Memory lane blahblahblah...

My wife gave me the Clutch City DVD set as a Valentine's Day present earlier this year but I hadn't gotten around to watching it until today. Just thought I'd jot down some random, rambling thoughts after watching game 1:

Hakeem totally went bananas in the first half. 19 points on shots all over the court - he starts out nailing a couple of turnarounds from just beyond the elbow (take that, Patrick "Best Jump-shooting Center" Ewing) - and just keeps going. Only misses two shots in the first half, grabs some rebounds, blocks and alters a bunch of shots. Awesome.

I had forgotten what a Knick-killer Carl Herrera was. MVP of the Venezuelan national team! He was really good off the bench. I felt bad for him when the Rockets let him go as he seemed to fall to pieces as soon as he joined the Spurs.

I had forgotten just how painful it was to see Kenny play defense. Dear God. His man defense seemed to mostly consist of him jumping back and flailing his arms around, sort of like a half-assed flop, and his help defense and rotations were slow and uncertain. *Total* liability on defense. I remember Kevin Johnson averaging something like 45 PPG against "the Jet"...

In the second quarter, Anthony Mason threw Hakeem to the floor on two straight possessions. No calls. Hakeem got up and protested and Dick Bavetta immediately nailed him with a technical. Crowd started up a really big "BULL@#$~" chant. Is that even possible for Rockets crowds anymore? I don't live in Houston anymore so I can't tell.

Heh, Pat Riley still looked like a living human being back then, not like the mummified corpse he resembles today (embalmed with his own hair gel, no doubt).

Not surprisingly, NBC's coverage was heavily tilted in favor of the Knicks. Aside from a puff piece on Rudy's playing days and a couple of brief Hannah Storm reports, almost all sideline reports and analysis were in regard to the noble Knicks and how they and their supergenius coach were going to put down this uppity, marauding horde of uncouth Texans. When the Rockets started really taking control of the game in the second quarter, the announcers' voices nearly started quivering with panic. "Dammit, Jordan's *retired*! The Knicks paid their damn dues! They *earned* this title! Willis Reed! Willis Reed! What the hell?!?!" I wonder: If the Knicks had prevailed in the series, would there be any of that Jordan asterisk talk? Or would the media have treated it as this long-deserved coronation and a heart-warming fairy tale of the Great New York Franchise rising from the ashes?

To the Knicks' credit, they actually did a pretty good job of making adjustments in the second half. The interior defense tightened up a great deal, especially in denying entry passes to Hakeem and getting him out of his comfort zone (admittedly, part of the stategy seemed to consist of knocking him to the floor and perhaps hoping a "regrettable accident" might occur), daring the other players to make shots, which mostly weren't falling. Hakeem had to check out for awhile due to fatigue and never quite got his offense back after that. Mostly was forced to make free throws. The Knicks also started murdering the Rockets on offensive rebounding. The Rocks spent the rest of the game clutching the lead with their fingernails.

Otis Thorpe kicked a lot of ass in this game. By the end of the third, he had 10 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists. Loved that guy.

Towards the end of the third, Vernon picked up a technical and the cameraman got this GREAT close-up of his eyes practically glowing red with satanic fury. CERTIFIABLY INSANE. Of course I remember that he was really intense but I had forgotten how damn scary that guy could be when he got pissed off. He probably could have made Ron Artest run home and cry for mama.

The first half was actually pretty smooth. Both teams started tight but the Rockets got it going in the second. The third quarter is when the "ugly ball" started that would give the series its reputation and the announcers spent the rest of the game apologizing to the viewing audience for the low scoring. Of course in retrospect it just looks like a hard-fought defensive game. I've seen uglier games and series in the past few years. Spurs vs. Detroit comes to mind, and that Rockets game from last year when only four players scored. *shudder*

John Starks really stank up the joint. I think his final line was 3-18? At one point he almost flipped out and got into a fight with Charles Oakley. Heh.

Quiet game for Mario. Highlight was a double technical early on.

Sam had some very nice plays in the second quarter but he was making some really boneheaded rookie plays in the second half, causing Otis to get in his face and b**** him out. It's not a new sentiment but it's just really striking seeing how intense these guys were all down the line and comparing them to the mild-mannered squad of the past few seasons.

Poor Scottie Brooks. Stuck on the bench playing cheerleader the entire time. He did a good job of that, at least. Can't say he wasn't totally committed to helping out any way he could.

Play that probably sealed the game for the Rockets: Kenny drove the lane and dished it to OT, who then went up and rammed the ball through the hoop and down Ewing's throat. Crowd went crazy and the Knicks players started crying for a foul and looking like they wanted to take out the entire referee squad. I couldn't tell what they were complaining about. Maybe they felt Otis used his forearm illegally? *shrug*

 

Both teams were so similarly built - dominant centers, tough forwards, and really streaky backcourts. A guy like Starks could be red hot but then you'd have to be prepared in case he went cold, and he sure as hell did.

