crispee, You're right, I am partial to 'role' players on winning teams. It is a team sport, you know. I'm not trying to dump on Cat, but once again these guys have actually accomplished things in the NBA, Cat to date has not. Say what you want about Edwards, but he was a significant contributor for the Pistons. Unlike Eddie Johnson, he was a scorer who at least won a ring. Ditto for Ceballos, minus the ring part. Granted, some of those selections are subjective, but it was a random list with very little research done. In fact, if I were interested enough (i.e. not lazy), I could probably come up with another list of 10 players taken in later rounds or undrafted that were as good or better than Cat. And Murphy was a BONUS listing, so there!
I hated Edwards 17 ft'r ... grrrrrr What I thought was odd is how you can rank him ahead of Mahorn and Laimbeer, though.
Give me a break, you think since you have a billion stupid posts, you don't have to use facts to back some crap like that up.I'm sure you did alot of reasearch.Talk about starting threads to be a big hit.
Oh, 'cause I can't resist! (YEAY, I'm not that lazy!) Another not-as-random list: Nick Van Exel Michael Adams Gerald Wilkins Alvin Williams John 'Hot Rod' Williams - (OK, he got in trouble @ Tulane, so you can put an * next to him) Jeff McInnis Malik Rose - (undersized F on a championship caliber team who plays both ends AND plays all the frontcourt positions. 'Nuff said) Lee Nailon Doc Rivers Jerome Kersey Michael Redd - (the next Cuttino Mobley, i.e. self-made top-notch scorer and star) Avery Johnson Rick Mahorn BTW, the ABA disbanded\merged in 1976. Alex English was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1976. How was his selection affected by the ABA?
1. Bill Lambeer - Bird hates him, I hate him and every player in the history of the game to not wear a Pistons uniform hates him as does every non pistons fan. But damn I would love to have a player like hime on our team. Hall of fame caliber big men after the first round are rare. 2. Dennis Rodman - The greatest defensive power forward of all time? 3. Mark Price - Maybe the best point guard ever taken in the 2nd round and one of the best ever. He could have been a Hall of Famer and one of the NBA's top 50 if it were not for the njuries. With out him the Cavs were a lottery team. With him they were contenders that were only stopped by MJ's bulls. 4. Cuttino Mobley - None of the other second rounders have the complete offensive package that cat has. One of the all time great 1st steps, great outside shot and underrated defense. I he played D like Vernon Maxwell he might be #1 on my list. He has improved his game every year so if that continues then he should pass Mark Price. 4. Maurice Cheeks - very similar to Price but with out the injuries and played on a better team. 5. Eddie Johnson - Eddie! Eddie! Eddie! I still love this guy, he may be the greatest ever 6th man. 6. Vernon Maxwell - would have been an all world superstar if not for his head. Super clutch shooter that thrived on the last second back breaking shot and played D that was second to none. Lightning fast player. 7. Mario Ellie - is my list starting to take on a Rockets flavor? Maybe the hardest working player in the league. The kiss of death is the stuff that legends are made of. 8. Mark Eaton - Seven footers like this should be drafted in the 1st round. I would like to see Shaq back this mountain into the paint...it wouldn't happen. Eaton would have dominated Shaq in his early days because Shaq could not score outside of 10 feet when he first came into the league and he would not have moved Eaton. With just a little offense Eaton would have been in the top three of my list...but of course he had no offense. 9.Jeff Hornachek - the best pure shooter this side of Larry Bird or Dale Ellis. Not very athletic or he could have been higher. 10. Nick Van Exel - Another player that has all world skillz but allows his imaturity to hold him back. He would be a lot higher if he were not a head case. Other notables: Robert Reid - first point forward? T.R. Dunn Earl Cureton Kurt Rambis Larry Smith - Mr. Mean Danny Ainge - I hate more than anyone! Craig Ehlo Jerome Kersey - another very good big man from the second round Arvidas Sabonis - probably worthy of the top ten but too bad. Spud Webb Gerald Wilkins Kevin Duckworth Sarunas Marciulionis Anthony Mason Steve Kerr Cliff Robinson Tony Kukoc Bryon Russell Ruben Patterson Rashard Lewis Lee Nailon Cedric Ceballos - his name should be Cedric Ce-Ball-Hog! I'm sure I missed some people but I only went back as far as 77. crispee how can you have Robinson, Mason and Wallace ahead of Lambeer? I know you hate him but if he had been a Rocket you would have had him #1. Come on admit it . He is the ideal center in your mind for our current team. Good rebounder. Mean defender and one of the best and most clutch outside shots of all time.
