And the Detroit Piston faithful rejoice. I am far from a Detroit Pistons fan, but even I wanted Flip Saunders to be fired. I honestly am not even sure why he was hired in the first place considering his background and the make-up of that team. That Detroit team had a clear identity, attitude and approach to the game. They were physical, tough-minded and determined. What the hell happened?
Is Flip Saunders a good coach? Sure. But the better question is, and should have been before Joe Dumars hired him, is he a championship coach? A coach that can handle stubborn veteran players? A coach that can manage players who have won a championship and are still of that caliber even though as a coach he has not reached that level? My answer is, No.
For a Piston team coming off an NBA championship and 7-game Eastern Conference Finals loss, this team was either going to digress or rise back to championship form. And it would be the next coach as the catalyst for either proposition.
The team hasn’t changed that much to not have gotten to another Finals. The top 4 players have remained steady in Hamilton, Billups, Prince and Wallace. The constant veteran presence of Lindsay Hunter has also been there the whole time. You swap out Ben Wallace for Antonio McDyess, Mike James for Rodney Stuckey and Mehmet Okur for Jason Maxiell, and I actually like this team better than the ‘03-’04 team. So again, what the hell happened?
Depending on where your head is there are a few different theories:
The Eastern Conference is just better, and the Pistons weren’t good enough to make it through to the Finals repeatedly.
After winning the championship in 2004 the players got fat, happy and content. They lost their edge, that undeniable determination that allowed them to blast through a Laker team with two of the best players in the history of the game.
Flip Saunders sucked. He just wasn’t the right coach for this particular team. He reinvented the wheel and deviated from what had gotten the Pistons to the promise land. He lost his players, and a consequence of that was they lost their focus.
It is probably some of all those points. The Pistons ran into Dwayne Wade and LeBron James who proved unstoppable during their series with Detroit. Then into a very hungry and stacked Boston Celtic team.
It has been reported, written about and preached forever: it’s always harder to win the second time around. You have the bullseye on you and get the best from everyone you face. You have slightly less to prove having won it all already, so maybe it is natural to lose some of that competitive edge.
I personally thought Flip Saunders came in with the wrong ideas when taking over Detroit. He wanted to up the tempo, run and add more emphasis on offense. But can you blame him if that is his background and expertise? Joe Dumars had to have known and discussed this with him before hiring Saunders. I also think the team took on the worst trait of their coach. Although Saunders handles his press conferences and public appearances with poise, his on-the-court demeanor is much different. He is very animated in a whiny, cry baby kind of way. And you can see some of that slowly seeping into the rough-and-tough Piston players. Overall I think the coach contributed greatly to the lack of consistency of the team during his tenure.
So what’s next? There are reports assistant coach Michael Curry all but has the job locked up, but Terry Porter may also be under consideration for the Pistons’ head coaching job. I think the next coach should be based on what the direction of the team is now. Will they keep the team intact and continue the expectation of reaching and winning the NBA Finals? If so I think they need to bring in a Phil Jackson-type coach. A guy that lets veteran players play. Keeps motivation and focus at a consistent and high level. And commands the respect of veteran, championship-caliber players. Maybe Curry or Porter is that guy.
Or will Dumars look to move some (or all) of his aging stars to free up minutes for Amir Johnson, Rodney Stuckey and Jason Maxiell to develop and take hold of the reins. In that case Terry Porter or Michael Curry seems like the logical way to go as they have already played a big role in developing the young players and have built a good relationship already.
I kind of feel like Saunders may be portrayed as the scapegoat here, but is he really the biggest reason for the disappointment? Rather, should Flip Saunders be the only person to go? I will let the die hard Piston fans fight over that last point as they likely know best.
Did Derek Fisher foul Brent Barry? Sure. Was it as big a deal as the media has and continues to make it out to be? I don’t think so. And neither did one of the biggest cry-baby teams in the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs. I was shock and amazed at the lack of criticism and outrage at the refs by the Spurs players. Barry merely put his arms up for a few seconds and headed to the locker room. You got a minor jump up and down from Duncan, and that was it. Ginobili had more a look of shock than anything else. And that mild response and diplomacy carried over into the post-game press conferences as well.
