive from 1998 where Oscar talked about Hakeem and late 90s ball in general?

K Xerxes

05-13-2013, 04:17 PM

Thanks fpliii and NugzHeat3! Great info.

jlip

05-13-2013, 04:29 PM

Threads like this make ISH actually worth coming to.

:applause: :applause: :applause:

inclinerator

05-13-2013, 04:34 PM

tldr

cos88

05-13-2013, 05:00 PM

fpliii is a wonderful human being.

K Xerxes

05-13-2013, 05:05 PM

Threads like this make ISH actually worth coming to.

:applause: :applause: :applause:

Indeed. Sure is a nice change from the redudant LeBron vs Kobe bullshit.

Odinn

05-13-2013, 05:06 PM

Although I appreciate Rudy T for appreciating Moses' hard works, I would love to see him talking about Moses just like he did/does for Hakeem.

At their best, Hakeem is the better one and on par with KAJ, Wilt and Shaq. And he has a point for 'he's the best all-around center to have ever played the game' sentence.
But I think Tomjanovich could talk about Moses Malone a little bit more.

I guess this a little bit relative to being a Houston legend. I mean Tomjanovich played the ball for his entire career in Houston. Coached the team for almost 10 years. Hakeem played 17 seasons for Houston, almost his entire career. Together they won 2 chips. And Moses played 6 seasons in Houston. Compared to Tomjanovich and Hakeem, it's truly a short span.

fpliii

05-13-2013, 05:18 PM

Any way you can possibly locate a Chron archive from 1998 where Oscar talked about Hakeem and late 90s ball in general?

Robertson decries play of centers
Houston Chronicle - Tuesday, February 17, 1998
Oscar Robertson is a man whose basketball credentials are impeccable, so when he offers an opinion on a basketball-related subject, there is no credibility problem.

Consider that the 6-5 Robertson established the mold for the big, all-around point guards, even putting together a triple-double season in 1961-62, when he averaged 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 11.4 assists for the Cincinnati Royals, a feat that has been unmatched in NBA history.

But when Robertson looks back on his era, it's not the guard play that stands out but rather the centers - players like Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Nate Thurmond, Walt Bellamy, Willis Reed, Dave Cowens and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, with whom Robertson won an NBA title with the Milwaukee Bucks in 1971.

Robertson feels that, more than any other position, center play in the NBA today comes up short. That fact hit home especially when Robertson, an Indianapolis native, saw that Rik Smits of his hometown Pacers made the Eastern Conference All-Star team this year.

"Yeah, they toss that (the term `All-Star') around pretty loosely these days," said Robertson, shaking his head. "Where I came from, if I had a guy 7-4, he should be tearing the board down. But the guy gets, what, three or four rebounds a game?"

For the record, Smits is averaging seven rebounds a game, but you get the picture. While ripping overall center play in the NBA, however, there is one notable exception in Robertson's eyes - Houston's Hakeem Olajuwon .

"There are no great centers anymore," said Robertson, who was in New York during All-Star Weekend to promote his new book, The Art of Basketball. "Chicago's center (Luc Longley), he's just trying to get out of the way of (Michael) Jordan and (Scottie) Pippen. (Dennis) Rodman is under the basket rebounding. Look at Utah. (Karl) Malone plays the pivot on offense. The other kid, (Greg) Ostertag, he's standing out somewhere, but what is he doing?

"The Kareem type of player is gone forever. I think Olajuwon might bring some hope back once he gets back (fully from knee surgery)."

As one can tell from his comments, Robertson does not hold back his opinion when asked a question. Indeed, Robertson answers those questions in very much the same way he played the game - with as little excess as possible.

So it's easy to see how Robertson cringes when he hears comparisons between players of today, say, Shaquille O'Neal, and players from his day, like Chamberlain. While both are comparable in size (Chamberlain was 7-1 and played most of his career around 300 pounds, while O'Neal is listed at 7-1, 315), that's about as far as the similarities go in Robertson's book.

"In this day and age, Shaq is dominating because of his size," Robertson said. "I don't think he ever saw Kareem play, though. To get a sky hook, for a guy that big, nobody could stop him. But as long as he can power to the basket, who can guard him? Other than (Portland's Arvydas) Sabonis, whose knees are shot, there's nobody.

"Does he (O'Neal) have Wilt-like ability to score 50 points (a game, as Chamberlain did in the 1961-62 season)? No, he does not."

And Robertson doesn't want to hear all the stuff about how players from his era couldn't play the game. He doesn't want to hear how today's players are such better athletes, how they're so much bigger and so much stronger.

"It always amazes me why people think that guys couldn't play (during Robertson's day)," Robertson said. "If Jesse Owens was on a track that was not cinders, no one would catch him. But he ran on those cinder tracks, so all of a sudden you see this kid who broke the record for the 200 meters, (Michael) Johnson, and he's the greatest. Running on the same track with the same conditions, nobody would have caught Jesse Owens.

"But that's history, and America is a country that does not revere its history very much at all. There are great players today. Are there a lot of great players? Probably not."

Especially in the middle.

"I played against the greatest centers in the world, and I wouldn't trade that time for anything," Robertson said. "Look at all those guys who are in the Hall of Fame and the competition they provided on the floor - Russell, Chamberlain, Nate Thurmond, Walt Bellamy. You just can't replace that."

Except in one case - Olajuwon .

When asked how Olajuwon would fare against players like Russell and Chamberlain, Robertson again did not hesitate.

"Tremendous," Robertson said. "The guy gave everyone a lesson. Like when he came in and beat the Knicks (in the 1994 Finals). They had everybody on him but the coach (Pat Riley). He just ate them up. They couldn't handle him. He was so quick, so graceful. He never got upset, either. He never got mad when he got hit or bumped.

"I'll tell you, though, I don't know if his religion hurts him because he fasts for a long time (during Ramadan) and he gets hurt. That takes a lot out of you when you're playing. But I think Hakeem is a tremendous star, a tremendous athlete and a tremendous center."

Takes one to know one.

Newfangled scouting - To say that the art of reviewing games has changed over the years would be an understatement. Where once players convened in a dark room and watched films to get an understanding of an opponent's tendencies, today's players often scout an opponent from the comfort of their living rooms.

The proliferation of satellite packages like DirecTV and the like gives not only fans a wide range of game-viewing options but players as well. And while it may sound hard to believe, many of today's players - with Mario Elie at the head of the pack - will hunker down and watch (or tape) hundreds of games so they can keep a competitive edge.

"A lot of our guys do that," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "I hear them talking about it all the time where they've watched the game the night before. That's great. Heck, yeah."

Yeah, and it would have been greater had technology like that been available during Tomjanovich's day.

"No, we didn't have that," Tomjanovich said with a laugh. "We had one of those old reel-to-reel tape deals. I took it home one summer, but it was one of those big, heavy things that was tough to lug around, and then the tape would get all tangled up. It was tough. But before that, it was film, and you'd be sitting in the room and the film would burn as you were watching it.

"That was like my first or second year. In fact, in one of these storage rooms here (at Compaq Center) we still have some old movies of me playing against the Celtics. Now that would be something to see."

The last word - "I never did take that (audio-visual) class, so I always had trouble with the machines." - the technologically challenged Rudy Tomjanovich, on his troubles with the old projectors and tape decks the Rockets' scouting department used during his playing days

Is this it, perhaps?

NugzHeat3

05-13-2013, 05:41 PM

fpliii

05-13-2013, 05:47 PM

Thanks a lot fpliii. :cheers:

That's exactly the one I had in mind.

Odinn, I'm sure there's some stuff out there with Rudy talking about Moses but the Chron is no longer free so you'd have to rely more on other newspaper archives.

Plus, like you said, there's a greater deal of history between Rudy T, Hakeem and the Rockets than there is between Moses so I'm sure there's a bias as well. Their best years came during Hakeem's tenure with him as the head coach and those two had a great relationship so that's naturally going to swing the ball in Hakeem's side.

:cheers:

Odinn - If you're interested in what Rudy T had to say about Moses, I can do some more searches when I have free time later this week. There are a substantial number of matches though, so if you have any additional keywords in mind that would be helpful. Tomorrow I'll see what I can find by adding 'offensive rebounds' (and 'offensive rebounding'/'offensive boards'/'offensive rebounder' etc.) to the present search to try and find more relevant results.

jlip

05-13-2013, 06:01 PM

Unrelated, but thought it'd be worth the post:

Great find fpliii! This article adds to the discussion in my Was Hakeem ever considered better/ greater than MJ? (http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=297975) thread.

fpliii

05-13-2013, 06:03 PM

Great find fpliii! This article adds to the discussion in my Was Hakeem ever considered better/ greater than MJ? (http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=297975) thread.

I had the thread in mind when I saw the title. Good stuff. :cheers:

Odinn

05-13-2013, 06:09 PM

Odinn - If you're interested in what Rudy T had to say about Moses, I can do some more searches when I have free time later this week. There are a substantial number of matches though, so if you have any additional keywords in mind that would be helpful. Tomorrow I'll see what I can find by adding 'offensive rebounds' (and 'offensive rebounding'/'offensive boards'/'offensive rebounder' etc.) to the present search to try and find more relevant results.
I always think Moses Malone is a underrated name. I think a former teammate of his that coached another all-time great center later, Rudy Tomjanovich, would be great source to find out a healthy opinion about Moses Malone.

Malone's 1979 MVP, or leading a losing record team to the NBA Finals in 1981 while facing 2 elimination games in the WCF.
His 2nd MVP in 1982 could be useful also. 2 consecutive months with 35+ ppg. But Tomjanovich wasn't a active player and a teammate of Malone any more.

If you need a specific words, it'd be 1979 MVP or 1982 MVP and Road to the NBA Finals 1981.

---

I didn't find the post but once I said something like this;
' Hakeem is the only top 10-12 player that is ranked this high based on just 3 consecutive seasons. '
And still I think like that. His career before Rudy Tomjanovich is nothing special when you think about his position in the all-time greats lists.

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=299559&page=2
A few days earlier we shared our opinions in this thread.
I ranked Hakeem ahead of Moses.
I consider a player's single best season and the best 3 consecutive seasons while rating their peak.
1994 Hakeem > 1982 or 1983 Moses
1993-95 Hakeem > 1981-83 Moses

But if we extend that span to 5 or more years, the difference between Moses and Hakeem narrower I think.

I live outside of the United States and that's why I started this thread. I do not have the opportunities to search that deep.

NugzHeat3

05-13-2013, 08:28 PM

Odinn

05-13-2013, 09:06 PM

Odinn, I will post some stuff on some players comparing Hakeem and Moses from 1986 when Hakeem was getting a lot of praise for his play vs the Lakers and Celtics. Reading them, it seems Hakeem was being compared favorably even at such a young age.

Watching the game right now so will do it a bit later, maybe after the Thunder vs Grizz game.
1986 playoffs is the only playoffs Hakeem went deep before Rudy T. became his coach. It'd be great to read something about it.

Once, I made an archive that includes every NBA Finals games since the merger. Also there were some games of the championship team games in their conferences. I've watched most of them. It was a huge archieve But the external hdd is broken down and since I'm a student, I do not have enough money to fix it...
After the hdd wenting down, I think I need the media material to keep the things alive in my mind. Also I didn't have games from regular seasons and it was restricting me from providing a healthy opinion.

PS: Do I speak English correctly, fluently? I've never been a place where English is the native language.

NugzHeat3

05-13-2013, 09:46 PM

Your English is fine, would've never guessed it wasn't your first language.

That's unfortunate about your hard drive but you can still find a good number of 80s games on youtube especially Laker games under the "lakeptic" channel. Check it out. For instance, both the 1981 and 1986 Lakers vs Rockets playoff series are up there so you can get to know more about both Hakeem and Moses (not sure if you've seen those or not).

I agree with you in regards to the lack of tape making it harder to form an educated and conclusive opinion on something since you're forced to rely more on stats and don't feel quite as confident in your stance which is one reason I don't rank players I didn't see. Also, it's always interesting and important to research and learn about what was being said at the time as contemporary opinion is crucial to evaluating a player imo.

I can post more stuff on 1986 Hakeem exclusively (if you want) but since you asked specifically in regards to Hakeem/Moses, that's what I'm going to post for now....

Bird compares (H)Akeem and Moses during the 1986 playoffs below. I think Bird had once said Moses was the best player he had played against though he retracted that statement after playing against rookie Jordan if I remember correctly.

[Larry Bird] says you can tell that Akeem Olajuwon was tutored by Moses Malone. "They are almost identical, except that Akeem can jump higher," Bird said. Bird also lauds Akeem's ability to move laterally to retrieve his own miss, a la Moses . . .
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/660057811.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May+28%2C+1986&author=Compiled+by+Bob+Ryan&pub=Boston+Globe+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=WHO+WILL+MVP+BE%3F&pqatl=google

And now there was Houston, only one win away from sending its Twin Towers against the imposing Boston skyline in the finals. Give Sampson his due on this point—he has long pooh-poohed the front-office's plan as overly cautious. "I didn't want to hear about five-year plans then and I don't want to hear about them now," Sampson said last week, possibly because he, more than anyone, realized the full potential of Olajuwon.

Now the Lakers know it, too. Magic: "In terms of raw athletic ability, Akeem is the best I've ever seen." Lucas: "The rebirth of a bigger Moses Malone." Kupchak: "I can compare him to, maybe, Alvin Robertson in terms of being able to do everything. That tells you something, since Robertson is a guard. I've never seen anyone that strong, that quick, that relentless and who also happens to be seven-feet tall."
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1064854/index.htm

Two seasons later, Olajuwon's development continues at its break-neck pace. The Rockets may like Sampson, but they love Akeem.

Said Danny Schayes: "He plays a lot like Moses does, but he's physically more talented. He's quicker, he jumps better, he's stronger.

"As far as having a lot of moves, Akeem doesn't. He just stands in the low post and plows to the basket. He doesn't have the great moves of a Michael Jordan or a Dr. J. He just plays a bull game. But as far as physical talent, he's like a Michael Jordan or a Dr. J.

"And he's got the Moses Malone complain-game down pretty well. He mumbles and curses the referees but they can't understand what he's saying."

A delight off the court, Olajuwon has a temper on it. He had a fight with Utah's Billy Paultz, whom he sucker-punched before fouling out in the playoff loss that eliminated the Rockets last season. He and Schayes shoved each other before he grabbed Madden and was tossed.

Such things are not unknown for star centers who are held and pushed a lot. Schayes for example, doesn't dislike him.

"Not like you dislike a Bill Laimbeer, who elbows a lot and pushes and shoves and holds," Schayes said. "Akeem doesn't play that way. But he does play very physical."
http://articles.latimes.com/1986-05-18/sports/sp-21202_1_taking-center-stage/3

The SI and LA Times articles are nice reads. You can see the players are essentially saying they're similar but Hakeem has the edge in athleticism.

fpliii

05-14-2013, 09:54 AM

I'm going to post a bunch of articles this morning. Some of them are relevant, others are interesting reads. :D

Malone's 24 to gain lofty post /Rockets to honor franchise's `pillar'
Houston Chronicle - Thursday, April 16, 1998
Another uniform will be raised to the rafters at Compaq Center on Sunday.

Moses Malone's No. 24 will be retired in a ceremony at the regular-season finale against Phoenix. Malone's jersey number will join that of Calvin Murphy (No. 23) and Rudy Tomjanovich (No. 45).

The Rockets were Malone's first NBA team. He played two seasons in the American Basketball Association after making the leap from high school, then played six seasons with the Rockets. His NBA career lasted 19 seasons.

Malone's ceremony will coincide with the Rockets' "Thanks Houston" fan appreciation day Sunday, which will feature the unveiling of the franchise's all-time team to commemorate the 30 years since the Rockets' first season.

Malone's link to the Rockets goes beyond the six seasons he was with the team, starting Oct. 25, 1976, when he was acquired from the Buffalo Braves for first-round draft picks in '77 and '78 and cash. He won two Most Valuable Player awards in Houston (1979 and 1982) and led the Rockets to their first NBA Finals appearance in 1981, taking a team that finished 40-42 in the regular season to within two games of the title.

And near the end of his Rockets tenure, Malone took a young center named, at the time, Akeem Olajuwon (then a University of Houston star) under his wing, tutoring him during endless pickup games at Fonde Recreation Center and helping Olajuwon learn the tricks of the trade that would help him become "Hakeem the Dream."

" Moses was a phenomenal player," said Clyde Drexler, another longtime friend of Malone's. "In his day, he was the most dominant big man in the game. He was Hakeem before Hakeem. And was very good at it."

To a man, Rockets with a link to Malone applauded the decision to retire his number. Owner Leslie L. Alexander has planned to retire Malone's number since early this season, but finding the appropriate time to make the announcement has been difficult.

"That will be fantastic," Olajuwon said of honoring his mentor. "I suggested that idea a long time ago. He made his biggest impact in Houston. And his time here hasn't been appreciated the way it should be. I'm very happy that they are taking the first step in that direction to acknowledge his contribution to basketball and especially to the Houston Rockets."

Malone, reached Wednesday at his home, said he was unaware the Rockets were planning to retire his number as part of the Sunday festivities.

But the Rockets family enthusiastically embraced the idea of honoring one of their greats from the past.

"That's wonderful," said Tomjanovich , who played with Malone for five seasons. "I really enjoyed playing with Moses Malone. We had heard that he was a legend coming out of high school. He was in the ABA at the time, and he was a very slender guy with a big Afro, and within two years he was out there dominating some of the greatest players in the league.

"I think it was that Washington series (in 1977) when they had Elvin Hayes and (Wes) Unseld and we played them in so many close games and Moses was our pillar."

The Rockets won that first-round playoff series four games to two, but none of the contests was decided by more than 10 points. It was then Malone burst onto the NBA scene.

Before he was done playing for eight NBA teams and amassing more than 27,000 points, Malone's rebounding would come to be his signature.

"The most relentless offensive rebounder that I've ever seen," Eddie Johnson said. "And that's saying a lot, especially when you look at Dennis Rodman. But the difference is Moses could score. And Moses was exerting more energy. Rodman only exerts energy on the defensive end now. He exerts none on the offensive end.

" Moses was both ends, getting defensive rebounds, trying to be a presence. He wasn't a great defender, but he had a presence. And his offensive rebounding was unbelievable. He was relentless. That's one thing that's stuck in my mind about him. He could put it on the floor a couple dribbles. He had the jumper. But the most impressive thing is you had to come work on the boards against that man."

As Drexler remembers all too well. Malone ranks No. 5 on the NBA's all-time rebounding list at 16,212. He led the NBA in offensive rebounding eight times, more than anybody in league history. Malone also averaged 20.6 points for his career (24 in his time with the Rockets).

"He'd get the ball back five times in a row if he had to," Drexler said. "Sometimes, he did it just to show people he could do it. He'd get it back as many times as he needed to in order to get the bucket. And very few people in the history of the game have had the kind of success that he enjoyed."

One of the people closest to Malone during his formative years, Rockets executive vice president of basketball Carroll Dawson, said Malone, who also won an MVP award with Philadelphia the first year after the Rockets traded him there, was a gifted rebounder from the beginning.

"I've got a lot of memories of Moses ," Dawson said. "I think he probably taught me a lot more than I did him. What an education. I was a rebounding coach, I felt like. But he really raised my eyebrows. I used to talk to him all the time about his thoughts and ideas about why he got so many rebounds. And he just said: `I don't think any of them are ever going in.'

"He was relentless. He was one of those guys who really developed a responsibility for helping to win games for the franchise, for the fans, everybody. He was very sensitive to that. And every time we lost, he really felt like he let everyone down. He really took it very personal. And you don't see that very much anymore. He really showed it. He felt a great responsibility for going out there and winning."

And, Dawson says, Malone was a warrior.

"I thought he and Dr. J (Julius Erving) were the only guys who really never took a night off no matter who you're playing," Dawson said. "You go out and play a bad team, and you know you're going to win anyway, he's still playing hard. He never took a night off. I've got a great amount of respect for him. And I cried when we lost him."

Even after he left the Rockets, Malone, who also wore No. 21 briefly in Houston, had an influence on the current Rockets. Charles Barkley credits Malone as the one player who taught him how to work hard enough to be a success in the NBA.

"I looked up to Moses more than any other player I ever knew," said Barkley, who played with Malone on the 76ers. "He was the hardest worker in the game."

Thanks Houston

The schedule for the Thanks Houston Day festivities Sunday:

1:30-4 p.m. - Pepsi Million-Dollar Shot semifinals for 100 fans who have been chosen. The contest will be near the Edloe entrance to Compaq Center. Public is invited.

5 p.m. - Rockets vs. Phoenix Suns. All fans entering the arena will receive a Gatorade/Randalls Rally Rag.

Pre-game introductions - All 15 Rockets players will be introduced with 15 season-ticket holders who have been chosen at random receiving a jersey from one of the players.

During the game - Periodic promotions for selected fans to receive prizes.

Halftime - Introduction of the 10-man, 30-year team; retirement of Moses Malone's jersey; finals of the Gatorade NBA Rockets Dream contest; finals of the Pennzoil Stop 'N' Go Race to the Finish.

Postgame - All fans will receive commemorative posters of the 30-year team upon leaving the building.

Postgame - A private reception and playoff tip-off party for the Rockets, Malone, the 30th-anniversary team and invited guests.

fpliii

05-14-2013, 09:55 AM

Decent article...

Rockets, Rudy T set to visit mentors
Houston Chronicle - Friday, January 12, 1996
It might be back-to-back games in Los Angeles, but for Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich , tonight's meeting with the Lakers and Saturday's contest against the Clippers is going to be like old home week.

The game against the Lakers means going against Del Harris, the man who gave Tomjanovich his break in the coaching business in 1983. Prior to that, Tomjanovich had been a scout after his playing days ended in 1981. Saturday's game reunites Tomjanovich with former Rockets coach Bill Fitch, under whom he honed his craft.

"Yeah, that is going to be a great thrill for me," Tomjanovich said. "I coached under both of those guys. Del was the guy who got me into coaching and gave me the opportunity. And then I had five years under Bill and really learned a great deal about work ethic and preparation. I was the advance scout for both of those guys and had a little bit of a bigger role with Fitch than with Harris."

First up is Harris, whose work last season with the Lakers earned him NBA Coach of the Year honors after leading the team to a 48-34 record in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year. The award was the culmination of 31 years of coaching that included ports of call in college, Europe, South America, the American Basketball Association as well as the NBA. Harris, who led the Rockets to their first NBA Finals in 1981, is two wins shy of 400 for his career.

Tomjanovich can see traces of Harris' varied background in the play of the Lakers.

"He's had different influences," Tomjanovich said. "When he was with us (1979-83), we had Moses (Malone) and the inside game, which I really believe in a lot. Then he wound up going (to Milwaukee as an assistant) with Nellie (Don Nelson) and a lot of their stuff is putting the ball on the floor, isolations and dribble-type plays. He didn't have the power-type guys then, and he really got away from that power inside game.

"Now he's got a mixture of both. He has athletes like (Cedric) Ceballos and (Nick) Van Exel, and big guys like (Vlade) Divac and (Elden) Campbell, so it's a combination of his early years and the Nellie years."

That versatility is what makes the Lakers so dangerous. But while they were the surprise team of last year, the Lakers are the surprise of this season for another reason. At 18-17, they are barely treading water, but losing five one-point games could be part of the problem.

But the biggest problem has been inconsistency. Ceballos has been a rock, averaging 23.6 points and 7.7 rebounds, but second-year guard Eddie Jones is averaging 11 points, and has failed to reach double figures in seven of the past 12 games. Van Exel is shooting just 40 percent from the floor while averaging 14.8 points, down more than two points from his breakthrough season last year.

"They have a good backcourt," said Rockets point guard Kenny Smith. "They have a lot of those midsized guards (the 6-6 Jones, 6-4 Anthony Peeler and 6-2 Sedale Threatt), so it makes it more interesting.

"Nick is so unorthodox. He's lefthanded, but he's not like Kenny Anderson, who's also lefthanded. He (Anderson) does things that are pretty normal while Van Exel is more unorthodox. He jumps off the wrong foot to take his shot and he passes one way when you think he's passing another. That's what makes him so unorthodox."

The Lakers have the ability to pound you inside, though, with the 7-1 Divac and the 6-11 Campbell in the paint. And with Ceballos attacking the offensive glass or filling the lanes in transition, the Lakers are one of the most dangerous teams in the league, despite their near-.500 record.

"I think I'm surprised because last year they caught a lot of people by surprise," Brown said. "You could still tell they were a good team. After a while it was no longer a surprise. They stayed consistent last year pretty much throughout the whole year. I'm pretty sure they'll turn it up when it's time to make the playoffs or get in the playoffs.

"I still wouldn't want to play them in the playoffs. I think they're scary."

fpliii

05-14-2013, 09:56 AM

A Rudy T spotlight:

NBA '92 - COMING ATTRACTIONS - Rockets to tee off Rudyball
Houston Chronicle - Sunday, NOVEMBER 1, 1992
Climbing the corporate ladder is a long, slow process in most businesses. But usually, after 20 or 25 years, most hard workers who have stayed with the same firm find a comfortable level.

And then there's one Rudolph Tomjanovich . Had he been 5-8 instead of 6-8 and gone into bookkeeping instead of basketball, Tomjanovich would be up for a gold watch about now.

But Rudy T. instead became the ultimate Rocket man. And 23 years of rising through the ranks in the organization has finally landed Tomjanovich in the big chair.

"Yeah," Tomjanovich says, "it's kind of coming to a climax thing, isn't it?"

Indeed it is. Working for the Rockets as a player, scout and assistant coach was fun. Pressure? Oh, sure, there was some pressure, but nothing out of the ordinary.

And then came the head-coaching position, the one with the big bucks and the big headaches and small job security.

Tomjanovich begins his first full season as coach of the Rockets after 22 years of service in other areas and two months of apprenticeship at the end of last season as the interim coach.

It's time to tee off with Rudy T.

And it very much is like the end of a journey. If the Rockets succeed in the next months and years, Tomjanovich will look like the CEO who led the company back to prominence.

If the club struggles, somewhere down the line Tomjanovich will pay the price. He is at the top with the club with which he has been employed for more than half his life. This would seem to be his last stop with the organization.

And it is fitting that Tomjanovich finally reached this position.

There wasn't one particular point when Tomjanovich became synonymous with Rockets basketball. Tomjanovich can't pinpoint a time when it happened, only that over the course of some very difficult times, the association grew.

"We paid a lot of dues," Tomjanovich says. "One year, we had 13 home games in San Antonio, and every time, the fans booed us and cheered for whoever we were playing. We went through some hard times when no one was coming to see us play.

"Once you go through something like that, you can't help but have a feeling for an organization."

And the feeling is mutual. Owner Charlie Thomas and general manager Steve Patterson believe Tomjanovich is prepared tobe the next coach to burst onto the scene with huge success.

Tomjanovich hopes to legitimize their faith by using the same formula he did to succeed at other levels in the organization.

"I feel like the reason I have stayed with the Rockets for so long is because I busted my butt," Tomjanovich says. "I gave them an honest day's work as a player and an assistant.

"I'm not a yes man. I'm loyal, but I always tried to make my feelings known in a constructive way."

Loyalty is a word deeply ingrained in Tomjanovich , something for which the Rockets can be thankful. As a kid, when Tomjanovich was knocking around the streets of Hamtramck, Mich., he learned a lot of things.

Like most people, Tomjanovich 's character was molded during the years when he was growing up, in blue-collar Detroit.

"I considered myself really lucky," Tomjanovich says. "A lot of people might not have thought it was the greatest place, but when the surveys would come out, we always were No. 1 in Michigan in a lot of areas. It's all relative, and I thought it was a great place."

Tomjanovich could look out the back window of his home growing up and see the Chrysler plant a few hundred yards away.

Hamtramck is an inner-city area, and it is where Tomjanovich first learned the value of loyalty.

"It was predominantly a black area, but everybody in the neighborhood stuck together," he says. "It wasn't like gangs. It was just real strong relationships between all the kids on the same block. It was a feeling of, `Hey, this is our territory.'

"We all looked out for each other."

The toughest thing Tomjanovich faced growing up wasn't the pitfalls in the neighborhood. It was getting a foothold in the game that would become his life.

"In junior high school, I never played basketball," Tomjanovich says. "We had a great team, and I just couldn't play.

"Then when I was a freshman, I was cut from the freshman team. All my buddies were on the team, and I wanted to make it, so I challenged the coach to a game of one-on-one.

"I wound up beating him, and he let me back on the team."

It was the first break for Tomjanovich . From then on, he would make his own breaks. He gave up on Little League as he began to grow. He started hanging out at the playground and began playing against better competition, including some good college players.

The proving ground was at Copernicus Junior High ("Named after that great Polish astronomer," Tomjanovich jokes). Players from all around Detroit would migrate for some of the pickup games there.

Tomjanovich remained true to his homeland when it came time to pick a college. He could have gone anywhere, but it came down to Michigan and Michigan State. He chose the Wolverines and was an All-American for a better-than-average team.

Then came the NBA draft. Chosen second overall by the San Diego Rockets, Tomjanovich came into the league surrounded by high expectations.

