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Yeah, it's 2018, but here's a neat little long form interview/podcast with Eddie Robinson.



I figure this is a wonderful time to highlight it since we're all into Bulls history from The Last Dance.

Just like our current best player, Zach Lavine, Eddie Robinson was a tremendous tremendous dunker. Maybe even better than Lavine. Just like the current Bulls, we all dreamed what could have been if E-Rob had stayed healthy, we all speculated his out of this world athleticism would propel him into NBA Stardom. Pretty lofty for an undrafted player! According to the interview, Michael Jordan was a big fan of E-Rob and his game.





Super on-brand with our franchise, we kept him down because of his affinity for headbands.


Who here has warm memories of E-Rob and his high flying dunks?

Nice!

I'll be honest, I was ecstatic about the guy. I thought his weird overhead baseline catch-and-shoot jumper was cool, and his dunks were the most exciting thing about the Bulls since 98.

The few times he got some dunks in, I jumped out of my seat.

Before the Hinrich draft (which basically I wanted to find an outlet to complain about it LOL), I never bothered with any online basketball talk. So I was totally out of the loop with E-Rob's contract, and all the disasters with the Bulls behind-the-scenes.

I was just thinking "Please let this guy and Jamal get healthy." - "Please don't make me watch Trenton Hassell." I really believed those Jamal and E-Rob were the keys to turning the team around. They missed so many games, but flashed so much talent.

In the end, the "triangle offense" in its miserable form with guys like Curry, Chandler and friends was the worst thing possible for a guy with next-to-no pro system experience. Kinda wish E-Rob just stayed in Charlotte or found a place like San Antonio, where he could be supported by vets.

So eery hearing guys talk about helicopters, Kobe, etc. before the tragedy (at 44 min).

When I first started these basketball board sites, my first avatar was a red a bull can.



My second avatar was the dunk.



I stuck up for Eddie a long time, as I also broke my toe in that same time period, and had sympathy.

This was as "c3". and not "2018c3".

After E-Rob I moved over to some hot chick bent over a toilet puking in black leather pants as our seasons got worse, and also once had a photo of Britney Murphy's face once things started to get brighter.

Does anyone remember the news article. where E-Rob said he does not pee standing up, and would rather sit down? This is about the time I gave up on his avatar. There was big discussion about this.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I always planned on bringing the E-Rob dunk avatar back. thinking most people would not remember who he was.

Listening now, but no E-Rob thread is complete without this:



Never forget.

HomoSapien wrote:Listening now, but no E-Rob thread is complete without this:



Never forget.

If his jersey were ever retired anywhere, it should be this, not #32.

nitetrain8603 wrote:

HomoSapien wrote:Listening now, but no E-Rob thread is complete without this:



Never forget.

If his jersey were ever retired anywhere, it should be this, not #32.

Or, maybe, a ugly sweater, a red headband, a piece of paper with the number 32 written in red ink, and $32,000,000 in cash should all be sacrificed in a secret ceremony to to ensure that we never,ever make a mistake like signing an E-Rob again...

MrSparkle wrote:Nice!

I'll be honest, I was ecstatic about the guy. I thought his weird overhead baseline catch-and-shoot jumper was cool, and his dunks were the most exciting thing about the Bulls since 98.

I believe his signing was the year after TMac blew up in Orlando. I think we all had hope that he could be a TMac type of diamond in the rough player. He had a great post-season with the Hornets, was insanely athletic, had a dependable mid-ranger shot — it was a decent swing. The work-ethic just wasn't there.

We also had hope of Bryce Drew becoming a Steve Nash type of player.

HomoSapien wrote:

MrSparkle wrote:Nice!

I'll be honest, I was ecstatic about the guy. I thought his weird overhead baseline catch-and-shoot jumper was cool, and his dunks were the most exciting thing about the Bulls since 98.

I believe his signing was the year after TMac blew up in Orlando. I think we all had hope that he could be a TMac type of diamond in the rough player. He had a grew playoff performance with the Hornets, was insanely athletic, had a dependable mid-ranger shot. The work-ethic just wasn't there.

We also had hope of Bryce Drew becoming a Steve Nash type of player.

Between NBAdraft.net and my own teenage Bulls koolaid, I just about hoped everybody on the 99-03 Bulls was destined for the HOF, and simply could not process how they failed to win more than 17 games.