Thanks for kind words about the post. Wasn't sure how it would be received since it really was just me aimlessly rambling on after watching the game I'll try to get to the other games as soon as I can and see if I can find more to say about those.

As nice as this set is, what I'd really like is for the NBA to release a Rockets Dynasty Series set, so we'd have the key games from the 95 playoffs and some of the other big games from the 94 run. There was so much drama that you don't see if you're just looking at this 94 finals series.

 

Following up after watching games 2 and 3...

These games were almost mirror images of each other: The home team would come out flat and unmotivated while the more focused road team stayed ahead throughout the bulk of the game, a brief momentum shift in the 4th, then some big plays to grab the momentum back and seal the win for the road team.

The Rockets just looked flat starting out game 2 while the Knicks couldn't miss. The Knicks ended up shooting 52 percent for the game and frequently made the Rocks look stupid on offense. One of those games in which the Rockets seemed to have trouble just staying on their feet and not turning the ball over every other play. Despite all that, though, the Rockets amazingly enough always seemed to be no more than 4-8 points behind until the second half, when they briefly got the lead, then gave it back it to the Knicks.

It must be said that the Knicks had a pretty good scheme for defending Hakeem. He had a solid line by the end of game 2 - 25 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks, 4 assists - but he had to work his butt off to get it. The Knicks only let him have the baseline fadeaway but almost every time he tried to make moves inside, he'd run into a crowd and have to kick it out. He also once again faded late in the game - he had some nice defensive plays but he just couldn't seem to get a shot off when it counted. Most frustrating play for him was probably late: Hakeem finally received a pass under the basket, faked a guy out of his way, only to have Ewing stuff his lay-up attempt from behind. Augh!

Ewing didn't put up any gaudy numbers but he didn't have to: Starks and Harper were nailing damn near every shot they put up. Harper in particular was murdering Kenny and Sam, and he was the one who nailed the two threes that won the game for the Knicks. I kept thinking that if you could trade the two starting PGs, put Harper on the Rockets and Kenny on the Knicks, this wouldn't have been a series at all. Rockets probably would have swept.

Vernon had a decent game but he also had some dumb plays, jacking up some quick 3's when the Rockets really needed a solid possession.

Kind of a scary sequence with Horry in which he tried a fastbreak dunk only to get tied up and smash his forearm on the lower edge of the backboard. But he just got some stitches and came back later.

So game 2 sucked, but game 3 was fun. In that case, the Rockets came out strong, built up a 16 point lead in the first half and generally looked a whole lot more focused, especially in terms of attacking the basket and trying to run more often. Horry had some cool dunks in this game. I also admire how Horry was rebounding. He didn't necessarily get huge numbers, but he was mixing it up with guys like Mason and Oakley despite being a stick figure. He still looked like Will Smith back then.

Marv Albert gets a little saucy with his announcing, declaring that Anthony Mason "has been the Dream's worst nightmare!" Eh, he was playing alright but I wouldn't go that far. He was getting a lot of help. On the other end, Hakeem was playing Ewing straight up a lot of the time and Ewing was bricking a ton of shots.

Damn, I caught a glimpse of Van Gundy on the Knicks bench. He still had some hair then! It was like those Simpsons episodes in which they flashback to early in the marriage when Homer was only half bald instead of just having the two little hairs combed over and that zig-zag around the back of his head.

Disturbing sequence in which Vernon got into it with a heckler at courtside. Then he went to the other side of the court and was goaded into a technical by the Knicks bench. D'oh!

NBC flashed a stat that Kenny was averaging 3 points for the series. *******, that's it?! He also had numerous plays in which Harper would casually snatch the ball away because Kenny wasn't paying attention to protecting his dribble, which drove me crazy. I remember some article that said Kenny was the worst player to ever start for an NBA champion and I hate to say it but I'm not sure I'd argue with that.

Rockets controlled the game for so long but it got close late because they went 10 and a half minutes without a field goal. I guess that might be a precursor to why they would need the Clyde trade. They just didn't have that extra guy who could guarantee scoring when Hakeem was having trouble, which he was (aside from a freaking awesome play in which he spun baseline around Ewing and dunked it before Ewing even had a chance to turn his head). NBC put up another stat that Hakeem had gone 2-12 in the 4th quarters of the series to that point. If the BBS had been around back then, I can just imagine the threads of folks screaming that "Hakeem's a great player but he doesn't have what it takes to put the team on his back and will them to victory when it counts!" He did have some big blocks late, though.

This is the game in which Sam nailed that 3 with the Rockets behind by 2 that killed the crowd, and then he drilled the free throws that sealed it and got him on Letterman and had Madonna seeking his phone number and all that crap. It says a good deal about Rudy's instincts with players that he brought Sam back for this game despite some bad plays in game 2. If it was Van Gundy, Sam probably would have never got back in the series. Actually, Sam wouldn't have played at all because Van Gundy doesn't play rookies. But Rudy let him have the big minutes in game 3 and it won the game for them. Funny how that works sometimes