Barkley and Smith's error Rockets-Suns 1995

[Roscoe Sheed]

Last night Barkley and Smith both spoke of the Rockets coming back from down 3-1 in 1995. They both remembered the series incorrectly in that they both stated that the Rockets had the homecourt advantage making the comeback more easily accomplished, but the Suns had HCA that year making the comeback very impressive (perhaps unprecedented and unrepeated since?). I'm surprised both remembered it wrong.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/1995-nba-western-conference-semifinals-rockets-vs-suns.html

[BayArea408415]

The Rocket had HCA last year though right during the Clippers collapse up 3-1?

[Tinseltown]

I'm not surprised that both misremembered. Pretty much universally people believe that their own memories are more accurate than they actually are. I guarantee that there are things you "remember" perfectly that didn't actually happen.

Here's an example of how our mind can create these false memories!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_in_the_mall_technique

[ken6199]

The Rockets took top 3 seeds + East champion in that run, Jazz Suns Spurs Magic, how can they remember Rockets had HCA that year? All you need to remember is they had no HCA then you won't get it wrong...

[JeepCSC]

Rockets had home court advantage the year before in a 7-game series with the Suns. They just conflated the two events.

[magicman1978]

how could they not remember. The both played in that series.

[Roscoe Sheed]

I'm not surprised that both misremembered. Pretty much universally people believe that their own memories are more accurate than they actually are. I guarantee that there are things you "remember" perfectly that didn't actually happen.

Here's an example of how our mind can create these false memories!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_in_the_mall_technique

I'm familiar with the research on the flaws of memory. I just thought that it would be quite vivid for them considering they were both directly involved and it was such an unusual occurance.

[Mr. E]

I'm familiar with the research on the flaws of memory. I just thought that it would be quite vivid for them considering they were both directly involved and it was such an unusual occurance.

That's kind of where I am. That 95 run was unique in NBA history, and both guys involved in the discussion were part of it.

Like ken6199 said - all you have to do is remember that the Rockets never had HCA that year. Can't get it wrong after that!

[DirtyDez]

Last night Barkley and Smith both spoke of the Rockets coming back from down 3-1 in 1995. They both remembered the series incorrectly in that they both stated that the Rockets had the homecourt advantage making the comeback more easily accomplished, but the Suns had HCA that year making the comeback very impressive (perhaps unprecedented and unrepeated since?). I'm surprised both remembered it wrong.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/1995-nba-western-conference-semifinals-rockets-vs-suns.html

They said the wrong year. It was 94' not 95'.

[antistrat]

how could they not remember. The both played in that series.

They both played in a lot of series. How easy is it for any of us to remember details about something that happened 21 years ago?

I was playing a lot of high school football in those days (starting safety and 2nd string tailback, thank you very much), and all I remember are my best games and best/worst plays. I don't remember anything at all about how many wins we had in 1995. I only remember the win total from our 1993 season because we went undefeated that year.

I also played a lot of basketball in high school 21 years ago. Starting SG, backup PG. I don't remember win totals or playoff position for any season. I remember when I scored 20 points in a game for the first time. I remember when I was shooting free throws with 2 seconds left before halftime and my 2nd attempt kicked hard off the front of the rim and directly into my hands and I backpedaled to the three point line and nailed a three at the buzzer. 4 points in 2 seconds.

But I mostly remember how I threw the ball away in the final seconds when we were down by one and needed a bucket.

My point is that most people have such a selfish memory. So I'm not surprised that Chuck and Jet wouldn't have remembered who actually had HCA in that series. I think they leaned heavily towards Houston simply because the Rockets won it all that year.

[RGM_SU]

That's really not big of an issue, like somebody before said, they just mixed up the 1994 and 1995 series. In 1994 the Rockets had homecourt - and lost the first two games at home to go down 0-2 heading to Phoenix. They then won the next three, before dropping game 6 and then winning game 7 at home.