"I really was kind of an undisciplined player," he says. "I was not real well-blessed in the fundamentals of the game."

It showed in his rookie season, when he averaged only 5.3 points and five rebounds.

"My first year was a disappointment," Tomjanovich says. "In San Diego, I was known as a first-round flop. It was tough to go around San Diego and hear people ask why the franchise drafted me."

Fate intervened. The franchise was moved to Houston in June 1971, and Tomjanovich no longer had to worry about what San Diegans thought of him.

Not that the tough times were over. Tomjanovich and the Rockets went through a lot of misery in those early years in Houston.

"I always thought just getting to the NBA was a big deal," Tomjanovich said. "But (then-general manager) Pete Newell took me aside and worked with me, and he and (then-head coach) Tex Winter probably did as much as anybody to help me become a good basketball player.

"We still had some teams that weren't very good."

But Tomjanovich 's skills grew, and the Rockets upgraded their team with players like Calvin Murphy, Mike Newlin and, in 1976, John Lucas and Moses Malone. The Rockets became a strong NBA team.

"When Moses and Lucas came, it got to be a lot of fun after all those years of struggling," he says.

The Rockets made the playoffs several years and finally, in Tomjanovich 's last season as a player, made it to the 1981 NBA Finals.

What followed were a couple of seasons scouting opponents and time serving as an assistant to head coaches Bill Fitch and Don Chaney. Tomjanovich had other opportunities. He could have jumped the Rockets' ship and moved to another team.

But he preferred to stay. His reasoning was sound. He likes Houston. Houston likes him. Why change?

Of course, if the Rockets don't get back to the playoffs this season, Tomjanovich 's long, fruitful association with the club could be jeopardized.

With any luck, Tomjanovich won't have to experience that feeling. But if he does, he already realizes he has beaten the odds. Spending 23 years with the same company in any business is a little unusual. That tenure with one NBA team is almost unheard of, especially when that tenure started as a player.

"I've been very, very lucky in the people I've been around in my life," he says. "My friends have been very good."

Loyalty like Tomjanovich 's deserves nothing less.

fpliii

05-14-2013, 09:58 AM

The comparison is limited at best, but a good read nonetheless:

'94 NBA FINALS/FINALS FLASHBACK/THE ROCKETS HAVE MADE THE NBA FINALS TWICE BEFORE, LOSING BOTH TIMES TO THE BOSTON CELTICS. AS THE TEAM RETURNS TO THE FINALS, THE MEMORY REMAINS./1981/Plodding team makes spirited ru
Houston Chronicle - Wednesday, June 8, 1994
MORE than halfway into the 1980-81 season, the Rockets were 20-27 after a loss at home to the New York Knicks. With five games to go in the regular season, the team was 36-41 after a 107-103 loss at Portland

The Rockets made the playoffs with a record of 40-42 and appeared headed for a quick exit.

Well, at least that was what almost everyone thought when the team traveled to Los Angeles to play the defending NBA champion Lakers of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson.

"We were so slow, they were calling us the Water Buffaloes," said Rudy Tomjanovich , who was playing the final year of his NBA career. "We started Billy Paultz and Moses Malone inside and concentrated on the half-court game.

"I had gotten injured and wasn't in the rotation, but it was the Lakers who just couldn't get their motors rolling. They were baffled by having to play in our half-court style, which wasn't their strength."

The Rockets shocked the Lakers in Game 1 with a 111-107 victory, thanks to a 38-point performance by Malone. The Lakers won Game 2 at Houston 111-106, but the Rockets did the incredible by beating the Lakers again in LA to end the three-game series with an 89-86 victory.

"We were a real Cinderella team that year," Tomjanovich said. "No one thought we could do well in the playoffs, but the chemistry came together at the right time. The slower style of play in the playoffs was a rhythm which helped us excel."

The Rockets were in danger of bowing out in the second round when they had to play a seventh game in San Antonio against George Gervin and the Spurs, but veteran guard Calvin Murphy came off the bench to pump in 42 points and lead Houston to a 105-100 victory at HemisFair Arena.

That was the last difficult hurdle to the NBA Finals. The Rockets eliminated the Kansas City Kings in five games.

Then it was on to the NBA Finals for the first time in Rockets history. The Rockets were huge underdogs to the powerful Boston Celtics of Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Nate Archibald and Kevin McHale, but the series was tied 2-2 after four games.

Bill Fitch, who was head coach of the Celtics that year, said his players weren't worried.

"We had respect for Houston," Fitch said. "But we knew if we played our game, they couldn't beat us four times. We figured when we won the East over Philadelphia in a seventh game after being down 3-1, we had won the world championship right there."

The 1981 Finals always will be remembered for the famous quote by Malone when he was asked how good the Celtics really were. Said Malone: "I could take me and four guys from Petersburg and beat them."

It was six years earlier that Malone had gone straight to pro basketball from high school in Petersburg, Va. The Celtics got a nice laugh out of his statement and went on to defeat the Rockets in Games 5 and 6 to win the title, ending the series with a 102-91 victory at The Summit. But it had been a record-setting run for a team that surprised the league.

"At one time we held nine playoff records," said Del Harris, the new coach of the Lakers who was the Rockets' coach in 1981. "But most of those records are going down now. The record of ours that I don't think will get broken is eight road victories. That's the only one that I always thought would last."

Harris compared the 1981 Rockets team with the 1994 team that is favored to win the NBA championship.

"There's certainly some similarities," he said. "Both teams were built around a great center, utilizing perimeter shooting. We had Murphy and Mike Dunleavy as our guards who were very good outside shooters, and Rudy was an excellent outside shooter.

"This year's team is probably a little more athletic overall than the other one was. We had limited depth, like they do. And we staked our claim on defense, like they are."

"We held teams nine consecutive times below 100 points," Harris said. "That was a record that held up until Detroit broke it at the end of the '80s.

Unlike the 1981 Rockets team, few people would be surprised if the 1994 team won it all.

"I think the title is up grabs," Harris said. "It's wide open for the Rockets to take it."

The roster

STARTERS

C Moses Malone -- The premier center in the game at the time. He averaged 27.8 points and 14.8 rebounds that season. Malone was traded to Philadelphia in 1982 and led the 76ers to the NBA title in 1983.

F/C Billy Paultz -- He started only 29 games in the regular season, but started every game at power forward in the Finals, averaging 11 points and five rebounds.

F Robert Reid -- The starting small forward who averaged 16 points and seven rebounds for the season. He is one of only two players (Allen Leavell is the other) who played on both the 1981 and 1986 teams that reached the NBA Finals. Reid played 10 seasons for the Rockets.

G Mike Dunleavy -- Averaged 10.5 points while starting 35 games in the regular season. Dunleavy now is the coach of the Milwaukee Bucks.

G Tom Henderson -- He started 45 games in the regular season and all six games in the Finals. Henderson averaged five points and five assists for the season.

RESERVES

G Calvin Murphy -- An outstanding 5-9 guard who was in the twilight of his career at age 33. He averaged 16.7 points in the regular season while coming off the bench and averaged 10 points in the Finals. Murphy played all 13 years of his career with the Rockets. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last year. His No. 23 jersey has been retired. Murphy now is the team's color commentator for TV broadcasts.

F Rudy Tomjanovich -- An injury plagued season turned out to be the final of his career. The starting small forward for the team for many years was no longer in the rotation by the time the playoffs rolled around. He finished the regular season averaging 11.6 points and four rebounds per game. Tomjanovich , who played all 11 NBA seasons in Houston, was named Rockets coach in February 1992.

G Allen Leavell -- A backup point guard who averaged eight points and five assists a game. Leavell played 10 seasons for the Rockets.

F Bill Willoughby -- Averaged six points and four rebounds while coming off the bench at power forward.

F Calvin Garrett -- Averaged six points and four rebounds at small forward.

F Major Jones -- A power forward who was known as a solid defensive player

fpliii

05-14-2013, 09:59 AM

Spotlight on the 81 team:

BASKETBALL THE FINALS FRONTIER - DESPITE A LOSING RECORD, MALONE & CO. LIVED WHAT MANY THOUGHT THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM 1981
Houston Chronicle - Sunday, June 10, 2001
HERE must be some cosmic significance about Moses Malone, the playoffs and the number four. In 1983, when asked how his Sixers would do in the playoffs, Malone responded, "Fo', fo' and fo'," meaning the Sixers would put together three straight four-game sweeps on their way to the NBA title.

Darned if he wasn't almost right.

The Sixers lost just once, to Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference finals, and swept the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals for Malone's only NBA championship.

But two years earlier, Malone, then with the Rockets, made headlines with a far bolder - and more controversial - Finals four-cast.

After splitting the first four games with the Celtics, Malone opined, "I don't think Boston is all that good. . . . I could get four guys from the streets of Petersburg (Va., his hometown) and beat them."

It didn't quite work out that way, with Boston closing out the Rockets in six games. But 20 years later, Malone laughed at his defiant statement.

"Man, I was the original trash-talker," said Malone, who was recently inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. "Before anyone else started talking trash, I was doing it. When I made a comment like that back in those days, it was a big thing. Nowadays people make comments like that and they get commercials.

"I believed in what I said because I wasn't really thinking about Boston when I said that I could get four guys from Petersburg and beat these guys. I was letting my team, the Houston Rockets, know that we could beat them. We had to prepare ourselves to come and play these guys.

"Everyone was saying that we didn't have a chance and that they (the Celtics) were going to win the whole thing and probably sweep us. But we had won two games and I had an idea that we could beat them. I wanted the guys (his teammates) to believe that we could win."

They didn't.

With the Celtics taking umbrage at Malone's statement, Boston blew out the Rockets in Games 5 (109-80) and 6 (102-91) to capture the first of three titles in the Larry Bird era.

But Malone's words now represent a humorous footnote to a series that is remembered with equal parts fondness and bitterness by the Houston players who were involved in the franchise's first championship experience.

"I just remember that was the first time any Houston team in either major-league football, baseball or basketball had played in a championship series," said then-coach Del Harris, now an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks. "The fans, the city, the mayor - everybody was excited.

"It couldn't have been better. It was a wonderful time to be in Houston."

Part of the frenzy stemmed from the fact that, after finishing with a 40-42 record and making the playoffs with a win in the next-to-last game of the regular season, the Rockets had to be perhaps the most unlikely Finals entrant in league history.

And one of the ugliest, at least when it comes to playing style.

Harris decided to go with what he called his "Water Buffaloes" lineup, putting 6-11, 250-pound Billy Paultz alongside Malone. Paultz, known as "The Whopper" because of his bulk, set the screens that allowed Houston shooters like Calvin Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, Robert Reid and Allen Leavell the room to launch their jumpers.

But putting Paultz into the lineup meant that Harris was forced to make a difficult decision - benching Rudy Tomjanovich .

"That was tremendously difficult," Harris said. "Rudy was probably my favorite player when I was there. I liked all of the players, but there was something special about Rudy. But it (the lineup) didn't work with three big guys together up front.

"As disappointed as Rudy was to be lifted out of the starting lineup, he was a gentleman all the way. I've respected him for that ever since, and to this moment I consider him one of my very good friends."

Tomjanovich had little to say about the situation.

"It was tough to deal with," he said. "You want to be out there, but that (sitting on the bench) is the deal. You just have to deal with it."

The Rockets won 12 of their last 21 games, not bad for a team that finished under .500, to make the playoffs. They would face the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, who had stumbled into the opening-round miniseries after Magic Johnson played just 37 regular-season games because of torn knee cartilage.

But the Rockets had an ace up their sleeve - Malone.

"They were Showtime back then, so they were tough," Leavell said. "The thing in our favor was the fact that Kareem did not like to see Big Mo. He used to get migraines when Big Mo came to town. At least it seemed like that. He (Malone) wasn't going to let us lose."

The Rockets shocked the Lakers 111-107 in Game 1 behind Malone's 38 points, but the Lakers came back to win Game 2 in Houston 111-106, setting up Game 3 in Los Angeles. The game was not decided until late, when Johnson airballed a short runner in the lane, allowing the Rockets to escape with an 89-86 victory.

"That had to be the shortest airball in playoff history," Leavell said. "He was right at the basket. I mean, he was right inside the free-throw line, so to shoot an airball. . . . But that's pressure."

The Rockets advanced to the second round, where they would play a San Antonio team that was perhaps a bit overconfident since it had destroyed Houston 135-109 in the final game of the regular season.

But in what became one of the NBA's classic playoff series, the Rockets won in seven games, with Murphy doing most of the damage in Game 7 with 42 points to give the Rockets a 105-100 victory on the Spurs' home court.

"Of all the games I've coached, and I've been doing this since 1959, so this is 42 years and about 2,000 games as a head coach and about 1,000 in the NBA, that is one of the greatest games I've ever been involved in," Harris said of Game 7.

The Rockets swamped Kansas City, another 40-42 team, in the Western Conference finals, beating the Kings in five games to advance to the Finals, where they would play a Boston team that was dead on its feet after rallying from a 3-1 deficit to beat Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference finals.

Once again, the Rockets stunned the league by winning 92-90 in Game 2 in Boston, but the Celtics crushed them 94-71 in Game 3 at The Summit.

The Rockets came back for a 91-86 win in Game 4, and Malone let loose with his "four guys from Petersburg" line afterward, making some of his teammates cringe.

"Man, the Celtics were sleepwalking against us in the Finals," Reid said. "But Moses goes up and says, `I could get four boys from Petersburg and beat them.' Well, your MVP says it, so you have to back him up. When the media asked me what I thought about it, I said, `Well, I need to go grab my mom. I might have been born in Petersburg with the big fella.'

"But that was for the public. Some of the guys were like, `Man, why did Moses say that?' But if the big fella says that, then we're supposed to go to war with him."

They went to war and lost, but they have good memories of that magical '81 playoff run.

"We had a chance to be the first Houston team to win a championship," Malone said. "Unfortunately, though, we didn't. We had a lot of great players on that team, and a lot of those guys are still my good friends. We get together sometimes and talk about it.

"Those were some good times."

...

1980-81 ROCKETS: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Player .. Where now

Mike Dunleavy .. Ex-Portland Trail Blazers coach

Calvin Garrett .. Whereabouts unknown

Thomas Henderson .. Living in Houston

Major Jones .. Works at Fonde Recreation Center

Allen Leavell .. Living in Houston

Moses Malone .. Retired, living in Houston

Calvin Murphy .. TV analyst, Houston Rockets

John Stroud .. Whereabouts unknown

Robert Reid .. Living in Houston

Billy Paultz .. Retired, living in New Jersey

Rudy Tomjanovich .. Head coach, Houston Rockets

Bill Willoughby .. Works for New Jersey Parks and Recreation

Coach Del Harris .. Assistant coach, Dallas Mavericks

fpliii

05-14-2013, 10:01 AM

The Rudy mention is minor, but it's relevant to the Moses discussion:

Meet Moses Malone, MVP candidate; baseball Yanks hit the basepaths
Christian Science Monitor, The (Boston, MA) - Thursday, March 4, 1982
If the National Basketball Association handed out MVP ballots tommorow, Moses Malone might wrestle the award away from the likes of Larry Bird, Julius Erving, and Sidney Moncrief. It's hard to imagine any player being more valuable to his team, or sustaining such a long hot streak.

Houston's 6 ft. 10 in. center scored 30 or more points in all but one game in February. The rampage included several out-and-out spectaculars, such as the three-game string in which he scored 45, 53 (an NBA season high), and 47 points.

The beauty of Malone's play goes beyond just points, however. He may be most dangerous as a rebounder. In scoring 53 points, for example, he also grabbed 22 rebounds, and on another occasion, he outrebounded the entire Seattle team 32-29. His reputation, in fact, was built by sweeping the boards, especially at the offensive end

Unlike some players, Moses has never gone after the eye-opening statistics as an end in themselves. A team man through and through, he's upped his scoring to boost the Rockets, whose February winning percenate of .786, not coincidentally, was the best in the franchise's 15-year existence.

Run, Yankees, run The New York Yankees hope to sport a new look this season, with more speed and less power. To help out, the club hired Harrison Dillard to work as a spring training running instructor this week. An Olympic sprinter in 1948 and 1952, he once beat team owner George Steinbrenner in the hurdles.

This transformation should make the Yankees a little more like the scratch-and-claw Oakland A's, whose hustling brand of baseball was labeled ''Billyball'' last year. The inspiration behind this coined word, of course, was Manager Billy Martin, twice fired by Steinbrenner as the Yankee boss.

'Mildcats' in basketball too Colleges that do poorly in football generally try to redeem themselves on the basketball court. Northwestern University knows it isn't easy. The Wildcat football team has won just three football games during the past six years and not had a winning season since 1971, but the basketball team is completing its 13th straight losing campaign.

Small home crowds, an outdated arena, and high academic standards can make recruiting a real challenge. To top things off, McGaw Hall will soon undergo extensive renovations, forcing the basketball team to find temporary quarters all next season. Coach Rick Falk, however, is confident that a larger, modernized facility will help down the line.

Rough play in the NBA Anyone who tuned in last Sunday's pro basketball telecast saw Boston's Larry Bird catch a vicious elbow to the head. The accidental blow was delivered by Milwaukee's Harvey Catchings, not with intent to harm but as the hair-trigger reaction of a rebounder in traffic. In the wake of the incident, which has sidelined Bird for several games, the Boston Globe came out with an article about the possible need for an ''enforcer'' to protect the Celtic superstar.

Bill Fitch, Boston's coach, responded to the idea in the negative. Besides feeling Bird can take care of himself, he also believes the heavy penalty meted out to Kermit Washington for striking Rudy Tomjanovich during the 1977-78 season has made any sort of retaliatory acts ill-advised.

The league has moved wisely to snuff out obvious court violence, yet referees must remain on the lookout for attempts to rough-up star players through covert acts of intimidation.

fpliii

05-14-2013, 10:02 AM

Fun scouting article:

SHOOTING FOR STARS - MODERN SCOUTING PUTS SLEEPERS TO REST IN THE NBA DRAFT
Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA) - Monday, June 27, 1983
The telephone was playing its persistent melody, and that was music to Marty Blake's ears.

You can usually tell if Blake, the director of the National Basketball Association's scouting bureau, is having a good day by the number of times he puts a caller on hold on the multibuttoned telephone console in his Atlanta office. This was a five-hold, 45-minute call. A very good day, indeed, by Marty Blake's standards.

"I had one general manager asking me if a certain kid could play," said Blake, 56, returning to his caller. In a response enigmatic enough to be worthy of a Delphic oracle, Blake said, "I told him, if Moses had gone right instead of left, we'd have gotten the oil and the Arabs would have gotten the sand."

Another pause for another NBA front-office call. "Wanted to know if a player who is very highly regarded would be available late in the first round," said Blake, chuckling. "I told 'em I'd have loved to have gone out with Marilyn Monroe, too, you know, but I never got the opportunity."

The wisecrack is as much a part of Blake's style as is the omnipresent oversized cigar and the habitual thoroughness with which he catalogues and categorizes the collegiate seniors and the eligible underclassmen for the NBA
draft, this year's version of which takes place tomorrow.

From his cluttered Atlanta office, Blake will issue a thick (150 pages, most years) book to each of the NBA's 23 teams, and that book is the bible of the coming draft.

It was, in fact, the Gospel according to Marty Blake that gave the basketball world the term "CNP" (Cannot Play), a variation on the official scorer's designation "DNP" (Did Not Play) for unused reserves. Blake also will write, when he feels particularly vehement, "CNP. Do not draft."

"I always feel better when I can bounce a player's name off Marty and have him confirm that he thinks the kid can play," said 76ers general manager Pat Williams, as the NBA champions prepared for their own selection (17th in the first round) in the draft.

Blake is not above pulling a general manager's leg. "Could you use a good 6-11 kid?" Blake will ask a curious GM when Blake is feeling especially coy.

After the guy has stopped drooling - nothing excites the NBA managerial glands as much as a big man - Blake

will add, casually, "I got one for you. All you have to do is talk to the warden. And you don't have to worry about cars or TV sets. The fellow will take care of that himself."
The NBA draft doesn't really drive basketball executives to the point where they would seek out convicted felons. Just almost.

So, after Houston begins tomorrow's proceedings with the selection of 7- foot, 4-inch Virginia center Ralph Sampson, widely thought of as the only sure star in the draft, the scramble will begin in earnest. Things probably won't get quite as wild and woolly as they have in the past, because this doesn't seem to be either as good a draft as the premier years of 1970 (Nate Archibald, Dave Cowens, Bob Lanier, Calvin Murphy, Sam Lacey, Rudy Tomjanovich , Geoff Petrie et. al) or 1974 (Bill Walton, Marvin Barnes, Bobby Jones, Maurice Lucas, Campy Russell and associates). Nor will it offer as slim pickings as the '72 draft (Bob McAdoo, Paul Westphal and a yawning void).

Still, if history - and the activity on Marty Blake's phone - is any indication, some surprises will be in store.

Whatever happens, the Sixers, with one of the deepest scouting systems in the league, hope to be ready for it. The Sixers, in contrast to some of the more penurious clubs in the league, employ no less than six territorial scouts. Among them are Sheridan James (San Francisco area), Toby Kimball (San Diego), Bud Olsen (Louisville), Wali Jones (San Antonio), Joe Ash (northern New Jersey) and Bob Luksta (Chicago). Head scout Jocko Collins coordinates it all, and assistant coach and player personnel director Jack McMahon, the Sixers' so-called "superscout," makes the final decision on the best of the players selected by the other scouts.

WHEN MCMAHON TALKS . . .

"We spend the money to send Jack all over the place to see these guys," Williams said, "so, just on a pure economic standpoint - forget everything else - it would be stupid for us not to listen to him. But, over the years, we have had such success with his picks that we've learned it's like E. F. Hutton: When Uncle Jack speaks, you better listen."

The logic of listening to a top scout would seem to be pristine. But, in the chaotic hours of draft day, some teams violate the canon. In New Jersey, for example, Nets player personnel director Al Menendez still fumes over the 1980 draft, when Nets executives turned down his recommendation to pick Andrew Toney, now a Sixers all-star, and instead, with their two draft choices preceding Philadelphia's, took the relatively undistinguishe d Mike Gminski and Mike O'Koren.

Intramural in-fighting can spoil the best-laid plans. In today's NBA, in contrast to the easygoing days of the past, when well-thumbed copies of Street & Smith's Basketball Yearbook were often the primary source of scouting data, there is simply a much smaller margin of error.

Teams no longer can afford to hold their own tryout camps for draftees. The Sixers, who were in the forefront of that development, used to bring 15-20 players into Widener University, then their practice site, and make closed- door evaluations on "sleepers" they liked. Now, the league itself invites more than 50 draft hopefuls to an open camp in Chicago, held early in June.

"All that camp does," Menendez groused to Williams, "is penalize teams that do their homework."

The Sixers supported the league-wide camp concept, but they candidly conceded that, if it had been held in previous years, two of their draft-day steals, Maurice Cheeks (36th pick in 1978) and Clint Richardson (36th pick in 1979), would have played their way into first-round selections, possibly by other teams.

NO SLEEPERS ANYMORE

Even without the camp, there is a lot more information available these days to help talent scouts in their assessments. Cable television and the video-cassette recorder have made many more players available for at least secondhand evaluation. "You shouldn't overstress it," Williams said, "but there's no doubt that cable and VCRs have been a tremendous aid.

"There are no sleepers anymore."
Given all the resources now available to scouts, it's hard for the decent player not to catch someone's eye. In most cases, it is Blake's. Almost never does a first- or second-round pick come along that Blake has not evaluated.

Marty Blake was the general manager of the Hawks for 17 years, beginning when the team was based in Milwaukee. He followed the itinerant franchise to St. Louis (where, oops, he managed to trade the rights to Bill Russell in 1956 to Boston for Cliff Hagan and Easy Ed Macauley) and on to Atlanta. Despite the infamy of the Russell deal, Blake still won a championship (1958, in St. Louis, when Jack McMahon was a starting guard) and compiled the second-best record in the league in the period from the 1952-53 season to the 1968-69 season, behind Boston's Red Auerbach.

Blake apprenticed, as did a lot of the more colorful guys in sports, under Bill Veeck, during Veeck's years as owner of the Cleveland Indians. As part of his training, Blake was required to keep the name of every player on every team in every minor league - and there were 56 minor leagues at the time - in his head.

fpliii

05-14-2013, 10:03 AM

continued...

Today, he has correspondents throughout the land, as well as overseas. ''There shouldn't be a player we don't know about, not in college, in the minor leagues or even in the foreign leagues," Blake said. "We get statistics here in all kinds of languages."

The top players, those selected in the first two rounds, generally are common knowledge. Gone are the days when Auerbach, on the say-so of Wake Forest coach Bones McKinney, who had played for Auerbach in Washington and with the Celtics, could make an unknown guard from North Carolina Central
College named Sam Jones the super-sleeper first-round pick of the 1957 draft.

Now, it's more a question of processing all the available information and determining which particular player fits a team's needs.

Among the questions scouts must answer about prospects on the standardized 76ers scouting report, two take precedence: "Does he have the ability to play in the NBA?" and "Is he coachable?"

"Billy (Sixers coach Billy Cunningham) just will not tolerate the problem athlete," Williams said. "He has no time for him. So we have to get a pretty good feel for the type of kid we're drafting as well as his ability."

Regarding physical ability, McMahon, one of the most respected talent evaluators in the league, looks first for "instinctive runners."

"I want a guy who can get up and down the floor," he said. "The first time I saw Maurice Cheeks, all he could do was take the ball to the basket. His coach wouldn't let him shoot from farther than 15 feet out."

The second priority, said McMahon, "is the ability to get off your shot when a defensive man makes you pick up the dribble, to create a shot in traffic."

The third, according to McMahon, "is one of those stats that somehow ought to be put in box scores: quickness to loose balls. That was what I loved about Clint Richardson when I first saw him. Things like that win games."

SCOUTING'S SECRET

Scouting, in large measure, is really simply getting out and getting acquainted with knowledgeable sources. It is hardly a primary requirement for life as a successful scout, but it might say something about McMahon's gregariousness and his affinity for picking up scuttlebutt that he has never - in more than 30 years in the NBA - eaten a room-service meal.

Still, despite all the sources of information, sometimes access simply isn't available. When the NBA-ABA basketball war was raging, the Sixers, desperate for immediate help at center, sent McMahon on three clandestine scouting expeditions to central Florida to see a raw high school senior named Darryl Dawkins.

The era of drafting high school players is likely over now. But in 1975, Darryl Dawkins was very big, and very secret, stuff.

"Word started leaking out that we were interested in him. First of all, he started skipping the bigger high school all-star games, the McDonald's game, the Dapper Dan, and NBA people wondered why. Anyway," said McMahon, chuckling, "the result was that Bob Ferry (Washington's general manager) found out about Darryl, but Darryl's high school coach wouldn't let him talk to him. So Ferry wound up flying to Orlando, renting a car and sitting in it across the street from a playground where Darryl was shooting around.

"There was," McMahon said, "a lot of craziness back then."

Next year, when the Sixers hold three first-round picks, McMahon will be hitting the road a lot more often than was the case this year. Portland GM Stu Inman was speaking for just about every general manager and player personnel director when he said, "The draft is my World Series."
The World Series for potential draftees, other than those with blue-chip
college records, are the three major postseason, all-star tournaments - the Aloha Classic in Honolulu, the Portsmouth (Va.) Invitational and the Chicago tryout camp.

Portsmouth, once a don't-miss tournament as far as catching players from smaller schools went, is now used primarily to assess the depth of a draft. ''Portsmouth is where you'll generally find second- to fourth-round picks," Williams said.

The Aloha is the big one.

"It's still the same as it's always been," McMahon said. "You get out there and, since most of the teams are eliminated from the playoffs by the time of the tournament, you find a lot of unhappy people. Everybody thinks all of their players are dogs. So, you get a kid who shows you a lot of hustle and you can fall in love with him."

Two recent examples of players who had lackluster pro careers after becoming first-round draft picks off their Hawaii play were Penn's Bob Bigelow and Southern California's John Lambert. "If you were to sell your soul to the devil," former Sixers coach Gene Shue once said, "you would have played like John Lambert did in Hawaii."
Some bedeviling top picks from last year:

At the top of most scouts' list is Atlanta guard Keith Edmonson, the 10th player selected. Though no one likes to draft a lemon, it can oftenhappen when a team picks below the 15th spot. At least there is the excuse that the crop was pretty well picked over by then.

LITTLE EXCUSE

There is little excuse, though, for an Edmonson, who appeared in only 32 games, played only 309 minutes, averaged 34.5 percent shooting and tallied 3.5 points per game.

Possibly the second-most disappointing player was New Jersey forward Eddie Phillips. His line: 416 minutes, 3.2 points per game.

Ricky Pierce, Detroit, played only 265 minutes and averaged 2.2.

Darren Tillis, drafted by Boston and later traded to Cleveland, played only 526 minutes, averaged 3.2 points per game.

Bill Garnett, the fourth player picked, four spots ahead of the marvelous Clark Kellogg, got only 13 starts for Dallas and averaged only 6.3 points per game.

