I think Cassell has jumped the shark. Barkley talks a lot and when it is time, Kenny makes him eat his words. I love watching Kenny and Charles go at it.
Man, Kenny does it to Charles on the set and now Cassell gives it to Charles here. Charles gets slammed a lot for not winning a title. It is kinda funny really. It has to tick off Charles a bit even though he doesnt show it. Remember that prank that Kenny and Magic did a couple of years ago where they pretented there was a NBA party for all the NBA Champions? Kenny & Magic was like, hey, look in there Charles, Fennis Dembo, Chucky Brown, Chris Jent etc. LOL, hilarious! Anyway, Charles says a lot of stupid things. He has pretty lame analysis. His only schtick is the fact he is "blunt" with his opinions. BUT, with that said, Charles IS right about the Wolves. They are stinking and they deserve the criticism right now. They are the MOST underachieving team in the league! I mean they haven't lost ANYONE from last years team and are playing worse! (I am not counting losing Gary Trent ). But they actually ADDED Griffin and Wally (because he was mostly injured). I think their downslide has ALOT to do with Sprewell and Cassell. The "moxie" they brought to that team last year is gone and that's what's killing them. That and their poor rebounding.
It's obvious there is something wrong with Cassell, why else would have been traded to 20 different teams?
I think Cassell is one of those guys that does a lot of talking and might end up being a locker room cancer if things are going bad. What makes him great on the court (his tenacity etc) probably doesnt make him all that great in the lockerroom when things are going bad.
6 teams. Must be something terribly wrong with Shaq, Tmac, and Kidd too, since they've been traded multiple times. Juwan Howard must suck. How many teams has he played for? And Jim Jackson must be the antichrist himself.
Cassell=clutch Barkley=not clutch "Who in the hell is Chucky Brown" I thought I was the only person who remembred that. That quote basically sums up Barkley's career with the exception of the 92-93 season when they really almost closed it out.
Cassell also hit clutch 3's while Barkley bricked 3's from the power forward position. Cassell knew when to defer to teammates, while Barkley thought he was the best player on the floor and thought he should back his opponent down for 15 seconds every posession.
Sam can be a cancer for a team without direction. But in a team where the pecking order is well established, he can be really effective. (see Rodman w/ Bulls).
How many championships has Cassell won after he left Hakeem? How many good playoff runs has he had? Look, he was fine as a complimentary player who got open looks because of Dream, but let's not get carried away. We traded him and Horry to get an older Chuck to get past Seattle, and it worked. If not for a Stockton shot, Barkley might have had a ring too? DD
DaDa, It's ironic for me personally that you are using the "Barkley was the man" argument for him because I think that is the problem with Charles Barkley. He never respected role players, teamates or opponents. That's why I wrote the "Who in the Hell is Chucky Brown" quote basically sums up his career. Barkley always tried to do too much when the game was on the line and he never took a lessor opponent seriously. He also didn't take the Rockets seriously two years in a row when the fell behind against his team. And the guy still hasn't learned his lesson. Barkley always dismisses role players whenever one comes up in a discussion on the show.
He's made two, one with Minnesota last year and he also got Milwaukee to the Conference Finals. I don't think that if you asked anyone then they'd have considered that a successful run. The goal with 3 hall of famers was a championship, and they failed. Right. And Stockton was wide open, because Malone set a (moving) pick on Drexler. Of course, Karl's man could have switched over to pick up Stockton. Who was guarding Malone, again? Again, I'm not claiming Cassell had a better career. I'm saying he fit better as a role player on the Rockets, and helped them win 2 championships in 3 years. While CB4 was a role player who won nothing in his years with the Rockets, never got them even to the Finals, and ran off Clyde Drexler (an icon in Houston) after 2 seasons.
Barkley's thing with the "Who The Hell Is Chucky Brown" thing was sorted out a couple years ago on TNT; Ernie prodded Charles about the comment and the subsequent curse. Barkley explained, apologized and complimented Chucky and his family on national TV, and was therefore forgiven. (Charles actually apologized to Chucky before the next game in 1995). Chucky never gave two craps, but his fans and the karma sure did. Of course the curse was not lifted until he retired; hence, no championship. But Barkley sure fared better than Paul Westphal. These days I think Charles seems disinterested; Kenny has far better command of the league, the middle of the pack, what teams need to do to get better, etc. Charles comments are typically "the (insert team here) are a bad team, no disrespect to (person he likes in said organization), but this is a bad team. The San Antonio Spurs are going to win the Championship. All you guys who discuss other teams are wasting your time because these teams are turrible." If I had to keep one and lose the other, I think Kenny is the far better commentator. Maybe the best in basketball, actually, I think he is so smart. ps. Cassell is, was, and will always be totally crazy. He does not know what is saying EVER. I love him, but I have no idea what he is talking about here. His team IS surprisingly turrible. Barkley, and everyone who watches them, says so. Barkley never won a championship. Correct. Wolves still suck. Those things are not related. I never won a championship, I love Sam Cassell, but I don't think I am out of line commenting that they appear to suck very badly right now.
My understanding is that Clyde was actually a massive pain in the ass his last years in Houston; even Hakeem was sick of waiting on the damn runway on the team plane waiting for Clyde to show up. I love Clyde as a player and an athlete, and Barkley was fat and shot too many threes, but Charles running Clyde off might not be correct; I think the rest of the team was behind Charles calling Clyde out. That part is my conjecture, but it's not like Clyde was this beloved, gentle teammate that Barkley exploited and ran off. His stint at U of H as coach - showing up whenever, not really being considerate of others in the organization - might be consistent with that, I am not sure.
We know Cassell is not a better overall player than Barkley. But he was a better TEAM player, and he knew his role better. Yes, that trade was probably good in the short term, though I didn't really like the team chemistry with the Chuckster. Cassell just fits better with other stars, look how great he has played with Hakeem and Garnett. Also, that Stockton shot was in Game 6. Even if he had missed we probably would have lost in Game 7 in Utah. And remember we were lucky to get to Game 6 thanks to Eddie Johnson.
Shaq has only been traded once. McGrady was only traded once. Kidd was traded twice. Sam was traded six times. Slight difference. I would suggest refreshing your memories or maybe lookign at some stats before sayng that Sam played better here than Charles did. And Hakeem's decline very certainly happened about a year after Barkley's arrival. Evan
I seem to remember us all cringing whenever a young Cassell seemed to be trying to do to much...and some of the shots he took... Look, I love Cassell for what he did for us. And I love Charles. But to say that Cassell somehow has a great advantage on a team over Charles is absurd. You know why they are having this little spat here? Because they're too much alike.
I was joking about "20 teams", but at this pace he might make it. You call roll your eyes all you want. Shaq left Orlando as a free agent and has only been traded once, at his request. TMac wanted out of Orlando and was traded. Kidd was traded from Phoenix after his domestic abuse problems to get a new start. To put Cassell in the league of those guys you mentioned is a joke. You tell me why Jim Jackson has been traded so many times? And why are the Rockets playing better without him? I'm not saying Cassell can't play ball, I'm saying he must be trouble in the locker room.
