The only reason why I put Sampsons shot under any of the shots made during the 95 run was because in the end, every single big shot made in 95 led to the championship. While Sampsons shot did send us to the NBA Finals, we didnt win it. If it were not for the Dream tip in, Kenny's 3, the Kiss of Death,...etc we would not have won the ship. Sampsons shot I think was bigger for the league than it was for the Rockets. It knocked out the defending champs in great fashion, and shocked the NBA world. But in Houston, I feel other shots have been more important since.
I had to go with Ralph's shot just because of everything else surrounding it. - We had gone against conventional wisdom just a few years earlier and traded 3 time NBA MVP Moses Malone to Philly. - The Rockets season had been in turmoil since John Lucas had been removed from the team for drugs. - The Rockets were heavy under dogs for the series and still considered a couple of years away from being ready to challenge for a NBA Championship. - They were on the road in a very hostile environment in a game that LA had lead almost all the way. All the experts predicted with arrogance that LA would win the game and go on to win the next two games and the series as well. - Akeem had been thrown out of the game after the Refs had been letting inferior LA big mean take cheap shots at him all night with no repercussions. LA's players were playing very dirty all night trying to get Akeem tossed and it finally worked. - Ralph had already been tagged with the lack of toughness and no heart labels by the Houston media and much of the media around the NBA. - Most around the NBA thought the Twin Towers experiment was doomed to fail. For one brief moment Ralph Sampson put the team on his back and lead them to a championship. For that moment Ralph silenced all his critics and proved that Houston was right for trading Moses Malone and drafting him. All of the no heart and lack of toughness labels that had been pinned to Ralph were no more and he accomplished what he could not do in College, he lead his team to a Championship Game.
no nick anderson free throws? i guess that would be the greatest missed shots. but i think we wouldve had a hard time or lost that series if we hadnt taken game 1 against orlando. 1. kiss of death because we went on to win a championship 2. sampson because it was against the showtime lakers, freakish shot, and we went on to the finals. 3. take your pick. horry has a bunch (like in the SA series where i thought we were done for until horry started dropping 3's). kenny smith in game 1 of the orlando series. eddie johnson, cuttino mobley, francis,
u did miss one. tmacs game winning 3pointer 2 cap off his 13 in 33. and i didnt know hakeem got ejected and was able to have 30! if he wasnt ejected he was gin for 40 possibly 50!
heeyyy Ralph Sampson lives close to me and his son pj goes to my school. Ralph's pretty fat now and his son is definately not gonna make it to the pros lol. He's so uncoordinated and cant shoot at all. But maybe hell get better when he gets older but dont count on a ralph sampson junior in the pros.
Hate to brake the news to you but Ralph Sampson Jr. played for the Rockets back in the 80's. Ralph Sampson III (Ralph's son and name sake) plays for the Golden Gophers.
i believe based on the list that durvasa was making, it should be "greatest shot in Rockets PLAYOFF history" not regular season history
everybody forgets that because of the Hakeem ripping up Drob highlights that game was really close and there a bunch of Rockets fans in SA to support the team.
Not necessarily. It depends on the stakes. Hakeem's shot was unquestionably a bigger "pressure" shot. The season was basically hanging in the balance on that shot. Now, the odds were still stacked against the Rockets in winning that series (and a championship thereafter) after he hit it. Considering that, it could be argued that Sampson's was a more important shot in the moment. But looking back at it in hindsight, when I consider that Olajuwon's shot basically kept the the Rockets alive and they eventually won a championship, it gives me greater appreciation for it.
While I don't think it should be #1, I can't believe no one has mentioned Cassell's 3 to win Game 3 of the 1994 Finals. That shot put Sam on the map and if he hadn't made it, NY may have wrapped up the series in NY. 1. Sampson 2. Elie KOD (close close 2nd) 3. Sam I Am showing balls as big as grapefruits
That's what I was arguing all along in that thread back then. When you look back on a series or a game, the importance of a play depend on how much it contributed to the result, not how much it "means" at the moment.
We may appreciate certain plays more on an emotional level if it eventually leads to a championship or other significant milestone. That's one sort of importance, I suppose. I'll call it "reminiscing importance". What I was talking about in the other thread is more about the moment, and when you are coaching or playing basketball the only knowledge you have to go on is what you have at the moment. I don't recall what your final position was, but at some point I recall you arguing that all possessions have the same importance. In the moment, I would say that's definitely not the case. There's more riding on some possessions than others; game clock is a factor but not the only one.
I am a T-Mac/Dream only fan. Any game winner involving a shot with either of the two are best. The refs could not contain them.
so you were a raptors fan too? if you only follow one player you change teams quickly? You could say my favorite players are: ....
the most difficult shot would be sampson's shot, but the greatest are the ones that got us the trophies.