The Sixers' Mark McNamara played the fewest minutes of any No. 1 pick, 182, and averaged 2.2 points per game.

St. Joseph's Bryan Warrick, the 25th player taken, the second on the second round, played only 727 minutes and averaged 4 points per game for Washington.

Some beguiling picks from last year:

Rod Higgins, No. 31 overall, averaged 10.3 points per game for Chicago. Russ Schoene, No. 45, averaged 6.2 points with the Sixers and Indiana and was the vital young player who was sent to the Pacers to clinch the deal for backup center Clemon Johnson.

Mark Eaton, No. 72 overall, was third in the league in blocked shots with Utah. "Tell you a true story on Eaton," Blake said. "He was working in an automobile garage when a guy from UCLA stopped in and saw this 7-foot (actually, 7-4) guy's legs sticking out from under a car. UCLA stashed him in a junior college, then he went on to the school and played something like 91 minutes while he was there. But, as they say, you can't coach height."

Rory White, No. 86, shot 54.3 percent and averaged 4.1 points per game for Phoenix.

fpliii

05-14-2013, 10:04 AM

continued...

NO. 1 SUCCESS STORY

And the leading success story of the last draft was Kansas City forward Ed Nealy of Kansas State, the 166th player drafted, who went in the eighth round. He not only was the lowest-selected player to make an NBA roster, but he also started an astonishing 61 games.

"In the first round," Williams said, "you are just out there with such high visibility that you tend to take players from established, name schools. You pick not to fail as much as anything. That's why, I think, we've had such success with our second-rounders. You're more inclined to play a hunch or go out on a limb in the second round. But you'll never see anything in the NBA like the Dallas Cowboys do with some of their little-known (first-round) picks in the NFL. There are just so few players available, so few jobs out there. Twenty-three teams multiplied by 12 jobs per team."

One sobering statistic, provided by Blake, shows exactly how top-heavy the
draft really is. Since 1976, the year of the pro basketball merger, 1,408 players have been drafted. Of those, 241 made rosters. Of those, 127 were taken on the first round.
"Two good drafts and your team can be competitive," Portland's Inman said. "Two bad ones, and you can be fired."

The consensus choice for the worst drafts of all-time were the Sixers' first-round selections from 1967 through 1971 (Craig Raymond, Shaler Halimon, Bud Ogden, Al Henry, Dana Lewis).

When Henry, for example, was drafted in the first round in 1970, he was told by phone, "Well, Al, you're No. 12."

"Twelfth round?" Henry responded, brightly. "Well, I guess that's not too bad."

"No, Al," said the caller. "You were the 12th man overall."

Second place goes to Boston, which at least had the excuse of picking low, in 1971 (Clarence Glover) and 1973-76 (Steve Downing, Glenn McDonald, Tom Boswell, Norm Cook).

In 1964, when there were only nine NBA teams, Boston took Mel Counts as the last pick of the first round. On the first pick of the second round, New York selected Willis Reed.

With the pick that immediately preceded the Sixers' 1978 selection of native Chicagoan Cheeks, the Chicago Bulls took New Mexico forward Marvin Johnson, who never played in the league.

On the flip side, in 1976, with what turned out to be an illegal pick - his college class at Pepperdine was not ready for graduation and he had not
applied for hardship status - Seattle took Dennis Johnson in the second round. There was little protest. No one had heard of Johnson, who has gone on to become a five-time all-star.

The all-time worst first choice of the entire draft was probably Chicago- Loyola's LaRue Martin, taken by Portland in 1972 on the strength of two superb games against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jim Chones. He averaged 4.6 points per game in four years.

The most startling recent first-round pick was the famous Lee Johnson of East Texas State, taken as the 17th player overall in 1979 by Houston. "Not even Marty had heard of him," Williams said.

"People hadn't heard of him," noted Blake, "because he was no good."

As far as sleepers who were still playing last season go, the Hall of Famer in the category is Randy Smith, the Atlanta guard who was a seventh-round local-yokel selection by Buffalo in 1971 but who went on to set an NBA iron- man record for consecutive games played.

Also, there was Milwaukee's Charlie Criss, who went undrafted out of New Mexico State in 1971 (Williams, then GM at Chicago, took Criss' teammate, Jimmy Collins, in the first round - 3.6 average in two years - and passed on not only Criss but also Nate Archibald); Los Angeles' Steve Mix (fifth round, 1969); Golden State's Mickey Johnson (fourth round, 1974); San Antonio's Mike Dunleavy (sixth round, 1976); Denver's Billy McKinney (sixth round, 1977), and Phoenix's Alvin Scott (seventh round, 1977).

Still, such finds are sufficiently rare that teams have picked, in late rounds, such people as women's star Lusia Harris and Olympic gold medal decathlete Bruce Jenner. In 1974, Williams picked his son, Jimmy, born earlier that day, on the 10th round. In 1977, he did the same with another
draft-day new arrival, son Robert.

"For me, the draft really is the World Series, it would seem," he observed.
Conventional wisdom is that the quality of a draft cannot be assessed until two years have passed, when the players have had time to develop. In reality, it sometimes takes far longer than that.

Some examples of how things, in Williams' word, "spider-web" in the
draft:

In 1976, the Sixers traded disgruntled guard Fred Carter to Milwaukee for two second-round picks. One of the picks became Cheeks. The other resulted in Wilson Washington, who was was, in turn, dealt for another couple of second- rounders, one of which became Richardson. "Two of our top three guards for Fred Carter," Williams said.

Also, the Sixers' 1975 pick of Mel Bennett in a special draft the NBA held for ABA players - the competing league was near financial ruin - led, in a labyrinthine way, to riches. Bennett was traded to Indiana in 1976 for a first-round choice that, four years later, became the spectacular Toney.

And in 1977, Terry Furlow (who died in 1979 in an automobile accident) was traded to Cleveland for two No. 1s. One of those picks, offered to Portland in 1980, resulted in the acquisition of guard Lionel Hollins, without whom the Sixers never would have reached the finals that year. The other, offered to Houston before last season began, clinched the deal for Moses Malone.

"You have to make sure you get players who can play in the league," McMahon said. "Because then they give you a chance to get other players later on."
Sometimes, you're never sure what's going to happen.

In 1976, five minutes before Golden State's first-round pick was due, GM Bob Ferrick went to the men's room - and fell dead of a heart attack. The Warriors, who had been unsure of whom they were going to take anyway and were in total confusion because of Ferrick's death, almost randomly selected Texas A&M's Sonny Parker, who went on to have several productive seasons for them.

In 1973, McMahon took part in his first Sixers draft, in which the Sixers had the No. 1 pick overall, courtesy of their infamous 9-73 season.

A COACH VANISHES

The night before the draft, then-coach Kevin Loughery vanished. "We even called the state police to start looking for him," McMahon said.

At 6 o'clock that evening, Loughery, who had coached the final 31 games of the wretched season, called to say he was taking the head coaching position with New York in the ABA.

"We were stunned, because we were very divided in our choice" McMahon said. "At the time, Kevin was very high on Jim Brewer, because he was a Wes Unseld-type player and Wes was thought to be the new thing in big, bulky guys around the hoop. I liked Doug Collins, though."

Loughery took his resistance to drafting a guard No. 1 in the whole draft with him. Collins became a four-time all-star.

The rest of the 1973 Sixers draft provided such longtime NBA players as Caldwell Jones, Allan Bristow and Harvey Catchings (drafted, mistakenly, as Harold Catchings) and brought the Sixers the NBA rights to George McGinnis.

"It's funny how things work out," McMahon said.
Marty Blake had put his caller on hold again. After a long interlude, he returned. "It was my son," Blake said. "He's the second-ranked tennis player in the amateurs in Georgia, but he lost last week in a tournament
because he wilted in the heat. He told me he's going to start running two miles a day to get into better shape.

"I don't care if he runs 10 miles a day or how high he is ranked," said the man who makes a living predicting such things, "it all comes down to, he has to do it on the court."
Caption: PHOTO

fpliii

05-14-2013, 10:05 AM

Article on Moses from the 84-85 season:

'SUPERKID' GROWS UP 76ERS' MALONE PROGRESSES FROM PLAYER FEW WANTED TO ONE EVERYONE COVETS
Philadelphia Daily News (PA) - Friday, February 8, 1985
He was 19 years old when he first arrived in Salt Lake City, a 6-10, 201- pound kid who had chosen the upstart American Basketball Association over
college.

He wasn't prepared to play center in the pros, wasn't willing, or even able, to look his coaches in the eye. From Dec. 2, 1975 to Oct. 24, 1976, his contract was shunted from the Utah Stars to the Spirits of St. Louis, to the New Orleans Jazz to the Portland Trail Blazers, to the Buffalo Braves to the Houston Rockets.

"And people wonder why Moses Malone sometimes appears confused, why he's so quiet, so reluctant to do interviews," said Pat Williams, the 76ers' general manager. "We all know what kind of force Moses is now, but it's easy to forget there was a time when just about anybody could have had him, and not many wanted him. A lot of basketball people had written him off. Nobody realized what was inside him, what he would become."

Malone, now the Sixers' horse, has won three NBA regular season Most Valuable Player awards, one Championship Series MVP and five rebounding titles. Sunday afternoon, in the Hoosier Dome, he will make his sixth NBA All-Star Game appearance (he was chosen last season, but was unable to play), his seventh as a pro. He will be 30 on March 23. He weighs closer to 260 pounds now, and even occasionally offers a piece of himself to the public, as he did in an ABC-TV interview last week.

"We got him in August of '76," recalled Portland coach Jack Ramsay, "but he came here to be traded. I was told we weren't keeping him, and from the moment we selected him, efforts were made to make a deal. But he was with us in training camp and the preseason, and by then I wanted to keep him. We had Bill Walton and Maurice Lucas (and would win the championship that season), and they wanted to keep him, too. It became obvious he was a great rebounder. I had had my doubts because he was a limited passer. I saw too many other things he couldn't do, but I remember telling the writers after our last exhibition game that I wanted to figure out a way to keep him."

It was too late. The Blazers' front office already had finalized a deal to send Malone to Buffalo for a first-round draft choice. The Blazers later dealt that pick and guard Johnny Davis to Indiana for the right to draft Mychal Thompson.

It wasn't until 1979 that Malone earned his first rebounding and MVP awards. What took so long? Who unlocked the vault, allowing him to emerge?

"Maybe it shouldn't be a surprise at all," Ramsay said. "Consider where he came from, with no college experience, with limited ABA experience. When he first came up, he was a poor shooter, a poor free throw shooter, hardly a perimeter threat. And a lot of guys, given those problems, don't get any better. Moses did.

"A lot of that came from his own determination. I remember that he would never look me in the eye. If I had something to talk to him about, he'd always look away, or down at the floor. I'd say, 'I'm looking at you, look at me so I can get a better feel whether we're communicating.' He said he couldn't do that. I don't see him much anymore, but when I do, I say, ' Moses , look me in the eye.' He laughs, but he does it."

Malone has terrific memories of his early days in the ABA. He arrived from Petersburg, Va., and was referred to by teammates as "The Superkid."

"That first year was fun, the most fun I've ever had as a pro," Malone said the other day. "I was tall and skinny, really played small forward . . . Gerald Govan was the big forward. We had guys like Roger Brown and Wally Jones, who looked after me. Other teams would get on me, tried to push me around, but I learned right away to never back down.

"Ramsay's right, though. I could never look a coach in the eye. Not even (the 76ers') Billy Cunningham. I don't look my mother in the eye, either. I don't know why, except that maybe I was so shy as a kid. It doesn't mean I don't respect or care for them. It's just something about me."

And Tom Nissalke, coaching then in Salt Lake City, had an idea that Malone had more lurking inside him than anyone had yet recognized.

"He got 36 rebounds, 23 offensive, one night against Denver," said Nissalke, who still lives in Salt Lake City, and operates a restaurant and scouts for the Los Angeles Clippers.

"But I also remember his first game with the Stars. We won, but he had 11 turnovers. I said, 'My gosh, we took this guy?' After that, he just got better and better. I had him in Houston later, and when he finally won his first MVP he thanked Rudy Tomjanovich and Calvin Murphy for missing all those shots so he could put 'em back in.

"He was shy and quiet, but he has a personality, too. The year the (Utah) Stars folded, he had missed the beginning of the year with a stress fracture. I've always believed, if he had been with us, we'd have been one of the teams taken into the NBA. But the day we closed our doors, the trainer told the guys they could take what they wanted. He (Malone) took one of those supermarket carts and carried out as many pairs of shoes as he could. He also took Ron Boone's jersey - Ron was out of town. I was driving past, I saw him walking down the street, pushing the cart, laughing. He was a kid, behaving like a kid. It was OK."

fpliii

05-14-2013, 10:06 AM

continued...

"I still have Boone's shirt," Malone said. "I remember that day. I went over with Goo Kennedy. We took everything we could. I always liked coach Tom (Nissalke) and coach Del (Harris, who later became the Houston coach). They were always good to me.

"I was young, still learning. I thought I could become a good player, but I never expected to be in the position I am now. I just played, hoped for the best. I never thought I was this good."

Bobby Jones substantiates that theory. Jones, now a Sixers teammate, played for Denver in the ABA.

"The thing I remember is that he was thin, playing on the wing, a good player, but not what you could call a force," Jones recalled. "I saw him as a forward, a guy with some maneuverability, but not as a potentially great center. That took a while."

And when it happened, Harris reaped the early benefits.

"I had been an assistant in Utah, so we knew each other," said Harris, now a scout for the Milwaukee Bucks. "When we went out of business, he went to St. Louis, his leg was in a cast, the league was in chaos, he didn't get a chance to really play. After midseason, they didn't even practice. For Moses , as young as he was, it was like a lost year.

"When he came to Houston, it helped that he knew Tom and me. Tom had me working with the big guys, and there were times nobody was supposed to throw him the ball. When I became the head coach, I put him in the low post and he just kept getting better.

"I had to laugh last year when (New York's) Bernard King went on a tear with those 40- and 50-point games, and people said they couldn't remember anyone doing anything like that. For some reason, nobody remembered 1981-82 when, for four-to-six weeks, Moses averaged about 40 points and 20 rebounds a game. We were 11-3 in February, and he was Player of the Month.

"At one point we won seven in a row and all we heard was that we hadn't played anybody good. Seattle came in with (Jack) Sikma and Moses told our trainer, 'Let me know when I get to 30 rebounds.' He got 53 points and 32 rebounds that night.

"There are always underlying reasons why players develop, and I was really happy whem Moses helped the Sixers win a title (in 1983), even though it meant we would fall to 14 wins, because he left us to join them. But he didn't learn to play that way with Philly, he did it with us, and he didn't become that kind of rebounder and scorer because of his limitations elsewhere, he did it because of the other players' limitations. I couldn't say that then,
because I had to deal with those guys every day.

"I look back now, we won 55 games by six points or less his last two seasons with the Rockets. Three straight years we qualified for the playoffs in our 81st - our next-to-last game. We never had a margin to work with, we never had a night to laugh. We had to give it everything every night. He did it for us. And he probably never understood how much he meant to me."

"Coach Del told me, after the '78 season, that I had gotten six votes for MVP," Malone said. "He told me to work hard, that I'd get more. I thought he meant I could be in the top 10 or something, but the next year I put on 25 pounds and I won it. Man, I never thought it would happen that way."

Somehow, in the midst of that development, Malone also found a way to lock
himself in a bubble, to keep himself in games. He hasn't fouled out since 1980, even though opponents frequently foul out trying to control him.

Is he the beneficiary of a double standard, or smart enough to use his skills that expertly?

"Superficially, it's supposed to be the same for everybody," Nissalke said. "But maybe subconsciously, it isn't. Guys who have reputations, who have been good people, who have a good rapport, get the breaks. I'm not saying that referees try to take care of people, but if Moses doesn't foul out, maybe it's for the same reason that pitchers never knocked down Ted Williams, never dusted off Stan Musial. Elgin Baylor, at his best, had a move where he actually would push the defender away to get started, but he wouldn't be called for it. Julius Erving never gets grabbed on dunks, and that's out of respect.

"And maybe part of it is because Moses is just a tough guy. He doesn't have what you could call unbelievable hands, there's nothing classic about his game, but he doesn't do dumb things, either. I don't know if he'd be a tough guy in a street fight, but he is on a basketball court. We used to keep track of the rebounds he got and the rebounds he'd try for. I was staggered when the stats showed he went after 65 percent of them. Say whatever else you want, that's a tough guy."

fpliii

05-14-2013, 10:07 AM

Another article about 81:

SIX DAYS IN MAY - A personal remembrance of the 1981 NBA championship series
Houston Chronicle - Sunday, May 25, 1986
IT HAD BEEN a most improbable spring. Houston's pro basketball team was a ragtag bunch, a collection of diverse young men who really had little in common except their sport. They had absolutely nothing in common with championship basketball teams, none of which had ever showed up at the finals with a 40-42 record.

Were they anonymous when they finally got to the pinnacle, the city where championships and basketball go together like fetuccini and clam sauce? Well, a scene at the airport moments after we landed let me know the Houston Rockets were as anonymous in Boston as the Frito Banditos.

We were clumped together in the airport terminal on that drizzly evening, waiting for baggage from our flight to spill onto the carousel. Several feet away I noticed two elderly little ladies, hands over their mouths, peering intently at the erect giants.

"Millicent, who do you think these gentlemen are?" one asked in a very flat Bostonian accent.

"They're a basketball team. I heard someone say they're the Houston Rockies."

"The Rockies? That's an awfully strange name for a basketball team."

"No, Millicent, it really isn't. I think they're called the Rockies because Houston is in the Rocky Mountains."

To the populace of Boston, the city of Houston was definitely an unknown - some town from "out there." Texas was West - hey, haven't you ever seen Westerns? On television the Texas towns never look like Odessa. They always look like suburbs of Denver - hence, the understandable connection.

And to the populace of Boston, the Houston Rockets were just as unknown. Shoot, they were unknown to the Boston Celtics, who had fully expected someone else to show up for dinner.

"Someone else," of course, was the Los Angeles Lakers. The Rockets had severely jolted the NBA's orderly line of progression when they rubbed out the league's defending champions in the opening round, much in the order they did this year.

It was a playoff march in which the Rockets did everything backward. They could only win on the road. They would titillate Houston fans who saw them play like bionic men on television, then the locals would pack The Summit and see them do an incomprehensible series of pratfalls.

That's the way it had started in the miniseries at Los Angeles, the Rockets delivering a quick karate chop in the Forum. Then when The Summit was reeling in noise in Game 2, the Rockets bellied up and let the Lakers run them into exhaustion.

Game 3 was on a Sunday afternoon, and I'll never forget the drama of the game's last shot.

I was seated in press row directly under the Laker basket. Less than 20 seconds remained, the Rockets ahead by a point. From the left sideline near half-court, Magic Johnson had inbounded the ball, then jumped over and immediately gotten it back.

He began slowly shuffling toward the free-throw line with Rocket Tom Henderson bodying him all the way. Directly in front of me, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Moses Malone were shoving each other mightily, Kareem trying to get a step in front where Magic could get him a pass.

Kareem finally got the position he wanted, but it was a futile struggle. Magic glanced briefly at him, but instead of passing him the ball, he let fly with a little 15-foot one-handed jumper, pressed closely by Henderson's tummy.

I watched the arc of the ball, which seemed to be coming down in slow motion. Long before it completed it's journey, I could see it was going to be short.

It was. Way short, as in not even touching the rim. Malone grabbed the rebound and the Rockets were on their way to one of the wackiest of NBA odysseys.

It would continue in the next round at San Antonio, where the Rockets promptly won on the road, then came back to The Summit and got busted up.

That one finally came down to Game 7 in San Antonio, where Robert Reid was replaced in the Rocket starting lineup by a disgruntled Calvin Murphy.

Calvin hadn't been a starter in quite awhile, and he felt his talents were being neglected. He took out his anger on the Spurs, erupting for 42 points in one of the great clutch performances I have ever seen in my 15 years of following the NBA.

That was enough to make the Rockets surprising winners once again and send them on to Kansas City. By now they were playing in a virtual news vacuum.

Once the Lakers were eliminated, CBS phoned in a hurried retreat to all cameramen west of the Mississippi. They focused their attention completely on the Eastern playoffs, treating the Rockets as though they were aliens from the dark side of the moon. Not once did CBS televise a Western Conference playoff game after their Hollywood darlings got the boot.

Kansas City was flicked away like a piece of lint on the Rockets' sleeve. The world could have cared less, however. At that same time, the real basketball was being played back on the East Coast, where Bill Fitch's Celtics were coming back from a 3-1 deficit to eliminate Philadelphia.

................................

So here came the Rockets, and I couldn't help but think of them as ugly little ragamuffins who showed up uninvited at the rich kid's birthday party.

Everyone assumed the world championship series had just ended, when the Celtics bumped off Philadelphia. But wait, who are these snotty-nosed little brats? You mean we've got to tolerate these nobodies for a week before they give us our championship?

There were some reasons to believe it might be an interesting series, though. For one, the Celtics exhausted themselves in the ordeal of overtaking Philadelphia. For another, they had to be mightily susceptible to overconfidence.

For yet another, Del Harris had done a masterful coaching job throughout the playoffs. Harris was mapping strategy for a team with one true superstar, Moses Malone, and a bunch of other guys who looked like they belonged in the longshoremen's union hall.

Billy Paultz. Henderson. Mike Dunleavy. Bill Willoughby. Guys with a modicum of basketball talent but a willingness to lay bone on bone if that's what was needed to complete the job.

Harris had them playing a really ugly style of basketball. Chronicle columnist Ed Fowler dubbed it Rocketball." A lot of other people called it Uglyball." By whatever label, however, Harris had designed a game that allowed a collection of oxen to play evenly against teams with much more talent.

And so it was that the Rockets, faces wiped clean of dirt, uniforms neatly pressed for the occasion, finally debuted at Boston Garden for Game 1.

The overwhelming opinion was that we were about to witness a scene resembling Christians being fed to the lions. What happened though, was the ugly kids jumped all over the bluebloods in a hurry.

Who could ever forget fatboy Paultz repeatedly turning around and flipping in that little 12-foot bank shot? Or Malone going out to the side, unaccompanied by Robert Parish, and pitching in a succession of awkward baseline jumpers?

As the whole basketball world sat and watched in stunned silence, the team nobody wanted roared off to a 22-7 lead.

I have never heard Boston Garden as quiet as it was when Fitch angrily signaled for a timeout. He blistered some posteriors, and the alarm clock went off inside a few brains. The Celtics came back out on the court and by halftime were back in the game.

They never could kick the Rockets off their shins, however. It finally would come down to one final shot. The man chosen to take it, Rudy Tomjanovich , now is a Rocket assistant coach.

There was a world of irony there. Tomjanovich had enjoyed a brilliant career with the Rockets. In the summer, he was one of the world's great beer drinkers. Once the season started, however, he was 100-percent athlete, never slurping a drop unless the Rockets had two days off between games.

In 1981, though, he was a forgotten man. It was his final season, and only rarely did he take off his warmups and actually dirty up his No. 45 jersey.

fpliii

05-14-2013, 10:08 AM

continued...

The frustration finally got to him. The night before that first game, he and I had visited a few taverns. He knew he would play only if a mass cholera attack visited the Rockets. This was his way of releasing a little of the internal pressure that had built up inside.

Sure enough, though, Game 1 came down again to the final seconds, with the Rockets needing a three-point shot to tie. Harris sent in Tomjanovich , still probably the best long-range shooter on the team.

Tomjanovich hadn't been on the court a single second. He had been sitting there two hours, without launching a shot. Now, though, the ball came into his hands, he had to put it up, and it actually hit the rim before bouncing teasingly away. The Celtics won 98-95.

The nation's press was about to discover the orphans. The Celtics could be a temperamental bunch in interview sessions. Parish was hardly talking at all. Larry Bird was polite but very bland. Fitch was amenable on practice days, but could be most difficult after games.

Soon the media tired of the interview hassles and began visiting the Rockets. The Rockets had a hoard of guys who were literate, quite witty and hungry for a little national exposure.

Harris was available almost on a 24-hour-a-day basis. Reid was a veritable quote machine. I'm going to stick so close to Larry Bird that I can tell you what kind of deodorant he's wearing," was one of his gems.

Paultz was a funny, funny guy, as was Dunleavy. Henderson was an excellent, cooperative analyst. Overall, these gents were the proverbial breath of fresh air after the grumpy locker room of the Celtics.

Understandably, then, the Rockets suddenly found themselves quoted in everything from the Wall Street Journal to the National Enquirer. And the hubbub really reached a crescendo after the stunner in Game 2.

................................

That's the night this thing really got serious. Once again the Celtics couldn't shake this leg-iron clamped to their ankles. The Rockets would win 92-90, and once again it came down to the drama of a final shot.

The Celtics tried mightily to work the ball to Bird, but Reid was all over him like a Navajo serape. Finally it was left up to little Nate Archibald to fire away from 18 feet, and his left-handed flipper wasn't even close.

The series went back to Houston tied at 1-1, but everyone realized how close it was to being 2-0 in the Rockets' favor. Had Tomjanovich 's desperation shot in Game 1 been half an inch longer, maybe if he had just ingested one more can of suds, the Celtics might've been blanked in their first two games at home.

In the Celtic locker room after Game 2, Cedric Maxwell finally voiced what everyone was beginning to realize.

We can lose this series," he said. You bet they can beat us, if we don't wake up and realize that we are playing for the world championship."

Back in Houston, though, that same old Summit pattern prevailed in Game 3. The Rockets piddled around ineptly, the Celtics won in a blowout, 94-71.

In Game 4, though, the Rockets actually won in their house, using only six men to claim a 91-86 triumph, tying the series at 2 and prompting a most uncharacteristic outburst from the normally silent Malone.

Apparently fed up with the nation's Bostonmania, Malone blurted out the shot heard round the world. Shoot," he said, the Celtics aren't that great. I could get four guys from the playground in Petersburg (Va., his home town) and beat them."

It seemed totally uncharacteristic, but those who know Malone knew it wasn't. Moses was a man of incredible personal pride, and he finally reacted to being shortsighted by virtually everyone on planet Earth.

What he had done, though, was finally give the Celtics a theme around which they could rally. Stung by the Four Guys From Petersburg" soliloquy, the Celtics returned to the Garden and used Malone and the Rockets for a doormat in Game 5. They won 109-80.

Afterward, I'll never forget a column in the Boston Globe penned by sportswriter Leigh Montville.

Uh, Moses ," it began, about those four guys from Petersburg. I don't want to be presumptuous, but don't you think this would be a good time to give them a call?"

Ahead now 3-2, the Celtics came back to The Summit for the sixth game. Moses could have had 20 friends from Petersburg and they wouldn't have made a difference.

Boston led by as many as 17 points, only to watch the Rockets come alive in the fourth quarter and whittle the lead all the way down to three.

At that juncture, though, the redoubtable Bird stepped to the front and performed the execution. With the game down to its closing seconds, Bird got the ball down close to the Rocket bench, once again right in front of my seat.

As the Rockets watched in agony, Bird lofted one of his beautiful long shots, the ball arching cleanly through the net for a three-point basket.

Down now by six, the Rockets could do nothing but march peaceably to the gallows.

..............................

Looking back, it was totally inevitable that the Rockets would eventually lose. A talent like Bird simply would not let Boston succumb. The Rockets were badly overmatched in talent, Harris going to war a couple of times with only six players.

I never saw the blue-haired ladies again. Somewhere, though, I think they learned this team was not the Rockies," and Houston was not in the Rocky Mountains.

One thing I learned, too, was that these Rockies" had a mountain of intestinal fortitude.

Maybe the little ladies are still standing there. They'll hear something about Akeem and Ralph, and then the smart one can tell the dummy, Oh, Millicent, they're called the Rockies because they've got the Twin Towers."

Brief Rudy T column:

SPORTS MEMORIES
Akron Beacon Journal (OH) - Sunday, March 12, 1989
He was never the same player after the roundhouse punch. Anyone who
suffered what was called `a severe facial fracture' wouldn't be. But,
otherwise, life has had mostly kind moments for the guy known as Rudy T.

In long form among polite society, refer to him as Rudolph Tomjanovich . But
few do. Rudy T is plenty.

The 6-foot-8 forward was an All-American at the University of Michigan and a first-round draft pick of the Houston Rockets in 1970.

He spent his entire career with the Rockets until retiring in 1981 -- and
high notes abounded.

He averaged 17.4 points per game for his career, finishing with 13,383
points, second to Calvin Murphy in all-time team scoring. He ended with 6,198 rebounds, third behind Elvin Hayes and Moses Malone. Five NBA all-star games
felt his presence.

Most of this was accomplished before December 1977. That's when a thug named Kermit Washington threw a vicious punch that viewers saw and felt across TV-
land. Rudy T missed the rest of the 1977-78 season with that facial
fracture, and Washington got a big suspension.

But Rudy T survived -- and well. He had three passable years after the punch and joined the Rockets as a scout upon retiring. In 1983, he became a Houston assistant coach, a position he still holds. And what of Kermit Washington? Who cares.

