it is a shame that the ones w/ the swagger are the one's that are crazy &have problems that swagger is something we lost last year w/o artest we need a crazy swagger guy
One plays offense, the other doesn't. Seriously, I like Maxwell, but he has been way over hyped on this board. From reading this board I'd think he was one of the greatest defensive players ever, routinely locking down Michael Jordan while scoring at will from anywhere on the court.
Picture Ron Artest's shot selection, subtract about 10 points from his FG%, and you have Maxwell on offense.
I liked sports better back then without the advanced stats. Could take a liking to players for aesthetics and style reasons. Advanced stats was forever going to happen, no way around it. But the more advanced stats there are, its just more ways to separate the emotion away from them. Still, Maxwell even then was a terribly inefficient chucker. If you're going to hate Trevor Ariza now, you'd have to want to strangle Vernon Maxwell on the same measure.
http://www.nba.com/playerfile/vernon_maxwell/bio.html 1993-94: After this, his sixth season, Maxwell was included among the NBA's all-time leaders in three-point shooting-he ranked 10th in three-pointers made (634), just 15 treys shy of Larry Bird, who played 13 seasons....Maxwell also ranked fifth in three-pointers attempted (1,981) and easily ranked as the Houston Rockets' all-time leader in both categories....In 1993-94 Maxwell had a spectacular eight-game stretch in which his three-point shooting was largely responsible for Houston victories.....Perhaps the most memorable occurred on 12/9 in a game with the Miami Heat, when his fallaway trey from 35 feet sent the game into overtime.....then hit a three-pointer in overtime to give Houston a 7-point cushion.....On 1/6 Maxwell suffered an episode of atrial fibrillation, a particularly frightening event in the wake of Reggie Lewis's death in the offseason.....Medication restored Maxwell's heartbeat to normal rhythm, and he missed only three games....For the season, he averaged 13.6 points and a team-high 5.1 assists....Shot .389 from the floor, including .298 from three-point range....Became the 13th Rocket to score 1,000 points in a season and passed Sleepy Floyd for 12th on the team's all-time scoring list.... With an average of 13.8 points and 4.3 assists per game in the postseason, Maxwell helped the Rockets to their first NBA Championship. Houston defeated the New York Knicks in seven games in the NBA Finals. 1992-93: While continuing to bomb from three-point range in 1992-93, Maxwell developed a reputation as an outstanding defender....Held opponents below their scoring averages in 35 of his 68 starts and notched 86 steals for the season.....Meanwhile, Maxwell led the Rockets in three-point field goals made for the third straight year, hitting 120 of 361 for a .332 percentage....His season ended prematurely when he fractured his left wrist at Seattle on 4/17, amid one of the best streaks of his career....In a sizzling span of nine games, Maxwell averaged 18.7 points while shooting .496 from the field and .404 (19-of-47) from three-point range....Also had 5.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game during that stretch....For the season, Maxwell finished second on the Rockets with an average of 13.8 points per game. He returned from his wrist injury to play in 9 of Houston's 12 playoff games, averaging 14.0 points in the postseason. 1991-92: Maxwell again led the NBA in three-pointers made (162) and attempted (473) while finishing 29th in the league in three-point percentage (.342)....He bombed from downtown at a torrid pace in March, hitting 50 of 121 attempts (.413) to become the first player ever to make 50 three-pointers in a month.... Starting in all 80 of his appearances, the fourth-year pro set new career highs in scoring (17.2 ppg), three-point percentage, free-throw percentage (.772), rebounds (3.0 rpg), and assists (4.1 apg)....The first Rockets guard to average 17-plus points in consecutive seasons since Calvin Murphy had done so from 1973 through 1980....Scored a season-high 35 points twice-at Denver on 11/2 and against San Antonio on 12/14. On 3/12 he completed a four-point play against San Antonio, becoming one of only five NBA players to record the feat in 1991-92....Maxwell also notched at least 100 steals (104) for the second straight season. 1990-91: Maxwell began shooting three-pointers on opening night, and he didn't stop until the Rockets' last game of the season....Hoisted 510 three-point attempts for the year, second only to Michael Adams' then-NBA-record 564 attempts....Made 172 of those shots, topping Adams' mark of 167. (Majerle has since passed them both with 192 treys, on 503 attempts, in 1993-94.)....On 1/ 26 Maxwell lit up the Cleveland Cavaliers for a career-high 51 points-30 in the fourth quarter....At the time, only four other players in NBA history had scored 30 points in a quarter: George Gervin (33), David Thompson (32), Wilt Chamberlain (31), and Michael Jordan (30)....Maxwell hit 14 of 25 field goals in that game, along with 4 of 10 three-pointers and 19 of 22 free throws in 46 minutes....He later scored 45 points in a game against Denver on 4/5, making a career-high 8 of 12 three-pointers, thus becoming only the fifth player in league history to make 8 treys in a game....Maxwell became a starter for the Rockets four games into the season and finished with an average of 17.0 points per game. He also led the club in steals, with 127....Houston posted a 52-30 regular-season record behind NBA Coach of the Year Don Chaney, but the Rockets were postseason disappointments, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round. 1989-90: Maxwell played the season's first 49 games for the Spurs but on 2/21 became the victim of a team overhaul when San Antonio traded him to the Houston Rockets for cash.....Satisfied with Willie Anderson at off guard and rookie Sean Elliott at small forward, the Spurs decided Maxwell was expendable....San Antonio enjoyed immediate success, transforming a 21-61 record the year before into a 56-26 mark and a Midwest Division championship. A 7-footer named David Robinson had a little bit to do with the turnaround.....Meanwhile, Maxwell thrived in Houston, appearing in the Rockets' final 30 games, the last 10 as a starter, and averaging 12.5 points....Scored a season-high 32 points against the Denver Nuggets on 3/13, adding 9 assists and 6 rebounds....Helped the Rockets (41-41) clinch a playoff berth with 27 points in the season finale against Utah.....Fired away in the postseason, shooting only .370 from the floor but averaging 19.8 points in a four-game first-round series loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
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He was integral to the 94 team and a colorful character, that's for sure. But, you don't really need advanced stats to put FGM/FGA - CLANG!
