OT: Larry Johnson sighting

Rich4114 · Post #1 » by **Rich4114** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 7:09 pm

For any of you vintage Grandmama fans out there, I thought this was a good read: http://larrybrownsports.com/basketball/ ... hing/58858

Good to hear he's doing well. That back injury remains the biggest tragedy in Charlotte NBA history next to Bobby Phils. What LJ could've been with a healthy back for 10 years might've been epic. This city has yet to see that type of talent on their team since, let alone teamed up with a C like Mourning. Damn those guys. LJ actually injured his back in a charity game trying a fancy dunk - I did not realize that until now.

Post #2 » by **fatlever** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 7:53 pm

great find rich.

lj easily the best NBA player charlotte has ever seen. the back injury is a tragedy. i still think the severity of the injury is underestimated by fans. they saw him still make all-star team for charlotte after back injury and become a valuable role player for knicks after injury, but for all of us who watched him in those first two years know he was never the same after the injury in his 3rd year. he averaged 22.1ppg, 10.5rpg, 4.3apg (on 52% fg) in his 2nd year and was only scratching the surface of his potential as a player.

the next year after the back injury he couldnt dunk and had to reinvent his game as an under the basket post scorer and a 3pt shooter. gone was the blake griffin type explosion and athletic ability. blake as a rookie is the closest example to LJ those first two years that i can think of.

could you imagine if blake ripped his back up this summer, next year came back but was half as fast and couldnt dunk any longer and reinvented himself as a under the rim low post guy and 3pt shooter? thats was LJ post back injury. he still somehow managed to average 20ppg and 8.4rpg a few years later, but that was all due to an improved 3pt shot and improved post game, but still playing at probably 60% of what he was prior to injury.

sad

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTwQ0qYUKvg[/youtube]

on top of his awesome skills dude was a marketing superstar. his jersey was #2 selling jersey behind MJ. amazing for a small market team.

his biggest flaw as a player those first 2 years was being too unselfish.

Bassman · Post #3 » by **Bassman** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:50 pm

Loved that team, and especially LJ, but Spencer Stolpen was the idiot who signed him to that monster contract (well above market level), despite knowing he had the back injury. It set the table for the standoff and loss of Alonzo, which started the crack in the fan's romance with the Hornets and Shinn (who finished the job himself with his threats to move and his behavior). While we stayed reasonably competitive through those years, we might have won even bigger had we been able to keep Zo.

Rich4114 · Post #4 » by **Rich4114** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 9:41 pm

I 100% agree with the Blake Griffin comparison, he has a similar body and similar explosiveness. I need to watch more of Blake but LJ was a once every 15 years type of guy. Zo quickly became the better player but only because of the injury. Imagine what a healthy LJ could've been in Charlotte by year 4 or 5...

I can't believe the back injury happened in a pickup game. That injury is why we have the Bobcats lol.

Also, not sure if any of you guys get HBO but they're running a documentary on the UNLV Rebels when LJ, Augmon, and Greg Anthony were on that team. Awesome story in general for any basketball fan.

countryboi · Post #5 » by **countryboi** » Wed Mar 16, 2011 2:08 am

well this was depressing

MPM · Post #6 » by **MPM** » Wed Mar 16, 2011 3:31 am

my man LJ. good to see he has his head on straight. those were some very fun years in CLT. Thanks for the link.

Loney T · Post #7 » by **Loney T** » Wed Mar 16, 2011 8:52 pm

Thanks for sharing this that was a good read, I use to love those converse shoes with the big yellow react cushion.

The converse Kevin Johnson was one of my first basketball pair

vorbis · Post #8 » by **vorbis** » Wed Mar 16, 2011 9:18 pm

LJ gave me a pair of his sneakers after a game during his rookie season. i ended up giving them to a cousin for his high school graduation 10 years or so later. i don't know where they are now.

Vanderbilt_Grad · Post #9 » by **Vanderbilt_Grad** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 3:38 am

Sigh. LJ was amazing. He's a big part of why I care one bit about the NBA now.

I don't think that you can say that the back injury is why we have the Bobcats now ... that contract and Zo's inablity to get along with LJ before of after it were big factors too. Ultimately though it was Shinn's stroke that really did the Hornets in here. No one really talks about it, but Shinn was out of the picture for nearly a year after that & the behavior that really set off the bad press came after it.