Even Roger Mason Jr., AJ Guyton and Rick Brunson.

I'm slightly curious in watching a win or two from that era. Was it a total fluke? Did they just happen to make shots that night? Did the other team stop playing?

I can't even find a highlight from that era that doesn't look like a blurry mess. Slightly off-topic but speaking of 2002 and crazy dunks, anyone remember this?

MrSparkle wrote:
I'm slightly curious in watching a win or two from that era. Was it a total fluke? Did they just happen to make shots that night? Did the other team stop playing?

I can't even find a highlight from that era that doesn't look like a blurry mess. Slightly off-topic but speaking of 2002 and crazy dunks, anyone remember this?

Some gems below:

HomoSapien wrote:

MrSparkle wrote:
I'm slightly curious in watching a win or two from that era. Was it a total fluke? Did they just happen to make shots that night? Did the other team stop playing?

I can't even find a highlight from that era that doesn't look like a blurry mess. Slightly off-topic but speaking of 2002 and crazy dunks, anyone remember this?

Some gems below:

Spoiler:

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Nice. The 00/01 season preview was a gem indeed. Listening to that stuff was probably what made me so optimistic back then. Poor Norm, had no idea what was coming.

But I still look back and don’t get how they were so bad. All I can think is Krause’s insistence that Tim jam the triangle on the young, and Ron’s issues. I do wish they stuck through that build; Elton, Ron, perhaps kept vets to maintain order — Toni continued playing productive smart ball into his late MIL career (could make the 3rd eye pass and shoot). Replace/dump Mercer and draft smarter in 02 (Pau, J-Rich or Battier).

When Artest got motivated, he was a monster. That I remember watching the Brad/Shaq fight game. Ron had 8 steals or something - he always brought his A-game against Kobe and the Lakers. And hey they were always in a close one against them.

HomoSapien wrote:

MrSparkle wrote:
I'm slightly curious in watching a win or two from that era. Was it a total fluke? Did they just happen to make shots that night? Did the other team stop playing?

I can't even find a highlight from that era that doesn't look like a blurry mess. Slightly off-topic but speaking of 2002 and crazy dunks, anyone remember this?

Some gems below:

Spoiler:

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Thanks for this. I find myself periodically looking through YT for old footage of those years for god knows what reason.

As for E-Rob, did Krause or Floyd ever compare him to T-Mac going to Orlando or was that more Bulls fans leading the hype train?

Mr. Tibbs wrote:

HomoSapien wrote:

MrSparkle wrote:
I'm slightly curious in watching a win or two from that era. Was it a total fluke? Did they just happen to make shots that night? Did the other team stop playing?

I can't even find a highlight from that era that doesn't look like a blurry mess. Slightly off-topic but speaking of 2002 and crazy dunks, anyone remember this?

Some gems below:

Spoiler:

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Thanks for this. I find myself periodically looking through YT for old footage of those years for god knows what reason.

As for E-Rob, did Krause or Floyd ever compare him to T-Mac going to Orlando or was that more Bulls fans leading the hype train?

I don't recall anyone expecting T-Mac. Maybe a poor man's T-Mac. Krause maybe hoped he could be a Pippen-like steal, thus the 5y guarantee. But TMac got a $92m/7y deal; the superstar expectations were pretty sound. Quite a different contract.

Salary experts from back then correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the E-Rob contract totally overblown by some of the critics calling it the "worst Bulls FA signing ever"? He got $32m/5 around a time where salaries were quickly increasing. I realize $6m was different back then; cap was around 50m. But in 01/02, $6m was way closer to the MLE (which was 4.5m back then) than to a max.

That is a completely reasonable gamble on an athletic freak who frankly didn't work out because of injuries, first and foremost. Guaranteeing 5 years was a risk, but again, you look at the guys reel with the Hornets, and seeing Krause's style of players that were successful picks before, and the hope of scoring a Pippen like long-term steal... I get the logic of the signing.

Maybe he had a difficult attitude (with bad coaches on a bad team)... But he had been injury-free, then at worst, spending MLE-money on a tall, athletic and skilled wing isn't blasphemous. You want to talk bad MLE level contracts, Isiah/Knicks Jerome James comes to mind. Overpaid for a role-player center after having acquired Eddy Curry and Antonio Davis.