“That’s not going to get called in the Western Conference finals,” Barry said. “Maybe in the regular season. But that call shouldn’t be called in the Western Conference finals.”
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said: “If I was the official I wouldn’t have called that a foul.”
This comes from a team who collectively and habitually complains after every play. I mean I have seen Duncan throw his arms up or give that stare even after getting calls. But in the game and play that, in my opinion, effectively ended their repeat championship hopes they were uncharacteristically calm about it.
Their reaction earned a lot more respect and admiration from me.
To put this praise in the proper context for you, I will admit that I hate the Spurs and desperately wanted them to lose in the first round against Phoenix. Why, you ask? For such a great team with great players and a severely under-appreciated head coach, they whine and cry way too much. For me it makes them collectively very unlikeable. Duncan is without question the best PF in the NBA today, and it’s debatable if he is the best all-time. There is no reason for him to be as big of a baby as he is during games when he dominates. Manu Ginobili might lose half his paycheck next season with the implementation of the flopping fines. As a basketball player myself, it pains me to watch an “elite” player who clearly is a one-hand-bandit and is virtually ineffective going right.
Rant over.
I also think Henry Abbott was off with his post: “That Was a Foul!” Especially with this comment:
And when mistakes are made, I think fans are owed a clear and honest explanation, complete with, when necessary, a swift admission that an error was made. Is that too much to ask?
I do think it is too much to ask. You are asking NBA officials, imperfect human beings, to be perfect. That is impossible. And then you are asking the league to review every questionable call and submit a statement on it. Come on, that’s a bit ridiculous. Further, all that post and the response from the NBA did was strengthen the conspiracy theory talk and hung those officials out to dry. If the Spurs didn’t complain neither should anyone else.
I will finish this post with my opinion on the play. I agree with what the people involved (Pop and Barry) said and what the player analysts have said. As a fan I don’t want the officials to decide the outcome of the game in situations like that, and if they had called a foul on that play, that is exactly what would have happened. Had Brent Barry just pumped and then went up with his shot attempt while Fisher was coming down on him that would have been the player making a great play and therefore deciding the outcome of the game. Because Barry isn’t used to those situations he didn’t know how to react under pressure. He tried to avoid the contact and in real time from the officials’ perspective probably made the contact look less severe, turning it into a much closer call. And they were right not to call it in real time.
The NBA chose its words very carefully in their “swift admission that an error was made.”
“With the benefit of instant replay, it appears a foul call should have been made,” league spokesman Tim Frank said Wednesday.
With the benefit of instant replay. That says it all.
I hope so because RSS feeds are the simplest and fastest way to keep up with your favorite websites and blogs. May 1st has been marked by the blogosphere as RSS Awareness Day. Here is my contribution to the cause.
RSS: The short definition
RSS (Rich Site Summary) is a format for delivering regularly changing web content. Many news-related sites, weblogs and other online publishers syndicate their content as an RSS Feed to whoever wants it. - http://www.whatisrss.com/
For an entertaining plain English video explanation of RSS head over to: http://rssday.org/
The Benefits of Using RSS Feeds
Instead of randomly visiting your favorite websites for updates, RSS tells you exactly when new content has been added. Saving you time and effort.
RSS feeds allow you to check out headlines of articles so you can determine whether it’s worth reading a story or visiting the website.
To visit or not to visit, that is the question. With RSS you can read all the content without even going to the actual website.
Get all your sports news in one location. With the help of an RSS reader you can quickly check out ESPN.com, Philly.com and Hoops State of Mind all from the comfort of your homepage. Check out my basketball blogs page on Google:
Are you reaping the benefits of RSS feeds?
If you aren’t why not start by subscribing to your favorite basketball blog ; ) hint, hint. For the rest of you already taking advantage of this technology I assume you already grabbed our feed, right?
The season is over, and now it’s really time to talk 2008 MVP award. I personally think it is only a 2-man race for NBA Most Valuable Player between Kobe Bryant, the current front runner, and Chris Paul, my mid-season winner.
