ShaqAttack3234 wrote:
The "Blackman Mavs?" Stop being disingenuous. In addition to Rolando Blackman, that team was loaded with talent such as Mark Aguirre, Derek Harper, Sam Perkins and Roy Tarpley in their primes, and additional talent such as a young Detlef Schrempf on the bench. That team took a Laker team that went on to win their 2nd straight title that year to 7 games in the WCF. Not only was that team with pretty stacked and extremely talented, but they were a damn good team who were a game from knocking off the champs and getting to the finals. By the way, what did Hakeem do in that series? He had 41/26 with 4 blocks in the Rockets lone win in game 2, 40/15 on 16/24 shooting and 8/8 from the line in the elimination game 4 and he averaged 37.5 ppg, 16.8 rpg, 2.8 bpg and 2.3 spg on 57.1 FG% and 64.1 TS% in the series.
Sure, Blackman wasn't alone, I merely mentioned him so people would have a point of reference. But the Mavs do not fit the portrayal that is being given of Hakeem being held back only by great teams. The Mavs were a 53 win team. The Rockets meanwhile won 46 games that year despite Hakeem seeming to have a support cast that holds up well compared to the 01-03 Spurs ones. Hakeem's stats over a 4 game series mean a lot less to me than his stats over, like, the whole year (especially when pace/minute adjusted... hint, there is a table on this stuff back on page 1 of the thread).
The year before this, which you ignore, they lost to a 39 win Sonics team. Prime Duncan and a team of NBDL scrubs could have beaten a 39 win Sonic team. They'd also have won more than the 42 wins Hakeem took the Rockets to. Sure, they lost a few role players during the season, but they still had good players like McCray and Reid, and half a season of Sampson. 42 wins is pathetic when compared to what Duncan was doing from 01-03, he had rosters full of scrubs. Hakeem lost to the exact same McDaniel Sonics again in 89 despite having all-star big Otis Thorpe, excellent player Sleepy Floyd (a few years removed from an all-star appearance, and still in his prime), and solid role players like Mike Woodson and Buck Johnson. Hardly garbage. Duncan's teams in 01-03 didn't have anyone even sniffing at an all-star appearance. The Rockets were a 45 win team. Not comparable to the lifting Duncan was doing. In 1990 he had a similarly good team (Wiggins even came back), and they played 500. ball. Again, this compares terribly to what Duncan was doing. They did better in 91 after adding Maxwell and Smith, but still lost in the first round. In 1992 they didn't even make the playoffs, and their pace prior to Hakeem being hurt does not compare to Duncan in those years. Let's remember that the Rockets were a 28-20 team in games Hakeem missed over 91 and 92, so the idea he had a bad support cast really has no support at all.
The "young Payton Sonics?" That might be even more disingenuous because that was a truly stacked team, arguably the most talented team in the league. Payton was already a great defender and fine player, but he wasn't their best player. Seattle also had Shawn Kemp, Derrick McKey, Sam Perkins, Ricky Pierce, Eddie Johnson, Nate McMillan, Michael Cage and Dana Barros. That team was significantly more talented than Dream's Rockets, yet Dream took them to OT in game 7 of the WCSF, and Houston was really robbed by bad calls. By the way, Seattle not only led the league in margin of victory, but took a 62 win Suns team to game 7 of the WCF.
Again, the name Payton is so people have a point of reference in time, I know the Sonics had many good players, but given this was peak Hakeem, and he had an excellent support cast around him (well above what Duncan had from 01-03) I'd have expected him to win. They didn't. He's being compared to Duncan here, not to lesser players. Losing to the Sonics is a fail when your comparison is Tim Duncan.