Rich4114 · Post #10 » by **Rich4114** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 2:37 pm

It just sucks knowing how close we were to having a dominant team with a healthy Zo and LJ together for 3-5 years. We got like 1 season out of it and it was the 2nd round of the playoffs. Even the Hornets team with Baron/Mash/Wesley/PJ Brown/Magliore who owned Miami and took the Bucks to 7 wasn't as good as that team.

Post #11 » by **fatlever** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 3:52 pm

on paper, to start the season, the 1999-2000 hornets team was, imo, the most talented team to ever play in charlotte. i remember having a bball mag that predicted a hornets vs blazers nba finals for that season.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CHH/2000.html

depth chart for that team
pg: wesley, baron
sg: e.jones, phills, r.davis
sf: mason, e.robinson
pf: coleman,
c: campbell, b.miller

that team was absolutely stacked from 1 to 10. 6 guys in double figures. there was no superstar (even though eddie jones was all-star and 1st team defense), but collectively they had enough offense and defense to handle anyone. they had size, speed and rebounding. team could abuse other teams inside and on the boards. and with jones and phills on the wings with mason at pf they could lock down just about any opponent.

sadly, this was the year that phills died in the car accident. the team was never the same that season since phills was the heart and soul of the team, the 6th man and the locker room leader.

of course the blazers made it to the western finals losing in game 7 to the lakers. they almost held up their end of the prediction. the hornets finished 49-33 and lost in the first round.

dmutombo321 · Post #12 » by **dmutombo321** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 4:41 pm

This was a good team but I thought the following year's 00-01 Mashburn Hornets were even better. Record wise, they posted a few less wins but this team should have been in the eastern conference finals.

They swept the Mourning/Hardaway Heat, went up 3-2 on the Ray Allen led Bucks in the Eastern Conference Semi finals but ended up losing in 7 games. They would have had a legitimate chance at beating the Sixers who they'd played well against in the regular season.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CHH/2001.html

The other Hornets squad that was unbelievable was the 96-97 team which posted 54 wins.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CHH/1997.html

To put into perspective how much of a feat this was given the strength of the east at the time, they were one of 6 teams in the east to finish with 54 or more wins. That's why I couldnt help but laugh last year when the Bobcats drew the 7th seed with 44 wins as that cats roster would have been lucky to muster even 30 wins had they played in the East back in 96' with those Bulls, Knicks, Heat, Hornets, Pistons and Hawks teams.

Despite posting 54 wins, that years Hornets squad still faced a 57 win Knicks team in the first round and were defeated. I think this was the year where Glen Rice won the All Star game MVP also.

Post #13 » by **fatlever** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 5:20 pm

the 1997 team had one glaring weakness, which was point guard. i think that was the year muggsy starting having all those problems with his knee. he just wasnt the same player. there were no quality backup pgs on the roster. tony smith and goldwire where 3rd stringers at best. i remember this was the year that mason was forced to play pg for us, which he did rather effectively at times. also the year that shinn traded burrell for royal because he was sleeping with one of the honey bees (rumor). one thing about this season though... glen rice was ON FIRE the entire year. probably the best year by a charlotte player ever. dude shot 47% from 3pt range, taking 5.6 per game.

Rich4114 · Post #14 » by **Rich4114** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 5:29 pm

We're definitely talking about the top 3 teams in Charlotte history in this thread, maybe top 4. I forgot about the 97 team. Fats is right, the PG situation KILLED us that year. We rolled with Wesley at PG the next season or two until Baron came along to put things into perspective. Had Mugsy been able to stay healthy for the playoffs that team could've gone to the finals. I think the 2001 or 2002 team that swept Miami would've beat that 1997 team though.

1999-2000 team had the same PG issues as the 1997 team because it was Baron's first year.

The playoffs in Baron's second year is where he became a star and made that team so dangerous. They had the 6th spot that year because they weren't very good in the early half of the season. Mashburn filled the role of Rice well enough to supply a go-to scorer as well.

If you think about it, Charlotte fans are spoiled because all throughout the early 90's through the time the Hornets left - they were a highly competitive team with a few capable of winning it all.

countryboi · Post #15 » by **countryboi** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 6:11 pm

i see muggsy all the time at matthews rec center........i think he coaches high school aged kids and man is he short....how the heck did he ever play in the NBA?