I know some people here don't like or appreciate Maxwell, but he was a Clutch City hero and nothing will ever change that. Hopefully Kevin Martin will become a hero like Maxwell so people can start hating on him too. Good Luck Kevin Martin. We do need another hero
i'm sure this is true...but here's what i remember: 1. THE shot in Game 7. I had NEVER seen a Houston team win a title. He hits the shot...pushes Starks aside..and I'm jumping up and down nearly in tears in the Summit. 2. Him absolutely taking over the second half of a critical game in Phoenix during the playoffs. He was incredible. I'm sure there are all sorts of formulas that tell me he wasn't as good as I can remember...but who the hell really cares? Selective memory or not, I'm soooo tired of the Rockets being all about stats and contracts. I'd trade all the roto-geek stuff away for the kind of moments we had watching Max play. For caring enough about the guys actually on the court wearing red. That's far more compelling to me than the fantasy-sports formula approach to watching sports.
uhh wrong thread, wrong forum.....i believe this belongs in the 'heart' thread currently running in NBA Dish.
i was at a bunch of these moments...but the play at about 2:03 was ridiculous. that shot was to WIN the game. horry throws it in and towards the goal...he throws too high and it bounces off backboard heading out...maxwell runs and catches it with his back to the basket, turns around and shoots with about a second left in the game....shot goes in as time expires. absolutely crazy. such a knack for that. i loved the chip on his shoulder he played with everytime he played san antonio, too
I'm all for nostalgia, toughness and grittyness aka all things Maxwell. He also played with swagger like he really was the best person on the court on any given night. That type of confidence/cockyness is what made Max and also got him in trouble. However, Kevin Martin is the far superior player in terms of talent and I'm picking him 9 times out of 10.
which the guy denied, didn't even know maxwell had a daughter I wonder if Kevin Martin will ever have enough passion to throw a dumbbell at one of his teammates?
Just curious, but did you see the exploits of Rafer Alston during Orlando's run last year? He was pretty amazing. Was Daryl Morey an idiot for trading him for a backup PG? I know your moniker is madmax, so I won't disprove your selective memory. But to me, Maxwell had always caused me headaches more than joy when I watch him. For every good game he has, he puts up 5 duds. SamFisher's comparison of Rafer Alston is spot on. Because I have similar feelings for both of their games... If anything, I felt more frustration watching Mad Max because back then I knew squat about defense. So for me, the most prevalent images of Maxwell was him clanging 3 pointers left and right while Hakeem gets mauled inside. It's ironic you bring up the whole roto-geek stuff. If it weren't for advanced stats, I probably would never be a Maxwell fan. But looking back, rewatching the old games with better knowledge of the game, I could appreciate a lot of the little stuff Maxwell did as a Rocket. Stuff that never gets reported in the Chronicle or on local news.
We haven't seen the best of Kevin Martin as a Rocket yet so it's hard to compare. That being said, I'd prefer Spoiler Mad Max
Id say mad max with old NBA rules and refs in place. I will say Martin now because we would literally scream at the TV and break the set for the silly fouls the refs would call on Maxwell now and techs he would get. The subsequent suspensions and meltdowns from the new pansy league style of reffing the game and flops. There is no way I can make it through a season as potentially frustrating as that would make it with Maxwell on our team when we play Kobe and the refs abuse us. Its already frustrating enough to watch the refs influence every games outcome as it currently is.
