Something to prove games.

[Kblaze8855]

I was watching the "Jordan stopper had a tough night" game from when Gerald Wilkins embraced the Jordan stopper name and claimed he could slow MJ before a playoff series he was brought in for the express purpose of guarding MJ during. MJ gave him I wanna say 52 points and mocked him after the game.

Reminded me of other "Point to prove" games. MJ had a few. Game one of the 92 finals vs Clyde perhaps the most famous.

But MJ played with that something to prove mentality so often its hard to single games out.

Here are a few off the top of my head...not googling anything so feel free to make corrections where needed....

For the record im not counting like....scoring title winning games or just big games for the sake of big games. Like Shaqs 60/20 just because it was his birthday or Thompsons 52 point half 73 point game to go after the scoring title. Just....ive been offended and this is my response games.



Shaq. Hated on in some articles for his supposed lack of defense and trying to be a scorer when early projections had him as a potentially dominant defender who was too raw to score much in the NBA. So he goes and gets what was recorded as 24 points, 28 rebounds,
and 15 blocks. Ive heard claims it was really like 12...but whatever.

Kwame Brown has one or two people probably forgot. Someone(I wanna say it was Amare and Tyson Chandler) was mocking him in the press when asked about straight from HS guys flopping. Anyway...he came out pissed next game and dropped 30/19 on the Kings then like 30 again the next night. Soon after he became the Kwame we all know and mock.

Arenas....remember his hitlist over being cut from the 08 Olympic team? Said he would kill all the coaching staffs teams. Couldnt get to Coach K at Duke of course but Dantoni and Nate were in his path. Gave the Suns I think 54. Lakers 60 in that same stretch but I don't think they were involved.

Wilt....SI ran an article saying he couldn't score anymore when he was a Laker. So he dropped 66 on like 29-35 shooting just to prove a point then went back to taking 12 shots a night like nothing happened. Also...his entire 67 and 68 seasons might count. He went and won the assist title just to prove to people he wasn't just a scorer.

Also...once blocked I think 9 of Walt Bellamys shots shutting him down totally in the first half when they were compared in Walts rookie season(He was doing like 30/20...supposed to be another Wilt). According to Walt himself Wilt told him in the second half "Now you can play..." since his point was proven.

Larry Bird not liking McHale and Parish effort on a texas road trip in 86 came out the next game and told them if they didn't do their part he wouldn't need them at all. According to Bill Walton in the Bird turns 50 interview on NBA.com he scored I think 24 in the first quarter and 40 in the half just to let them know they were not needed. Only ended with 40 something though....and the team never let him down again. Might be able to count the 60 on the Hawks just to take Mchales week old team record of 57(Bird didn't even have it before that....Sam Jones did...Bird just didn't want McHale to keep it).


You have Karl Malone dropping 61 in I think 33 minutes the game after he found out AC Green was voted an all star starter over him. Seems he was later offended when Isiah did the same to Stockton....speaking of that...

Isiah was not on the dream team. Stockton was. Isiah took offense(not that it was Stocktons choice...). Scored I think 44 on him trying to make him look bad. Isiah wasn't even scoring much those years. Just had a point to prove. So.....Karl Malone elbowed him and broke his face next game...



What did I forget? Must be some not coming to me right now.

Spite powered dominant performances are always a good story .

[Kblaze8855]

Oh...Kobes "Amnesty that!" game after Cuban suggested cutting him. That one is a pretty good example.

[RightToCensor]

Tl;Dr

Houston vs. the East's top 2 teams

[Marlo_Stanfield]

LEBron 2012 ECF game 6.
Came from a an epic choke/fail in the finals before. most hated player in the history of basketball. an entire nation of haters ready to burry him alive.
could become a career loser. whole Celtics team shit talked him Paul Pierce be like" you cant guard me".
Comes to their homecourt and snatches every single players soul by dropping 45 points and 30 in the first half. could have easily dropped 55-60. Destroyed Pierce on Defense.
proceeded to win Championship.
it doesnt get ANY better than that:bowdown: :bowdown:

[RightToCensor]

Dwight's "Howard SUCKS" game vs. the Lakers.

[Kblaze8855]

Forgot two others I shouldn't have....

Kevin Wilis claimed he could guard McHale one on one before I think the 87 series...might have been 86. Anyway McHale was annoyed and put him in the "Torture chamber" at every chance. I took some of it for my McHale video but not much.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_poUO4Q0wVQ


Notice the crazy moves he puts on #42 of the Hawks a few times.