Obviously there are a couple other candidates that fanatics could make arguments for as well. LeBron James, the most significant player to his particular team. Kevin Garnett, the new green fire behind Boston’s resurgence. And the wild card who might have gotten at least one vote a couple months ago is Manu Ginobili, the “closer” on the San Antonio Spurs and 6th man of the year (the trophy is without a doubt already engraved). As Bill Simmons points out this is one of the best MVP races in NBA history, so choosing a single player with complete certainty is a near impossibility.
The point of this article is to add some structure to the MVP conjecture and hoopla (the NBA doesn’t really have clear criteria). I’ll attempt to do this while remaining unbiased (since I have no hometown rooting interest in any one candidate) and hopefully ignite some insightful and lively debate.
With that said…
MVP Criteria
In sports, a Most Valuable Player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests. - Wikipedia
Is it just me or is that a pretty vague definition? How do you define “best performing” player?
Let’s create some criteria (loosely in order of importance):
Team Success - Factual (wins and loses), relative to conference strength and relative to preseason expectations
The 50-win MVP rule - Essentially to win the NBA MVP the player’s team must have accumulated at least 50 wins in the regular season. The media voters have made this a precedent, and it really seems to be the only identifiable criteria we can confidently put our finger on.
Individual Stats - Obviously this is positional. You wouldn’t compare KG’s rebounding to Chris Paul’s board work.
Supporting Cast - The good, bad and the ugly of NBA sidekicks.
Games played/Injuries - Durability and “will the team die without you?”
Head-to-head - “I outplayed you” vs. “But my team beat yours.” For me this is a great situation to look at because it combines the above criteria in a collection of single match-ups. The players may or may not guard each other, but you can clearly see who rises to the occasion individually against the crème of the crop as well as lift their team’s performance during those situations.
The Two Leading MVP Candidates
Kobe Bryant
Team Success - 57-25, good for best in the highly competitive Western Conference. That marks the first fifty-win season for the Lakers since Shaq left. The Lakers were also an impressive 37-15 vs. the West. Considering 5 out of 10 ESPN analysts had the Lakers missing the playoffs and on average the Lakers finished 8th in preseason Western Conference predictions, what Kobe and the Lakers were able to do this season is a tremendous accomplishment.
Individual Stats - Typical Kobe year at 28ppg, 5.4 apg, 6.3rpg and 1.8spg. Shooting: 46% from the field and 36% from three (2nd best of his career). Nothing over the top, just what you expect from Kobe, and I think people (LeBron advocates) tend to take that for granted and spin it as a reason why he shouldn’t win the MVP. To me that is just faulty reasoning. His numbers are clearly on par with past MVP winners at the shooting guard position. The only thing holding him back in the past was team success. His scoring is down, only because he doesn’t need to score 30+ every game for his team to win. And it is the maturation of Kobe that he has adjusted his game this season to empower Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol and the rest of the Lakers players to step up and carry a bit more of the burden.
Supporting Cast - The 2006 Lakers closely resembled the 2007 Lakers opening day roster. The major addition was Derek Fisher at the point, replacing the clearly inadequate Smush Parker. Was that enough for a 15-game turnaround? Probably not. How about when you factor in a much-improved Andrew Bynum? Now we are getting closer but probably not 15 games. Has anyone else stepped up tremendously this season? Well, Lamar Odom is shooting 52% from the field, by far the best of his career. Considering all of that I would still rank the “other guys” 3rd among the top four MVP candidates supporting casts. Kobe has elevated the level of play of his teammates with his own play and more importantly his attitude. Do his teammates love him? Maybe not, but I am sure they like playing with him significantly more this season compared to previous years.
Games played/Injuries - This is only the 2nd season Kobe has played in all 82-games. That is even more significant since he has been riddled with a finger injury that will require surgery to fully heal. The toughness and commitment to winning he has shown are obvious traits of a true NBA MVP candidate.
