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Disrespect Once Again...Left of NBA Upsets/Underdog Video

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by djones, Jan 27, 2000.

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  1. djones

    djones Member

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    If you haven't heard the NBA released a new video call NBA Upsets & Underdogs. I don't see how it happen but the 95 Rockets were left off the video. They were only the lowest seed to ever win the title! They only had to win each series on the road! However the league did find the time to stroke Scottie "THE ROACH" Pippen in one of the spot lights. Here's an article from the Houston Chronicle, in which Bill Walton speaks on the Rockets being left off the video.

    NBA `Upsets' video leaves out Rockets victories
    By BRUCE WESTBROOK
    Copyright 2000 Houston Chronicle

    NBA Upsets & Underdogs, a new video from NBA Entertainment, showcases such currently hot players as San Antonio's Tim Duncan, Minnesota's Kevin Garnett and Portland's Scottie Pippen, based on obstacles early in their careers.
    But the video, hosted by Bill Walton, virtually ignores the Houston Rockets.
    Walton knows what it means to be an underdog. As a basketball star, he won an unlikely NBA title with the 1977 Portland Trailblazers, and his 1991 shift to NBC's broadcast team was unexpected for a man long known as a maverick.
    Walton, 47, didn't choose the subjects for NBA Upsets & Underdogs. If he had, he says the 1995 Houston Rockets would have had a special spotlight.
    "This tape is very much like the Dream Team or All-Star teams -- somebody's going to get left out," Walton said, calling from his home in California. "Hopefully, there will be a Volume 2, and I'm going to have to say, `Look, we've got to do something on Hakeem (Olajuwon) and how he busted Shaq (Orlando's Shaquille O'Neal) and David Robinson' " (of San Antonio), both in the '95 postseason.
    The featured teams are more legitimate than the individuals selected, The video chronicles Denver's historic upset of Seattle in '94 -- the first time an eighth seed upset a top seed. Also highlighted are Walton's own Blazers, who came from two games down to snatch the title from highly favored Philadelphia in '77.
    But the Rockets are overlooked, except for brief profiles of Calvin Murphy (a Hall of Fame player who was only 5 feet 9 inches) and Mario Ellie (an unheralded "journeyman" until reaching the summit with the Rockets).
    Ellie is seen hitting a three-pointer as the Rockets beat Utah in the '94 conference finals. His "Kiss of Death" shot against Phoenix in '95 also is shown, and from a different vantage than the usual clips.
    "I think one of the great upsets of all time was the Rockets winning it all in '95 -- and how they won it," Walton said. "Every series had to be won on the road, and Hakeem played as great as any player in the history of basketball."
    Walton noted that those Rockets were the only sixth seed ever to win an NBA crown and also set an all-time record for road wins (with nine) in the postseason.
    "Having to come from so low on the playoff ladder was an incredible story," he said.
    He also feels the '81 Rockets deserved notice for making the finals despite a losing record (40-42) in the regular season.
    "That was an incredible story of one man (Moses Malone) carrying a team," he said. (The video's rationale for heralding Garnett is that he entered the NBA out of high school, but Malone -- a two-time MVP -- did the same.)
    Walton also considers titles by the Golden State Warriors in '75 and the Boston Celtics in '74 worthy of Upsets and Underdogs.
    "Maybe all those will be on Volume 2," he said with a laugh.
    But he defended the video's inclusion of Pippen, who emerged from a small Arkansas town and a marginal collegiate career to win six titles with Chicago alongside Michael Jordan.
    "Granted, in Houston right now there's not a lot of sympathy for Scottie Pippen," Walton said of the former Rocket who turned his back on the team. "But his story truly is an amazing one."
    As for today's biggest underdog, Walton points to a surprising subject: Jordan, who just joined the hapless Washington Wizards as part owner and president of basketball operations.
    "He's the ultimate underdog now," Walton said. "If he can turn that team around, he might want to consider giving up sports and taking up religion."
    That's a comment in keeping with Walton's outspoken -- if not off-the-wall -- approach to broadcasting. But although he's been a fixture on NBA broadcasts for nine seasons, this is the first time he's hosted an NBA Entertainment video.
    Walton's footage as host was shot on a set in New Jersey that looks like a den placed on a basketball court.
    "We had a wonderful time filming it," he said. "It was a special opportunity for me."
    But that didn't extend to off-screen narration, read instead by a man named Will Lyman.
    "I am happy to be part of the NBA team, and I've loved the NBA Entertainment videos, which play all summer long at my house, where we have four kids.
    "The drama, the human stories that come out of these videos, are tremendously inspirational."
    Walton stressed that being an underdog usually lies in the eye of the beholder.
    "One of the real interesting things about this is, when you're competing, you never really consider yourself the underdog," he said. "That's one thing my college coach (UCLA's legendary John Wooden) taught me."
    So even if the betting line favors another team, "you always consider yourself the favorite. That level of confidence and belief is critical."
    http://www.chron.com/content/story.html/features/440387
     
    #1 djones, Jan 27, 2000
  2. BrianKagy

    BrianKagy Member

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    Thanks for posting this, djones.

    We really should think about doing something about this. I don't care what the NBA's justification is for this: it's wrong, it's stupid, and it's an insult.

    I say, we vote against the referendum! That's learn 'em!

    Kidding, kidding. I'm open to suggestions. How best to get revenge?
     
    #2 BrianKagy, Jan 27, 2000
  3. Almu

    Almu Member

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    I am numb on this by now.

    Dream will never get put up there with the all-time greats. His feats will never be hyped. The teams success in 1995 should of put them over the top but it didn't.