Also...the first that should have come to mind...Hakeem in 95 vs Drob. The "Never should have given that MVP out in front of Hakeem" series.

Such things make me wonder how much people hold back. The lesser stars and role players mostly.

Kwame...you watch those post Chandler jokes games....Kwame was mocked on I think PTI and all.

He was DEMANDING the ball. Make or miss....he wanted it. Went and got the ball off the boards and dunked it home. He was a different person. Career high points and rebounds the very day after hes laughed at in the media.

We clowned him ourselves on ISH at the time. And he just....went off.

Then went back to being Kwame.....

If he played with that passion every game...I don't know if hes a star. But hes not as much of a joke.

[9erempiree]

Something to prove games are fake. They are fabricated to make a player look good.

For example, the Toronto Raptors were putting a beating on the Lakers. Jalen Rose and company were mocking Kobe and said he can't score against their defense. Kobe, in an act of greatness went on to score 81 points and proving his doubters wrong. See what I did there.

81 points could possibly be the greatest something to prove games.

[Brook(lyn)Lopez]

tl; dr, but Westbrook last night had something to prove against that hug Pat Bev after he pulled some bash league stuff against him.
I would have socked Bev right in the face if I was Westbrook.

[The_Yearning]

Gilbert never dropped anything on the Blazers. In fact, he said he was going to give the Blazers 50 on his NBA blog and ended up with like 8 points. He got shut down by Jarret Jack I believe.

[Kblaze8855]

Yea I was just reading that and edited it when I came in here. Bit on that:




WASHINGTON -- Gilbert Arenas (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3540) would like to go back to school and teach Coach K a lesson.
The Washington Wizards (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=was) All-Star figures he could score "84 or 85" points if he got a chance to play Duke and coach Mike Krzyzewski, who cut Arenas from the U.S. national team last summer.
Arenas has promised this season to take out his frustrations about the national team on Krzyzewski's Team USA assistants, Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni and Portland coach Nate McMillan.
Arenas scored 54 points against the Suns last month and has said his next 50-point game will come against the Trail Blazers on Feb. 11, prompting D'Antoni to say: "I can't wait to see what he does against Duke. He's gonna kill Duke."
"He'd like to see what I'm going to do against Duke," Arenas wrote in a posting this week on his nba.com blog. "I thought it was funny because if I have the chance to go back to college, I'll give up one NBA season to play against Duke.
"One college game that's five fouls, right? ... 40-minute game at Duke, they got soft rims I'd probably score 84 or 85. I wouldn't pass the ball. I wouldn't even think about passing it. It would be like a NBA Live or an NBA 2K7 game, you just shoot with one person," he wrote.


Another article says he kept staring down Colangelo(ran USA basketball) in the stands but Gilbert said he didn't even know he was there.

That year I kept telling people he just didn't impress me that much when people were on their "Top 3!" and "Hes top 5...its obvious!" shit telling me id eat my words in a year or two.

That didn't last long. Not his fault he got hurt....but still.

I do remember a godly walk off 3 vs the Jazz that year though. I think it was that year. He strolls up and shoots it like the defense isn't even there. Turns and walks off before it goes in. One of the most ballsy moves in history. Just...shut the building down.

That I had to respect.

[BoutPractice]

I believe this affects performance more than people think. Especially those who only speak in terms of "averages" and so on.

Just this season, you can see Kevin Durant is trying to prove a point, trying to make a case for himself as the best all-around player in the league. He wants to win, sure. But he also wants to make a statement while doing so.

Meanwhile, I don't think it's a coincidence that LeBron made a point to outscore Durant, Melo and Paul George when they went up against each other. Or to stay in the game so he could hit 60. While Durant wants to show that he's an all-around player, LeBron wants to make sure everyone understands that he can score with the best of them too.

That's why you never say to a great competitor that "he's done", "he's overrated" or "I can guard him". Chances are, that'll bring the best in him. You don't brag when you're up 15 with 4 minutes to go, mock your opponent because he has a cold, or bring out the ropes when there's 30 seconds left. It's just not a very smart thing to do.

[Dro]

Great thread bro. All the youngins will just come in with their Lebron and Kobe memories but you're dropping some real knowledge and bringing back memories, especially that 92 Jordan game against Portland. I was 12 years old watching that and eating my Frosted Flakes, lol...Can't believe I remember that.

Also, does Reggie'es 25 in th 4th quarter count? Because thats one of the greatest performances I've ever seen personally and they were big underdogs and Reggie was really trying to prove something to Spike and the Knicks...