Head-to-head
vs. Boston: 0-2 - 25ppg/5rpg/3apg/32.5% FGs/23% 3pt
vs. Cleveland: 0-2 - 27ppg/8.5rpg/5.5apg/41.9% FGs/0% 3pt/surprising 69% FT
vs. New Orleans: 2-2 - 28ppg/8rpg/6.3apg/50% FGs/45.8% 3pt
2-6 in the head-to-head battles isn’t very good. Especially since Kobe is probably the most competitive player in the NBA, one would expect him to excel in these match ups. I remember watching the game in LA against Cleveland, and LeBron clearly outplayed him in that one and, down the stretch, did a fantastic job forcing Kobe into some questionable shots. But as Josh over at Respect Kobe points out, the last MVP vs. MVP match up of the season against Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets was won by Kobe. And that game had significant meaning in playoff positioning. He had a near triple double with 29pts, 10 boards and 8 dimes, while shooting 53% from the field and, oh yea, only one turnover. A fantastic game that essentially locked up the top spot in the West for the Lakers. Therefore, Kobe stepped up and lifted his team when it mattered most. Fadango over at the Sport Sayers marked that game as the deciding factor in the MVP race. Whoever came out on top had it locked. Although I disagree with that extreme of a proclamation (it’s an 82-game award), I do believe the voters were paying very close attention.
Chris Paul
Team Success - 56-26 good for second best in the Western Conference. How many people thought the Hornets would even make the playoffs? I don’t think many fans would have put money on them being in the top 8 in the super strong West. Like the Lakers, 5 out of 10 ESPN analysts had the Hornets missing the playoffs. On average they were predicted to finish just behind the Lakers (8.8 vs. 8.4 avg. finish in the West). I personally feel like Paul made David West, a very good player, into an All-Star; gave both Morris Peterson’s and Peja Stojakovik’s new life and maximized all of Tyson Chandler’s ability (they have to be the leading duo in alley-oop baskets). Paul is the catalyst that makes the Hornets a very good team, and without him they would clearly be in the lottery.
Individual Stats - Truly historic numbers anyway you look at them: 21.1ppg, 11.6apg, 4rpg, 2.7spg, 48.8% FGs, 36.9% 3pt. and 85% from the line. WOW. Everyone knows this is the first time anyone has had 20ppg, 10apg and 2.5spg since Isiah Thomas, and these players are the only ones to do it since steals became an official NBA stat. To emphasize how great this season is even more consider this:
Since the NBA was started in 1946…
Only 9 other times has a player averaged 21ppg, 11apg and 4rpg in a season (Oscar Robertson - 4, Magic Johnson - 3, Isiah Thomas - 2)
Of those 9 seasons only three times did one of those players shoot better than Chris Paul’s 85.1% from the free throw line (Magic in ‘88 and ‘89 and the Big O in ‘63)
Of those 9 seasons only two times did one of those players shoot better than Chris Paul’s 48.8% from the field (Magic in ‘86 and ‘88)
Since turnovers became an official stat 27 other players have averaged 11+ assist per game in a season. Only Chris Paul has done it with less than 3 turnovers per game.
What all that means is Chris Paul had the greatest season by a pure point guard in NBA history!
Supporting Cast - Paul’s Hornet teammates are the 2nd best group of the MVP supporting cast. David West is an All-Star and Peja Stojakovik is a 3-time All-Star. Paul certainly has help around him. Are his teammates significantly better than Kobe’s crew? I don’t think so. But Paul has had the luxury of playing with the same starting line-up all year. I think that is an advantage for Paul in maintaining a winning team compared to the Laker’s rotating line-up due to injuries and trades.
Games played/Injuries - Paul played in 80 of 82 games, the model of durability for a point guard that handles the ball as much as he does. He missed back-to-back games with an ankle sprain in which the Hornets went 1 and 1.
Head-to-head
vs. Boston: 1-1 - 20.5ppg/2rpg/8.5apg/50% FGs/57% 3pt
vs. Cleveland: 2-0 - 17.5ppg/4.5rpg/14.5apg/31.4% FGs/14.3% 3pt
vs. LA Lakers: 2-2 - 23.3ppg/4rpg/15apg/45.2% FGs/20% 3pt
5-3 in the head-to-head battles is tied for first among the top four MVP candidates teams with KG and Boston. Chris Paul is proving to be a big game player in the NBA. I think over time his competitiveness could very well rival Kobe’s. He doesn’t back down from anyone or any team, and that is the sign of a great leader and MVP.
