Ever wonder who exactly made the decision to draft Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and John Stockton? And what the hell they were thinking? Or how Houston managed to get the #1 pick in the 1984 draft after having the first pick and drafting Ralph Sampson (21ppg 11rpg 2.4bpg his rookie season) the year before?
Sixers fans, ever wonder if we had a real chance to get MJ? How about why Barkley said “Oh, fuck” when he heard Commissioner Stern announce that Philadelphia had drafted him? Or why he gained over 20 pounds in 24hrs before his final weigh in with the Sixers?
These questions and more are addressed in Filip Bondy’s book:Tip-Off: How the 1984 NBA Draft Changed Basketball Forever. A well-written, inside look at the teams, players and behind-the-scenes stories surrounding that historic day in pro basketball.
I recommend all basketball enthusiasts and sports fans in general to pick this book up today. But I
understand not everyone has S.A.D. - Sports Addiction Disorder (yes I made that up, but isn’t it a fitting acronym?) like I do and willing to read 262 pages about sports let alone a single NBA draft. So the upcoming 1984 NBA Draft Series will serve as the Recliner GM’s version of CliffsNotes for TIP-Off. I’m not typing out chapters (that’s just dumb) rather answering some of the major questions about the ‘84 draft, pulling out some of the more interesting stories and of course adding my own insight and opinions.
If you have specific questions or something you want addressed, leave a comment. I will try my best to answer it. Enjoy!
- Coin Flip to Lottery: Did the Rockets Tank to Get Olajuwon?
- The Man Behind the Biggest Draft Blunder In NBA History
I challenge everyone to a NBA 7-game series. I want to see how my twelve guys match up against yours. I won’t have who I think are the 12 best players although I definitely will have a few. I am starting 3 guards, but don’t think you can take advantage of me at the small forward spot. And I have a fortress in the paint, starting 2 centers.
Coach - Chuck Daly - Why? Because he coached the greatest team ever assembled - the 1992 Olympic Dream Team. He has also proven himself by winning back-to-back NBA championships with the Pistons.
Starters:
Guard - Michael Jordan - This is my killer. His competitiveness and will can carry an entire basketball team. MJ in my opinion is the best player ever to grace a basketball court, no question (Bill Russell is a close 2nd). Some may say that statement is debatable. And the main player people like to argue (not even close) is Wilt Chamberlain, since he is probably the only guy who would vote for himself as the greatest anyway. Just about every other hall-of-famer or greatest-ever comparable would tell you themselves that MJ is the best. That by itself should be enough to end that argument.
Guard - Oscar Robertson - This is my all-purpose stud. The big O spawned the bigger combo guard who can do everything. Score from everywhere on the court, rebound and dish. He did something that will never be duplicated EVER. Not only did he average a triple-double in a full season (1961-62 - averaging 30.8 points, 11.4 assists and 12.5 rebounds per game), but if you put together his first 5 seasons (400+ games), he averaged a triple-double from 1960 to 1965. That is freakin’ ridiculous! And people are in awe of King James…
Guard - Magic Johnson - My floor leader and the best point guard of all-time - and he was really a power forward at 6′ 9. Can play all 5 positions, sees all the passing angles and can thread the needle in every situation. At that size he can score on anyone and is the perfect guy to run the fast break with MJ (think 1992 Dream Team). Not to mention completely unselfish and all about winning.
Power Forward - Bill Russell - My second and third line of defense and the best big man and greatest winner in the history of the game. He matches up well vs. some of the quicker bigs because he was very agile for his size and clearly held his own against the bigger guys (Wilt Chamberlain) as well.
Side note: I have to take a moment to explain why The Big Dipper is not on my team. Think back to game 7 of the 1970 NBA finals. With a severely torn muscle in his thigh Willis Reed made a heroic appearance from the locker room to match up against arguably the most dominant big man ever. Reed went on to score the first two buckets of the game vs. Wilt and inspired his team to victory. An immeasurable display of leadership that in my opinion should never have happened. Basketball, and any sport, is about winning, taking advantage of every (allowable) edge you have and not giving anyone a free pass. And that is exactly what Chamberlain did in that game. He should have PUNCHED those two shots into the 3rd row seats sending a message to the Knicks that in no way, shape or form was it their day to win. That has always bugged me and for that reason I cannot have Wilt on my team.