Please!!! Try to catch some games on ESPN classic sometimes if you don't remember some of the Rockets / Jazz games when they had Mad Max and Hornachek both playing. Jeff was not athletic enough to stop or get away from Max. That mismatch is one of the reasons that Utah could not beat us in the play offs back in the mid 90s.
crash, You know my dad went to Notre Dame. I lived in Illinois. My dad always made us study hard, and no TV on week days. But ... if Notre Dame bball was on, all bets are off. He'd even call me from work if he was going to be late and say, "stop doing your homework. Turn on the game, so you can telll me what happened." I followed Laimbeer's college career and loved him. Then something went really wrong. anyhow...I still hate Bill Laimbeer as much as Karl Malone. I would want Bill Laimbeer as my center even less that Karl as my Power Forward. matter of taste...no Dave Feitl research required. Look again. There was not 22 teams when Alex got selected by Milw. Only 18. Didn't they disband in the Summer of 1976?? The Indiana Pacers drafted Alex English as an undergrad in 1974, and he stayed in college. The Indiana Pacers were not an NBA team when Milwaukee drafted English...I could be wrong, but maybe they hadn't worked out whether the Pacers would have his rights or not. check this link out and search for Alex English http://www.geocities.com/~arthurh/IndianaMaterial/PacersYearly.html anyhow, English is #1 on my list if we count him. I just don't think he gets drafted by the Pacers prior to his Junior yr and then falls to 23rd. He was a two-time All-American.
Why don't we just make the All-NBA 2nd round and undrafted team, all Rockets? Richard Petruska belongs up there. Zwikker, Terrell Bell, etc.
That would be fine with me. Actually I get pissed at myself every time I look into the mirror since I put two Detroit pistons at the top of my list.
He started playing for the Pistons and everyone in the nation got to see what an A$$hole he was. Still if the Rox could find someone with identical skillz I would take him in a heartbeat...minus the attitude of course.
Laimbeer was great! You guys are just hatas. I'd love to see Laimbeer, Mahorn and Edwards with Steve and Cat, maybe even more than Bird, McHale, and Parrish, esp if you throw in Aguirre and the pre-freak D Rod (still under Daly's thumb). I guess I'll always appreciate the fact that they won in spite of the league's preference for the Lakers and Celtics, much like the Rockets had to claw their way to the title, with nary a kind whistle. You know the league preferred their stars Barkley, Malone-Stockton, Payton, Patrick and the Knicks, and wasn't real pleased with the backwater, flyover Houston team with the unmarketable Nigerian monster and the gum-it-up, play in mud style. I thought Daly was a genius at working the defense to embarress the opposing (favored) team, so they looked frustrated, or blind, or crashed into a set player (even if a big flop followed). It made the other team look so dumb, and was even better when they whined and cried - "They won't let me walk to rim, like always! Waaah!" The Rox and Pistons had to really earn their wins, unlike teams we all hate that expect the game to be handed to them on a silver platter and always eat from the plate of privilege - the goldbricking, cherrypicking late 80's (&90, 91) Lakers, The Jazz, the Spurs, Pat Riley Knicks, Rodman era Bulls, etc. Rant over, I'm very fond of the second-round and undrafted role players from those two teams - their heart and hustle, and us-against-the-world defiance, willingness to take and deliver the hit for the team, to deal the kiss of death. Can we get rosters up for the two ? I think you'll see a lot of these kind of players. Perhaps that kind of toughness doesn't often come with a coddled first-rounder. I can't give Cuttino that kind of quality that Max or Mario or Isaiah brought that made the opponent frustrated, off, liable to do something dumb. I sometimes feel smart teams might try to bait Cuttino into dumb shots. You've brought me around to appreciate his game, though, and I hope to see that develop. Without it, though, no - not in my top ten strivers.
IMO 1986 produced the greatest 2nd round team for one year: PG Mark Price SG Jeff Hornachek / Nate McMillan SF ? PF Dennis Rodman C Kevin Duckworth Can anyone come up with a better group of 2nd rounders in one year?