Honorable Mention
Kevin Garnett (3rd) - He had to be in contention because his team’s success is unparalleled. But KG loses a lot of points because his supporting cast all year has been far better than any other MVP candidate. One could easily argue Garnett’s teammates represent the best in the NBA. In fact many people believe Paul Pierce stepped his game up to the point of being just as important as KG this season. Factor in KG’s missed games due to injury and the team going 7-2 without him, and I don’t think he is on the same level with Paul and Bryant. Why? Take him off the current Celtics team, and they are still in the playoffs. More importantly I still think Boston would have won 58-60 games. If you take Chris Paul or Kobe Bryant away from their clubs, and without question those teams would be vying for a top 10 draft pick.
The strongest case that can be made for Kevin Garnett as MVP is the comparison to Bill Russell, and the early 60’s Boston teams. And I haven’t even seen mentioned anywhere. Like the 2008 Celtic’s, those early 60’s Boston teams were filled with more than one great player including Bob Cousy and John Havlicek. As well as very strong supporting players. KG impacts the game in the exact same way Russell did when he won 3 straight MVP awards. Dominant on the glass and on the defensive end of the court, and most importantly he’s the vocal leader, as well as a leader by example. And because of that if KG were to be announced the winner, in no way would I be mad at that decision.
LeBron James(4th) - 45 wins in a sub-par Eastern Conference just isn’t good enough to be considered for MVP under the 50-win rule. “But the Cavs went 0-4 in the games he missed.” Does that speak to his importance? Absolutely. But that doesn’t guarantee they would have won all four games does it? Especially when they played at Boston and at Washington during that stretch. Since we are talking about the injury, did he really miss 4 games with a hurt finger? The fact that Kobe has played through a finger injury that will need surgery after the season is enough to take points away from LeBron. “But the Cavs had a lot of injuries all season.” True, but so did the Lakers the last few years when Kobe had some of his best statistical seasons, and he didn’t win the MVP. And he wasn’t robbed those seasons either based simply on the 50-win rule. Those years other candidates had great individual seasons with superior team success in comparison. The ultimate kicker - in 1989 Michael Jordan scored 32pts per game, averaged 8 boards, 8 assists and 2.9 steals per game all while shooting nearly 54% from the field and playing 40 minutes per night. MVP season, right? No! The Bulls only won 47 games. If MJ wasn’t the exception with those numbers, in no way should LeBron be this season with slightly lesser production. LeBron probably had a stronger argument for MVP the last two seasons when Cleveland won 50 games.
And the Winner of the 2008 NBA MVP is…
Why Kobe Bryant?
He is finally the #1 guy on an elite team.
His numbers, although not significantly better this year than previous campaigns, they have remained stable. And stable is easily MVP worthy.
After all the off-season nonsense he came out and played basketball at a very high level. He led the Lakers to a 24-11 start before Andrew Bynum went down with an injury. Meaning they were on pace for 50-wins through the first 35 games of the season (before acquiring Gasol). By the way I didn’t have any problem with his comments about Andrew Bynum. I am the biggest Michael Jordan fan, and he was known for scolding teammates and calling people out. I think MJ would have done the same thing if he felt it was best for the team. No reason to treat Kobe any different.
Kobe is very polarizing; therefore many people either love or hate him. Although this has no true bearing on a regular season MVP award, Kobe’s performance and more importantly leadership in the FIBA games may have swayed enough people who dislike Bryant in some way, shape or form (me) more in his favor. His defense was amazing and he was clearly the vocal leader on a team full of stud young bucks. Melo dominated on offense but Kobe was the MVP last summer. And I see some of that carrying over in the minds of voters.
Kobe and the Lakers won the much anticipated MVP vs. MVP late season match-up against Chris Paul’s Hornets. That is the freshest comparison of both players in most people’s mind.
Kobe has had to deal with the maturation process of Andrew Bynum. Then carry more of the load when Bynum got injured. All while dealing with the frustration that is Kwame Brown. Integrate and learn how to play with Pau Gasol. Then carry the load again for 10 games when Gasol went down with an ankle injury.
Ultimately what I think will push Kobe over the top is the fact that he has been the best player in the world for at least 4-5 years, so in the minds of enough journalists (voters), he’s due.
This is how close of an MVP race and decision this was. Had Chris Paul and the Hornets won the Western Conference, only a 1-game difference, I would have named Paul my MVP. What sucks is, 9 out of 10 times, the season he had would almost automatically equate to an MVP, and with very little debate. It just so happens 2008 was that 1 in 10 occurrence.
