[SI] Rockets over Magic #10 greatest playoff UPSET???

Jeez,
A shocker, SI dissing the Rockets.

 

the east in 1995, not 2005.

 

i don't have a problem with this. because, if you'll remember right, the magic were billed as the dynasty to be. i remember the opening segment before the game asked, 'can the rockets hold off for this year the dynasty of the magic?" or something like that.

and then to win in the fashion that they did. making that incredible comeback in game 1. then beating the ever-living dog crap out of them in game 2. coming home to sweep in 4.

by the way...the sooner you cherish the houston role of always being discounted by the "experts", the happier you'll be. i have more fun when people pick against the astros than i do when people give them their due.

 

MJ played in the playoffs that year, he lost to Orlando in the Eastern Conference finals I believe.

So....MJ was NOT playing baseball during our 2nd championship...he was playing basketball.

DD

 

jordan was playing in 95 a$$holes. F@#k SI and anyone else who buys into that crap. by this logic any team who has won a championship since jordan retired or before he came into the league is second-rate.

 

whao shaq wasnt overweight yet!

 

dude, that was an upset.... which made the sweep that much more impressive.

 

i agree.

and for us to go into the O-Rena and take the first two games? that's pretty bad@$$. that was the year they were like 39-2 at home, IINM. someone correct me if i'm wrong.

they also beat down a Jordan comeback, though he was kinda rusty.

we were good, but they were the princes of the east.

nick anderson, dennis scott, horace grant [back before he started sucking], brian shaw. i can't remember if they had derek strong yet.
anderson & scott would rain the 3s down, and grant was a pretty good 4 with outside shooting to boot.
coupling that with the young penny and shaq, that was quite a team.

i don't really remember their bench, but shaq was pretty consistent that year, and all it took was one of their shooters to get hot, and they all would start hitting. i can't remember if that's also the year they had some kind of streak with hitting 3s or something.

 

Well that was an upset. If I'm not mistaken, the Rockets as a 6 seed was the lowest seed to win an NBA Championship. So I can understand it.

 

i'm glad they had Denver over Seattle for their #1. i'm surprised they didn't have that pic of Deke, lying on the floor, clutching the ball in victory. that was classic.

say what you like, but i miss the days where Kemp was a force in the NBA. i even bought "the Shawn Kemps" - his signature Reebok Kamikaze shoes.

 

MYTH:

he shot 48% that year in the playoffs and averaged 31.5 ppg. the truth is not that Jordan wasn't good enough. the truth is he had no help inside. at all. they addressed that with rodman, and it worked. obviously.

but it's simply not true to say the guy was rusty. it's a convenient excuse for those who like to wield asterisks.

 

Jordan was NOT himself in the playoffs. He was rusty and played way below his normal level in their championship years. Technically, you are correct. Most people forgot he came back late in the season.

To the subject, I think I remember the oddsmakers actually had the Rockets favored in the 1995 Finals because we were defending champions with a lot of veteran players with playoff experience and the Magic were green. Most pundits billed them a coming dynasty but still thought the Rockets would win the series based on beating Utah (62 wins), Phoenix (59 wins) & San Antonio (60 wins). All 3 of these teams were thought to be better than Orlando when the playoffs started.

 

It absolutely was an upset.

It's hard to remember now, but the Magic looked unstoppable and like an inevitable dynasty. They were loaded at all 5 positions -- Penny when he was good, Shaq, Dennis Scott when he was not fat and could hit 3s, Nick Anderson before his career was ruined in Game 1, and Ho Grant in his prime.

Plus B Shaw and a few others off the bench.

IIRC, the Magic also rolled through the East Conference in the playoffs adding to their aura of invulnerability.

It's not a diss to call it a huge upset at all.

What is a diss is this crap, and I'm just so sick of it:

I so wish we had made the finals in 97 so we could have beaten MJ in the Finals without a freaking asterisk...

 

read my post, above.

his shooting percentage in 95 was better than it was in the successive three years when they won titles. he shot better from the 3 point stripe than he did in 97 or 98.

he was not "rusty." he was dropping 55 on the Knicks in the regular season. he was a monster. he just didn't have any help.

 

I do not remember that at all. I remember everyone saying we were too old and could not hope to keep up with the Magic.

I could be wrong, but my recollection is that the MAgic were overwhelming favorites.

 

Michael WAS rusty. If you saw him play it was obvious. I don't remember his scoring average but if he averaged 31 points, so be it. He made some fumbling plays down the stretch late in games and it was almost embarrasing. The stats don't tell the whole story. I'm not saying the Bulls would have won the championship with MJ at 100%. I doubt it. But I think they would have taken out the Magic in the EC semifinals. Just my opinion.

Obviously getting Rodman the next season made them better. MUCH better.

 

yup. he used to be lean and fit.
i think there's a video posted here before of top ten dunks on shawn bradley. shaq was number one and they showed his this one dunk when he was with the magic. he flew in for a dunk, not one of those straight up-and-come-down dunks he used to do with the lakers.
i know he easily moved players with his weight when he was with the lakers, but i think he'd still have won his championships and be at his peak a lot longer had he maintained his physique.

 

i did see him play. and i completely disagree. he was well-rested. he had played about 16-20 regular season games...plenty of time to find his legs. and i'd argue that he shot better in those games because of it. i remember watching him play that year and being more impressed with him than i was before, because of what i perceived he was doing with zero frontcourt help.

 

The sports media widely reported Jordan went on to have the most rigorous training in his career that summer after the humiliating defeat at the hands of Penny Hardaway and co. This suggests he was rusty in the playoffs, despite his stats.