Is there a sports figure from the past you'd like to know about? Write to
Sports Memories, Beacon magazine, 44 E. Exchange St., Akron, Ohio 44328.
Answers can only appear in this column. pdg

fpliii

05-14-2013, 10:12 AM

Another:

WHOLLY MOSES - MALONE: FROM CHILD STAR TO WISE OLD NBA MENTOR
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Sunday, December 26, 1993
After 20 seasons, the word used to describe Moses Malone, man of many rebounds and few syllables, essentially remains the same.

The word explains, as well as anything, how a slender high school prodigy leaped to the pros with unparalleled ease, grew from an ABA oddity into the greatest offensive rebounding center in history and finally evolved into a revered NBA dinosaur at 38.

The word is relentless.

"He was relentless, and so smart in getting good position," said Billy Cunningham, coach of the 1982-83 Philadelphia 76ers, who became champs thanks to Malone's overpowering presence. "He would just wear people down physically. The more physical he got, the more productive he became. ... He had something within him, a fire. I can't think of anyone who compares to him."

" Moses works very hard on both ends every night," said the Celtics' Robert Parish, the NBA's other back-to-the-basket relic. "He was in a position to take a night off and cruise if he wanted to, but he never did. It's that I respect most about him."

Everyone in basketball respects Moses Eugene Malone, the NBA's last active link to the ABA. When the renegade league was absorbed in 1976, it brought an infusion of talent that included David Thompson, George Gervin and Julius Erving.

But only Malone, whom Parish calls "one of the last true centers," endures. His enormous achievements are easy to overlook - he led the NBA in rebounding five times and offensive rebounding eight times, led the league in minutes played twice and free throws made three times, and hasn't fouled out of a game since 1977-78 - but his career will never be overlooked.

Having returned to Philadelphia, the city where he won his only championship ring, Malone is still capable of sporadically commandeering the paint, willing his way to the line and trudging his way up the ranks of the NBA's all-time leaders.

Although back surgery limited him to 11 games with Milwaukee last season, Malone was given a $2 million deal as a free agent to be a 15 minute-a-night backup and special tutor to 7-6 rookie Shawn Bradley.

" Moses helps Shawn by his work ethic, by talking to him and by going up against him every day," Sixers coach Fred Carter said. "We told Shawn to listen to everything Moses says, because Moses parted the Red Sea."

Professor Malone will undoubtedly teach Bradley about a center's life in the same mostly wordless way he taught a University of Houston student from Nigeria in some nasty summer games more than a decade ago.

"He pushed me. He shoved me. He did everything he could think of to stop me from getting the ball on a rebound or stop me from scoring," recalled a grateful Hakeem Olajuwon. "If I got him sealed off and called for the ball, when I jumped to catch the pass, he'd bump me so hard that if I went up into the air right near the basket, I usually came down out by the key."

In a league of soaring acrobats and 7-foot jump shooters, Malone's game remains anchored in the blocks.

"Everyone wants to be more flashy, but Moses is still doing the same things - throwing it off the glass and going to get it," Parish said. "He knows all the tricks. And he got all the calls. All of them. Both ends. Just like Michael Jordan."

Unlike Jordan, Malone never had any trademark offensive moves or the ability to leave opponents' mouths open with his jumping ability. He has thrived because he has always followed one blue-collar commandment: Thou shalt go to the glass, again and again.

"Certain guys like (Paul) Silas, (Charles) Oakley and (Dennis) Rodman are relentless, rebounding fools who take pride in that," said Pacers coach Larry Brown. "But at center, you don't find guys who are rebounding fools on both ends. Most of the great rebounding centers have been defensive rebounders, like (Bill) Russell and ( Wilt ) Chamberlain. Moses was an offensive rebounding center, which was kind of unique."

"You knew he was coming and, half the time, you couldn't stop him anyway," said Sixers assistant coach Jeff Ruland, who was traded for Malone in 1986.

"He still starts to rebound just before he shoots," said former NBA coach Bill Fitch.

Malone developed his brute style of play on the playgrounds of Petersburg, Va. It ultimately enabled him to free his mother, Mary, from her $100-a-week grocery packing job and move her out of their house with the ramshackle steps and old milk crate as a living-room coffee table.

At age 14, Malone had written on a piece of paper that he wanted to be a pro by 19. He put the paper in his Bible. College recruiters who flocked to see the eerily quiet teen-age Moses and expected to find an easy mark were surprised. Malone had unerring instincts. He repelled a sales pitch from Oral Roberts, who reportedly offered to heal his mother's ulcer if Moses attended the college. And he left an apoplectic Maryland coach Lefty Driesell at the altar to sign a five-year deal for approximately $1 million with the ABA Utah Stars prior to 1974-75.

The prophecy was fulfilled, but Moses was still just a child among men, albeit a special one.

"People who saw him at that time said what a skinny kid he was. He probably weighed 210 at most," said Bucky Buckwalter, who won the wooing war and was Malone's first coach in Utah. "Watching him on the floor, you could tell he was something special, that he had a nose for the ball. ... I thought it would be difficult for him. Going from (predominantly black) Petersburg, Virginia, to Salt Lake City is a culture shock that would be tough for anyone. But from Day 1, he fit in."

The basketball transition was incredibly smooth, too. Maybe it was because Malone had a wise-beyond-his-years approach that other high school-to-pro phenoms such as Darryl Dawkins and Bill Willoughby lacked. Or maybe it was simply that he willed himself to be a star.

"Coming out of high school, I had an attitude. I wasn't afraid," Malone said. "I loved a challenge. That's why I became a player. Not a superstar. A player. I always thought I was No. 1. I loved the contact, which is the way I learned on the playground."

"I remember people were saying that he's not physical at all," said Brown, who was Denver's coach during Malone's ABA debut season. "He got 32 rebounds the first time we played them. I had to laugh and I said, `There goes that myth."'

Still, the NBA wasn't so sure about Malone at the time of the dispersal draft. In fact, the Trail Blazers, already blessed with Bill Walton at center, picked Malone with the advance intention of dealing him to Buffalo for a draft pick before training camp ended. Malone also went from the Braves to the Rockets before 1976-77 was over.

"Everyone was saying he won't make it," Brown said. "I always heard so many things about what he couldn't do, instead of harping on what he could do. Like a lot of ABA kids, who got a chance to play when they were very young, he just kept getting better and better."

And bigger and stronger, because of the way he pushed himself. Malone relentlessly subjected his body to hour after hour of conditioning in the days before weights were the rage.

"Look at the old pictures of him," said Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich , Malone's former teammate in Houston. "His body really changed. Back then, we didn't have strength coaches and people like that. He wasn't a guy who flaunted his work habits. I used to go to the same health club as him. The people there were telling me he comes in at 7 a.m., before anyone else."

It has always been about working and winning.

"When I played with Moses , he wasn't a very good free-throw shooter until the last two minutes. But he always buried those big ones you needed to win," remembered Mike Dunleavy, Malone's teammate with the Rockets and later his coach with the Bucks. "And he was a pretty clutch outside shooter, too."

There was a run to the NBA finals with the Rockets in 1980-81 and, finally, the deal that allowed Malone to flee Houston for Philadelphia as a free agent. Because his addition resulted in the departure of the popular Caldwell Jones, some Sixers veterans were unsettled by Moses ' arrival. However, Cunningham knew that a nucleus of Erving, Maurice Cheeks and Bobby Jones wasn't enough, that Malone was the missing ingredient.

"One of the things we were missing was physical presence," Cunningham said. " Moses added a lot more than that, but we thrived on that. After a few days of training camp, he was embraced by his teammates. He didn't say a lot, of course, but he had a presence. When he said, `Let's go. It's time to turn it up a notch,' they did."

Late in that 1982-83 season, while he received treatment for a sore knee, Malone made his famous, typically terse playoff prediction of "Fo, fo, fo" to Cunninngham, suggesting the Sixers would require only the minimum number of postseason games to win their title. "He was off by one game," Cunningham said.

Now, more than a decade later, Malone is back in Philly in a backup role, averaging 7.0 points and 5.4 rebounds going into the weekend. He is slower than ever, but is still contributing and teaching yet another generation the simple and harsh secrets of how to claim the paint.

"It's amazing he's been able to compete this long," Dunleavy said.

"I'm not surprised he's still playing," said ex-Rocket teammate Calvin Murphy. "I'm just surprised he is not playing more minutes."

Nobody will have to tell Malone it's time to go once he senses the inner fire that has made him special and so relentless for so many years no longer burns within.

"Once I lose interest, it's over," Malone said recently. "I don't want to be around just trying to get a check. I want to produce. I want to deserve to get paid."

fpliii

05-14-2013, 10:13 AM

I'm going to post some other cool articles I found during this search, before getting back to work:

Garnett does well on NBA schoolwork
Houston Chronicle - Saturday, November 11, 1995
The education of Kevin Garnett continues tonight when the Minnesota Timberwolves take the floor against the Rockets at The Summit.

A lot of eyebrows were raised when Garnett was taken by the Timberwolves with the fifth pick in what was a remarkably young draft. So young that Garnett was the first senior taken - a 19-year-old high school senior.

Garnett, the 6-11 wunderkind out of Chicago's Farragut Academy, is a player whose skills have him projected as a small forward in the NBA. He became the first player taken directly out of high shcool since Bill Willoughby and Darryl Dawkins were selected by Atlanta and Philadelphia, respectively, in the 1975 draft. Seattle's Shawn Kemp sat out one year while attending classes at Trinity Valley Community College, but did not play basketball there.

Moses Malone, whose Hall of Fame career started when he went straight from Petersburg (Va.) High School to the Utah Stars of the American Basketball Association in 1974, is the greatest success story among those who bypassed college for the pros.

It's too soon to tell if Garnett will have an undistinguished career like Willoughby or be a superstar like Kemp or Malone, but few doubt he belongs in the league. Garnett saw his stock soar in the eyes of lottery teams such as Minnesota with his ball-handling, passing and shooting skills in pre-draft workouts.

What can a player like Garnett add to a team like the Timberwolves?

"Maturity," joked the Rockets' Sam Cassell. "He'll take his bumps and bruises (on the court), but he also will shine occasionally. He has great skills. The guy's a talent. He's not a prospect - he's a talented young guy. His future is going to be very bright. He's very lucky. If he doesn't pick up any bad habits and stays clean, he'll be a very wealthy young man."

In his NBA debut, Garnett played 16 minutes, scoring eight points (on 4-for-4 shooting) and picking up one assist against the Sacramento Kings (a 95-86 loss). After going scoreless in a loss to Vancouver, Garnett picked up eight points, five rebounds and two assists in a one-point victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, playing a season-high 26 minutes off the bench.

In eight preseason games, Garnett averaged 9.1 points (scoring double figures in five games), 4.9 rebounds and team highs of 1.3 steals and 1.6 blocks in his 27.1 minutes, so the skills are there. Besides, there was a pretty good chance Garnett would have been a No. 1 pick down the line, so perhaps Minnesota vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale got a bargain when he signed the youngster to a contract that pays him $1.6 million this year.

"He's very athletic and he has savvy beyond his years about when to pass the ball and when to take the shot," Rockets vice president of basketball operations Bob Weinhauer said. "I think (Minnesota coach) Bill (Blair) is doing a great job of not overexposing him. He's slotting minutes for him, and I think that's the way to go with a young guy.

"It (a 19-year-old in the NBA) is an awesome thought. The maturity level you have to exhibit is unbelievable. Plus he has a lot more free time than what he's used to."

Which is where the second part of the adjustment comes in. Garnett is not only dealing with the athletic aspects of the jump from high school, but the social ones as well. Most people his age are dealing with freshman composition in college; Garnett is trading elbows with players such as Robert Horry and Scottie Pippen.

"I think it's a gigantic adjustment," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "I just remember going to college and how big that was for most guys alone just getting into college life. Getting into the NBA, of course it's going to be an adjustment. I'm sure a lot of the players are taking him under their wings."

Cassell thinks that coming from Chicago will help Garnett feel his way through life in the NBA.

"He's not from a small town, he's from a big city," Cassell said. "He knows the ins and outs. Now he just has more money in his pocket.

3-Pointer Not Just a Gimmick Anymore
THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE - Tuesday, January 24, 1989
Cleveland

Nine years after the NBA copied the old American Basketball Association and put a 3-point line into the game, the 3-point basket finally has become something other than novelty.

With more and more teams and coaches utilizing the 3-point basket, the trey has suddenly become as big a part of an NBA team's game plan as its rotating defenses and halfcourt sets.

New York's Rick Pitino, whose "Bomb Squad" shattered an NBA record by launching 28 treys against the Warriors last Wednesday night at the Coliseum Arena, insists the bomb is an integral part of his game plan, just as it was when he coached at Providence College two years ago, when his Friars led the nation in 3-pointers.

"Without the 3-pointer, teams are going to double-team (center) Patrick Ewing all the time," Pitino explained. "We use the 3-pointer to get Ewing free of the double teams."

The New York explosion of 3-pointers came just two nights after the Seattle SuperSonics, also in a loss at Golden State, tied the then-NBA record by attempting 21 3-pointers.

The Warriors' Don Nelson, meanwhile, encourages the 3-pointer from marksmen Rod Higgins, Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond (5-for-5 against Sacramento last Saturday), and he has even given the go-ahead to 7-foot-7 Manute Bol.

Golden State hit a franchise-record nine treys

- blasting the old record of six - in its 136-111 blowout victory over the Kings last Saturday.

In Denver, Nuggets Coach Doug Moe constantly utilizes the services of guard Michael Adams, who tied an NBA record by hitting eight 3-pointers in 12 attempts last Saturday night in a 116-107 Denver loss at home against Milwaukee.

That extended to 78 the number of games in which Adams has hit at least one trey.

It wasn't long ago that veteran head coaches pooh-poohed the 3-pointer as a low-percentage shot that should only be utilized in the closing seconds of a tight game.

But the trend this year indicates that, nine years after its inception, the 3-pointer must be taken seriously by every NBA team.

fpliii

05-14-2013, 10:15 AM

Interesting stuff:

STERN'S FOREIGN OBJECT: EXPORT NBA
The Palm Beach Post - Sunday, February 11, 1990
There was a foreign flavor to David Stern's news conference Saturday at Miami Arena. The NBA Commissioner used this cosmopolitan city to announce continued globalization of the American game to Europe, the Far East and Canada.

* The New York Knicks will represent the league Oct. 11 and 13 in the McDonald's Open at the new Palau d'Esports Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain.

Barcelona of the Spanish League and two other yet-to-be determined European teams will also compete in the fourth annual international tournament won by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1987, the Boston Celtics in `88 and the Denver Nuggets in `89.

This McDonald's Open will be the first sporting event in the 17,700-seat arena, which will be the site of the basketball championships in the 1992 Summer Olympics.

* The NBA and FIBA (the International Basketball Federation) will conduct a series of four clinics designed to help advance basketball training and coaching techniques worldwide. The first of these clinics will be held April 17-19 in Zaragoza, Spain, site of the European Championships.

Jack Ramsay, the second winningest coach in NBA history and a member of the Basketball Advisory Board of NBA International, will head the contingent of American instructors in Zaragonza.

* The 1990-91 season opener could be played in Tokyo. Teams and venues are under consideration. Foreign teams will become a bigger part of the NBA exhibition schedule.

"Requests from Japan have been expressed to us over many years," Stern said. "We've expressed a willingness to listen. We will continue to listen. One proposal is very serious."

* There are no plans to expand the NBA into Europe, but a Canadian franchise could become part of the league by the end of the decade. "My guess is that it would be a good bet, and I'm not a betting man," Stern said.

* Six more league representatives have joined USA Basketball in another step toward NBA players competing in the 1992 Summer Olympics at Barcelona.

Wayne Embry, general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Rod Thorn, vice president-operations for the NBA, currently serve as at-large members of the committee. The six new members are Charles Grantham, executive director for the NBA Players Association; Billy Cunningham, part-owner of the Miami Heat; Bob Bass, assistant to the chairman/president of the San Antonio Spurs; Jack McCloskey, general manager of the Detroit Pistons; Donnie Walsh, president of the Indiana Pacers; and Jan Vo lk, executive vice president and general manager of the Boston Celtics.

"This is another step on the way to fielding the best U.S. teams possible in the NBA," said Russ Granik, who was elected Saturday as deputy commissioner of the NBA.

According to Granik, who for six years served as the league's executive vice president, the biggest practical problem at this point has to do with Olympic Trials. Zone qualifying under FIBA rules is scheduled for June 1992, and asking NBA players to devote their summer to trying out for the USA team would be unfair. Commercial problems over player-endorsement contracts would also need to be negotiated.

"My sense is that we're going to find a way to work out all of these issues by 1992," Stern said. "Our discussions on every level are proceeding on a positive basis. I can't say for sure it will happen, but I'm optimistic it will."

THE NBA THROUGH THE DECADE

The major events in NBA history. In the last 40 years, the league has gone from the brink of bankruptcy to the most successful enterprise of the four major American professional sports.

1950s

* New York's `Sweetwater' Clifton becomes first black player to sign (1950)

* Minneapolis' George Mikan defines center position

* Jump ball after every free throw eliminated in 1952

* Philadelphia's Paul Arizin refines the jump shot

* Philadelphia's Neil Johnston is first to score 50 points in a game (1953)

* 24-second clock instituted (1954)

* Boston Celtics win first of 16 championships (1957)

* League scoring average tops 100 points for first time (1958)

* Elgin Baylor finishes third in MVP voting as a rookie (1959)

* Bob Cousy leads league in assists 8 straight years (1953-60)

1960s

* Minneapolis Lakers move to Los Angeles (1960)

* Philadelphia's Wilt Chamberlain scores 100 points in a game (1962)

* Oscar Robertson first to average double-figure assists (11.4 in 1962)

* Celtics' John Havlicek defines sixth-man role

* Chamberlain becomes first to earn $100,000 salary (1965)

* ABA begins nine-year run as competitive league (1967)

* Chamberlain, Bill Russell wage decade-long battle

* League expands from 8-team league to one with 14 franchises.

* Celtics win 10 championships in 11 seasons (1959-69)

* Lakers team up Chamberlain, Baylor, Jerry West (1969)

1970s

* Willis Reed leads Knicks to first championship (1970)

* Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wins first of six titles with Milwaukee (1971)

* Lakers set league record with 33 straight wins (1971-72)

* Miami Floridians play four seasons in ABA (1968-72)

* Moses Malone bypasses college to join ABA (1974)

* Addition of four ABA expansion cities gives league 22 teams (1977)

* Philadephia makes $6 million deal to acquire Julius Erving (1977)

* Kermit Washington suspended 60 days for punching Rudy Tomjanovich (1978)

* Larry Bird, Magic Johnson enter league (1979)

* Three-point shot adopted for NBA use (1979)

1980s

* Celtics' 32-game improvement biggest in league history (1980)

* Magic Johnson subs for Abdul-Jabbar at center, Lakers' win title (1980)

* Slam-Dunk Contest highlights first All-Star Saturday (1984)

* Bird becomes third player to win three straight MVPs (1984-86)

* Chicago's Michael Jordan scores playoff-record 63 points (1986)

* New Jersey's Micheal Ray Richardson first player banned for drug use (1986) * Miami Heat selected as one of four new expansion teams (1987)

* Lakers first team in 19 years to win back-to-back titles (1987-88)

* Third game official added to crew (1988)

* Charlotte first expansion team to lead pro league in attendance (1989)

daj0264

05-14-2013, 10:16 AM

c-c-c-combo breaker!!!

fpliii

05-14-2013, 10:16 AM

Bird's pending retirement:

The NBA Bird not ready to fly coop Larry unlikely to retire after C's season expires
Boston Herald (MA) - Sunday, March 8, 1992
Three reasonable reasons to think Larry Bird will indeed be back with the Celtics next season - despite any retirement rumblings:

1)The feeling on the last Western swing is that Larry finally realized the true extent to which he really loves this NBA stuff. All of it. Even the travel and the practices. Sidney Moncrief said last year he didn't realize until he was away from the game for a while how much all the things he used to think were annoyances were actually privileges.

Bird talked about the joy of just being one of the guys, and it appeared the understanding washed over him that it will be nearly impossible for him to simply walk away from the game cleanly. There are too many aspects he will miss - aspects he never truly fathomed.

2)There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to his career length. This past summer, Bird signed a two-year extension that constitutes his third "final contract of his career." You simply cannot say how a man will react to the end of his playing days until he is actually faced with it.

3)While health is clearly the primary issue for Bird, the fact remains that he doesn't have to be able to do everything to still have a major impact on the Celtics. In addition to his attitude contribution, if Bird can hit the open jumper, pull down a few defensive rebounds and stand on the wing and make entry passes, he will be an essential part of this team.

Larry says now he wants to get through this season and get through the Olympics in Barcelona before making any decisions. But if he accomplishes those two goals, the decision will already have been made.

USUALLY HE'S ONLY SKEPTICAL ABOUT HIS OWN PLAYERS: But this week Cotton Fitzsimmons cast his wary eye on the aforementioned Mr. L. Bird. "Let's see if he can be competitive and healthy for a long period," said the Suns' coach. "Let's see if he can make it in the long run. If he holds up, then, yes, (the Celtics are) going to be hard to beat." ... New Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich also mentioned the physical matter, adding, "If they stay healthy, that's a veteran team. And that counts when the playoffs roll around. My son has this tape at home called "Awesome Endings." Bird and Magic (Johnson), those guys are the whole tape." ... The Phoenix-Utah game caused a large uproar in wagering circles. The game had apparently ended with the Suns ahead by seven. NBC even signed off with that score. But what had gone unnoticed is that Mike Mathis had called a foul on Phoenix just prior to the buzzer. Two free throws later, it was a five-point game and numerous bettors were upset. The Suns had been a 6- to 6 1/2-point favorite. The late call meant they didn't cover the spread. Both Phoenix papers were inundated with telephone calls from angry investors.

Curtailing violence in the league:

HOUSTON - Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich can't explain the recent
San Antonio Express-News - Wednesday, June 1, 1994
Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich can't explain the recent boom of violence in the NBA. Being a victim doesn't necessarily make you an expert.

Nevertheless, his opinion on the subject is frequently sought. Tomjanovich 's entire career is often distilled to a single violent act that took place on a basketball court.

"I don't know if it's getting worse, but it's surprising because the league is doing all it can to curtail it," Tomjanovich said. "It makes you wonder what it's going to take."

Fines and suspensions are the league's answers. Tighter officiating is a direct order from the league office.

Neither action has worked. Two vicious brawls have broken out in 1994 playoff games.

How do you stop the fighting? Tomjanovich tried to do that in 1977, when Rockets teammate Kevin Kunnert got into a scuffle with the Los Angeles Lakers' Kermit Washington. A wild punch from Washington left Tomjanovich in intensive care for a week. He didn't play again until the following season.

Tomjanovich doesn't like to reflect on the incident. But it's hard to avoid in this age of taunts and fights.

"You can't explain it - there's a lot of emotion on both sides," Tomjanovich said. "It's like something that happened in your family. You don't need to tell the whole world how you feel."

Tomjanovich comes from a basketball era long gone, when opponents' sassy remarks were fought with a steal or converted jumper, not a blow to the nose.

This year, Miami forward Grant Long put a choke-hold on Atlanta's Duane Ferrell after a hard foul during Game 2 of their first-round series. It led to a seven-minute brawl that peaked when Keith Askins and Doug Edwards exchanged blows.

Taunts led to the most vicious act to date this season. Tired of receiving JoJo English's verbal attacks, the Knicks' Derek Harper punched the young Bulls guard and threw him to the floor. NBA commissioner David Stern was just a few feet away when players from both sides rushed the pile.

The two brawls resulted in more than $200,000 in fines and seven suspensions. They were the first postseason suspensions since Robert Parish was suspended following a 1988 confrontation with Bill Laimbeer.

Vice President of NBA Operations Rod Thorn has developed a three-point strategy to stop the fighting:

- Stiffer penalties for people who leave the bench to join a fight. Suspending players for these actions.

- Calling more taunting technicals, because taunting sometimes leads to altercations.

- Calling the games more closely, including illegal screens and hand checks.

The success of last season's new anti-flagrant foul rules gives Stern and Thorn reason for optimism.

There were no player suspensions for flagrant fouls this season. New York's Charles Oakley, guilty of 11 flagrant fouls in the 1992-93 season, committed only five in 1993-94. A punch was landed only three times last season, down from eight two seasons ago.

Overall, the NBA reported nine fights last season, compared to 12 in 1992-93.

"We do not have as many fights as we used to have," Thorn said. "The perception is that we have more. There is not as much fighting or flagrant fouls as in the past."

The taunting, however, continues to grow. Gary Payton and John Starks exemplify the brash new group of NBA stars who have made taunting a part of the game.

"The younger players have brought that playground mentality," former Rockets forward and St. Mary's standout Robert Reid said. "We didn't used to go out there and taunt. When I came in, you didn't have time to taunt.

"You think with Moses Malone and Rudy Tomjanovich and Maurice Lucas, I could have gotten away with activity like a little kid? We had to be grown men like them."

Tomjanovich tries to instill this mentality in his players. With Houston on the brink of reaching the NBA Finals, Tomjanovich can't afford to lose anyone to suspensions. He warns them about the penalties, then prays they will take heed.

The message has been received. Rockets guard Vernon Maxwell is a trash-talking dynamo who knows where to draw the line. Despite his flamboyant court demeanor, Maxwell has never instigated an on-court fight.

"Suspensions won't make a difference (in stopping taunting)," Maxwell said. "It's the fines, because it would cost me too much. I can't afford to start a fight - unless someone punches me."

Such a scene is something Tomjanovich hopes he never has to witness. Living it was hard enough.pro basketball

fpliii

05-14-2013, 10:19 AM

ABA records commentary:

IT'S TIME FOR STERN TO GIVE ABA ITS DUE
Rocky Mountain News (CO) - Sunday, June 9, 1996
It was Shaquille O'Neal who innocently reminded an older generation the past is lost without an accessible, high-profile history. At his first All-Star Game, the Orlando star asked coach Lenny Wilkens if he'd ever played the game. The unassuming Hall-of-Famer smiled and allowed as how he'd given it a shot.

Commissioner David Stern acknowledged his game's relative dearth of historical materials last week as he launched a well-financed observation of the NBA at 50, an anniversary celebration that will prompt new interviews with old-timers, collection of old films and a renewed focus on teams and stars long forgotten.

If Stern brings half his customary energy to the effort, it might turn out to be one of his greatest contributions to a game that has long lacked the sort of archival materials baseball and NFL Films consider staples of their games.

But the NBA effort - and its spokesman, Julius Erving - raise an old and irksome problem for the league. Dr. J wasted no time raising it Thursday as Stern christened the ship.

The problem is the integration of statistics from the defunct American Basketball Association into the NBA history books. The league has refused to integrate fully the two sets of numbers, instead compromising with lists of NBA records and separate lists of combined NBA / ABA numbers in selected categories. But, as in the Jim Crow South, separate but equal turns out to be an oxymoron.

Twenty years after the merger of the two leagues, the headliners of the ABA no longer are outsiders. Dr. J and Dan Issel broke that barrier when they became the first players to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame after beginning their careers in the ABA.

With uncharacteristic immodesty, Erving read a long list of his accomplishments directly to the commissioner during their news conference, a list valid only when his achievements from the two leagues are combined.

Indeed, when you look up the NBA's all-time scoring leaders in the current edition of the Official NBA Guide, Erving ranks 35th, Issel 73rd. Casual fans might wonder about their election to the Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Persistence uncovers the combined scoring list, where Erving ranks third, behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain. Issel is fifth, right behind Moses Malone.

It's not only players who suffer this dual status. Larry Brown remains short of 600 victories on the NBA list, nearly 400 behind Wilkens, the career leader. On the combined list, Brown shoots up over 800, already one of the best in history.

Part of the problem, explained deputy commissioner Russ Granik, are different sets of rules. Should history record the ABA's three-point shooting leader as the NBA's leader when the older league didn't have a three-point shot? Ironically, today's NBA has rules more similar to the ABA than the old NBA.

Besides, these issues seem minor - isn't this what footnotes are for? - compared with the historical limbo in which some of the game's greatest names remain. Purists once argued the ABA was clearly inferior to the NBA and the numbers not comparable.

Expansion has diluted that line of logic. Today's NBA has absorbed more new teams in the past eight years than it did in the merger 20 years ago. Was the level of play in the worst ABA matchup any lower than in a Vancouver-Minnesota game from last season?

Thursday, Stern called the ABA ``very much part of our tradition.'' But it's still only peripherally part of the NBA's records. The staid old league learned much from the upstarts, from Carl Scheer's slam-dunk contest to the three-point shot to the brilliance of Erving, Issel, George Gervin, Artis Gilmore, Connie Hawkins, Mel Daniels, Spencer Haywood, David Thompson and many others.

It would be yet another major contribution from the NBA's able commissioner if, as part of its 50th birthday celebration, the league found a way to heal the rift for good.

The biggest battle

Roger Brown, a dynamic swing man for the ABA's Indiana Pacers, which won three championships in four seasons, is in a fight for his life with colon cancer. Brown, who was nominated but not elected to the Hall of Fame this year, has had one operation and will need more.

