The fact that Dirk won without a true #2 is amazing

Hakeem had the clutchest collection of role players in the history of the game, though.

Horry
Cassell
Mario Elie
Maxwell

We could really see this once they played out their careers. Cassell single-handedly lead the clippers and the Bucks (allen and robinson) to deep runs in the playoffs.

Big shot bob.

Elie in SA.

The rockets had deadly shooters on that team.

 

No terry, no ring. The fact terry played 4 really good games really helped. Dirk didn't play well game 4 or 6.

 

No dirk, no finals, 8th seed first round lost

 

No Dirk, no playoffs

 

The Mavs had deadly shooters as well. They shot the lights out of the ball. (BTW, Rockets did not win against the Knicks in 94 finals because of their outside shooting. Derek Harper kept Kenny Smith in check the entire series and Elie hardly even saw any floor time, which he was not very happy about since he was from NY).

T_mac1 is right. Here are the differences:

1) 90%+ offense of the Rockets was generated through Hakeem. He was the playmaker for that team. The only time they would run something else would be when he would rest for a few minutes in the game, which was pick and roll with Maxwell or Smith. Dirk did not have the same responsibility. Kidd and JJ ran a number of plays and Terry did more of teh same towards the second half of the finals. Dirk's primary role was to be a scorer.

In fact, because so much of the offensive load was on Hakeem, especially when it came to generating the offense for the team in 94 and regular season of the 95, that Rockets made that trade for Drexler. Drexler took some of the pressure off of Hakeem in 95 but 75% of Rockets offense still went thought Hakeem.

2) Hakeem anchored a very good defensive team. While Maxwell was an excellent perimeter defender, Thorpe was a wall of a PF, and Horry did a little bit of everything on defense, what held it together was Hakeem's team and help defense. During the last minutes of the games, Hakeem would switch over to the other team's best post player. Barkley said it best...it wasnt just Thorpe's defense, it was the fact that once he got past him, Hakeem was waiting for him. Similar effect on Malone.

3) Rockets were not a particularly deep team. Mavs are incredibly deep. Chucky Brown got a ton of minutes during the 95 run after Harrera went down with the dislocated shoulder. Chris Jent of all people saw some time during the 94 run. Mavs were 2 deep in pretty much every position. Chandler + Haywood, Marion + Stevenson, Kidd + JJ, Terry + Peja. And not to forget an injured Butler.

The main reason the Mavs won this year as possed to other years was the defense of Kidd, Marion, and Chandler. These three players along with Carlisle changed the culture of the Mavs team. Both Kidd and Marion are very very underrated defenders. And Chandler pretty much guarded the paint.

Dirk was spectacular on offense for the first 3 rounds and good in the Finals but he had one role to play for the team; Score, score, and score. He could devote all his energy to that role. His defensive contribution was nowhere close to Hakeem's and his responsibility on offense was not equal to what Hakeem's was. It is safe to say that if it was, his shooting would have suffered.

People have forgotten how great Hakeem was in his career but especially during those 2 seasons. Other than Jordan, I have yet to watch a player who has impacted the games as much as him on both ends of the court.

 

Supreme post

 

it looked like he was playing the Rockets out there

 

It's not overrated in the sense that you need those stars to get star calls. It's a structural thing. Game 6 was helped by the fact that the massive FT discrepancy was offset by terrible free throw shooting by Miami. If Miami hit their FTs they would have probably won the game.

Dallas basically won without a #2 or a #1. Dirk was 1-12 in the first half and everyone else carried. Terry were unstoppable. Yeah if you have a guys coming off the bench hitting 70% of their shots and 60% of their 3 pointers then you probably dont need a big 3 when the other team shoots 35 FTs to your 18 FTs. But that's not a normal sequence of events you can count on building your team.

Keep in mind that Dallas has 2 HOFers (including one that specializes on defense, ball handling and passing) a legit 6th man of the year and role players who literally hit 60% of their 3s. Four of five starters are guys who were at one time considered Franchise-level players (Dirk, Kidd, Marion and Tyson Chandler).

I think if anything it speaks of the Mavs front office properly valuing guys potential contributions that the rest of the league overly devalued guys like Marion and Chandler. Even a dude like Stevenson who to Washington was a throw in was someone their stats determined could make a contribution.

 

LOL really?? Dirk okay is a franchise level player and so was Kidd in his prime. But Marion?? I think in his prime at best he was considered a number 2 option.
And LOL Tyson Chandler?? Since when was he ever considered a franchise level player? I didnt know a guy who averaged 8 pts 8rebs for his career can be considered franchise level. Sounds like a solid role player to me.

