What happened to these teams?_ How did they underacheive so greatly against the Nuggets and Lakers, neither of which were nearly as good?_ What kept them from being champions in the mid-'90s? They seemed rock solid all around - Payton, Kemp, Scrempf._ They were still championship calibre in '96, but obviously ran into one of the best teams of all time in the Bulls. But even before that they were great, probably better. The 93-94 was easily the best team the Sonics ever had. Even better than the Finals team. Look at this squad: Payton Gill Perkins Kemp Schrempf Cage Pierce McMillan You had a rotation of eight starting calibre players. That team was so talented, they probably should have won two straight titles._ Remember the Denver series, they whizzed by them the first 2 games, they only had to win 1 more game. The next year, I remember one problem that had against LA was that the Lakers were able to adjust to trapping style of defense they played then. The D worked great during the regular season, IIRC it totally frusturated Kenny Smith, but the Lakers were able to adjust and pass crisply out of the traps. But I don't think that's the only reason why they lost. Did they just lack the killer instinct that it takes to be champs? What do you guys think? I would have hated to face them in the playoffs in 94 or 95.
The Sonics were good, but probably no better than the Kings and the Blazers of the past few years. The only year in which they were the odds-on favorite to win was when they lost that fluky series to Denver. Other years, they were so good where you'd expect them to win it all. I do agree with the assessment of George Karl. His decision to let Hawkins guard Jordan in the finals over Payton was just ridiculous. This was back when Payton really was "The Glove".
The Sonics had enormous trouble with Barkley. In '93 they lost to the Suns, and in '97 they lost to the Rockets.
good point, some people today say that the barkley trade wasn't worth it, but when you think about we got him to get us past the Sonics. Both of our championship regular seasons and some before the sonics owned. I think their weakness was size.
Totally agree. Karl is one of the WORST coaches in the NBA. Not a fan of his at all. And he will FOREVER have egg on his face as the FIRST coach to LOSE in the Olympics with NBA players. Not only did they lose but they got whipped. Karl did nothing for that team to coach them up.
I'm not a Karl fan either but he coached that team to perfection. They got the best use out of their personnel that they could. Denver just gave that team match-up problems in the years they were favored. They had no answer for Brian Williams(Bison Deli), Mutumbo, and Lephonso Ellis. Too many big men for the Sonics to handle. When they lost to Pheonix in 93, Barkley was on top of his game. When they lost to Houston in 97, Houston had too many stars.
The sonics had awesome shooters in Shremph, Payton, Perkins,,,They could trap on defense and took the rockets out of their game. Karl couldnot coach under presssure. That team got away with zone defense... Karl "nutted up" under pressure in my opinion-so did payton...not clutch
nothing angers me more than hearing the rockets wouldn't have won anything had jordan never retired, which is complete bullsh!t, but i will readily admit that had denver not helped us out with seatlle in '94 we might not have that first ring. very talented team but i think alot of what they did defensively wasn't legal till a couple years ago.
They were o.k. at best. If they were as great as some of you try to make them sound then they would have won. NO EXCUSES!! Great Teams win when necessary,when it counts and often. The Rockets were a kenny smith jumper away from beating them in the 93 playoffs. And as far as the bulls go,his airness was just that when he retired, air, hot air at that.
Hey YOOOO GUYYYYYYYYYS! George Karl blows. He had Kemp in his prime, who back then was arguably the most versatile PF in the league, and he had THE Glove in the backcourt and that don't even include all the other great role players...but alas....he got finger-wagged by Mt. Mutombo
Well, to be fair, George Karl didn't lose in the Olympics; it was teh World Basketball Championship. But Larry Brown will do a much better job this year anyway.
I define an "ok" team as one that wins 40-45 games. 55-27 in 92-93 63-19 in 93-94 57-25 in 94-95 64-18 in 95-96 57-25 in 96-97 61-21 in 97-98 The Sonics were a legitimately great team. Probably the best in the 90's to never win a championship. I hated Kemp, hated McMillan, still hate Payton, hated Karl. As long as we're talking about Jordan, do you think the '95 team would have beaten the 96. 72-10 Bulls? We'd have matched up great with them. Horry torched Rodman in the SA Series and Clyde could at least keep up with Jordan a little bit. No one on that team would have stopped Dream.
Karma caught up with them from all of the illegal defense they used to play on Hakeem. Though I shudder to think what could have been had Shawn Kemp kept it together and not been traded. He and Payton were still in their twenties when they split up.
This is a question that I've had for a long time, and it's frustrating that we'll never really know the answer. It's a hard one for me to assess, because I regard that 1995 team as religiously as I do anything--and I mean that literally. When I think of the 1994 championship, it's easier for me to remember it as just us being the best team. But when I think about 1995...it was just destiny. It's stupid and cliche, but it just was. I don't think God could have beaten us that day. I'll never forget what an amazing feeling it was to be trailing a series 3-1 and still have no doubt in my heart that the Rockets were going to win the series. I say yes all the way.