``It's kind of shocking,'' Brown said. ``You go through life and feel you're infallible and invincible. But then you find out you're just like anybody else. But let me put it this way: If I would leave here tomorrow, I wouldn't have done anything any different.''

That other sport

Pat Riley and Bernie Bickerstaff, whose basketball teams have been overshadowed by recently arrived hockey clubs now competing for the Stanley Cup, both deny the Cup craze hurts their clubs.

``I think it's good for the town and good for Ascent,'' said Bickerstaff, referring to the corporate owner of the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche.

``I see it as something that benefits South Florida,'' Riley said of the Florida Panthers' success. ``It can only help the Heat, the Marlins, the Dolphins. It gets people in this community excited about what it could be like.''

Around the league

With an increasing number of players opting not to play in games at the league's pre-draft camp in Chicago, the number of those helping themselves is down. Among those who have impressed are forward Jason Osborne, who was academically ineligible to play at Louisville last season, and Wright State big man Vitaly Potapenko. Not helping themselves: Georgetown center Othella Harrington, listed by the Hoyas at 6-feet-11 but measuring 6-8 1/2 in Chicago, and 7-4, 343-pound Priest Lauderdale, who declined to play . . . Clippers owner Donald T. Sterling broke off talks Thursday to leave the dilapidated L.A. Sports Arena, where his team averaged attendance of 9,074 last season, and move to the Pond in Anaheim, where the Clippers averaged 14,389 in eight dates . . . O'Neal reportedly was seen in L.A. last week having lunch with Lakers guard Nick Van Exel, fueling speculation Shaq will move to Los Angeles as a free agent next season. The Los Angeles Times took the opportunity to publish a photo of O'Neal running up the floor at the Forum wearing a superimposed Lakers jersey. The jersey bore a question mark where the number would be. Shaq's college number (33) and pro number (32) both have been retired by the Lakers in honor of Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, respectively . . . If Indiana fails to sign free agents Reggie Miller and Dale Davis, it will free nearly $10 million with which to shop for other teams' free agents . . . Before signing John Calipari as their new coach, the Nets sought permission from Cleveland to talk with Mike Fratello. Cavs GM Wayne Embry turned them down . . . Chris Ford remains the leading candidate to succeed Mike Dunleavy as coach of the Bucks . . . Blazers assistant Johnny Davis has the inside track in Philadelphia. ``He's ready to be a head coach, certainly,'' said his boss, Portland head coach P.J. Carlesimo . . . Pistons coach Doug Collins hired defensive guru Johnny Bach as an assistant. Bach, who worked under Collins in Chicago, was released along with the rest of Allan Bristow's staff in Charlotte . . . When Rick Pitino turned down New Jersey's $20 million offer, he cost Pacers coach Larry Brown more than $1 million. Brown's salary is tied to the average of the four highest-paid coaches in the league. The Pitino deal would have boosted that average from $1.5 million to $2 million. Calipari's five-year, $15 million deal will recoup some of that loss. Brown has three years left on his contract . . . Utah's Karl Malone tried to keep the Jazz's defeat to the Sonics in perspective. Said the Mailman at his club's final meeting: ``It's disappointing, but you can't come in here like your best bird dog just died.''

To tell the truth

* Chicago's Dennis Rodman on the Bulls' second-half pressure: ``In the first half, we kind of throw a bait out there, see if any catfish or big-mouth bass will bite on it. After that, we can go in and go for the big thing.''

* Seattle's Gary Payton, in reply: ``We ain't hooked yet. We still ain't hooked.''

Tip-ins

* Chicago's Dennis Rodman said the dye job on his hair for the Finals, variously described as an attack of graffiti and plaid on drugs, actually was a montage of four different symbols: ``Peace and love sign, the AIDS symbol, Pearl Jam and the gay and lesbian symbol in the back. It represents all the people that people won't have anything to do with.''

* Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder was Rodman's guest at Game 1. Rodman denied a rift, even though his favorite band is based in the home of the Sonics: ``They're rooting for Seattle, but we're still friends.''

* David Benoit, bumped to third-string small forward in Utah behind Chris Morris and Bryon Russell, was a no-show at the Jazz's final team meeting. Benoit will be a free agent July 1.

* Boston's Pervis Ellison, who could have been a free agent, elected not to exercise an out in his contract. The NBA turned down a joint request by Ellison and the Celtics to allow him to push back the out one year.

LIB3
Caption: Photo
Julius Erving's feats in the ABA merited induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame, but the NBA has yet to properly acknowledged his stats from the defunct league. By Tim Johnson / Associated Press. FILE: ERVING, JULIUS

fpliii

05-14-2013, 10:20 AM

Fun title:

NBA NOTES: SHAQ GETS A MUSICAL MEDLEY
Scripps Howard News Service - Tuesday, March 3, 1998
For Shaquille O'Neal's recent return to the O-rena, the Orlando Magic prepared a special musical medley. Among the selections: The Beatles' "I'm a Loser," Carly Simon's "You're so Vain," Steve Miller's "Take the Money and Run" and The Eurythmics' "Would I Lie to You?" Fans, too, did their part to welcome home their former star. Said one of the homemade signs: ''SHAQ: We're the two that saw your movies!!!''

Miami's Pat Riley has invented a new statistic to track his team's rebounding efforts. He calls it ''heads under the rim.'' The goal, Riley said, is to count 80 times in a game when a Heat rebounder gets in position beneath the basket. ''So far, the best we've had is in the high 60s,'' he said.

When Portland coach Mike Dunleavy obtained Damon Stoudamire at the trading deadline, it culminated a 2 1/2-year effort. Running the Bucks in 1995, he traded up to the eighth pick in the draft to take him. When Stoudamire when to Toronto at No. 7, Dunleavy settled for Shawn Respert, a pick that hastened his departure.

NUMBERS - 19 of the 29 teams will lose money this season, according to Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller, and 24 are projected to lose money next season. The aggregate loss, according to Miller: $67 million this season, between $140 million and $150 million next season.

23 players have been on Larry Brown's Philadelphia roster this season, counting Herb Williams and Ronnie Grandison, who were obtained at the trading deadline for Terry Cummings and waived immediately.

405 offensive rebounds for New Jersey center Jayson Williams, most ever by a Nets player and most in the NBA since 1993-94, when Dennis Rodman grabbed 453 for San Antonio. The most ever was 587 by Moses Malone for Houston in 1978-79.

QUOTES - Los Angeles Lakers coach Del Harris on opponents getting up to play his team: ''When teams beat us now, it's like they just won the NCAA Tournament. I was amazed by the Rockets when they beat us. That's a team that already has won two NBA titles. But when they beat us, Rudy ( Tomjanovich ) was running around on the court after the game. I thought he was looking for a ladder so he could cut down the nets.''

Seattle coach George Karl on the contributions of reserves Aaron Williams and Greg Anthony in the absence of injured Nate McMillan, Detlef Schrempf and Jerome Kersey: ''Good teams make injuries a positive and bad teams make injuries an excuse.''

Miami guard Brent Barry on his suspect defense: ''I thought defense was that thing surrounding your yard. I didn't think it was an actual basketball term ''

TMac:

No Kidding: McGrady just as valuable
Daytona Beach News-Journal (FL) - Thursday, April 11, 2002
Imagine how many points per game Tracy McGrady would average if he had Jason Kidd getting him the ball.

Imagine how many assists Kidd would average if he had McGrady on the receiving end of his passes.

But for the sake of this argument, imagine what the Orlando Magic would be like without McGrady and what the New Jersey Nets would be like without Kidd.

For starters, tonight's Magic-Nets game wouldn't be a meeting of teams that have already clinched playoff berths. Until Kidd was acquired from the Suns last July, the Nets were the butt of as many jokes in New Jersey as organized crime and big hair. Their ascent to the top of the Atlantic Division is more of a surprise than the Magic battling for homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

But Kidd has the advantage of being teammates with Keith Van Horn, the second player drafted in 1997, and Kenyon Martin, the top pick in 2000. Or at least he has played with Martin when the 6-foot-9 forward hasn't been serving suspensions for doing his Russell Crowe impersonation of swinging at anything that moves.

No such luck for McGrady. When the Magic sewed up a spot in the postseason Tuesday night at New York, they had no one else in uniform who had been a top-10 pick since 1987 -- before the franchise existed.

LET THE DEBATE BEGIN

So, which player is more valuable: Kidd with the finally healthy Nets, or McGrady with Grant Hill undergoing more surgery and with Mike Miller basically unavailable the past month?

"It depends on what you call MVP," Magic coach Doc Rivers said last week.

McGrady's scoring, rebounding and assist averages have hardly changed from his first season with the Magic. But they'll finish with more victories, barring a collapse through the final five games. And the way he can take over a game can't be measured by statistics alone.

"What he does is legendary-type stuff," Houston Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said Monday night after McGrady scored 14 points in the last 11 minutes of a game neither team seemed to want to win.

All that talent. And all those years still in front of him.

"I saw it. But I didn't see it at 22," Cleveland Cavaliers coach John Lucas said. "I saw it maybe at 25."

NOT ENOUGH WINS

McGrady may have to wait until his 25th birthday, if not later, to take home the league's top individual award. The last MVP younger than 25 was Moses Malone in 1979. Malone won it again three years later, the last time a player on a team with less than 50 wins has been so honored.

And not since a then-25-year-old Michael Jordan was the leading vote-getter in 1988 has an MVP come from a team that didn't win its division.

"Michael had to be very good that year, right? So is Tracy," Rivers said.

But so is Kidd. So is Tim Duncan. So is Shaquille O'Neal, who went eight years before getting the full measure of respect he had sought.

Through no fault of his own, McGrady is waging a one-man campaign. Not for votes, but to get the Magic further in the playoffs than at any time since Shaq left for Los Angeles.

"If Orlando was winning its division, he's a solid candidate for MVP," Lucas said. "He's a solid candidate anyway. But I don't think enough wins are there."

You win some, you lose some. Better luck next year.

fpliii

05-14-2013, 10:21 AM

On Amare:

ROOKIE SENSATION: TURNING HEADS EARLY
Columbian, The (Vancouver, WA) - Saturday, October 19, 2002
PHOENIX -- The oohs and ahs are building for 19-year-old Amare Stoudemire after just four preseason games.

"He's going to wind up being a great player," Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich said after watching the Phoenix Suns' rookie score 17 points and grab 11 rebounds against the Rockets on Thursday night.

As the No. 9 pick in the draft out of Cypress Creek High in Orlando, Fla., Stoudemire was the only high school player selected in the first round.

But unlike most players who go directly from high school to the NBA, Stoudemire is showing he can make an immediate impact he's averaging 10.5 points and 6.8 rebounds and he's only going to get better.

"I've learned more this preseason than I did in my whole life in basketball," Stoudemire said.

Some high in the Phoenix organization say Stoudemire could turn out to be the best player the franchise ever drafted, which includes standouts like Jeff Hornacek (1986) and Dan Majerle (1988).

"He's very special," Suns owner Jerry Colangelo said.

Tomjanovich , Suns coach Frank Sanders and Penny Hardaway all compared Stoudemire to "a young Shawn Kemp." Johnson added "a young Moses Malone" to the mix, especially the way he carries himself on the court.

At 6-foot-10 and a muscular 245-pounds, Stoudemire has boundless energy, remarkable coordination and quickness around the hoop. He usually is the first player down the court.

He is raw, though. He didn't start playing basketball until he was 14, and in the three high schools he attended, he received virtually no coaching. That hasn't stopped him from making a good impression.

"One thing that's obvious is he's not intimidated by anyone anywhere," said Bryan Colangelo, Suns president of basketball operations.

Five of Stoudemire's seven field goals Thursday night were monster dunks. He also hit a 10-foot bank shot off the dribble, and another short jumper. Near the end of the first half, he tossed up an awkward shot in the side of the backboard, but grabbed the rebound and slammed it.

"I forgot the play," he said. "But I studied it at halftime."

In the second half, the Suns ran the same play, with Hardaway lobbing the ball toward the basket. Stoudemire soared to grab it in his right hand, balanced it there above the rim, then finished the play with a one-handed dunk.

"He'll make mistakes," teammate Tom Gugliotta said. "But the kid can flat play."

Hardaway said Stoudemire's big hands and ability to catch the ball remind him of the days when he was passing to Shaquille O'Neal in Orlando.

Tomjanovich said the Rockets "knew he was a dynamo. He can hold his own with anybody physically. He's going to get you rebounds. He's going to get you the hustle stuff, then as the years go by, the finesse, the skill stuff, he'll get it."

Stoudemire is the youngest player on a very young team. Joe Johnson, Casey Jacobsen and Alton Ford are 21. Stephon Marbury and Shawn Marion are 24.

The rookie admits he still has much to learn.

"The game is a lot faster," Stoudemire said. "Guys are a lot stronger. I'm just going to be a student of the game and learn as much as I can."

Stoudemire always has been the solid foundation of his family. His father died when he was 12. His older brother is in a New York prison on drug and sex-abuse convictions. His mother has spent time in jail on drug and theft charges, but has turned her life around and will move to Phoenix to be with him. Stoudemire's younger brother already is there. Through it all, he seems remarkably mature and not pressured to live up to expectations.

"This is my dream," he said. "I'm just trying to live up to it."

He is, remember, a rookie.

"Yeah, I have to bring doughnuts to practice," he said.

and Barry:

NOT NEW, JUST WORSE - IN '78, BARRY CHASED FAN TO SCARE, NOT ATTACK
New York Post (NY) - Sunday, November 28, 2004
A FEW days after the riot at Auburn Hills, the name Rick Barry came up. Then it struck me: I had seen the future. It was all there, that night, Dec. 20, 1978, back when the NBA and other sports were still sold mostly as sports and nothing more. Or less.

It was one of those nights. It was even the night when I'd first file a story through a bulky, futuristic contraption, what I now recognize as a primitive laptop. I was 26, assigned by The Post to cover the pre-Meadowlands Nets, a bad team that played in the Rutgers Athletic Center, typically in front of 5,000 people.

On this Friday night, the Nets would play the Houston Rockets - Barry, Moses Malone, Rudy Tomjanovich , Calvin Murphy, Robert Reid, Mike Dunleavy, Mike Newlin. Bernard King was the Nets' rising star. This would be his first game since he'd been arrested, four days earlier, for drunken driving and cocaine possession.

During the introduction of the starting lineups, when King's intro brought a tepid response from the assembled crowd, Nets' radio man and head cheerleader John Sterling got into the act. From his courtside position, Sterling rose, gesturing to the crowd to give King a standing ovation.

Slowly, remarkably - bizarrely - the crowd began to respond, more than half of it rising to applaud King.

Then, as the national anthem played, Rockets coach Tom Nissalke stormed over to Sterling and chewed him out. (Nissalke would explain that the NBA was beginning to suffer from a proliferation of selfish players, players on drugs and just plain bad guys, thus he was infuriated by Sterling's pandering.)

At halftime, a coterie of barely clothed, barely legal Philadelphia Eagles' cheerleaders hit the court and began a synchronized mating dance. They were there at the behest of CBS, which was taping their performance for an NFL feature. The Nets got a free halftime show. This was before the NBA regularly threw sex into the mix. Many in the crowd leered and gleefully hooted. "Wooo!"

A woman, a regular whom I'd gotten to know, walked up to me at press row. She was steamed. She pointed to the dancers. "What does this have to do with basketball?"

The Nets stayed close, but with Barry's fabulous one-touch passes leading to layups, the Nets lost, 108-105. For all the ugly stuff, basketball had won out. Barry had made this an Art Appreciation Night. But a kid, no older than 15, didn't see it that way. As the Rockets filed off, the kid stood in front of the first row of seats. As Barry passed, the kid made a megaphone with his hands, leaned forward and from about eight feet away, hollered, "Barry, you [bleep bleep]!"

Barry bolted into the stands, chasing the kid. He didn't get far as he tripped over spectators. Murphy and Malone followed. Murphy and a fan shoved each other. A woman in the stands sat sobbing, holding her head. The kid vanished.

Later, with the arena now mostly empty, Barry, Nets' GM Charlie Theokas and the aggrieved woman and her husband slipped into a room, just off the press room. I eavesdropped. It was back to the future:

"Rick, you've been in this league too long for this to happen," said Theokas.

"You've got animal fans," said Barry. "And if you had the right protection, things like this wouldn't happen."

"What'd the kid do, curse you? Big deal."

Later, Barry addressed the press: "I was wrong, and [the youth] was wrong. He was a little kid; I wouldn't have touched him."

Wednesday, I spoke with Barry, now 60 and living in Colorado. He said that what then seemed aberrational is now a matter of promise, that incivility is now party to the party, a reasonable result.

"My intent that night was to scare the fear of God into that kid. What was I going to do, hit a kid? I was shocked to hear that out of a kid. He got right up to me and cursed me. Why?

"Today? Well, it's not unexpected.

"You know that woman sued me [for assault]. She claimed that what happened had affected her sex life. It was crazy. My insurance company paid her $30,000."

That kid, today, is about 40. Wonder if he has kids. Wonder if he has done a number on them or whether he left that to everyone else.

sportjames23

05-14-2013, 10:23 AM

"I played against the greatest centers in the world, and I wouldn't trade that time for anything," Robertson said. "Look at all those guys who are in the Hall of Fame and the competition they provided on the floor - Russell, Chamberlain, Nate Thurmond, Walt Bellamy. You just can't replace that."

Maybe you'd have more rings if you played the era of "not many great players", Oscar. :oldlol:

This dude was always a hater. Hates on MJ, but props Kobe and Lebron. :rolleyes:

fpliii

05-14-2013, 10:24 AM

Erving/Bird fight:

ERVING AND BIRD ASSESSED $7,500 EACH TOTAL FINES FOR FIRDAY'S FIGHT: $30,500
Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA) - Wednesday, November 14, 1984
Julius Erving of the 76ers and Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics, the principal participants in Friday night's bench-clearing brawl in Boston Garden, were fined $7,500 each yesterday by the National Basketball Association.

Scotty Stirling, league operations director, said in a letter to Bird that the Boston forward was clearly the aggressor and instigator in the third- quarter fight, but he also told Erving in another letter that "your continuation of the incident by punching Bird escalated an already serious situation."

Brian McIntyre, NBA public relations director, said the individual fines on Bird and Erving were the second-largest in league history, behind the $10,000 fine levied in 1977 against Kermit Washington of the Los Angeles Lakers. Washington, who also was suspended for 60 days, slugged Houston's Rudy Tomjanovich and broke several bones in his face.

In the wake of Friday's brawl, the NBA also fined Sixers center Moses Malone and Boston reserve swingman M. L. Carr $3,000 each for their participation in the fight. Charles Barkley, the Sixers' rookie forward, was fined $1,000.

The NBA also fined Sixers coach Billy Cunningham $2,500 for his part in the fight and postgame comments that the league found "highly inflammatory."

Twelve other players, all of whom were on the bench when the fight erupted with 1 minute, 38 seconds left in the third period, were given automatic fines of $500 for leaving the bench during a fight. Those players were Marc Iavaroni, Clemon Johnson, Bobby Jones, Clint Richardson, Sedale Threatt and Sam Williams of the Sixers, and Danny Ainge, Rick Carlisle, Carlos Clark, Dennis Johnson, Greg Kite and Scott Wedman of the Celtics.

McIntyre said the total $30,500 in fines on the 18 participants was believed to be the largest aggregate fine imposed in NBA history.

Only Sixers guards Maurice Cheeks and rookie Leon Wood, both of whom were playing when the fight erupted, escaped among the Philadelphia players. Andrew Toney was injured and not at the game.

Of the Celtics, none of Bird's on-court teammates was fined, nor was Celtics center Robert Parish, who never left the bench.

Broken down, the fine to Erving represents a little more than half of the salary he receives per regular-season game, which is believed to be about $14,600. The fine levied against Bird represents more than one-third of his per-game salary, which is believed to be about $24,400.

The fight between Erving and Bird erupted shortly after Bird was called for an offensive foul against Erving. On the play, the Boston forward threw an elbow, which missed Erving, and then tumbled to the floor.

Back upcourt on the ensuing sequence, Erving slipped his arm around Bird's waist in what appeared to be a conciliatory gesture, but Bird responded by throwing a punch that missed. Erving retaliated by grabbing Bird's throat, then throwing three punches that hit Bird squarely in the face. Both benches immediately emptied.

Erving and Bird were ejected from the game, which the Celtics won, 130-119.

NBA security director Jack Joyce conducted an investigation of the incident by reviewing videotapes and interviewing the principal players and coaches involved.

Shortly after noon yesterday, Stirling wrote to Erving and Bird to inform them of the penalties.

In his letter to Bird, Stirling said Bird was "clearly the aggressor, the instigator of a melee which eventually involved a number of players and coaches. . . . Had you not confronted Erving in such a manner after the offensive foul, the reaction which saw you held and punches thrown at you would not have occurred."

To Erving, Stirling wrote that "while recognizing that Bird was the aggressor and the instigator, your continuation of the incident by punching Bird escalated an already serious situation."

Stirling also issued warnings to Erving and Bird.

"Involvement in any further conduct of this manner will result in even more severe penalties, including suspension."

Erving had no comment about the fine after it was announced, but yesterday morning, after the Sixers' regular practice at St. Joseph's University, he spoke about the incident:

"I wasn't that upset until I saw the videotape," Erving said. "I didn't even realize that he'd tried to elbow me before he fell. . . . That's what Billy had gotten so upset about. And then, watching the tape, I saw what he (Bird) was so upset about. He fell on his face. And I had just acknowledged the call of the offensive foul and I ran back downcourt, and I didn't even look behind me. I didn't see, until I saw the tape, that he'd fallen on his face and that he'd tried to elbow me. That let me know why he was mad, because I didn't even understand why he was mad when he came running all the way down the court."

Erving said he hoped he and Bird would be able to reconcile any differences.

"We've never had a great personal relationship," Erving said, "but we've had a great professional relationship, and I don't anticipate that changing too much. I may be wrong, but I don't anticipate any change. Not on my part, anyway."

Erving also said he was not upset at the unusually heavy public interest in the incident.

"I respect the focus (of the media)," he said, "since anything that's out of character is newsworthy, and this is definitely out of character. Not in the game itself, but for the players who were involved - Larry, and particularly me, to be involved."

Cunningham, who after the game said he might consider ordering a Sixer to begin a fight with Bird the next time the teams meet, apologized for the remark yesterday.

"After thinking about what my response was, that we would bring somebody off the bench, well, we're not going to play basketball like that," Cunningham said. "I was obviously a little upset, but I've never coached a player since I've been coaching to go out and start a fight or hurt somebody during the course of a game."

Malone said through team spokesman Harvey Pollack that he would have no comment on the fine, although earlier in the day Malone told reporters, "I don't think I should be fined at all."

In Boston, Bird also said he would have no comment. Asked if he had a comment on Erving's reaction, Bird said, "I don't care what Julius says, do you?"

Carr, who along with Malone was assessed the second-highest fine in the incident, said he would appeal through the league office. "I thought it was excessive," Carr said. "I'll appeal. . . . Maybe they went by previous press clips."

Carr said he also disagreed with the league's ruling that Bird, who had scored 42 points before the fight broke out, was the instigator.

"I thought Larry was the instigator in terms of the way he was playing," Carr said. "It was clear the way Larry was going they had to do something to stop him."

Boston coach K. C. Jones said, "To say Larry was clearly the aggressor, I clearly disagree with."

fpliii

05-14-2013, 10:25 AM

Kobe/LeBron:

IT'S INEVITABLE - THERE'S JUST NO AVOIDING KOBE-LEBRON
New York Post (NY) - Wednesday, May 20, 2009
LET'S hope the ultimate battles for the Eastern Bloc and Spaghetti Western are competitive enough to keep Billy Packer from coming over and turning off my TV.

What did we learn from Sunday's pair of 19-point Game 7 blowouts that might translate into the conference finals?

1) The Lakers, lathered in lethargy for prolonged periods in Houston, had best sharpen their approach in Games 3, 4 and 6 in Denver or face the prospects of Rudy Tomjanovich retaking control of the sidelines. First player to admit the biggest betweengames adjustment in his or the team's performance was increased aggressiveness earns a beat-down to the 10th power.

The Purple Feign did win three of four meetings with Denver during the regular season, but, as we've learned - and despite nitwork TV's continued quest to bury 'em - these are no longer your father's sheepherders. Lakers fans might want to postpone their shopping; George Karl's crusty cattle cowboys are stormin' down Rodeo Drive. Impossible so far to pen up or pin down, they're meaner and tougher than LA, shoot better on the run and from out on the range and flaunt unflustered Chauncey Billups.

That's enough to win.

Then again, in the other corner, LA has Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Zen Hen and luxurious length across the front and home court and the promising zaftig market pull of The Black Mamba vs. LeBrontosaurus Rex; surely that's worth a few critical points somewhere, somehow.

As usual, it all comes down to this: Will Kobe defend and initiate offense through the bigs or does he take jumpers with 18 seconds left on the shot clock and "defer" to Derek Fisher or Jordan Farmar to defend Billups down the stretch.

As usual, it's all about Kobe and his willingness to stay in the fold to WIN-not to look good.

PREDICTION: Lakers in six

2) The Magic - who should have won their best-of-7 series vs. Boston six games to one - need to build cushions so comfy even Stan Van Gundy's untimely harangues can't suck the life out of his players.

Like the Lakers, Orlando was subject to stretched siestas in the second round. Still, it has to be buoyed by beating the Cavaliers twice at home - by 11 and 29 points, by far the Cavs' worst defeat until the regular season became meaningless. Forty-eight points from James were required to dispose of the Magic in OT for the Cavs' lone win.

If the Cavs represent Lake Erie, the Magic symbolize Lake Superior. Despite the absence of AllStar playmaker/mid-range jumpshooter Jameer Nelson, Dwight Howard's overall team may very well be better than LeBron's league-leading outfit.

Orlando showcases the Defensive Player of the Year in Howard, excellent equilibrium, a profusion of off-shore depositors, a legit post-up presence in Rashard Lewis, who wishes he were as dangerous from beyond the arc of least resistance, and a doubledouble threat (points and assists) in Hedo Turkoglu.

At the same time, Orlando will be hard pressed to defend LeBron with rookie Courtney Lee, James' favorite counselor two summers ago at his Akron camp. The Ohio Players boast ample size and artillery to keep Howard busy, bushed and unbalanced. And they've got Mo Williams. And home court. And you know Anderson Varejao is going to tango regularly with Howard. To overcome all of the above, Howard must focus almost exclusively on scoring off teammates' misses, and Slap To My Lou's brain drain attacks must significantly subside.

"When Dwight stops making commercials and starts reading Low-Post Moves for Dummies, he's gonna be something," column contributor Dino DiPietro submits. "Why he chooses to fade away from eight feet instead of going straight to the halo is . . . oh, wait a second, Patrick Chewing is mentoring him. That explains it. Maybe next training camp Orlando brass should arrange a special guest appearance from Moses Malone."

fpliii

05-14-2013, 10:26 AM

40 Bigges Villains in (then) Cavs History:

Rogues gallery: The villains The biggest bad guy? Well, Jordan of course
Plain Dealer, The (Cleveland, OH) - Wednesday, March 10, 2010
CAVALIERS BASKETBALL: 40 YEARS

Well, what did you expect?

Naming Michael Jordan the Cavaliers' top antagonist of all-time was almost as easy as selecting LeBron James as the top Cavs player of all-time.

For all the cumulative damage Jordan did to the Cavs throughout his career, nothing crushed the franchise like The Shot - over an outstretched Craig Ehlo - that gave the Chicago Bulls a 101-100 victory in the deciding Game 5 of the first-round of the Eastern Conference playoffs on May 7, 1989. That shot, and the game, propelled Jordan and the Bulls into the stratosphere.

Neither they, nor the Cavs, were the same again. It was Cleveland's misfortune to field some of its best teams as Jordan was at his greatest.

"You look at the top 10 players on our team and then compare them to the their top 10 and we were the better team," Wayne Embry, the Cavs GM from 1986 to '96, recently told The Plain Dealer's Terry Pluto. "But they had greatness.

"It's just so hard to beat greatness."

The great Jordan leads the Top 40 antagonists, the third category in a series celebrating the Cavaliers' 40th season.

Originally, this category was the Top 40 opponents. But while top opponents could be a list of the best players to face the Cavs - like, say, Wilt Chamberlain, although he was nearing the end of his career when the Cavs entered the league - we wanted to compile a list of players who really got under the skin of the Cavs or their fans. Once again, the word "top" is purposefully vague enough to justify almost anything.

As we did in selecting the Top 40 games in Cavs history in January and the Top 40 players in February, Plain Dealer sportswriters Mary Schmitt Boyer, Dennis Manoloff and Mike Peticca, who combined have followed the team for a total of almost 90 years, collected nominations from our colleagues and then ranked them. Helping us in the process were Deputy Sports Editor Mike Starkey, Plain Dealer Reader Representative (and former sports editor) Ted Diadiun, columnist Bill Livingston, retired Plain Dealer reporter Burt Graeff and former Cavs beat writer Elton Alexander.