MrSparkle wrote:
I don't recall anyone expecting T-Mac. Maybe a poor man's T-Mac. Krause maybe hoped he could be a Pippen-like steal, thus the 5y guarantee. But TMac got a $92m/7y deal; the superstar expectations were pretty sound. Quite a different contract.

Salary experts from back then correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the E-Rob contract totally overblown by some of the critics calling it the "worst Bulls FA signing ever"? He got $32m/5 around a time where salaries were quickly increasing. I realize $6m was different back then; cap was around 50m. But in 01/02, $6m was way closer to the MLE (which was 4.5m back then) than to a max.

That is a completely reasonable gamble on an athletic freak who frankly didn't work out because of injuries, first and foremost. Guaranteeing 5 years was a risk, but again, you look at the guys reel with the Hornets, and seeing Krause's style of players that were successful picks before, and the hope of scoring a Pippen like long-term steal... I get the logic of the signing.

Maybe he had a difficult attitude (with bad coaches on a bad team)... But he had been injury-free, then at worst, spending MLE-money on a tall, athletic and skilled wing isn't blasphemous. You want to talk bad MLE level contracts, Isiah/Knicks Jerome James comes to mind. Overpaid for a role-player center after having acquired Eddy Curry and Antonio Davis.

I was a big fan of the ERob signing at the time and even in hindsight, I think it was a reasonable gamble to take. I've always assumed we had to pay ERob a premium to come here because we were so bad, but it's not like we maxed him out. The length of his contract was a bigger problem than the amount, but long deals were the norm then.

We'd already struck out on all of Duncan, Hill (both of whom wouldn't even talk to us), McGrady, Jones, Glen Rice, and the one and only Tim Thomas. Taking a chance on a guy who showed some of the tools necessary to become a difference-maker was the only way we might be able to change the team's direction via free agency. Didn't work out, obviously, but was a defensible risk to take.

MrSparkle wrote:

Watch on YouTube

Brad is so lucky that punch didn't land. Shaq too really as he would have probably been in allot more trouble.

Axl Rose wrote:

MrSparkle wrote:

Watch on YouTube

Brad is so lucky that punch didn't land. Shaq too really as he would have probably been in allot more trouble.

Yeah. Man, Shaq loaded up with that one. Brad would’ve been in the hospital. Crazy thing is while Brad also had fouled, I think Shaq was retaliating to what Oakley did without realizing it was Oak.

Mr. Tibbs wrote:

HomoSapien wrote:

MrSparkle wrote:
I'm slightly curious in watching a win or two from that era. Was it a total fluke? Did they just happen to make shots that night? Did the other team stop playing?

I can't even find a highlight from that era that doesn't look like a blurry mess. Slightly off-topic but speaking of 2002 and crazy dunks, anyone remember this?

Some gems below:

Spoiler:

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Thanks for this. I find myself periodically looking through YT for old footage of those years for god knows what reason.

As for E-Rob, did Krause or Floyd ever compare him to T-Mac going to Orlando or was that more Bulls fans leading the hype train?

I can't recall if Krause hyped up his potential or if we did, but it was all because of his first-round performance against Miami. He averaged 12 points off the bench on 70% shooting. Had that series never happened, he probably doesn't get that contract he got.

HomoSapien wrote:

Mr. Tibbs wrote:

HomoSapien wrote:
Some gems below:

Spoiler:

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Thanks for this. I find myself periodically looking through YT for old footage of those years for god knows what reason.

As for E-Rob, did Krause or Floyd ever compare him to T-Mac going to Orlando or was that more Bulls fans leading the hype train?

I can't recall if Krause hyped up his potential or if we did, but it was all because of his first-round performance against Miami. He averaged 12 points off the bench on 70% shooting. Had that series never happened, he probably doesn't get that contract he got.

He was the most intriguing FA in that class, which was not a good class. He was honestly a good signing on potential at the time for sure, he just never lived up to it. It was a stretch a bit but across the NBA after the embarrassment of the year before in FA this seemed like a pretty big win.

I remember that I was so **** excited when we signed him to the offer sheet. Man, I was so wrong about that one.

Axl Rose wrote:

MrSparkle wrote:

Watch on YouTube

Brad is so lucky that punch didn't land. Shaq too really as he would have probably been in allot more trouble.

If you watch the last angle though it was open handed and that is much better as far as damage and consequences.