    Sad. Sad. Sad.

    ------------------
    Live Rocketball. Breathe Rocketball. Die with Rocketball.
     
    #3 Almu, Jan 27, 2000
  4. Frinkster

    Frinkster Member

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    Sic LHutz on them that will teach 'em

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    Finally the Frink has come back to Clutch City! dot net.
     
    #4 Frinkster, Jan 27, 2000
  5. playahata

    playahata Member

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    Where the hell has Lhutz been this year, I almost miss his incoherent babblings. As far as this video stuff goes, I am a full believer in the NBA conspiracy to keep the Rockets down. I always just thought it was refs making bogus calls, and a general lack of respect/exposure (this year not included). This makes me sick because the NBA has done all it could to erase the memories of 1994&1995. This prevailing opinion that the Bulls would have 8-peated had Jordan not "retired" is a complete Joke. Hakeem's game from 1993-1997 was at such a high level, yet this is dismissed because Jordan took a season and a half off. How come I have not heard anything about the Spurs having an illegitimate title (their's really is as it was a farce of a season). Why??I believe it has something to do with Tim DUncan. Hakeem may not have the celebrity or endorsements of lesser players, but in my opinion I don't think that there has ever been a center who could have played with Hakeem in his prime.
     
    #5 playahata, Jan 27, 2000
  6. BrianKagy

    BrianKagy Member

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    LHutz is still out there. He emails the admins constantly asking to have his ban lifted.

    We really haven't given it much thought, although his emails are hilarious.
     
    #6 BrianKagy, Jan 27, 2000
  7. Almu

    Almu Member

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    Kno onne mises teh LHutz more tanh me! We wer rivls! Almoooooo! Bandwagon-hop like nutty!!!

    In my most humblest of opinion and of course with no disrespect, Almoo is a hypocrit was the best post of all time on this BBS. If you ever needed to laugh til you bleed, that was what you needed to read.

    As for this dissin of the Rocks...

    At least Jordan said that we deserve the respect that we are missing. He accepted pretty much that it would of been tough to beat us in the finals anyway. I also saw Pippo admit that we use to kick their asses almost everytime. And who can forget Dream bustin' 32, 15 and 5 on them without a sip of water? Hows that for domination?

    But, like Clutch said, pretty much accepted by me.

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    Live Rocketball. Breathe Rocketball. Die with Rocketball.
     
    #7 Almu, Jan 27, 2000
  8. heypartner

    heypartner Member

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    Davo,

    So, did you go to Rice?

    Oh, nevermind, now I get the Bert Emmanuel comment--the losey call.
     
    #8 heypartner, Jan 27, 2000
  9. Rocketman95

    Rocketman95 Hangout Boy

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    davo, you've obviously never been to Arkansas.

    [​IMG]
     
    #9 Rocketman95, Jan 27, 2000
  10. Christopher

    Christopher Member

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    The NBA is a hype machine.Watch them come grovaling back when "Franchise" is killing them all!!!

    One think on our 2nd title run.It will never be forgotten because of us Rockets fans.The 2nd title run isnt just a sporting acheivment to us.

    It was a moment in our lives.Even now I still get pin and needles just thinking about the run.Beat the jazz,Taking on Chuck and the Suns,beating down on Robinsons NBA leading Spurs and ending it with the greatest performance in finals history.

    Watching Olajuwon in the most dominant performance in post season history.Watching Clyde living his dream of wining the title.Watching young guys like Casell and Horry step up and perform when needed.Watching someone like Mario beating guys who were sopposedly bigger,quicker and faster.They all got the kiss of death!

    We all remember these moments like it was yesterday.The nba can never take away out "Dream" run.

    NBA Upsets and Underdogs....Stick in a tape of game 4 of that 95 finals.Thats what its all about.

    Christopher

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    Your Starting Power Forward for the Clutch City Allstars

    My Expert Opinion Of Steve Francis:Mate he is a special player!
     
    #10 Christopher, Jan 27, 2000
  11. Christopher

    Christopher Member

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    Sorry for the double post by maybe the NBA wasnt surprised when we won our second chamionship.

    The Houston Rockets Juggernaught Rolls Over All Oposition To Claim NBA Title!!!

    [​IMG]

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    Your Starting Power Forward for the Clutch City Allstars

    My Expert Opinion Of Steve Francis:Mate he is a special player!
     
    #11 Christopher, Jan 27, 2000
  12. Lynus302

    Lynus302 Member

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    If the Rockets move, it will only serve to further erase all memories of '94 and '95 from the rest of the NBA marketing machine.

    ------------------
    Proud Cheerleader 'til we move to New Orleans
    302
     
    #12 Lynus302, Jan 27, 2000
  13. davo

    davo Member

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    The lowest seed ever to win the Championship? That is the pure definition of underdog my friends. What a scam - The Rockets are more ripped off than Bert Emmanuel.

    As for poor old Scottie coming from a small town and marginal college career. P-lease - Hakeem came from a less likely background than most. I've been to Nigeria and I'm not exactly sure what his childhood was like, but I'm willing to bet that progressing to professional basketball after growing up in Surulere, Lagos presented a few more challenges than Arkansas.
     
    #13 davo, Jan 28, 2000
  14. Clutch

    Clutch Administrator
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    That doesn't mean I don't miss the Hutzinator ... "Huh? Right." has been forever emblazoned in my memory [​IMG]

    As for the Rockets not appearing in the video ... not surprising to me at all.
     
    #14 Clutch, Jan 28, 2000
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