Some antagonists were selected on the basis of career achievement, some for a single incident, some on general principle. If there were a team category, the Detroit Pistons would have been the clear winners.

As in the previous stories, there are no right or wrong selections. Fans are encouraged to express their opinions and suggestions for the Top 40 antagonists on cleveland.com.

1. Michael Jordan

Has three of the top scoring games of all-time against the Cavs, including his personal-best 69 points in a Bulls overtime victory on March 28, 1990. But it's The Shot Clevelanders hold against him most - and he knows it.

A recent story about a couple of games of H-O-R-S-E that Jordan, now the owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, played against Charlotte rookie Gerald Henderson contained the following exchange:

"You've got to miss eventually," Henderson told Jordan.

"That's what Cleveland said," Jordan replied.

2. Rick Mahorn

He nearly decapitated Mark Price with an elbow to the head during a game Feb. 28, 1989. Mahorn was fined $5,000 for the hit, but not suspended, while Price suffered a severe concussion - one of many injuries that factored into the Cavs' surrender of the five-game conference lead they had built. Cavs fans were not alone in their distaste for Mahorn. The late Johnny Most, legendary Celtics play-by-play voice, nicknamed Mahorn and Jeff Ruland "McFilthy and McNasty," interchangeable nicknames when they played for the then Washington Bullets.

3. Rasheed Wallace

He elbowed Zydrunas Ilgauskas in the head, drawing blood, during a regular-season game in 2006. Wallace was fined $5,000 for the hit. Old-timers were upset that not only did none of Ilgauskas' teammates retaliate - in fact, it was Ilgauskas who finally hip-checked Wallace as payback in the next matchup that season - but LeBron James actually joked with Wallace during pregame warmups before that rematch. That led to the memorable "Sheed Must Bleed" rallying cry from Cavs fans, although the Pistons used it for inspiration to win a second-round playoff series that season in seven games.

4. Carlos Boozer

With a nickname like "Booz," how can you not root against the guy who turned his back on the Cavs after they allowed him to become a free agent, thinking he would re-sign with the team? That'll teach 'em. Injuries have kept him from playing a lot against the Cavs in Cleveland, but when he does, the fans still let him have it.

5. DeShawn Stevenson

Please don't make us rehash the entire Soulja Boy thing. Suffice it to say, Stevenson made a general nuisance of himself in three straight years of first-round playoff matchups between the Cavs and Wizards from 2006 to '08 - all won by the Cavs. But he was all talk. He never had the game to back it up.

6. Charles Barkley

He's so big, he makes the list in two categories - as a player and a television analyst. It wasn't bad enough that he once leveled Craig Ehlo during a playoff game in 1990, averaging 25.6 points and

14 rebounds as Philadelphia won the series. He also has been a constant critic of the Cavs in his role on TNT, which earns him a rousing reception anytime the studio crew visits. He seems to have become a LeBron James fan, but that hasn't been enough to win Cavs fans over just yet.

7. George McCloud

He sucker-punched John Battle outside the Cavs' locker room after the Cavs' 119-115 overtime victory over the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 22, 1992. The two had tussled during the fourth quarter of the game. Battle, who was six inches shorter and 40 pounds lighter than McCloud, reportedly went looking for a 2x4 to retaliate after McCloud's punch, bringing a whole new meaning to the phrase "grabbing a board." McCloud was fined $10,000 and suspended for a game.

7a. In an aside, Indiana coach Bob Hill reportedly got into a shoving match with then-Cavs coach Lenny Wilkens during the McCloud-Battle dust up, then complained he was not well-received when he went to the Cavs' locker room to apologize for the whole incident. Really?

8. Allen Iverson

It started his rookie season when the media named him MVP of the Rookie Game during All-Star Weekend festivities in Cleveland in 1997, when fans wanted Kobe Bryant to win the honor. Iverson never forgot the slight and played some of his greatest games here. Iverson twice scored 50 or more points against Cleveland and owns the arena record with 54 points.

9. Bill Laimbeer

OK, here's the first guy on the list for general principle. He was nominated as "one of the goons in the Detroit gang." He baited the normally placid Brad Daugherty into throwing a punch during a Cavs' 80-79 victory at Detroit on Jan. 27, 1989. Laimbeer became an All-Star with the Pistons after playing his first one and a half seasons with the Cavs.

10. Paul Pierce

Has a long and snippy history with the Cavs that pre-dates the shootout duel with LeBron James in the Celtics' ouster of the Cavs in Game 7 of the 2008 Eastern Conference semifinals. In fact, it goes all the way back to a preseason game in Columbus in 2004 when James and Pierce went at each other in the game and after it - no doubt in part because Pierce spit in the direction of the Cavs' bench during the game.

11. Norm Van Lier

Fans turned on him after he criticized the Cavs in the mid-'70s, just as the team was starting to improve.

12. Hedo Turkoglu

He was the biggest reason the Orlando Magic were able to defeat the Cavs in the Eastern Conference finals last season, when their best season came to a crashing halt a series short. The Cavs never found an answer for him on the court and never could wipe that smirk off his face.

13. Larry Bird

Cavs fans chanted, "We want Bird" during a 105-98 playoff victory that Bird missed with an injury. They got him the next game, as he put up 34 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists to eliminate the Cavs in four games of the best-of-five first-round series in 1985. He averaged 24.2 points and nearly 10 rebounds and six assists against the Cavs in his career, which ended in Cleveland's 122-104 home victory over Boston in a 1992 conference semifinal Game 7.

14. Dennis Rodman

He tormented the Cavs with two hated foes: the Pistons and the Bulls. In addition to killing the Cavs on the boards like he did with every team, he was assigned to rough up Larry Nance on the perimeter. It often worked, throwing Nance off his game and causing him to press. Rodman once greeted reporters visiting the postgame locker room wearing one of those masks Jason wore in the movie "Halloween."

15. Elvin Hayes

In 66 games against the Cavs, he averaged 21.3 points and 12 rebounds. He was one of Washington's stars during the Miracle of Richfield. Famously, he missed key free throws in two Bullets losses to Cleveland in the classic 1976 playoff series. But, he was the main reason the Bullets were close. He averaged 20.5 points, 13.6 rebounds and 3.6 blocked shots in 10 career playoff games against the Cavs.

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05-14-2013, 10:27 AM

continued...

16. JoJo White

He averaged 19.3 points and 5.4 assists in 42 games against the Cavs. Mostly he hit big shots, in-

cluding late-game daggers among his 29 points in the Celtics' 1976 playoff series clincher over the Cavs.

17. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Until Jordan came along, he had the two biggest games against the Cavs, twice scoring 53 for the Milwaukee Bucks. He finished his long Bucks/Lakers career with averages of 26.3 points and 11.4 rebounds against Cleveland - and countless defensive stops. Incidentally, he scored 42 in the Lakers' quadruple overtime loss to the Cavs on Jan. 29, 1980, recently named No. 1 in the recent Top 40 poll of all-time Cavs games.

18. Isiah Thomas

See Bill Laimbeer. He was nominated for being the "sneaky leader of the Detroit thugs." Besides often beating the Cavs with his scoring, his 619 career assists against Cleveland tops every Cavs opponent.

19. Shaquille O'Neal

Face it, the guy was a load whether he was playing for Orlando, Los Angeles, Miami or Phoenix. If he wasn't tough enough to handle physically, he also loved to get into a war of words. After Horace Grant punched Danny Ferry in a game in Orlando on April 10, 1996 - earning a $5,000 fine and a one-game suspension - O'Neal defended his teammate by saying, "There's two kinds of dirty: dirty and sewer dirty. Danny Ferry is sewer dirty and has been ever since he was at Duke." Of course, now that Ferry's his boss, O'Neal always refers to him as "the great Danny Ferry."

20. Scottie Pippen

Everyone remembers his scoring and rebounding, but where he really hurt the Cavs was when he, along with Jordan, double-teamed Mark Price on the perimeter. Price, at 6-0, could not see over the two to run a play. Coach Phil Jackson saved this tactic for the playoffs, especially Game 3 of the 1992 conference finals, as the move keyed an easy Bulls victory after

the Cavs' 107-81 rout of the Bulls in Chicago in Game 2.

21. George Gervin

He helped dash fans' hopes that had been raised after the Miracle of Richfield. When the Spurs entered the NBA in 1976-77, Gervin was the main reason Cleveland had so much trouble beating San Antonio. In 32 games against the Cavs, he averaged 27.4 points per game. From 1976 to '79, the Cavs won just two of 10 matchups with the Spurs - both in the first season.

22. Kobe Bryant

He has four rings, the Cavs have none. Enough said. He's James' No. 1 rival as the best player in the league, although he doesn't always play as well against James and the Cavs as he does against other teams.

23. Dave Cowens

He demolished the Cavs with his relentless hustle and physical play around the basket. Especially irritating was the sense that he seemed to have the referees on his side. Most distressing for Cleveland fans was his 1976 playoff series when he averaged 18 points, 15.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists as Boston won in six games.

24. Spencer Haywood

Had a ton of great games against the Cavs, including a 48-point performance for Seattle on Jan. 7, 1972. He hit a jump shot with one second left to lift New York to a 109-107 victory and a two-game sweep of the Cavs in the best-of-three first round series in 1978.

25. Charles Oakley

A tough, muscular Cleveland native who always seemed primed for his hometown team, especially when his Bulls topped the Cavs in a 1988 playoff series, and when he helped the Knicks oust Cleveland from the 1995 and 1996 playoffs. He owns the opponent record for rebounds in a game with 35 in a Cavs' 107-103 victory at Chicago on April 22, 1988. In 64 games against the Cavs, he averaged 10.5 rebounds.

26. Patrick Ewing

He averaged 22.8 points in 47 regular-season games against the Cavs, and 18.4 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.3 blocked shots in the Knicks' 1995 and 1996 playoff series wins against Cleveland. The fact that he's now tutoring Orlando center Dwight Howard as a Magic assistant coach doesn't help.

27. Gilbert Arenas

Though supplanted recently by the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic, for several years the Washington Wizards were the Cavs' biggest rivals and Arenas was their best player (sorry, Antawn Jamison). He had 45 points against the Cavs in a regular-season game at Washington on Nov. 18, 2006, and he scored 44 in a 121-120 Cavs overtime victory in Game 5 of a first-round playoff series on May 3, 2006. In Game 6, you may recall James whispering in Arenas' ear just before Arenas missed two crucial free throws in the closing seconds of the Cavs' series deciding 114-113 victory.

28. Pete Maravich

With his scoring - averaging 24.7 points a game against Cleveland - and peerless passing, he was often the main reason his good Hawks teams beat the Cavs, and often the only reason his inferior New Orleans Jazz teams played the Cavs tough.

29. Reggie Miller

It's not so much the 1,290 points he scored against the Cavs - the seventh-most by any opponent - it's the way he got so many of them, swishing long-range jumpers in crunch time with a certain air of arrogance.

30. Karl Malone

He got booed during the 1997 All-Star Game in Cleveland and when he was introduced as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history during the weekend festivities because fans thought he dissed Cleveland heading into the game. Asked 10 days earlier about playing in the game, Malone told the

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "I want to go, stay healthy and get the hell out of Cleveland. My wife and kids are going to leave for the airport in the third quarter." After the game, he said: "All I said was the truth. I was asked if I would rather be here or somewhere else, and I didn't lie. I guess they thought I was ripping on Cleveland. I wasn't. They must have been looking for someone to boo." Of course, as half of the potent Malone-John Stockton combination that gave everybody fits in those days, Cavs fans had basketball reasons to boo him, too.

30a. Though he didn't get booed that weekend, Stockton always was a headache for Cavs fans, running the pick-and-roll to perfection with Malone and somehow managing to get a cheap shot in here and there as well. He shares the opponent record for most assists with 22 in an overtime game at Utah on Dec. 11, 1989. Magic Johnson set the mark with 22 assists for the Lakers on Nov. 17, 1983.

31. Dwyane Wade

His memorable head-to-head duels with James are classics, but as long as the Cavs are coming out with the victories he's not the villain some of these other guys are. Competition really started with a shootout in a Cavs 106-99 win on April 1, 2006, when James finished with 47 points (18 in the fourth quarter) and Wade scored 44 (21 in the fourth), a game voted No. 3 in the recent Top 40 poll of all-time Cavs games. There have been many memorable rematches, but head-to-head, James is 13-9 against Wade, who has averaged 27.6 points in 22 career games against Cleveland.

32. Kevin McHale

The man Charles Barkley said was maybe his toughest opponent showed Cavs fans why. His stifling low-post defense and clutch rebounding were more important against the Cavs than his 18-point scoring average.

33. Dwight Howard

To paraphrase Shaquille O'Neal, "Superman, my butt." Howard helped the Magic bounce the top-seeded Cavs from the 2009 Eastern Conference finals and was criticized by O'Neal earlier this season for making off with his nickname. The rivalry with the Magic could replace that with the Celtics, depending on how the rest of this season goes.

34. Moses Malone

His 1,558 regular-season points are second to Jordan's 1,977 against the Cavs, and his 908 rebounds are first.

35. Wes Unseld

He averaged 14 rebounds, clogged the middle defensively and helped the Bullets' offense purr against the Cavs with his deft interior passing.

36. Derrick Coleman

It wasn't his fault New Jersey lost two playoff series to the Cavs, as he averaged 24.8 points, 13.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists in nine games - all double doubles except for a 24-point, nine-rebound game. At one point in the 1993 series, Hot Rod Williams mentioned to a teammate that Coleman could really go to his left. The teammate replied, "Hot Rod, that's because he's left-handed."

37. Dominique Wilkins

Averaged 24 points in 58 games against the Cavs, who had several good defenders that just couldn't find a way to contain him.

38. Rudy Tomjanovich

The Cavs had four pretty good teams from 1974 to '78, but they were just 9-12 against the Houston Rockets, in large part because of Rudy T's clutch scoring and rugged rebounding. He averaged 19.1 points in his career against Cleveland.

39. Tiny Archibald

Whether he was with bad, average or powerful teams - like the early 1980s Celtics - he usually made the Cavs dizzy with his waterbug play, averaging 19 points and 7.7 assists against them, and wreaking havoc at the defensive end.

40. Bob Lanier

He averaged 19.3 points and did a lot of other good things against the Cavs in spite of the constant pain in his knees. Cavs fans didn't feel sorry for him, especially after some roughhousing with beloved and aging Cavs center Nate Thurmond, whom he once got in a headlock - and twisted.

Also considered

Rafer Alston, Carmelo Anthony, Rick Barry, Bruce Bowen, Adrian Dantley, Ricky Davis, Joe Dumars, Manu Ginobili, John Havlicek, Bernard King, Vernon Maxwell, Mikki Moore, Mike Newlin, Robert Parish, Tony Parker, John Paxson, Buck Williams.

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05-14-2013, 10:28 AM

Artest:

UNOFFICIAL SCORER - Artest acquisition spurs closer analysis
Houston Chronicle (TX) - Sunday, August 3, 2008
At the Rockets' core were two guys who'd been there for years, both tremendous talents, the faces of the franchise.

But after a season in which one of those players suffered a serious injury that cost him much of the season, the team was going nowhere.

Even with the duo for more than 20 points a game apiece the previous season, the team was stuck in a rut. They'd gone a decade without any real postseason success.

Scenario not unique

So in the offseason, the team goes out and adds another veteran who'd eclipsed the 20 point per game mark the season before. But they still hang on to the first two, the faces of the franchise, in an effort to win now with a team packed with veteran stars.

Sound familiar?

"Of course it does," you'll say. "Anyone with half an eye on Houston sports news knows that this just went down last week, as Ron Artest brought his 20 points per game to join Yao's 22 and Tracy McGrady's 22 and try to bring life to the successful but stagnant Rockets."

But then a quieter, older and wiser voice comes from the back of the room.

"Of course it does," says the voice.

"But it wasn't this week. It was 30 years ago."

"And one more thing," the voice continues. "It was the biggest one-year improvement in Rockets team history."

Once before in Rockets history has the team brought in a player coming off a 20 point per game season to join two others coming off the same. And yes the circumstances had some similarities.

No help on bottom line

Thirty years ago last season, they were Calvin Murphy and Rudy Tomjanovich , who had been the top scorers at 25.6 and 21.5 points per game.

It was a Rockets team that, however, even with Moses Malone grabbing 15 boards per game to go with 19.4 points, went just 28-54, the second worst season in the team's history in Houston.

So that's not a similarity, as the Rockets of last year went 55-27, for their third best regular season.

But the Rockets are hoping that what happens when they bring in Ron Artest will be similar to what happened when the Rockets went out in the 1978 offseason and landed Rick Barry. Barry, 34, was coming off a full season of 82 games for the Warriors, averaging 22.6 points per game.

Better without Rudy T?

The Rockets had their best ever improvement in a one-season span, going from 28-54, when Tomjanovich missed much of the season when Kermit Washington punched him, to 47-35 with a playoff berth.

And it was the new guy who saw the biggest change in his role, as Barry settled into a role as the fourth offensive option behind Malone, Murphy and Tomjanovich , averaging just 13.5 points per game but playing a huge part in that playoff run.

How well Artest is able to blend in to a team with franchise players is yet to be seen.

But if he succeeds, there is definitely precedent for how well an addition to an established core can work for the Rockets.

Barkley's Retirement:

Call it quite a career Who needs a ring? Barkley's had a lot of fun
The Kansas City Star - Friday, December 10, 1999
Charles Barkley's NBA career really began with the Olympic tryouts in 1984, when the Round, 282-Pound, Mound of Rebound had such a great time terrorizing Bobby Knight and the whole deal.

He was the best player in the Olympic camp, since Michael Jordan was on cruise control, but Knight cut him anyway, on general principles, although he waited until the press corps left town.

Barkley reportedly precipitated it by asking His Highness why he was late for a meeting, insisting later he didn't care, he had already impressed the pro scouts, which was why he had come.

So we were off, on one of the more memorable NBA careers anyone ever had, with or without championship rings.

There were lots of embarrassments: The child Barkley spat on accidentally when he aimed at a heckler; the man he threw through a plate-glass window on purpose in a bar fight; the Angolan whose skinny chest he elbowed at the '92 Olympics, after which he claimed, ``I thought he had a spear.''

Mostly, however, he was fun, which made him a beloved throwback in the '90s when everyone got so rich and started taking themselves so seriously.

He was fun to the end, limping into his news conference Wednesday night after rupturing a tendon in his leg in Philadelphia - find me another superstar who attends a news conference hours after suffering a career-ending injury - and announcing: ``Well, guys, I guess sex is definitely out of the question tonight.''

Hundreds of schleppers have championship rings, but the man who just bade us farewell was irreplaceable.

We never saw anything like Barkley before, so it would be an upset to see another.

Wes Unseld was a 6-foot-7, 300-pound sumo wrestler who could hip-check an opposing player into the parking lot. Barkley was 6-4 1/2, he used to note proudly, and trimmed himself down to 255 in his early years.

Like Unseld, Barkley was immensely powerful. Unlike Unseld, or any other mortal with their body type, Barkley could fly. It's one thing to see a gazelle like Kobe Bryant jump, but when a human safe like Barkley boinged off the floor, jaws dropped.

Charlie could also handle the ball and make plays like a point guard. He did it all, tearing the ball off the board, dribbling it up, going in for a dunk. (People tended not to try to take charges on him.) From the beginning, Barkley had a thing about authority (his father abandoned the family when Charles was young) but he was also a prankster on a lifelong crusade. As a rookie, he would look at the stats sheet, clamoring to see if he had outrebounded center Moses Malone, knowing Malone hated the competition.

At Barkley's peak, some people thought he was, heresy of heresies, as good as Jordan, whom he idolized. But Jordan was a better shooter and winning was everything to him. Barkley didn't have a jump shot when he turned pro, and to him, a game was just a game.

Once it was over, there were other places to go and people to see.

If you stick around long enough, you'll see everything and sure enough, at the end, Barkley was complaining about young players' beepers, cell phones and lack of focus. Somewhere, Malone must have been laughing his head off.

Typically, Barkley played the string out in Houston because he liked it, rather than leave for a better team and a shot at a championship. It was a down-home place and Coach Rudy Tomjanovich ran a loose ship.

When the sportswriters asked, as they do when they can't think of anything else, if his career would be complete without a ring, Barkley would be incredulous.

What were they, nuts?

He was a poor boy from the dirt streets of Leeds, Ala., who became rich and famous. Not winning a championship was supposed to cancel that out?

``I have nothing but 16 years of great memories,'' he said Wednesday night.

TRIBUTE TO CHARLES Charles Barkley made the All-Star game nine times, and he made it with each of the three teams he played for.

Starting a Sixer The Philadelphia 76ers drafted Barkley out of Auburn with the No. 5 overall pick in the 1984 draft.

Season Rpg Ppg 1984-85 8.6 14.0 1985-86 12.8 20.0 1986-87 14.6 23.0 1987-88 11.9 28.3 1988-89 12.5 25.8 1989-90 11.5 25.2 1990-91 10.1 27.6 1991-92 11.1 23.1

Totals w/Sixers 1984-92 11.6 23.3

Rising with the Suns Barkley was the league's MVP in 1992-93 with the Suns, who made it to the NBA finals but lost to Chicago.

Season Rpg Ppg 1992-93 12.2 25.6 1993-94 11.2 21.6 1994-95 11.1 23.0 1995-96 11.6 23.2

Totals w/Suns 1992-94 11.5 23.4

Crash landing with Rockets Barkley moved on to Houston, hoping to finally win a title, but Wednesday's knee injury ended his last chance.

Season Rpg Ppg 1996-97 13.5 19.2 1997-98 11.7 15.2 1999 12.3 16.1 1999-00 10.9 15.1

Totals w/Rockets 1996-00 12.3 16.6

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05-14-2013, 10:29 AM

Aging Rockets (3 more articles left after this):

Rockets fall in generation gap - Youngsters say world's changed
Houston Chronicle - Thursday, November 25, 1999
Meanwhile, over at the kiddie table. . . .

The older generation just doesn't get it. The world belongs to the young. The old folks in the dining room can't possibly understand.

Charles Barkley vented on Tuesday, describing the insolence of the new generation of NBA players and his frustration with what he has seen in the Rockets' locker room and practices as a means to release his burden.

On Wednesday, the cell-phone generation was not offended. But the younger Rockets also did not believe themselves exposed for a lack of priorities.

"Everybody was young at one time," Rockets second-year guard Cuttino Mobley said. "Some people forget they were young, forget the things they did when they were young.

"It didn't bother me," Mobley said of Barkley's criticism. "He wasn't talking about me."

Barkley did not say precisely whom he was talking about and did not list specific incidences. But he said cellular phones and pagers ring during meetings and that music videos instead of game tapes play before games.

"The only thing I'm frustrated by, I want these guys to understand there's a right way to do things and a wrong way to do things when I leave," Barkley said after Tuesday's win over the Mavericks. "I want them to know what's right and wrong so when I leave, at least I can sit at home and watch them."

By Wednesday, he said he said enough and hoped that the message was received even if he delivered it to alleviate his own frustration.

"I said what I had to say about that," Barkley said on Wednesday. "There's no need to rehash it. You only have to say something one time. They get it or they don't and it's over with.

"I said it because it was wearing me down. It's baggage I don't need. Wasted emotion is baggage. It just wears you down."

Teammates, however, said Barkley was upset needlessly. The omnipresent cellular phones, pagers and headphones, they said, are just a part of their generation and not a reflection on their attitude about their responsibilities.

"That's just normal type stuff," center Kelvin Cato said. "It's just part of technology. Sometimes some guys come in and don't cut them off before practice starts. I leave my phone in the car. I don't need it at practice. I don't think it represents a lack of focus. It's just somebody calling at the wrong time.

"When Chuck came in the league, I don't think there were pagers. Guys coming out of college now are so used to living the fast life more than when Chuck was young, though I think he lived the fast life, too, I guess.

"Chuck needs to look at it when he came into the league. He played with Julius Erving and Moses Malone. He had a lot of great figures ahead of him. He's trying to become the great figure for the guys that are here right now. I can imagine Dr. J and Moses Malone said the same thing about him when he came out of college. You got these other young guys coming from college trying to show what they can do. He's just trying to be the role model and father figure over this team that he needs to be."

Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich , meanwhile, celebrated his 51st birthday on Wednesday knowing he's been around long enough to know that every family has a little dysfunction, especially at the holidays.

Although assistant coach Jim Boylen had spoken with Barkley on Monday night and Tomjanovich met with him on Tuesday, Tomjanovich would say little about Barkley's discontent or his view of the latest generation of NBA players.

But he said his description of practices and meetings being disrupted by ringing cellular phones and pagers was overblown, and that he does not agree with the notion that there has been a lack of focus on the 3-10 team.

"One guy might have made a mistake and had one thing go off," Tomjanovich said. "He went and shut it off."

The problem, Tomjanovich said, is not unusual or insurmountable.

"There's always a generation gap," he said. "I mean, the rebels in that generation, their older generation looked at them and said, `What the heck do they know? And that music they're listening to.' But now, those guys who were rebels are looking down at these guys and saying, `What the heck is this?' It goes on and on. That's life.

"It keeps life interesting, the tolerance and acceptance of deals. Once we had a guy working here and he said, `Rudy, look at this guy with the earrings on. What do you think of that?' I said, I've got guys on my coaching staff that have earrings. The world has changed.' "

Barkley argued it has not changed for the better. There have been problems, Tomjanovich said, but they have not been atypical, or limited to the Rockets' youth.

But if anything, Tomjanovich said his team's work ethic has been excellent.

"It's one of the best we ever had," Tomjanovich said. "I've had things happen this year that never happened before with players opening up and asking for help and feeling they're going to get it here. On the day of the game, we have guys spending hours in hotel rooms with coaches trying to get better. They put in the tape work. We have guys come in early before practice and get in a workout. Players come here and meet coaches in the evening.

"There's going to be incidents. There's going to be frustration when people lose. Guys are going to act out of frustration and do some dumb things. I'm not going to say that hasn't happened. It has. But I had that in my championship years."

Finally, something the current and championship Rockets can share. But Tomjanovich said neither the isolated "incidents" nor typical clashes of generations can keep them from having more in common.

"Believe me, I'm not for negative behavior or lack of discipline things," Tomjanovich said. "Everybody's got different things. All these different personalities bonding together with a common goal, that's what it's all about."

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05-14-2013, 10:30 AM

Prep to pros guys changing the draft:

GOING STRAIGHT FROM HIGH SCHOOL TO THE PROS WAS ONCE UNHEARD OF, BUT THE SUCCESS OF PLAYERS LIKE KOBE BRYANT AND KEVIN GARNETT HAS MORE AND MORE TEENS TRYING TO MAKE THE LEAP. KID STUFF
Houston Chronicle - Sunday, June 24, 2001
CHICAGO - Given the way things have been going, it is the age-old question whenever anyone starts discussing the annual NBA draft. Perhaps age-young question would be more appropriate.

Whatever, it seems that any discussion of the NBA draft begins with the same question - how young is too young? Should teen-agers be allowed to make themselves available for the NBA draft?

Depends on whom you ask. NBA commissioner David Stern says no.

"If these kids have the ability to get a little more maturity, a little more coaching, a little bit more life experience overall," Stern said, "that's good. Kids are now bouncing the ball in schoolyards saying, `Just get to be 17 and that's where I'm going.' The result of that is bad policy - bad for the kid's development, bad for the college game, bad for the business of the NBA."

The players involved would beg to differ. For them, the NBA is the realization of a dream. And if they can make a ton of money playing basketball, why bother going to college?

"I just wonder, why do people criticize us for leaving?" said Kwame Brown, an 18-year-old forward from Glynn (Ga.) High School. "If you're 18 years old, you can go to jail, you can go to the military, you can fight and die for your country. Why shouldn't you be able to go play basketball for money?"

Good question.

Suffice it to say that things have changed greatly since Moses Malone, then a raw 6-10 center from Petersburg, Va., pioneered the modern exodus from high school to professional basketball in 1974, when he was drafted by the ABA's Utah Stars. He was followed the next year by Darryl Dawkins (No. 5 by Philadelphia) and Bill Willoughby (second round, No. 19 overall by Atlanta), but the high school pipeline dried up until 1995, when Kevin Garnett left Chicago's Farragut Academy and was picked fifth overall by Minnesota.

Just like Malone two decades previously, Garnett's move was big news since it was assumed that his jump to the pros was an exception. After all, how many high school kids could possibly be ready to play in the NBA?

Plenty, it seems. Indeed, it's now big news when a player decides to go through all four years of college. And perhaps bigger news if a player decides to go to college at all.

The green room at the NBA draft is beginning to resemble the most high-profile day-care center in country, and this year's draft, which will be held Wednesday in New York, is no different, with six high schoolers making themselves available to be picked.

Almost sight unseen, mind you.

Dominating high school players are so physically superior to the competition, projecting and translating that performance to the NBA is extremely difficult, if not impossible.

"I almost never go to a (regular-season) high school game," said Sacramento scout Keith Drum. "Any guy who is good enough (to turn pro) is so much better than anyone on the other team."

And they weren't going to get much of a look during the annual pre-draft camp since much of the sideline discussions centered not on who was running the floor at Moody Bible Institute, where the camp is held, but rather who was not.

