Olajuwon vs Kevin McHale 1986 NBA Finals

[Da_Realist]

Game 4

[Da_Realist]

Game 5

[Da_Realist]

Game 6

[Yung D-Will]

Rape.

Mchale has the best post moves in Nba history. No disrespect to Hakeem.

[Da_Realist]

Rape.

Mchale has the best post moves in Nba history. No disrespect to Hakeem.

Hakeem was a beast. Even in 86. Only looking at offensive skill? Man, I don't know... That's an interesting question.

[AirJordan23]

Rape.

Mchale has the best post moves in Nba history. No disrespect to Hakeem.

are you basing it on the 1986 finals only? if so, thats a fallace way of judging them as hakeem wasn't close to being as skilled as he was later on.

[Yung D-Will]

are you basing it on the 1986 finals only? if so, thats a fallace way of judging them as hakeem wasn't close to being as skilled as he was later on.

Nah not only on the 86 finals. Footage I've seen of Mchale and the games I've seen of Hakeem.

[Da_Realist]

^^ I updated the links to the videos. For some reason they were broken before.

[elementally morale]

Wow. I almost forgot how good basketball was back then. Slightly less strength, a lot more running, less 3 pointers taken, lots and lots of outlet passes and quick possessions.

As for the two of them, Hakeem learned many of his post moves from McHale after these finals. In the end, hakeem surpassed his master on offense, too. As for post game, I'd take McHale for the low post and Hakeem from the high post and everywhere else. Not to speak of defense which Hakeem was easily the better at. (McHale was tough though. A lot tougher than one could have guessed at first sight.)

I think if there had never been a Larry Bird, Kevin McHale could and would have become a franchise player. He did not lack the talent to be that.

[kizut1659]

Wow. I almost forgot how good basketball was back then. Slightly less strength, a lot more running, less 3 pointers taken, lots and lots of outlet passes and quick possessions.

As for the two of them, Hakeem learned many of his post moves from McHale after these finals. In the end, hakeem surpassed his master on offense, too. As for post game, I'd take McHale for the low post and Hakeem from the high post and everywhere else. Not to speak of defense which Hakeem was easily the better at. (McHale was tough though. A lot tougher than one could have guessed at first sight.)

I think if there had never been a Larry Bird, Kevin McHale could and would have become a franchise player. He did not lack the talent to be that.

I never understood why McHale was not given more shot attempts. There are some indications that him and Bird did not get along, which is why maybe McHale was held back. For example, Boston could have feasibly won in 1988 against Pistons if McHale, who was shooting over 60% compared to Bird's 34%in the series, would have been made the focal point of offense.

[elementally morale]

I never understood why McHale was not given more shot attempts. There are some indications that him and Bird did not get along, which is why maybe McHale was held back.

I never saw, read or heard anything about it. What do you base it on? Is it just a wild guess? (No problem if so, I'm just curious.)

For example, Boston could have feasibly won in 1988 against Pistons if McHale, who was shooting over 60% compared to Bird's 34%in the series, would have been made the focal point of offense.

Almost the same thing as Lakers vs. Pistons in 2004. Bird was meant to be the clutch player and the go-to player when the wheels started to go off. He didn't succeed that one time. McHale could have scored a lot more, I agree. Not only in that series but in general. I'm not sure if the Celtics would have become a better team by McHale scoring more though.

[1987_Lakers]

McHale the very next year averaged 26 PPG on 60 FG%, that should tell you how deadly he was in the low post. McHale actually almost had the same amount of MVP votes as Bird that year.

[Gotterdammerung]

Actually there was some undercurrent friction between McHale and Bird. Bird thought McHale did not take the game seriously, was way too laidback for his own good. Had McHale worked on his game 24/7, and during the off season, worked on his body, then he would be even greater than he was. I'm sure McHale thought Bird was too serious or something of that sort. But they made it work.

Also, I think McHale's foot was injured in 1987, and then he wasn't the same after he played on it in 1988.

Thanks for the youtube links. I appreciate the trip down memory lane. I posted a comment in the 1st game, that you can see Hakeem's game in its early stages: the baby hook, the turnaround fall away, and the semi-dream shake.

[DatWasNashty]

For people who've seen prime McHale play (only saw the watered down version post-1990), how much of his efficiency do you think is a result of playing next to Bird? The year Bird went down, Kevin's FG% plummeted from 60.4 to 54.6. He seemed to have missed a few games in the prior season which indicates injury issues but such a dramatic drop off does imply that he wouldn't have been able to put up that type of efficiency as the team's primary option.

His post-game does look killer, though. He seems to have textbook moves; tremendous use of head and shoulder fakes, terrific up-and-under, deadly dropstep towards the baseline and that huge ass wingspan sure helped him to get easier shots off. He also seems to have a nice turnaround fadeaway over either shoulder and decent ability to hit those twisting, off-balance shots. What impressed me the most was his ability to counter to how the defense reacted. Definitely regret missing out on his best years.

[elementally morale]

I think McHale would have become a slightly better player without Bird and Parish a slightly worse player. McHale's efficiency didn't have that much to do with Bird's passing. Kevin would have had same game with almost any perimeter player. Some passes would have been missing, but he would have more than made up for that with his more important role on the team.

I think McHale was a good competitor in his own right, he seemed laid-back only because Bird and Ainge were on that team, LOL.