Center - Moses Malone - This is my bruiser. My relentless rebounder, shot blocker and post defender. I had to start him because he was the missing piece that led the Sixers to the 1983 championship; he is my hometown guy. He is going to make sure nobody comes down the lane for any freebies and dominate the boards. This guy actually had 15 OFFENSIVE rebounds in a playoff game. Wow.
Bench:
Isiah Thomas - This was a tough pick for me. It was between Isiah and A.I. (check his career playoff numbers and you won’t be as surprised why this was a bit of a dilemma). Ultimately it came down to winning, and although Iverson is my dude, Isiah is the proven champion. Not that I would be losing much as Thomas was just as electric with the rock as the “Answer”.
Reggie Miller - In this day and age you can’t win without a consistent threat from beyond the 3-point line. You saw how the US team struggled in the last Olympics because they didn’t have a shooter. Well, here is the best in the history of the NBA. And if somehow I end up down 3 late you can be assured Reggie will be ready to nail that clutch triple at the buzzer. That is if MJ lets someone else shoot with the game on the line anyway!
Larry Bird - This quote sums up why Larry “Legend” (not to mention it’s Larry “Legend”) is on my team - “The one thing that always bothered me when I played in the NBA was I really got irritated when they put a white guy on me,” Bird said. “I still don’t understand why. A white guy would come out (and) I would always ask him: ‘What, do you have a problem with your coach? Did your coach do this to you?’ And he’d go, ‘No,’ and I’d say, ‘Come on, you got a white guy coming out here to guard me; you got no chance.’ For some reason, that always bothered me when I was playing against a white guy.” “Disrespect,” Magic said. Said Bird: “Yeah, disrespect.” Full 2-on-2 interview
Kevin Garnett - I had to have at least one current player on my team, and right now this is my favorite. His energy, unselfishness and ability to do just about everything from the power forward spot are the reasons he fits well on this team. I needed a strong passing big man to play the high-low game. As well as hit the pick-and-pop jumper when he sets perimeter screens.
Hakeem Olajuwon - This was a toss up between Hakeem and Shaquille O’Neal. The deciding factors were free-throw shooting and versatility. I didn’t want to have any weak links on this team. The Diesel opens this team up to the Hack-A-Shaq strategy and bigger defensive mismatches against pick-and-rolls. Really though, I just want the “Dream Shake” on my team!
Utility Guys:
Scottie Pippen
Robert Horry
There you have it. Can anyone think of a better, more well-rounded team?
Welcome to Hoops State of Mind, a blog dedicated solely to hoops, hoops and more hoops.
Why are we starting Hoops State of Mind?
It can not be understated, we love basketball - period. We love watching, reading, writing, discussing and most importantly playing basketball. This blog is the perfect channel to fulfill many of those points.
We already have a sports blog that covers our local sports teams in Philly at The Recliner GM. But wanted to expand our overall basketball coverage when the Sixers and local college basketball teams aren’t playing without muddying up that blog.
Ok, so what will Hoops State of Mind be?
Basically, whatever random basketball thoughts that come to mind that we want to share. We are trying to add some variety. Hoops State of Mind posts will come in all shapes and sizes, be pretty random, more fun, less dense and conversational (the more comments the better).
With that said we do have some recurring items in mind that will pop up here and there. As you can see they all have obvious basketball flavor.
- Off the Glass - Thinking something like a basketball-related question or bouncing an idea off the readers.
- The Blackboard & The Pick-and-Roll - Talking strategy, highlight plays and analyze the statistics.
- Rebounds and Assists - Grab some interesting basketball links from the blogosphere and share. Get it - “rebounds” and “assists.”
- The Flagrant Foul - Criticism of any and everything bad that has happened recently in the game. Literally could just be a picture that expresses that sentiment.
- The Buzzer Beater - The opposite of The Flagrant Foul. Any and everything good that has happened recently in the game.
- The Shooter’s Roll - We like quotes so this is where we will share some of our favorite quotes about basketball from anywhere we can find them.
- A Fresh 24 - We don’t know what this one will be, but we like the term. So we are sure collectively we can come up with something good, right?
- The White Boy Report - Pete will talk more about this, but it (probably) won’t be as offensive as it sounds.
There you have it. Hoops, hoops and more hoops.
P.S.
What do you think of the logo and banner? Paintings courtesy of John Robertson at Street Credible Art.