I am calling it right now, Chris Paul will be the 2009 NBA MVP! Hold me to it.
My two buddies Mole and Mike keep getting on me to give them my NBA playoff predictions so I figured I throw my bracket up on the blog. Now they and all the readers can hold me to it - and get all over me when I am wrong. So here it is…
I will go into more depth on another post, but I just wanted to get these out there before the Cleveland vs. Washington tip off.
Here is my first contribution to the White-Boy Report and I wanted to have some fun. Most fans of basketball are familiar with the NIKE advertising campaign featuring LeBron James with the phrase “We Are All Witnesses.” I found the White-Boy version of those commercials on youtube. Enjoy.
Did his NCAA tournament tirade and ejection sour Stanford and behind closed doors not want Johnson back? If so that is a pretty weak excuse for asking a top coach to look for another position. And Johnson would have had to be on a very short string. But, I doubt it. Was Johnson not happy with his current position? I mean he is coaching in the Pac-10 on one of the top three programs in the conference. Was it simply the money? It has been noted the LSU position would pay nearly twice as much as Johnson’s current deal with Stanford. But if the Cardinal really wanted him to say they would likely make some sort of counter offer to keep him.
All that speculation aside I think Johnson’s quote at the LSU press conferences sums it up perfectly, if not so directly.
“The opportunity to recruit the best student-athletes across the country and have the opportunity to compete for championship year in and year out … that is the goal,” said Johnson, who was 80-48 in four seasons at Stanford. “We have an excellent chance to get this thing turned around soon.”
Hmm, is it me or does that comment come off as a indirect shot at Stanford’s program? Translation:
I felt handcuffed at Stanford by the extremely high academic standards and that limited my ability to recruit the best players in the state of California let alone the country. We got lucky getting the Lopez brothers but they’re gone now. Since we don’t play in the Ivy league with the other “smart” schools I don’t feel we can compete for a championship every year.
Whether Trent Johnson felt that way is likely confined to the inner workings of his mind since publicizing statements like that would hurt his image. So I said it for him. Sure my interpretation may piss off some people off, but I don’t think that reasoning is out of the question. And certainly not far from reality considering Stanford’s only national championship came in 1942 and their only other Final Four appearance was in 1998.
One of, if not the, biggest drafting blunders in NBA history belongs to the Portland Trailblazers. They selected the 7′1 Sam Bowie out of Kentucky ahead of Michael Jordan. Ok, everyone knows that already. But do you know who exactly was responsible for making that pick? Or what that person’s criterion was for making such a horrendous error in judgment?
Meet Stu Inman In 1984 Stu Inman was director of personnel and was in charge of scouting and drafting for the Portland Trailblazers. Inman was widely recognized around the league as a basketball genius, a savvy executive with a deep understanding of the game, especially evaluating players. Other teams would literally track Stu Inman’s scouting activities and use rumors about which players he was interested in to gain confidence in their own personnel decisions. With such high NBA prestige it’s clear why Portland left the future of the franchise in Inman’s hands. He was charged with ensuring the #2 pick in the ‘84 draft was used to springboard the Trailblazers into long-term championship success.
Having lost the coin flip to Houston, Inman knew Olajuwon, the clear choice for the number one pick, would be going to the Rockets, but there was no clear choice on which player to take at number 2. Little did he know that, in retrospect, the choice was quite simple, and his decision would go down as arguably the greatest gaffe in NBA history. Not only that, but Inman’s well-respected career would be tarnished by one draft pick while the impact on the franchise would prove devastating.
So how did Stu Inman come to this earth-shattering and eventual pro basketball-changing decision?
Consider the reasons for choosing Bowie that actually made basketball sense for the Portland franchise in 1984.
Redundancy: Portland already had very good depth at shooting guard. Led by Jim Paxson a 6′6 sharp shooter with just enough quickness to create his own shot. The previous season Paxson played 33.2mpg and averaged 21.3ppg on 51.4% from the field. In the 1983 draft the Trailblazers selected Clyde Drexler with the 14th pick. Although Drexler was still a work in progress, he was considered a slashing, high-flying 2-guard from his days playing for the “Phi Slama Jama” basketball fraternity at University of Houston. From a scouting perspective this was a very similar playing style to that of Jordan.