I know Dallas was deep but let's not try to diminish what Dirk accomplished by talking up his team mates as franchise level. Kidd and Marion are both well past their prime and the rest are decent role players who rely on Dirk as the leader and anchor of the team.

 

I am really not sure what you are trying to prove by pointing out obvious things.

My point was that if you extrapolate the careers of the players we had on that team, it is pretty clear that it wasn't just Hakeem and a bunch of role players, regardless of how they were perceived.

If you are trying to prove that Dirk's team wasn't as talent-depraved as the rockets were, well you and I are just going to have to disagree on that point.

Any Rockets fan knows that the defense was funneled toward Hakeem and that Hakeem played point-center. That had nothing to do with my post at all, by the way.

 

No doubt. They insulated dirk like they should've insulated yao ming and tracy. All. They surrounded him with quick and athletic players. Dirk was talking about closing out games which is something he couldn't do just a fewyrs earlier.

 

It didn't actually lead to a championship, but to my mind the most incredible playoff run ever by one man was the year Moses Malone led the 40-42 Rockets to the finals, where they lost in 6 to Larry Bird and the Celtics. I think that was the most that one man dominated both the offense and the defense for his team.

 

Nah, like someone mentioned earlier, Ginobili was the 2nd option when Spurs won championships and he came off the bench.

 

Look, in the end Dallas has a ton of talent overall. Historically speaking, I would put them most near the Jailblazer teams a decade ago. That team was an inch away from getting a ring, and they had to go through the prime Shaq/Kobe Lakers, rather than the current neutered older-Kobe/Gasol Lakers. And no one would say that those Jailblazer teams would be "amazing" had they won. Because they were loaded top to bottom, like this Dallas team.

Btw, a lot of revisionist history here.

1. The Pistons did not have multiple all-stars their championship year. They had multiple all-stars AFTER their championship. You know, because the championship made their players more noticeable?

2. Same with San Antonio, as there was a time when Parker and Ginobili were not all-stars, and DRob by then was basically a rich-man's Tyson Chandler.

3. On a side note, Clyde was an all-star from 1988-1997 except for one year. Guess which year is that? That's right, the Rockets 2nd championship. He was basically declining from his peak in 92, which resulted in that trade in the middle of the 95 season. As well as his lack of an all-star berth.

Ironically, I think there's a good chance Kidd will get an all-star nod next year, now that DWill is in the east and Nash may not get his auto-nod. And people would be talking about Dallas having 2 all-stars years from now.

 

Wow. Jason Kidd getting an all star nod would be hilarious.

It's clear that the Mavs have no 2nd all star.

Duncan did not have a 2nd all star.

Hakeem did not have a 2nd all star in 1994. Drexeler was good enough in 95.

 

OT was an all star in 92.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/t/thorpot01.html
he averaged 17 pts on 59% FG, 10 boards.

Solid.

 

but hakeem had to do A TON as an individual though. if you watched the NBA finals in 94, the game was low scoring and physical. i don't think many players shot over 50% but hakeem in that series. the guy was a monster despite the pace of the game. dirk wasn't a monster in the finals like he was in the previous 2 rounds, and he didn't have to anchor a defense that was stifling like hakeem did.

the similarity is that both had clutch shooters around them. and that's pretty much it.

 

Thorpe was Hakeem's second star in 94. The revisionist history always throws thorpe under the bus, but when he came to the rockets instantly bonded with Hakeem. He didn't score as much because it was Hakeem first, everybody else second, by then. But he was averaging 14 and 10.6 and 2.3 assists. He was certainly the counterpoint to Hakeem on the low blocks when Hakeem got into trouble he passed the ball to thorpe for a dunk.

Thorpe was still in his prime in 94 and evidence of the fact that he landed Clyde Drexler for the rockets.

 

I agree. I just feel like Thorpe was a star like Jason Terry not like Pau Gasol

 

these were hakeem's stats in the playoffs in 94:

28.9ppg, 11rpg, 4.3apg, 4bpg, 1.7spg on 51%fg.

outside of MJ, i don't remember another single dominant performance run in the 90s on both ends of the court like hakeem (and he did it again in 95).

his responsibilities for the rockets were ridiculous and he handled them like a champ.

all dirk had to do was score; all ben wallace had to do was defend. duncan was close, but i don't think he was as dominant as hakeem in 99 playoffs (he was close)