There was no Brown, no Tyson Chandler, no Eddy Curry and no DeSagana Diop - and the only "Big Dance" they've been to is the senior prom. Yep, they're all high schoolers, all 7-footers, and all are expected to be among the first names called by the talent-hungry teams in the lottery. Ousmanne Cisse, a 6-9 forward, is also expected to be a first-rounder, and Tony Key, a 6-10 center, will most likely be a second-rounder.

None of those high school kids are about to risk their draft status by putting their skills - or lack thereof - on display at the draft's annual meat market. "You want to see me play? Then pick me," they seem to be saying.

Stern is trying to do something about that.

"Teams are now going to draft players based on their potential, or what they perceive their potential to be," he said. "And the thing that concerns me the most is they're going to cut veterans to hold a spot. We'll be able to adjust to the age (that players are allowed to be drafted), but I don't think it's particularly good for anybody."

Especially for the NBA, which is almost to the point where referees will be forced to card players before they enter games. Maybe that's why Stern, who once opposed any sort of age limitations on future NBA employees, is now almost evangelical in his efforts to get the National Basketball Players Association and its membership to approve his leaguewide minimum-age requirement for entry into the league, which is expected to be 20, the same baseline that will be used in the NBA's new developmental league.

"When I saw the multiple high school players and then what seemed to be entire college teams starting to come out, it seemed to have a cascading effect," Stern said. "I don't think (teen-agers entering the draft is) a good thing for anybody."

Stern's statutory rap rings a little hollow since it wasn't all that long ago that he was vigorously railing against critics who accused his league of athletic cradle-robbing.

Stern was quick to respond to such charges - didn't pro baseball and hockey draft high schoolers? Didn't professional tennis and ice skating start mining their talent at an even younger age?

But teams then began to gripe about the difficulties of scouting and evaluating high school talent, not to mention attempting to assimilate those too-young players into the worldly NBA, so Stern began to re-think his stance on the matter.

Another mind-altering experience could be the sight of all those empty seats around the league. Fans, tired of seeing coaches dumbing-down the game for more and more ill-prepared and inexperienced players, are refusing to pay to see players with tremendous athletic ability but little, if any, understanding of how the game is supposed to be played.

"The NBA would be stronger for it," Stern said of his minimum-age stance, "the college game would be stronger for it, and there would be better messages sent about the notion that, `All I have to do is practice basketball and I will play in the NBA.' It's all about drawing the line. High school is a little on the young side."

Thus far, high school has been too young in only one regard - the top pick. The closest yet was Darius Miles, who was taken last season by the Clippers with the third pick. Yet that threshold could be crossed this year.

"It would not surprise me if a high school player went No. 1," said New Jersey general manager Rod Thorn. "You have to be diligent and then project how good a player will be three years from now.

"There aren't many who will be real good players next year. (Kobe) Bryant and Garnett weren't terrific their first year in the league. (Tracy) McGrady hardly got off the bench his first year. And now those are three of the best players, probably in the top 10, in the league."

Which is why coaches and general managers continue to snap up the youngsters. It also detracts from Stern's attempt to get his minimum-age requirement to play in his sandbox, an effort many feel is not only wasted, but downright anti-American.

Needless to say, the NBPA and its membership certainly think so. Billy Hunter, president of the players' union, notes that last year all but two of the 29 NBA teams sent a representative to see Curry and Chandler play against each other in the finale of an eight-game prep basketball festival in St. Louis.

"The message is being sent - if they have the skill, there is no need to go to college or do something else as a prerequisite to come into the league," Hunter said. "The union's position is it's a right of choice.

"We see no reason why a kid should be barred if he has the skill to play in the league. And if the owners and administrators of the teams don't feel they have the maturity and growth, they shouldn't select them or encourage them to come."

Coaches around the league seem to be divided on the issue. Yes, experience and maturity are desirable, but talent is the most valuable raw material.

"I wish we would put an age limit on it, but that's just my opinion," said Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich . "As it is right now, it's an open situation for basketball players, and who's to say that somebody shouldn't make a living at it if he has the opportunity?

fpliii

05-14-2013, 10:31 AM

continued...

"I think it's all where you're coming from. If you're a kid whose family needs money and you have an opportunity to make that money playing a sport that you dreamed about playing, it's the most beautiful thing in the world."

Life has certainly been beautiful for Bryant (drafted No. 13 in 1996), who is being sized for his second championship ring after helping the Lakers to back-to-back titles in 2000 and '01. And Garnett, who is enjoying the fruits of a $126 million deal. And McGrady (No. 9, 1997), who last year signed a $93 million free-agent deal with Orlando.

Despite those success stories, not to mention the emergence of former Elsik star Rashard Lewis (Seattle) and Jermaine O'Neal (Indiana), some coaches still have a hard time with teen-agers setting foot in what is supposed to be a man's league.

"If the moniker for this league, the NBA, is `No Boys Allowed,' then we shouldn't have immature men playing in the pro game that takes so much poise and direction," said Lakers coach Phil Jackson. "I've had this argument with Kobe and he talks about how many great players have come into the NBA from high school in the last four or five years.

"Yet innumerable (players) have not been able to marshal the talent of a Garnett or a McGrady and have not made it."

Like former Dallas Maverick Leon Smith, a first-rounder in 1999, who is usually brought up as the poster child for everything that can go wrong when it comes to drafting high schoolers.

That tag, however, is unfair. Smith, who endured numerous off-court problems, including assault charges and a suicide attempt, was emotionally crippled before he entered the draft, so making him the standard by which all teen-age prospects are measured is ridiculous.

Instead, names like Taj McDavid, who went undrafted in 1996; Korleone Young (a second-round pick by Detroit in 1998), who was out of the league after playing in only three games for two teams; or Jonathan Bender, the fifth pick in the 1999 draft (by Toronto, then traded to Indiana) who has since languished on the Pacers bench, would be better spokeschildren for the NBA's "Just Say Go (to School)" campaign.

Then again, Bender keeps cashing his guaranteed checks, which riles Isiah Thomas, who last year succeeded Larry Bird as Indiana's coach. Thomas, who entered the NBA at age 20 after his sophomore year at Indiana University, thinks the biggest problem with teen-aged players isn't as simple as age. No, Thomas feels the problem is money. Lots of it, and all guaranteed.

These days, being drafted is like making a comfortable landing in the middle of one of professional sports' most lush fairways - nothing but green as far as the eye can see. There are no parting gifts for kids who can't cut it in the NBA, just a three-year stream of guaranteed paychecks, almost like hitting the lottery.

And Thomas believes that guaranteed money, not the number of candles on the birthday cake, has created one of the league's biggest problems.

"I personally think that it's hard to determine maturity," Thomas said. "You can't say that just because this guy is 19 that he's not mature because we have some 30-year-olds in this league who are not mature.

"I think that when you look at the draft, one of the biggest problems you have is probably with the collective bargaining agreement. What we're saying to the young players now is, "It's not about how well you can play, it's all about getting drafted.' That's the only goal - do enough to get drafted.

"If you get drafted, you're guaranteed (three) years of income, and that's what the game is all about now for the young players coming out. It's not about, `Am I good enough to play?' or "Am I good enough to succeed?'

"It's about, `Am I good enough to get drafted?' And when you're drafted, you've cashed in."

And - for various reasons - most are eager to get in line at the pay window.

Some are being pushed by family members or "advisers," all of whom are wanting a free ride on the gravy train. Some feel that given the league's five-year rookie scale (a three-year contract, team option of a fourth year and the right to match any offer in fifth), it's better to get into the NBA as soon as possible and get the indentured servitude over with as soon as possible.

And while few will admit as much, others don't want to see their luster fade with time, a la Maryland's Terence Morris. The 6-9 small forward would have been a lottery pick after his sophomore and junior years but is now considered a mid-to-late first-rounder after a disappointing senior season.

"It's like you're being penalized for staying longer in school," said North Carolina senior center Brendan Haywood. "The longer the NBA takes high school seniors before college seniors, then players are going to leave early. The longer you stay, the more they're going to criticize your game. The shorter you stay, the more they'll draft on potential."

Shane Battier, who this season led Duke to the NCAA championship and captured just about every Player of the Year award along the way, believes there is room for growth in his game even though he stayed in school all four years.

"I think it is pretty ridiculous to think at 22 I've reached my maximum potential as a basketball player," Battier said. "One of the great things about basketball, anyone will tell you, is you can learn something new about it every single day. Michael Jordan kept improving to his very last day.

"Any great player improved every single day. By no means have I arrived - I have a lot of room for growth and development."

Can the same be said about basketball, both at the college and professional level? Probably not.

One staff member from a Western Conference team, watching the NBA wannabes at the pre-draft camp, just shook his head at the crop, most of whom could generously be called "limited."

"If we were game wardens and this was a pond, then we'd probably be saying that it was fished out," he said. "We'd have to close it down for a year, allow no fishing and let it get restocked.

"It's almost to the point where you have to look at the NBA draft the same way - close it down for a year and let the talent level rise to acceptable levels before we start drafting players again."

fpliii

05-14-2013, 10:31 AM

2007 LeBron article:

LeBron's challenge: Be good enough to carry 'bad' team
Patriot-News, The (Harrisburg, PA) - Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Well, we're fully immersed in The LeBronorama. His 48-point Game 5 is being compared to the great playoff performances of all time.

That means pundits are trotting out everything from Michael Jordan's flu game in 1996 to Isiah Thomas' ankle-sprain game in '88 to Magic Johnson's 42-and-17 game in Philly in '80 to Bob Pettit's 50 sometime back before I was born. And that's too long ago to count anymore.

So now, we're getting the backlash stuff: LeBron James can't possibly win an NBA finals by himself against a foe as seasoned and talented as the San Antonio Spurs. And by himself is pretty much what he's been doing, excepting the 31 poured in by rookie point Daniel Gibson in the clinching Game 6 against the Pistons.

That's an easy case to make and it's probably correct. You can't find an NBA champion as long as I've been alive with as few quality players as the Cavaliers. Really, you can go back through the annals and not find even many finals participants as lean as the Cavs.

You could mention the '01 Sixers with Allen Iverson and a cluster of meshed role players whose best attribute was knowing what they each individually couldn't do and refraining from the attempt. One of them was the Cavs' own Eric Snow. They lost to the Lakers in five.

A must in the debate is the '81 Rockets, who went 40-42 in the regular season with dominant center Moses Malone and a kennel full of mutts, the best of whom were Rudy Tomjanovich , tiny, half-crazy, baton-twirling point man Calvin Murphy, Robert Reid (not Mike Brady) and Allen Leavell. They lost to the Celtics in six (the Bird-McHale-Parish group's first ring).

I also tend to stick on the '78 and '79 editions between the Bullets and Sonics -- one won by each -- when looking for finals teams with less star power. But both those groups had a breadth of skill, ensemble casts much like the '04 Pistons, that filled in the rosters and compensated for their lack of one terrific player.

While none was quite a superstar -- Elvin Hayes was close -- Dennis Johnson, John Johnson, Paul Silas, Downtown Freddie Brown, Wes Unseld and Bobby Dandridge were very good players. They were far superior to the hit-n-miss role guys we see on the Cavs.

Don't mention the '77 Blazers. Yes, Bill Walton was the superstar but Maurice Lucas was an All-Star who never got the cred. You could quibble about the '76 Suns (another ensemble with Paul Westphal, Alvan Adams, Gar Heard, Dick Van Arsdale and Curtis Perry. Or the '75 Warriors (Rick Barry and Jamaal Wilkes and a bunch of ham-n-eggers).

After all is examined, you could conclude maybe only those '81 Rockets were as lopsided a group as these Cavs and had maybe even less business in the finals.

So, it's easy to argue against Cleveland having any kind of chance starting Thursday night.

But what's the point? Everyone knows their chances aren't great. Better to examine the top limit of help LeBron could be expected to get and whether that can possibly be enough against the Spurs.

The fact is, any team with a player as physically imposing as James has a shot, if slim. It's chance is not that he can do what he did against Detroit. He can't; San Antonio simply won't allow it.

That, and the chances of him making even half of the combination of shots he did against the Pistons in any one game are close to impossible. The Game 5 performance is simply something out of another universe that cannot ever be recaptured.

The chance comes from what he did against Detroit allowing opportunities for the other Cavaliers. Though they aren't an accomplished support group by any measure, a few have singular talents that can be tapped if the Spurs decide to gang-guard James too often.

Gibson, the Texas rookie, has the pizzazz to catch fire. He's a streaky shooter who is playing with a ton of confidence all of a sudden after finally getting a shot from the Cavs' none-too-impressive second-year coach Mike Brown.

Larry Hughes was a lottery pick years ago who's always thought he was better than he is. Hurt in Game 5, if he also gets it going, suddenly the Cavs have an outside-in attack to work with.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas turns 32 today and is aging rapidly. But he's been a solid 16-and-8 type big man much of his career and has the savvy and toughness to maybe reach for his peak one more time in the biggest spotlight he's ever had. He can't consistently guard Tim Duncan. But if he can simply be a marginal force inside, well, that's another check mark the Cavs need.

Drew Gooden? I know. Look, he just has to board his butt off, be an energy guy and run like Roy Williams taught him, put those puppies one in front of the other. He can't be pretty; he can be inspired.

Of course, all of these things have to happen for the Cavaliers to have a shot. But they turned the key on that chance when LeBron entered never-never land or wherever he was last week.

And one final point: Being from Ohio and a rabid Cavaliers fan in high school and college (the Jim Cleamons, Dick Snyder, Jim Chones, Jim Brewer, Bobby "Bingo" Smith team that barely lost to the aforementioned '76 Celtics in the Eastern finals), I know something about the city of Cleveland.

People in Philadelphia whine and moan about their pro title drought since 1983. Hey, try 1964 on. I'm old enough to remember that black-and-white moment -- the Browns, before there was a Super Bowl. If this town gets even a sniff of magic in the air, the crowds in Quicken Loans Arena could carry the Cavs.

So, fine, it's not probable.

Just don't tell me it's not possible.

SHANE SHINES

If nothing else, the Phillies are at least loading up on a few good guys in the clubhouse and one of them is outfielder Shane Victorino. He never takes himself too seriously, buzzes around right field like a madman -- a refreshing switch from Bobby Abreu -- and generally seems to fill the dugout with plus signs.

And when he swatted a walk-off Hawaiian punch to left on Sunday, his first opposite field home run since A-ball, Victorino capped off his own bobblehead day. The Phillies had dispensed figurines depicting him in a grass skirt with ukulele and flashing the wagging "hang loose" sign - that thing with the middle three fingers in a fist, the thumb and pinkie extended.

With big, young Jayson Werth looking consistently dangerous at the plate, his platoon in left with Pat Burrell seems like a temporary way station until Burrell can finally be unloaded. Slowly but surely, the bad blood is being transfused out.

Wild-card contender? I didn't say that. The bullpen is a daily tragicomedy. Debatable, by the way, whether Charlie Manuel can use Antonio Alfonseca for the next several days. From the looks of it, he just swallowed an entire small mammal and could be sunning and digesting for up to a week.

fpliii

05-14-2013, 10:32 AM

Rudy T stepping down as Lakers HC (last one):

COACHES MUST ASK "IS IT WORTH IT?" - TOMJANOVICH 'S ABRUPT RETIREMENT FROM THE LAKERS HAS THEM THINKING ABOUT THEIR OWN STRESS LEVELS
Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, CA) - Sunday, February 6, 2005
THIS RUDY TOMJANOVICH situation has coaches across the league thinking.

Tomjanovich became so worried about his health that he walked away from a $30 million head coaching job with the Los Angeles Lakers. Mr. Passion himself, a legendary coach known for his sideline aerobics, has burned out.

"I started to feel my resistance going down," Tomjanovich told the Los Angeles Times. "I went from this energetic, pumped-up guy to being sapped of my energy. ... Maybe I'm an old general who needs to get his butt off the front line and do something else."

Tomjanovich 's meltdown has his colleagues talking about just how stressful and consuming their job is. Some even questioned whether it's worth it.

"The stress part of our game is an absolute issue," Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers told the Boston Herald. "I deal with it in my own way. I yell at my wife more. That's why it's probably good she's in Orlando because it's long distance. But it's a stressful job."

"I don't think it's all that surprising," Miami Heat coach Stan Van Gundy told the Miami Herald. "A guy that's been at it this long, I think it's a very, very difficult job and I don't know how people do it for the number of years that a guy like him has done it for."

Several coaches said the stress is more intense than what it used to be. The expectations, the pressure, the media, the money -- it all has made the job into a life-sucking beast.

That's why Larry Brown has threatened to retire 10 times. That's why Phil Jackson needs to retreat to Montana every so often. That's why Jeff Van Gundy looks like he does.

"If you lose you're devastated," Phoenix Suns coach Mike D'Antoni told the East Valley (Phoenix) Tribune. "If you win, you worry about the next game. You don't have an off day. It's easy to get in that fetal position and not get up. You get beat up like a dog."

"This thing can wear you down," Minnesota Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "What I wonder, it seems like a lot of the basketball purists are the guys that are leaving. Whether it's Lenny Wilkens, Hubie Brown, the guys you consider purists, teachers. ... When you're a coach and that's all you've done, you're in it for the camaraderie, the teaching, all those factors. And that's what makes it all worthwhile. When some of those things start to be compromised, you lose a little bit of your passion."

Still, the job is too appealing to let go. The compensation is too good, the reward is too fulfilling.

Tomjanovich 's ability to walk away from it all, to choose life and health, has his colleagues singing his praises.

"I give him a lot of credit for following his heart, doing what he thought was right for his health and himself," the Houston Rockets' Van Gundy told the Houston Chronicle. "I don't think Rudy's thoughts are far from a lot of coaches' minds, mine included. Is it worth it? I applaud his courage to do it his way, not to worry about what is going to be talked about. Man's greatest right is the right to change his mind. The courage to step forward and do what he thinks is right is even more of a reason to admire him."

WINNERS AND LOSERS: The Elden Campbell-Carlos Arroyo trade worked out well for the Utah Jazz. When New Jersey claimed Campbell off waivers, it relieved the Jazz of the $2.2 million he's still owed this season. In the end, the Jazz unloaded a problem in Arroyo, got a first-round pick and saved some money.

The deal didn't work out so well for Jiffy Lube. According to the Salt Lake City Tribune, Jiffy Lube gave away Carlos Arroyo Thermos bottles at a Jan. 15 home game, Arroyo's last with Utah before being shipped to Detroit, and was scheduled to give away Carlos Arroyo lunchboxes. Jiffy Lube has now apparently decided to donate the 6,800 lunchboxes to Boys and Girls clubs in Utah.

Campbell didn't make out so well either. He had his plans to return to the Pistons stolen when the Nets picked him up off waivers, using part of their $5-plus million trade exception. Though he was rumored to be contemplating retirement in part because he didn't want to leave his three children in Detroit, Campbell eventually decided to report to New Jersey.

"I'm a professional," Campbell told the Detroit News. "I'm going to do what I've got to do.

"Once I got over the initial shock and anger, I came back to reality and thought, 'This is what I do. This is part of the job.' I'm just going to go ahead and get back to work."

PULLING RANK: Orlando Magic Grant Hill said he's going to pass off the more difficult defensive assignment to the New Jersey Nets' Vince Carter, the other starting forward for the Eastern Conference All Stars. As Scottie Pippen did him years ago, Hill said he's going to use seniority to send either San Antonio's Tim Duncan or Minnesota's Kevin Garnett Carter's way.

"When I was young and Scottie and I were both the forwards and in the West the starters were Shawn Kemp and (Charles Barkley)," Hill told Florida Today. "Neither of us wanted to guard Kemp because he was a beast, and Barkley was usually hung over. So Scottie would stick me on Kemp.

"I'm the veteran now and I'm going to put Vince on the other man I don't want."

INTERESTING FACT: Just three players in NBA history have scored 10,000 points without ever being drafted: Moses Malone, John Starks and David Wesley, who scored his 10,000th point last season.

"I guess it means I'm coachable," Wesley told the Boston Herald.

CHEAP SHOTS: Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neal got one in on Dallas Mavericks coach Don Nelson and center Erick Dampier. O'Neal said earlier this year that Nelson would never get the best of him because he has five rings and Nelson has none. When told before Tuesday's game that Nelson wanted to remind O'Neal that he won five rings as a player with Boston, O'Neal told the Dallas Morning News: "He did win five? I didn't know that. He's the Jack Haley of his era." Then after Dampier got 10 points and nine rebounds in the second half Tuesday, compared with O'Neal's 10 points and seven rebounds, O'Neal told the News: "Dampier is soft. Quote it. Underline it. Tape it. Send it to him."

CLUTCH

Vince Carter, New Jersey Nets

He averaged 28.3 points, on 50.6 percent shooting, and 7.5 assists in four games. The first three were victories at the Los Angeles Lakers, at the Utah Jazz and vs. the Chicago Bulls. Carter scored 30, 30 and 31 respectively.

CLANG

Carlos Boozer, Utah Jazz

He made 12 of 32 shots and totaled 27 points, 18 rebounds and 11 turnovers in three games last week -- averaging 28.6 minutes. He had just nine points on 3-for-11 shooting and four rebounds in a home loss to Charlotte.
Caption: Photo, RUDY TOMJANOVICH , who abruptly resigned as the Lakers' head coach last week, could no longer sustain the stress of the job. (Reed Saxon/ AP)

fpliii

05-14-2013, 10:33 AM

Odinn - Sorry for taking this thread a little OT, but I found a bunch of good articles when looking for resources on Moses.

NugzHeat3

05-14-2013, 01:06 PM

fpliii

05-14-2013, 01:29 PM

Great job fpliii. The article where Dawson, Drexler, Rudy T, Eddie and Hakeem pay tribute to Moses was a great read focusing on his strengths and what made him special as a player. Some good reads on the 1981 Rockets' road to the finals as well.

I have one more request if you are able to do so, is there any way you can post a Chron archive from 1994 with Bill Walton and Bob Lanier breaking down the 1994 finals? I remember them being fairly in-depth with their analysis and I think there was a statistical breakdown as well (not sure though) but unfortunately I didn't save it.

Is this it, perhaps?

Hall of Fame centers declare stars' war to be draw
Houston Chronicle - Sunday, June 19, 1994
The NBA Finals were immediately billed as the "Battle of the Big Men," the league's return to the power and the glory of agile giants Hakeem Olajuwon of the Rockets and Patrick Ewing of the Knicks.

And no matter which player has had the better of the duel -- and no matter who among the many Knicks defenders has been assigned to vie with Olajuwon -- the inside play has been worth watching, artistically or for its impact on the outcome of the games.

The Chronicle sought insight into the duel on center stage from members of a most exclusive club.

Before Game 5 in New York, Hall of Famers Bob Lanier , a former Detroit and Milwaukee star, and Bill Walton , formerly a star center for Portland and Boston, discussed the centers, the series and what they would do differently.

Lanier has covered the NBA Finals for NBA Radio, Walton as one of "The Insiders" for NBC.

Q: As centers from a time when the NBA revered its big men, you guys must be getting a kick out of seeing these guys go at it?

Lanier : "I don't know if I get a special kick out of it, but I enjoy watching two warriors going at it playing good solid basketball. I don't know if we've seen great basketball out of either of these centers, though. I truly believe with two very, very solid people going at it against each other, one might get more points, one will get more assists, one will get more rebounds, but by and large, they will balance each other off.

Walton : "Hakeem is a better player, but Ewing has played tremendous even though his statistics are down. Hakeem had one magnificent performance, the second half of Game 4, but he still didn't dominate the flow of the game. Bob and I played basketball before the centers lost control of the game. and it went to smaller guys, Magic (Johnson) and (Larry) Bird and (Michael) Jordan and Isiah (Thomas). And now these centers are trying to get it back.

"The hardest thing to do is control the flow of the game. It's one thing to put up the numbers. You think of Bob Lanier , he was a basketball player. He wasn't just a jump shooter. He'd sit back and figure out how to win the game. Neither of these players grew up with the game and they're still learning how to win."

Lanier : "More importantly, neither grew up on the playgrounds."

Walton : "To me, you learn on the playground how to control the flow and win the games. Don't get me wrong. These guys are great. And they're the two best centers in their conferences. Their teams deserve to be in the Finals."

Q: Going back to the first question then, Bill, it sounds like you really are enjoying this.

Walton : "I love this. I'm having a great time. Ewing's doing a tremendous job, because the hardest thing to do is beat somebody better than you are. Hakeem is the Most Valuable Player in the league. But the great thing is, Ewing thinks he is and he needs to think that."

Q: So, what should Ewing and Olajuwon be doing differently to throw off the balance Bob mentioned?

Walton : "You have to try to be a really creative passer. The game of basketball has changed, guys are bigger, they're stronger. Not only are the centers bigger ... "

Lanier : "I don't think guys are bigger, they're taller. When I played guys were bigger, more powerful. Today, guys are much more athletically inclined. They have long, slender bodies."

Walton : "That's right. But the thing is, everyone now plays a position down from where they used to play. Power forwards were centers. Small forwards were power forwards. Guards were forwards. And I don't think either of these teams, New York definitely doesn't play with a small forward. I played with very creative small forwards that made it easier for me.

"And the Rockets have not used (Robert) Horry the way they used him in the regular season. Horry was the guy who always had the ball and always got the ball to Hakeem. Now, they're trying to feed the post with the guards."

Q: So why has Ewing struggled?

Lanier : "I'm mad at Patrick, watching him play. He's a smarter player than he's shown. He's gotten into the routine of trying to shoot jumpers, and he's shooting jumpers against the best center in the league at defending jumpers. That would be like me trying to shoot jumpers on Bill Walton all day. He's going to make me eat most of them, and the ones he doesn't make me eat, he's going to make me adjust. What you've got to do is get it on the box, take it to the hole, and then you can step back and shoot J's because he's got to respect your game. He's not doing that well."

Walton : "All Olajuwon is doing is staying on that shoulder and contesting jump shots. I too would like Patrick Ewing to post up. I think he can effectively post up on Hakeem."

Lanier : "Or hook. Or hook. He's shot four hooks that I've noticed and three went in and he was fouled on the other. I mean ... "

Walton : "But the other thing, in Patrick's defense, his jump shot is a huge part of the Knicks' offense. When (Derek) Harper or (John) Starks penetrate, it gives you a wide-open 15-foot shot, and it creates opportunities on the offensive glass."

Q: Could centers have relied on their jump shots so much when you guys played? Would they have been permitted to roam so far from the paint?

Walton : "Bob was a great outside shooter, and Bob McAdoo. Ewing has more range than those guys, but that doesn't make him a better player."

Lanier : "That's what I'm saying. I think he has to change repertoire. He can shoot that many shots, if he starts playing above his shoulders. For Hakeem, it's more a team thing. I think their execution has been horrendous. Horrendous.

Walton : "For both teams."

Lanier : "Yeah, but at least you see some fairly well-oiled execution on the Knicks' part. Houston, those guys are looking at each other. They can't even make a dump in pass, it's crazy."

Walton : "Horry is the guy. He has it. He's a tremendous post feeder. They need to use him that way. Now they have him on the weak side with no cutting."

Lanier : "I have a feeling we have not seen the best Knicks team and we definitely have not seen the best Houston Rockets team. I was expecting a hell of a lot more execution out of a team that won 58 games. The guards have done a horrible job. Harper has imposed his will on Kenny (Smith.)"

Walton : "Kenny can't play against Harper."

Lanier : "Then get him out of there. Derek knows he's got him. And Kenny knows he's got him."

Walton : "I agree. I agree, wholeheartedly."

fpliii

05-14-2013, 01:30 PM

continued...

Q: Leaving Smith, for a moment, how would you guys defend Olajuwon.

Lanier : "He'd crush me. He'd kill me. He's too quick for me. Better ask Bill."

Walton : "I'd play him the way Ewing did in Game 4. Ewing and Chris Dudley are the guys that have given Hakeem the most trouble. They're tall, very tall, much taller than Hakeem. Hakeem is probably about 6-10?"

Lanier : "But, he has long arms."

Walton : "Yes, he has a 7-footer's arms. But I think Hakeem plays like Elvin Hayes used to play, very rhythmic. He loves to hitch one way and go the other. You have to study the films and study him live, that's when you use your quickness and mobility and your height. What Hakeem has to do then, is turn and face the basket and use his quickness. Hakeem's game is not power. But the strength of his hands is just mind-boggling. If he gets near the ball, it's his. The way he just pulls in rebound s and scoops up loose balls is phenomenal.

"I'd like to see the Rockets get him the ball even more. Ewing as talented as he is, he's just not in the same class in terms of quickness."

Lanier : "I'd like to see him have it more, when they switch off. When they come in with a big strong guy like (Anthony) Mason I'd like to see them get (Olajuwon) the ball more and let him use that quickness."

Walton : "But that's where the Rockets have not seen this defense before. They're just passing the ball around the perimeter. Unless you're a very, very complete player and used to that defense, it's tough."

Q: Speaking of Mason, Bob, are Olajuwon's battles with Mason similar to your own games against some of those thicker centers of your time, such as Wes Unseld, shorter men with great strength?