Unpredictability: Nobody could have forecasted that Michael Jordan would become the famed “Air Jordan” and all the success and dominance that followed that nickname. Not even his college coach Dean Smith. Why? At UNC the offensive system was not conducive to individual showcase of talent. That is a large reason why Jordan only averaged 17.7ppg & 5rpg in college and only 16.5ppg in 10 NCAA tournament games. In that sense the “real” Michael Jordan was hidden from Inman’s keen scouting ability.
Due diligence: As part of the evaluation process Sam Bowie was put through a rigorous physical. The doctors meticulously examined Bowie’s surgically repaired shin fracture that kept him out of two seasons at Kentucky. He was cleared. Therefore Inman and the Portland medical staff could not have known Bowie would quickly become the man made of glass. I am willing to bet Portland’s ownership and fans are praying daily Greg Oden doesn’t suffer the same fate.
1977 NBA Champions: Portland’s only NBA championship came in that 1977 season when they were led by “Big Red-Head” Bill Walton. Inman believed the only way the franchise would reach the promise land again was behind another dominating player in the middle.
Formula for success: Very good-to-great big men win championships. History has shown this wasn’t just a philosophy but a requirement for winning a championship. Look at the previous 5 NBA championship team’s big man:
1983: Moses Malone
1982: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
1981: Robert Parish & Kevin McHale
1980: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
1979: Jack Sikma (7-time NBA All-Star)
Add the Russell/Chamberlain days to that short list of Hall of Fame centers (excluding Sikma) and that is more than enough to cloud anyone’s judgment.
The big question Stu Inman and the rest of his scouting staff couldn’t overcome was, “Where’s [Jordan] going to play?” It was clear Sam Bowie would anchor the middle on defense for Portland and provide the team with a decent scorer and excellent passer in Jack Ramsay’s intricate offensive system.
Maybe the deciding factor for choosing Sam Bowie was his performance against Houston and Olajuwon where Bowie grabbed 18 boards and scored 8 points while holding Hakeem to 14 points & 12 rebounds before he fouled out.
Convincing enough argument for you? No? Yeah, me either. But, those realities created a distorted view of Michael Jordan in Inman’s eyes when evaluating him as a player.
In hindsight the correct move for Inman and the Trailblazers was to sign & trade Jim Paxson and Clyde Drexler for a center rather than pass on the greatest player in the history of the NBA.
The sad part for the Portland franchise is that the 1984 NBA draft wasn’t the first major miscue on their part. In 1972, Portland with the #1 pick selected LaRue Martin (who?) ahead of number 2 pick Bob McAdoo and Philadelphia’s own Julius Erving picked 12th! But hey, that’s why there are no geniuses in basketball.
“They were losing on purpose. It was a business decision” Frank Layden, the former Utah coach, reporting what an anonymous Houston Rockets’ executive told him first hand. And why wouldn’t they, well besides integrity and respect for the game, when at worst they would get Jordan or Olajuwon. In those days the two teams with the worst record would literally flip a coin to decide the 1 & 2 draft positions. With that system, tanking games was an effective and almost guaranteed option to land a franchise-changing player in the draft.
That business decision was carried out to perfection for the Rockets. They dropped 14 of their last 17 games, 9 of their last 10, and their final 5.
One of the more suspicious actions was Coach Bill Fitch somewhat resurrecting 38-year old Elvin Hayes’ career for one last season - for no real reason. Hayes played all 53 minutes in Houston’s 81st game of the season and the first 35 minutes in the last game, ending his career with exactly 50,000 minutes-played, the first player to do so. This insignificant milestone was the reason Fitch claimed he played Hayes all those minutes. Besides the fact this record meant nothing, the goodwill towards Hayes made less sense considering Fitch didn’t like him much. Evidence of that is best described by this advice to his rookie center Ralph Sampson, “You stay away from that no-good, fucking prick,” Fitch said at the beginning of training camp in 1983.