[Dro]

I believe this affects performance more than people think. Especially those who only speak in terms of "averages" and so on.

Just this season, you can see Kevin Durant is trying to prove a point, trying to make a case for himself as the best all-around player in the league. He wants to win, sure. But he also wants to make a statement while doing so.

Meanwhile, I don't think it's a coincidence that LeBron made a point to outscore Durant, Melo and Paul George when they went up against each other. Or to stay in the game so he could hit 60. While Durant wants to show that he's an all-around player, LeBron wants to make sure everyone understands that he can score with the best of them too.

That's why you never say to a great competitor that "he's done", "he's overrated" or "I can guard him". Chances are, that'll bring the best in him. You don't brag when you're up 15 with 4 minutes to go, mock your opponent because he has a cold, or bring out the ropes when there's 30 seconds left. It's just not a very smart thing to do.
Agree completely. Good post.

[Kblaze8855]

Something to prove games are fake. They are fabricated to make a player look good.

For example, the Toronto Raptors were putting a beating on the Lakers. Jalen Rose and company were mocking Kobe and said he can't score against their defense. Kobe, in an act of greatness went on to score 81 points and proving his doubters wrong. See what I did there.

81 points could possibly be the greatest something to prove games.

Im sure its just by chance that the editor of SI Frank Deford ran an article saying "Chamberlain won't or can't go to the basket anymore." among other claims he was now a limited scorer and he scored 60 literally...the same day. Seems I was off earlier. He scored 60 just as the article came out....and then another 66. The only such games of his Laker career. He scored 11 the game before the article was brought to his attention....then 60. Dude was taking 13.6 shots a game that season in over 45 mintues a game. Hes just not trying to score.

SI claims he CANT score anymore....2 60 point games the next week or so.

I find it unlikely to be coincidence.

[Kblaze8855]

Great thread bro. All the youngins will just come in with their Lebron and Kobe memories but you're dropping some real knowledge and bringing back memories, especially that 92 Jordan game against Portland. I was 12 years old watching that and eating my Frosted Flakes, lol...Can't believe I remember that.

I remember the next day a gang of Hawk and Hornet fans I knew suddenly repped Jordan. That was the moment everyone in my area(I was in the south for that summer) suddenly became a hardcore Bulls fan. Including the ones telling me Nique was better like a year before.

[Kblaze8855]

I believe this affects performance more than people think. Especially those who only speak in terms of "averages" and so on.

Just this season, you can see Kevin Durant is trying to prove a point, trying to make a case for himself as the best all-around player in the league. He wants to win, sure. But he also wants to make a statement while doing so.

Meanwhile, I don't think it's a coincidence that LeBron made a point to outscore Durant, Melo and Paul George when they went up against each other. Or to stay in the game so he could hit 60. While Durant wants to show that he's an all-around player, LeBron wants to make sure everyone understands that he can score with the best of them too.

That's why you never say to a great competitor that "he's done", "he's overrated" or "I can guard him". Chances are, that'll bring the best in him. You don't brag when you're up 15 with 4 minutes to go, mock your opponent because he has a cold, or bring out the ropes when there's 30 seconds left. It's just not a very smart thing to do.

I wonder if the Lakers win game 7 in 69 if they didn't let it slip that they had the balloons ready to drop and the UCLA band on standby to play when the Lakers won. I cant even imagine the look on Bill Russells face when they smuggled him those plans.

Sure...they had to get ready in case...but they were taking it for granted. Cant give a team like that any extra billboard material.

Russell smiles so wide talking about telling the team "Its gonna be fun watching them take those balloons down one by one...."

You know he was ready to kill or die for that last win.

[Jailblazers7]

Scottie and MJ vs. Kukoc in the '92 Olympics is always an entertaining example.

[Nevaeh]

Scottie and MJ vs. Kukoc in the '92 Olympics is always an entertaining example.

Pip and Jordan have so many "something to prove" games, it's ridiculous. One of my favorites was the "It ain't over" game that the 97 Bulls had against the Lakers, where Nick da Quick was talking mad smack, while doing "Rocky on the punch bag" impressions, just knowing that the game was won. Needless to say, it wasn't.

http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/laugh.gif

That game's on you tube, if I'm not mistaken.

For MJ it would have to be the "Stackhouse Game" in 96. Rocking the then new Black Jerseys, AJ11s while making an utter fool of Stackhouse on jump shots, had EVERYBODY, including the bench, pumped up.

Damn that was a sick ass team, even on the latest NBA2ks.