Lanier : "As big as I was ... "

Walton : "Nobody moved Bob."

Lanier : "I was fortunate to have strength and quickness. But against Unseld, because he was so huge, I would try to use quickness to loosen things up, take him in and out."

Walton : "For Hakeem against someone like Mason, when they bring over the other guy, the forward, you relax. Hakeem has geared his whole life to playing against Ewing in the championship."

Q: OK, so who won when you guys played each other?

Lanier : "Tell him about the time in Portland, we had you guys by 11 with nine seconds left and you beat us on that 33-game streak."

Walton : "Forty-four game streak. We had the most consecutive home-court victories. And we had two games in that streak, Detroit ... "

Lanier : "Ugh."

Walton : "And Chicago ... "

Lanier : "Ugh. I still don't know how ya'll won that game."

Walton : "You know Bob, there was one time in the fourth quarter, Bobby Gross and I were standing with the ball with both feet out of bounds."

Lanier : "I'm still trying to figure out what happened."

( Walton leaves)

Q: "What about the first time you played?"

Lanier : "I don't remember. It's a long time ago."

Q: But it was games like those, like with all the greats, that let the best players really show themselves. Is that what we're seeing here? Will this be remembered that way?

Lanier : "These guys are great, great players. But to get to that next level, you have do it up here (pointing to his temple.) You have to know how, when you go against a player just as talented, to use all your abilities."

Q: Have these guys reached that next level?

Lanier : "I don't know. Ewing is close, but he has to bring more of his game around. Olajuwon, it's more of a team thing."

Q: He doesn't seem to get many automatic points on dunks or open jumpers off someone else's penetration, does he?

Lanier : "No, they're all hard points. At the end of my career, I had Sidney Moncrief, Junior Bridgeman, Brian Winters, guys that could fill it up. I wish I had that around me when I was young."

Q: If you did, you might have gotten a championship. If one of these centers never does win it all, will they feel unfulfilled despite all they have accomplished?

Lanier : "Yes. Of course. There's no doubt about that."

( Walton returns)

Q: Bob said he doesn't remember the first time you played each other.

Walton : "He does. He remembers. You see, Bob is a very humble, modest man. He knows he whipped me that night. We've talked about it. It was my second NBA game. Opening night we played a four-overtime against Cleveland and they were in Portland waiting. We were exhausted. Bob walks out, walks over to where I was ready to jump it up, and steps right on my foot, puts his big foot on mine and pushes me, and says, "That's my space. I'm standing there.' And they killed us. He just strapped me down, pushed me around all night."

Q: So 10 years from now, will Patrick or Hakeem talk about the '94 series, about how one whipped the other?

Walton : "Oh yeah. C'mon. If it comes down to the last five minutes of the last game, you will have a winner and a loser, and the winners will go on and their legend will grow and the quality of their game will improve and the reputations will sky-rocket. The losers will have to start all over again. That's why I love sports so much. You have winners and losers and there's reasons why.

NugzHeat3

05-14-2013, 01:36 PM

Thanks a lot, that's it I think. I guess the statistical breakdown was on another piece.

Your contributions are greatly appreciated.

fpliii

05-14-2013, 01:39 PM

Thanks a lot, that's it I think. I guess the statistical breakdown was on another piece.

Your contributions are greatly appreciated.

No problem. Do you remember what the topic was? Was it a comparison of the teams as a whole, Ewing/Hakeem, or something else?

fpliii

05-14-2013, 01:52 PM

Assuming it's Ewing/Hakeem, it's probably this:

'94 NBA FINALS/CENTER STAGE/Olajuwon, Ewing spotlighted combatants in the battle for NBA's crown
Houston Chronicle - Wednesday, June 8, 1994
And so, we meet again . . ."

In a script that could double as a James Bond remake, Hakeem Olajuwon is back in a starring role on the brink of a basketball championship.

And the same old archrival is right there in his way, playing the role of villain. Again. Patrick Ewing vs. Hakeem Olajuwon. Ten years after. Perhaps it was meant to be.

It has been a long decade since these two giants met in a winner-take-all situation as less-refined college players. Olajuwon was leading the Houston Cougars in their third consecutive Final Four and their second NCAA championship game. All Ewing 's Georgetown team did was upstage Olajuwon in a one-game showdown.

Ewing earned the title, and Olajuwon has been left to search for it ever since.

"The championship is at stake," Olajuwon said. "All you can say is that we are both big men who played for a championship in college.

"Then we went to the pros, and 10 years later, we meet again."

Yes, they do. The 1994 NBA Finals open tonight with Game 1 between Olajuwon's Houston Rockets and Ewing 's New York Knicks at The Summit.

And there will be a different ending to this sequel, Olajuwon hopes. In 1984, Ewing and the Hoyas edged the Cougars for the NCAA title when both were juniors. Later that spring, Olajuwon turned professional while Ewing waited another season.

So much has happened since. So much has changed. Yet the two dominant big men in the NBA -- even as they were joined by the David Robinsons and Shaquille O'Neals -- remain unaltered. They are ready to remind fans over the next two weeks that, by the way, this is a big man's game.

"By the time this series is finished, we will know each other's game so very well," Olajuwon said. "This is a team game, but when you get in a long series, you learn all about the other guy.

"Obviously, any time you have two guys like us going against each other, it should be a classic."

That this is a best-of-seven series is why Olajuwon is upbeat about his chances of earning that elusive championship ring.

"This is different than it was in 1984," Olajuwon said. "That was one game. There was no room for error. This is a long series. It is a great challenge."

It also could end up as one of the classic big-man matchups of all time.

Like a heavyweight boxing match, two future Hall-of-Fame centers meeting in a championship situation is one of the most exhilarating moments in sports. Fans, the media, even the players, live for these moments.

It's different than Michael Jordan against Charles Barkley or Magic Johnson against Larry Bird. But it's every bit as intriguing.

"Any time you have two great teams whose key players play the same position, what a clash it is," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "You look back through history at some of the centers who have met, and there are some great battles.

"Wilt (Chamberlain) and Willis (Reed). Wilt and (Kareem) Abdul-Jabbar. Wilt and (Bill) Russell.Moses Malone and Dave Cowens. Elvin Hayes and Lew Alcindor. There's something special about it."

Indeed there is. Going back as far as the legendary Russell-Chamberlain matchups when Russell was leading the Boston Celtics to NBA title after NBA title, progressing through the greatest college battle of all time when Houston's Hayes and UCLA's Alcindor packed the Astrodome in prime time. Alcindor became Abdul-Jabbar and matched up with Chamberlain in the early '70s. Hayes and Moses Malone grabbed their share of attention in the late '70s and early '80s.

And then came Olajuwon vs. Ewing .

You get the feeling this grudge match was destined to happen.

"Patrick and I have always been compared," Olajuwon said. "We have the same qualities -- shot blocker, rebounder, scorer, key player on his team. So we have this long career comparison.

"We never really get to spend much time together in the offseason, but when we do, it's so natural. You can see the mutual respect we have for one another's games. We talk very complimentary of one another."

An interesting aspect of the match between Olajuwon and Ewing is that they represent the evolution of centers. No longer tied to a whipping post in the paint, Ewing and Olajuwon flow all over the court and take their shots from the perimeter as well as from the interior.

They are not reliant on the slow, mechanical moves that centers before them practiced. If Abdul-Jabbar introduced the idea of the mobile, active center, Ewing and Olajuwon refined it.

Ewing , in fact, has been called the best jump-shooting center ever, a tag that Olajuwon and Abdul-Jabbar could contest. Remember, even though it was a hook shot, Abdul-Jabbar could make the 16-footer as consistently as Olajuwon or Ewing .

"Why would it make me mad that people say Patrick is the best jump-shooting center?" Olajuwon said. "That's one person's opinion. What's important to me is now big men can shoot from the outside. David (Robinson) can shoot from the outside; he led the league in scoring. Give me a shot, even from the 3-point line, I will take it.

"So big men can play outside."

Can they ever. Fans will be treated to a steady dose of same in the Finals.

"The key is to still find a way to score," Olajuwon said. "They take one thing away, you still find a way to get the job done. A scorer should find enough ways to score. If you have one way to score, that can be stopped. You've got to find other ways.

"I know that when I get the ball around the basket, you have to respect that. It's the same with Patrick. When I get it around the jump-shooting area, you have to respect that. They don't give you the jumper, because they know you can make it. It's the same with Patrick.

"I know I can practice and do the same move as some guards without looking awkward. I have the agility to do the same thing without playing out of my comfort zone."

Added Tomjanovich: "Both of the guys have a variety of inside shots, and both can go outside and hit the jumper. They're good defensive players, and they make a high percentage of their free throws. It should be a great matchup."

Still, Olajuwon is not one to overlook the basic function of a center.

"You know, the center's game is more like blue-collar," he said. "Most of the centers, their game is not fancy, stylish, acrobatic. Centers are more like blocked shots, rebounds and basic dunks. So it's not like an exciting game.

"When you have guards who can create opportunities, very fancy, people like to see the different moves. So the role of the center becomes something only the coaching staff can appreciate. Because when you have a good center, individually, that's the foundation of a team. From there, you can work around.

"Other people overlook that role. They say, "Well, you don't really need a center to win a championship.' But if you don't have a center, you have to have Michael Jordan."

Or Bird. Or Magic. Or Isiah Thomas.

Like the Knicks because of Ewing , the Rockets are on the threshold of an NBA championship because of Olajuwon. His MVP season has coincided with the Rockets' arrival as a truly elite team.

"We're there right at the doorstep of a championship," Tomjanovich said. "We've worked real hard to put ourselves in this position. Everybody else was talking about this when the season started. But now we're here.

"It's the result of a lot of hard work and it's not over yet."

Olajuwon vs. Ewing . It's like deja vu all over again. Well, not quite, Olajuwon hopes.

"What will make it sweeter," he said, "is to finish it."

Ten years later, it's his turn. So much has happened. So much has changed.

And yet, they meet again.

fpliii

05-14-2013, 01:53 PM

continued...

____________

The matchup

Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing have gone head-to-head 16 times as NBA players. Here are the results of those meetings:

Category....Olajuwon.... Ewing .

W-L..........10-6........6-10.

FGA-M.......173-318.....137-294.

FG Pct.......541.........46.6.

Rebounds.....13.8.........9.4.

Assists......2.7..........1.3.

Blocks.......3.0..........2.2.

Steals.......2.5..........1.1.

Points......26.1.........21.9.

_________

Rating the centers

How seven of basketball's all-time great centers compare with each other statistically:

Scoring average

1. Wilt Chamberlain ........... 30.1.

2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ........ 24.6.

3. Patrick Ewing .............. 23.8.

4. Hakeem Olajuwon ............ 23.7.

5. Moses Malone ............... 21.1.

6. Elvin Hayes ................ 21.0.

7. Bill Russell ............... 15.1.

Rebounds

1. Wilt Chamberlain ......... 23,924.

2. Bill Russell ............. 21,620.

3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ...... 17,440.

4. Elvin Hayes .............. 16,279.

5. Moses Malone ............. 15,940.

6. Hakeem Olajuwon ........... 9,464.

7. Patrick Ewing ............. 7,006.

Blocked shots

1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar........ 3,189.

2. Hakeem Olajuwon ........... 2,741.

3. Patrick Ewing ............. 1,984.

4. Elvin Hayes ............... 1,771.

5. Moses Malone .............. 1,713.

Note: blocked shots not kept as a statistic before 1973.

Assists

1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ...... 5,660.

2. Wilt Chamberlain ......... 4,643.

3. Bill Russell ............. 4,100.

4. Elvin Hayes .............. 2,398.

5. Hakeem Olajuwon .......... 1,880.

6. Moses Malone ............. 1,756.

7. Patrick Ewing ............ 1,252.

Championships

1. Bill Russell ............... 11.

2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ......... 6.

3. Wilt Chamberlain ............ 2.

4. Moses Malone ................ 1.

5. Elvin Hayes ................. 1.

6. Hakeem Olajuwon ............. 0.

7. Patrick Ewing ............... 0

Another cool piece on them:

'94 NBA FINALS/TEN-YEAR REUNION/'84 NCAA final first Olajuwon- Ewing meeting
Houston Chronicle - Wednesday, June 8, 1994
Since that April 1984 evening in Seattle, Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing have faced each other many times on the basketball court. As things worked out, the first encounter didn't provide a true picture

When Olajuwon's University of Houston Cougars and Ewing 's Georgetown Hoyas met in the '84 NCAA Tournament final, neither player dominated the game, witnessed by a Kingdome crowd of 38,471.

Olajuwon was saddled with three first-half fouls, then drew No. 4 just 23 seconds into the second half with Georgetown ahead 40-30.

"That's what I remember first," former UH coach Guy V. Lewis said. "The same official called all three fouls. Walking off at the half, I told the guy, "All these fans didn't come here to watch you; they came here to watch these great players.'

"Then the same guy calls the fourth one on Hakeem . No way we could beat them without Hakeem ."

Olajuwon was drawn into his third personal 42 seconds before halftime when David Wingate's pump fake baited him into a hacking call. After No. 4, Lewis was compelled to put him on the bench for six minutes.

Lewis doesn't remember his exact advice to Olajuwon at halftime. "I usually told anybody in foul trouble to play hard and don't do anything foolish," Lewis said. "I imagine I told Hakeem the same thing.

"I remember on the bus to Texas A&M the year before, I told him not to go for any blocks the first five or six minutes because the officials were going to be looking at him. The first four or five times A&M had the ball, he blocked every shot they took, and we got an easy layup after each one. So much for coaching."

By the end of Georgetown's 84-75 victory, Olajuwon had 15 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots in 32 minutes. Ewing finished with 10 points, nine rebounds, three assists and four blocks in 30 minutes.

Guard Reid Gettys, now a Houston attorney, basically agrees with Lewis' assessment.

"With the exception of Michael Young's outside shooting, we had climbed on Hakeem 's back and we rode his broad shoulders," Gettys said. " Hakeem got more defensive attention from them than we were able to give Ewing on defense. Hakeem was carrying us, and they had a lot of weapons."

The Cougars had lost starters Clyde Drexler, who passed up his senior year to go to the NBA, and Larry Micheaux. Forward Rickie Winslow and point guard Alvin Franklin, both starters, were freshmen. So was Olajuwon's backup, Greg "Cadillac" Anderson.

During Olajuwon's second-half absence, Franklin scored nine of UH's 11 points as the Cougars closed within 51-47. When it was 57-54 Georgetown with 10:29 to play, Franklin had accounted for 14 of his team's last 19 points.

But the Cougars got no closer. Georgetown's spread offense forced UH into fouls, and the Hoyas scored their final 10 points on free throws in the closing 3:18. UH, just 13-of-22 on free throws, missed the front end of five one-and-ones in the game.

"There's no doubt in my mind if we'd had Hakeem the whole game, we would have won," Lewis said, "even though Ewing is a great player and a great competitor.

"I knew both would be superstars in the NBA. I knew Hakeem would be improving for the next seven years. Now, he's had steady improvement for 14 years (since arriving at UH). He may be even better next year.

NugzHeat3

05-14-2013, 01:56 PM

fpliii

05-14-2013, 02:02 PM

I think it was a shooting breakdown of how well the starters had done in the 1994 finals from all spots on the floor against the defenders they faced.

That'll be a bit hard to track especially since I can't remember any specific details from the article so I'm not sure what 'keywords' you can search with.

Oh, after the Finals? I can just try searching for a bunch of the starters' names. If it was a graphic though, I probably won't be able to find it since the archive is text only. I'll take a look when I have some free time later today.

NugzHeat3

05-14-2013, 02:15 PM

I think it was either after the finals or late in the finals, not a 100% sure but don't worry about it. No need to sweat it.

NugzHeat3

05-14-2013, 02:35 PM

Odinn

05-14-2013, 03:45 PM

Great reads.:bowdown: :bowdown:

Especially fplii.:applause: :rockon: :bowdown: :bowdown:

Your contributions are greatly appreciated.

---

It is truly great to read such things. Three legends in the thread title and right now thread contains why they're some of the true legends.

fpliii

05-14-2013, 05:03 PM

fpliii, just skimming through some of my files and I have part of the article which I posted in the "Was Hakeem ever considered better than MJ?" thread but just wondering if you can post the entire piece.

It's from 1993 and it included this quote by Garry St. Jean.

I think I found it:

Sports Spotlight: Pro basketball - HAKEEM Vs. BARKLEY - Poll has pair nearly even for MVP . . .
Houston Chronicle - Wednesday, MARCH 31, 1993
When Charles Barkley returned to Philadelphia last weekend for the first time since being traded to Phoenix, he was met with ovations and chants of "MVP, MVP."

Barkley is having a whopper of a season, but there may yet be one huge obstacle standing between him and the top individual honor the NBA offers.

Hakeem Olajuwon.

According to players and coaches around the league and a sampling of voters for the award, Olajuwon is waiting for Barkley like he waits for incoming drives down the paint. Barkley is rising up with a full head of steam. Olajuwon is looming, ready to swat away Barkley's best shot.

It's one-on-one for the Most Valuable Player award.

For Olajuwon and Barkley, the best advice about the MVP trophy should be that there is no disgrace in finishing as the second-best player in the world. One of them likely will come in second when the award is announced in May. The other will win it.

Michael Jordan, Chicago's wondrous star, has won the past two MVP awards and cannot be counted out this year. But his otherworldly ability seems to have numbed voters and peers. After expecting Jordan to be the best player on earth for years, it's easy to take him for granted just because he still is.

This year, as the season chugs into April, the sentiment is firmly on the side of Olajuwon and Barkley. And the next month could decide who wins and loses. That's how close it is.

"Hakeem and Barkley, you could throw their names in a hat and draw out either one for MVP," Charlotte's Kenny Gattison said recently. "And no matter which one was drawn out, nobody would be able to argue against him."

Not that there aren't some biased opinions out there. Everybody from top to bottom in the Rockets organization is confident Olajuwon is having the best season of anybody in the NBA.

Of course, the award isn't for best player. It's for whoever is deemed most valuable.

On Tuesday, the Chronicle took an informal poll of 20 media members around the country, most of whom are on the panel to vote for the award next month.

Voters were asked to list their top three choices for MVP. A first-place vote was worth five points, second was worth three, and third was worth one point.

Olajuwon was the only player named on all 20 ballots. He gathered seven first-place ballots and finished with 66 total points.

Barkley gained more first-place votes (11) than Olajuwon but was left off three ballots completely. There still seemed to be sort of a love-hate relationship between Barkley and media members as he received only two second-place votes and finished with 65 total points.

Jordan was third with 34 total points, including two first-place votes. Nobody else had more than seven points.

Olajuwon has maintained throughout the past month that the MVP isn't his overriding ambition.

"What is important is to keep winning," he says. "If we do that, individual awards will take care of themselves. We have to worry about winning our division first."

Olajuwon is absolutely correct. The last eight MVP awards have gone to Jordan, Magic Johnson or Larry Bird. This seems to be the year that somebody else will step into that elite group.

The Rockets certainly have their idea of how the rating system should go.

"I've got to go with Hakeem," says coach Rudy Tomjanovich. "The guy has done so much. I'd hate to think where we'd be without him."

At the very least, says guard Kenny Smith, Olajuwon is leading as the field turns for the finish line.

"Our guy is the front-runner," says Smith. "From where we've come from, Hakeem deserves it.

"It's one thing to sustain your play from season to season. It's a bigger feat to elevate your play from one season to the next. Hakeem has done that.

"And our team came out of obscurity. That's the big thing in determining the MVP -- how well a team is doing."

The Rockets, who were 42-40 last season, have surpassed every preseason expectation that was placed on them. Olajuwon has been the main reason the team has compiled a 44-25 record. Phoenix (52-15) has been the best team in the league since the first month of the season. Barkley's addition obviously has turned a good Phoenix team that won 53 games last year into what will be a 60-plus-win team.

"They should be co-MVPs," says Scott Brooks, one of the few players who has had the opportunity to team with Barkley and Olajuwon. Brooks was with Philadelphia when the Sixers won the Atlantic Division title in 1990.

"Hakeem and Charles both have helped their teams play well this year," Brooks said. "They worked hard for so many years when they didn't have a chance for the MVP because their teams weren't very good.

"Hakeem is unbelievable in the things he does.

"But I don't want Charles to get mad at me. He deserved it the year we won the division."

That year, Barkley gathered more first-place votes (38) than Magic Johnson (27). Yet there was a certain amount of disdain for the controversial Barkley, and he still finished second to Johnson 636-614.

The official MVP balloting consists of about 95 voters who rate their top five players. The voting is done with about two weeks left in the regular season.

There will be other things that enter into the final tally besides statistics. Put Barkley, Olajuwon and Jordan side-by-side statistically, and it would be like choosing between a Corvette, a Jaguar and a Porsche.

There are at least three other key departments.

... How strong a player has made his team.

In many respects, this may be the reason Jordan is lagging in the early returns.

"You can give Michael the trophy every year if you go on who is the best player," Brooks says. "You can argue that point, and it would be a fair argument.

"But I think other guys are deserving. This year, it's Hakeem and Charles."

Jordan's greatness, says Washington coach Wes Unseld, tends to become boring.

"I think people sometimes expect too much from Michael," Unseld says. "He's on such a high plane, people expect him to do it every night. That's tough to live up to."

As Tomjanovich said: "Michael is one of the greatest players of all time. Maybe the greatest player of all time. I'm sure that works against him."

Rockets forward Matt Bullard said the fact that there are no other All-Stars on the Rockets this season helps Olajuwon's case.

"In Chicago, Jordan has got guys around him who are All-Stars, like Scottie Pippen. In Phoenix, Kevin Johnson and Dan Majerle are All-Stars.

"But we don't have any other All-Stars."

It is universally agreed upon that Olajuwon has done more with a weaker supporting cast than rival centers Patrick Ewing in New York and David Robinson in San Antonio.

Barkley's team has a much better record than that of the Rockets, but he also has a much better group of players around him.

Of course, Jordan has an excellent support group in Chicago, but the Bulls' world still revolves around him.

"If you take any of those guys off those teams, they don't win 50 games," Smith says. "In that respect, they are all valuable."

... The Dream Team factor.

Barkley, Jordan and the rest of the U.S. Olympic basketball players have been in the sport's limelight since July. That notoriety has done nothing but help Barkley's case for the award.

While Barkley was draping gold around his neck in Barcelona, Spain, Olajuwon still was involved in a bitter dispute with management in Houston. He wasn't even sure then if he was going to be a Rocket this season. He certainly did not want to be.

Barkley got his wish when he was traded to the Phoenix Suns from Philadelphia. It took away another reason for voters to overlook him. No longer was Barkley a great player on a poor or mediocre team.

... Fan appeal. MVP sometimes can stand for Marketing Via Performance.

There is a reason why Chicago sells out every road game. That reason is Michael Jordan.

The same goes for Phoenix. The Suns have one of the highest road-attendance averages in the NBA.

Olajuwon? He still suffers in the public-relations business by not having a major endorsement contract that includes television spots or billboards or whatever.

It is one of those obstacles Olajuwon has had to sidestep this season. He has done so by becoming an MVP candidate on productivity alone.

" Hakeem is as good as anyone in the entire league right now," says Sacramento coach Garry St. Jean. "When you analyze low-post play, if you can get a dominant big man to take baseline jumpers similar to the days of (Kareem) Abdul-Jabbar, that's what you're striving to do. If a man makes those shots, so be it.

"And Olajuwon makes those shots."

And he rebounds. And plays defense. And wins games.

If Olajuwon isn't having an MVP season, it's only because Barkley is.

fpliii

05-14-2013, 05:04 PM

continued...

.....................

By the numbers

How Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon, left, compares statistically among the top three contenders for the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award. NBA ranking, (if in the top 40) is listed in parentheses next to each stat:

Category .....Olajuwon.......Barkley........Jordan.

Team rec. .....44-25 (5) .....52-15 (1) .....48-20 (2).

Scoring .......25.2 (6) ......26.0 (4) .......32.5 (1).

Rebounds ......13.0 (3) ......12.5 (6) .......7.0 (40).

Assists ........3.5 ..........5.0 (28) .......5.6 (24).

Steals ........1.68 (20) ....1.52 (32) .......2.67 (1).

Blocks ........4.12 (1) ......1.1 (35) .......0.88.

FG Pct. ........525 (11) .....523 (13) ........488.

FT Pct. ........776 ..........750 ............845 (23).

Turnovers ......3.1 ..........3.2 .............2.5.

Note: Statistics do not include Tuesday's games. ........................

Writers' picks

The Chronicle polled 20 NBA beat writers (11 from Western Conference cities and nine from Eastern Conference cities) on how they would cast their MVP vote. First-place votes are worth five points, second place three points and third place one point:

Player ......Team .......1st ...2nd ....3rd...Tot.

Olajuwon ....Rockets .....7 .....9 .....4 .....66.

Barkley .......Suns .....11 .....2 .....4 .....65.

Jordan ........Bulls .....2 .....5 .....9 .....34.

Ewing .........Knicks .....0 .....2 .....1 .....7.

Robinson .......Spurs .....0 .....1 .....0 .....3.

Wilkins ........Hawks .....0 .....1 .....0 .....3.

O'Neal .........Magic .....0 .....0 .....2 .....2. ........................

The pretenders

Top NBA players who have no realistic chance at winning the Most Valuable Player Award. NBA ranking, (if in the top 40) is listed in parentheses next to each statistic:

Player ............Team.........Points .........Reb.

.........................FG Pct......................

David Robinson ....Spurs.......23.3 (9th).....11.7 (8th).

.........................498 (37th)......................

Patrick Ewing.......Knicks......24.2 (7th) ...11.6 (9th).

.........................510 (27th)......................

Shaquille O'Neal.....Magic......23.7 (8th)....13.7 (2nd).

.........................569 (2nd).......................

Dominique Wilkins....Hawks......30.7 (2nd).....7.0.

.........................480...................... ......

Karl Malone...........Jazz......27.2 (3rd)....11.4 (11th).

.........................551 (5th).......................

This one came up while searching too (similar quote):

Olajuwon's turn steers Rockets to top
The Dallas Morning News - Sunday, March 14, 1993
One year ago, it was hard to find a relationship this side of Woody and Mia that was more explosive than the one between the Houston Rockets and Hakeem Olajuwon.

The club questioned Olajuwon's integrity and suspended him when it believed he faked an injury. The All-Star center responded by hurling insults at owner Charlie Thomas and general manager Steve Patterson. Both sides agreed it was time for a separation.

It never happened. The result: Olajuwon has thrust the Rockets into first place in the Midwest Division. The club has showered him with praise, pushed him for the league's Most Valuable Player award and is prepared to sign Olajuwon to an extension that will allow him to finish his career in a Rockets uniform.

This turn of events is almost as dizzying as the 12-game winning streak that has propeled the Rockets upward in the standings. The credit goes to Olajuwon.

A player of Olajuwon's status could easily force a trade. All one has to do is look at Charles Barkley's boorish behavior -- and uninspired play -- for Philadelphia last season for a blueprint.

Barkley got his wish. He was traded to Phoenix.

Olajuwon took a different tact.

"People will come up to me and ask, "How are you doing with that guy?' ' Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "But there's never been a problem between Hakeem and any of the coaches.

"Probably one of the biggest misconceptions is that he's got a negative deal on him. That's so wrong. He's good to be around. He's a friendly person. He's got a good sense of humor, and he cares about people.'

Olajuwon worked hard in the off-season. He practiced the turnaround jumper that had been so effective earlier in his career. He stressed conditioning.

He was driven, in part, by the thought of having a fresh start. Olajuwon was convinced he was going to be traded, and he wanted to show his new employer his skills had not diminished.

When Olajuwon reported for another season in Houston, he admits he was disappointed. But he refused to let his hard work go to waste. A long talk with Thomas on the flight back from Japan, where the Rockets opened the regular season against Seattle, helped clear the air.

Olajuwon has been outstanding ever since. He's sixth in the league in scoring with an average of 25 points, third in rebounding at 12.8 and first in blocked shots with 4.27. He has been at his overpowering best late in the game, which is one reason the Rockets have won 25 of their last 30 games.

"He's having an MVP season, his best far and away,' Patterson said.

"I think it's between him and Charles Barkley for MVP,' Miami center Rony Seikaly said. "I'd have to flip a coin. Hakeem is as good as anybody.'

Olajuwon had no problem letting Rockets management know how he felt last season. But with that goes the responsibility of helping solve the problem, not creating one.

That is exactly what Olajuwon has done.

"The worst thing that could have happened after the controversy of last season was to come in this season and let it continue,' Olajuwon said. "The bottom line is to take care of business on the floor. I have an obligation to fulfill, and I fulfill it the best way I know how.'

Olajuwon's way has put the Rockets at the top of the division.

"One thing about Hakeem, he's focused this year,' Houston forward Otis Thorpe said. "My opinion is that he's set his mind in the direction he wants to go and what he wants to accomplish. If he accomplishes those things, I think he's a happy man.

"If he was caught up in things before, I would say right now, he's on top of things. He's the king of the hill.'

Staff Writer David Moore covers pro basketball for The News. His column appears Sunday.