The rest is pretty much history. That history would not have been if the Rockets played to their potential in the beginning of the ‘83-’84 season. They had a group of talented young players led by Rookie of the Year Ralph Sampson’s 21ppg, 11rpg and 2.4bpg. Management’s decision to go after Olajuwon or Jordan came only after they started 18-26 and getting man-handled by the Lakers to the tune of a 29-point blowout going into the All-Star break. After that embarrassing game the top brass concluded it wasn’t working that season and made a conscious decision to play for the draft. Houston positioned itself back in the coin flip for the 2nd year in a row. They selected The Dream and went on to win back-to-back championship after reuniting Olajuwon with Phi Slama Jama running mate Clyde Drexler.
From Coin Flip to Draft Lottery
This betrayal in morality may not be the first instance of tanking games, but it was without a doubt the most visible. With the potential for greatness in the ‘84 draft class and obvious losing tactics employed by the Rockets, new Commissioner David Stern had to take action. The NBA had taken a hit after the ‘83 season in the media and by the fans. Immediately following the 1984 NBA draft Stern did away with the prehistoric coin flip for his draft lottery system starting in 1985. At the time each of the 7 non-playoff teams would get an even chance for the #1 pick. This made sense because now, no matter how many games a team dumped, they would have no advantage in the draft. That resulted in Patrick Ewing to the Knicks in the famed “frozen-envelope” scandal in which the NBA allegedly rigged the lottery to send Patrick Ewing to a big market team the New York Knicks. After much controversy over the new system (among the bad teams really) that teams with the worst records weren’t landing the top picks therefore being stuck in mediocrity, the lottery system was changed three more times before we got to the current version.
1987 - Only the first 3 picks were decided by the lottery the rest would be decided by record.
1990 - The worst team would receive the best chance to get the #1 pick by getting 11 chances in the lottery (11 non-playoff teams). 2nd worst team 10 chances and so on.
1994 - The teams would be weighted based on record with the worst record getting a 25% chance at the number 1 pick and decreased down the line to a 0.5% chance for the best non-playoff team.
This weighting system essentially revived the tanking strategy as now there was some incentive to dump games again. Basically if at best a team would be the 28th seed why not try for 30 and get a higher percentage chance at the top pick? Tanking games is unquestionably unethical and a disgrace to the game, but it did pay off for Houston. By winning back-to-back championships in ‘94 & ‘95 when MJ decided to give the league a break for two seasons, the Rockets essentially paved the “tanking” way for the other teams as well.
The Most Recent Example of Dumping Games
In 1996, seven teams were vying for the #1 pick in the upcoming draft. The prize: Tim Duncan, a franchise-changing big man with a boring, yet undeniably effective game. By losing excessively down the stretch those 7 teams went a combined 13-57 in the last ten games of the season. The Spurs conveniently lost their last 6 (the only team to do so) and secured the 3rd worst record in the league at 20-62 or more accurately stated: 3rd best in the Tim Duncan sweepstakes. The record itself may not be enough to assume tanking but consider the following:
Questions were raised about whether David Robinson’s foot fracture had healed to the point where he could and should be playing.
Similar to the Houston debacle this team was suspiciously led by another well-past-his-prime superstar in Dominique Wilkins (age 37). At the same time other healthy, younger players were being sidelined and rested for no apparent reason. Here’s Barkley’s first hand account after a game vs. the Spurs in 1997:
That was significant in that the Nuggets, Sixers and Mavericks finished just 1, 2 & 4 games better than the Spurs, so winning even one of those last 6 games could have been the difference between getting #2 pick Keith Van Horn rather than Duncan. That was one of the biggest turnarounds considering the Spurs were 59-23 the previous season.
Two years later (a much faster turnaround than Houston) had San Antonio winning the 1st of 4 championships in 9 years - led by Duncan. With this much success from allegedly losing games on purpose, can we really believe it won’t happen again in the near future?
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!
And the Detroit Piston faithful rejoice. I am far from a Detroit Pistons fan, but even I wanted Flip Saunders to be fired. I honestly am not even sure why he was hired in the first place considering his background and the make-up of that team. That Detroit team had a clear identity, attitude and approach to the game. They were physical, tough-minded and determined. What the hell happened?
Ex-Stanford coach 
One of, if not t
by Filip Bondy
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?
