Mon Dec 29, 2008 9:46 am
Mon Dec 29, 2008 10:50 am
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Tue Dec 30, 2008 11:40 pm
Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:28 am
Manute on Charles Barkley wrote:One day there was a golf tournament in Philly. I was driving a golf cart and I hit him with the golf cart while he was doing an interview.
Wed Dec 31, 2008 10:16 am
Barkley and Bol grew close during their time together. Good natured barbs flew across their Spectrum locker room nightly. It kept everybody loose.
One day, for a television show, the joke was on Bol, shocking as it was.
“They brought me into a big hotel conference room and told me we were going to have lunch,” remembered Bol. “They went through the different dishes. They said here’s the soup, here’s the salad. Then they came to a big covered dish and said it was the main course. When they opened it, Rick Mahorn’s head was on the plate. His eyes were open real big. Man, I jumped! The people who did the show put him under the table and he put his head through a hole and onto the plate. Man, I thought I’d have a heart attack. Good thing I didn’t have a bad heart!
“Well, Charles was in on the joke so I got him back. One day there was a golf tournament in Philly. I was driving a golf cart and I hit him with the golf cart while he was doing an interview. I don’t remember what Charles thought, but I thought it was real funny.”
Wed Dec 31, 2008 10:31 am
Wed Dec 31, 2008 1:36 pm
Fri Jan 09, 2009 10:05 am
Andrew wrote:Great video. Those threes are fun to watch but my favourite plays from that mix were the pass after wrapping the ball through his legs and putting the ball on the floor for the driving dunk. Those blocks were simply effortless too.
Fri Jan 09, 2009 12:44 pm
Fri Jan 09, 2009 1:13 pm
Fri Jan 09, 2009 2:57 pm
Joe' wrote:All of you fail for not yet mentioning John Stockton. First in career assists and steals, not to mention best player of the '90s (after MJ) and best PG ever IMO, this little guy could do everything. He could score, he could hit threes, he could pass and he sure could steal the ball.
Joe' wrote:What I loved the most about him, though, was the fact that he was traditional. He kept everything simple and because of that it was a true pleasure to watch him play; I hate flashy players, I hate players who dunk constantly just because they can or do flashy passes and stuff. It's not a freaking circus goddamnit, it's basketball.
Joe' wrote:It's a shame he, as many greats (Malone, Barkley) of his era didn't get a ring. The Jazz truly deserved it in '98 and '99...
Sun Jan 11, 2009 8:53 am
Andrew wrote:As Clue said, most of us have been trying to avoid the obvious names (as such I only mentioned Michael Jordan in passing). I don't know about him being the second best of the 90s, I think Hakeem Olajuwon, Scottie Pippen and his own teammate Karl Malone could each make a strong claim in that regard.
Andrew wrote:I get what you're saying but I couldn't disagree more. The flashy players had strong fundamentals in their own right, but they're simply remembered for certain plays that stood out because they were so memorable. SLAM Magazine probably put it best when they included Dominique Wilkins on the "real Top 50" list and commented that of his 27,000+ points, about 20,000 of them weren't that memorable. A 'Nique highlight reel gives you the impression that he dunked every time down the court though and while he certainly threw it down many, many times in his career his game was more than just dunks.
I think the dunk is much maligned anyway. It's become fashionable to criticise dunking and dismiss it as useless showboating but it's the highest percentage shot in the game. Shaq once said if he can get the dunk ten out of ten times, he's going for the dunk ten out of ten times. Some players can put on a bit of a show when they dunk and I don't see a problem with that. It's not a circus, but sport isn't a business meeting either. If you don't like flair then that's cool, we should all appreciate the fundamentals anyway. But I think players playing with flair and having distinctive styles and personality on the court is a part of sport too.
Andrew' wrote:I don't entirely disagree (well, maybe about 1998 as I'm not upset the Bulls won) but I think we make too much about who deserves a ring and who doesn't. You mention that professional sport isn't a circus, well, it's not a charity either. Unfortunately, there can only be one winner and with the way dominant athletes and teams get a stranglehold on their sports' highest achievement, some will never win the ultimate prize. If you win the championship, then you deserve it. If you lose in the championship game, you've still accomplished a lot and should be recognised for your efforts but you can't say you deserved something you didn't win.
Sun Jan 11, 2009 11:44 am
Sun Jan 11, 2009 2:09 pm
Sun Jan 11, 2009 6:36 pm
Joe' wrote:I apologize, it's just it always seems to me John gets overlooked whenever people talk about the greats of the 90s and such...
Joe' wrote:I'm not criticizing dunking, nor dismissing it as useless showboating. I'm just saying it's overdone... I agree it's the highest percentage shot in basketball, but I don't see the need to go for a dunk every single time. Nowadays, even when they're all by themselves on a fast break, 90% of players go for a dunk; in this situation the "highest percentage shot" excuse isn't good anymore, since I expect an NBA player's layup conversion percentage to be as high as his dunk conversion percentage. Anyway, I can stand a dunk, hell I love dunks; I just don't see the point in flashy dunks (really what's the point in a treadmill dunk or stuff like that?) and the more than occasional show after the dunk...
Joe' wrote:Even point guards, who shouldn't care much about scoring since that's not their main duty in basketball, they drive and dunk whenever they can, just because they can, when a pass or even a mid-range shot would be the best option. Same thing with passes: I'll use Jason Williams as an example because I despise him in a particular way, but it applies to a lot of players. Why on Earth would you even think of passing the ball that way when passing it "the traditional way" is easier, not to mention and especially more effective? I don't see any other reason other than to show off, and it really pisses me off.
Joe' wrote:Okay, then maybe you can make an argument the '97 and '98 Jazz at least deserved a Game 7. The Bulls won thanks to a buzzer beater on both occasions, and I think it's safe to say they won (and I'm talking about exclusively about Game 6 here,) not entirely of course, thanks to a little bit of luck.
Joe' wrote:Anyway, back on topic, any of you remember Richard Dumas? I watched Game 3 of the '93 Finals yesterday and the guy was on fire. What ever happened to him?
Wed Jan 14, 2009 12:42 pm
Andrew wrote:I think the dunk is much maligned anyway. It's become fashionable to criticise dunking and dismiss it as useless showboating but it's the highest percentage shot in the game. Shaq once said if he can get the dunk ten out of ten times, he's going for the dunk ten out of ten times. Some players can put on a bit of a show when they dunk and I don't see a problem with that. It's not a circus, but sport isn't a business meeting either. If you don't like flair then that's cool, we should all appreciate the fundamentals anyway. But I think players playing with flair and having distinctive styles and personality on the court is a part of sport too.
Wed Jan 14, 2009 2:30 pm
Wed Jan 14, 2009 8:48 pm
Thu Jan 15, 2009 6:47 am
Thu Jan 15, 2009 8:56 am