Was exchanging emails with a friend of mine today, and we started talking about T-Mac's "in the zone" 4th quarter performance against NJ the other evening. Which brings me to the question: Which player, past or present, was the most dominant while "in the zone"? (btw ..not talking about zone defense here) Not talking about who the best player of all time is ...or who the best scorer is ....talking about players who were simply unstoppable, untouchable, could do no wrong and everything right when they were "in the zone" btw ...Jordan is too obvious a choice here, so Im going to call him a gimmee and concentrate on some others I have a couple here: Isiah Thomas - Zeke the GM stinks, but I always remember his performance, on one ankle, against the Lakers in Game 6 of the 88 Playoffs. I don't think I ever saw someone saw dominant in 1 quarter, as Zeke was (even without a sprained ankle). Reggie Miller - Playoffs against the Knicks. Nuff said. T-Mac - Building a name for himself in this category. I don't know why I still doubt him when I yell "no tmac no tmac no tmac" when he pulls up from 30 with 2 defenders in his face and nails it anyway. Dominique Wilkins - One of my favorite moments was his duel with Bird in the playoffs (circle late 1980s). While I think T-Mac is a better overall/all around player, I think their styles are similar as far as jump shooting goes. Dominique wasn't a great shooter, but when he got hot, it was amazing to see. Chuck Person - Don't care for him much at all, but he seemed to be another that, when on a roll, could chunk it from the parking lot and hit nothing but net.
I HATE to say it but...Kobe is one of them. I hate Kobe more than any other player in the league, but I've seen him get in the zone and kill other teams down the stretch of games so many times.
There was an Indy game last year that was on either ESPN or TNT. I think it was soon after all the suspensions and Indiana was very shorthanded. Anyway, Reggie dropped like 20+ 1st half points where once again, he was throwing up 3s without conscience and hitting them. Reminded me of his prime.
I know it was just last year, but how about Ben Gordon last year? That guy just came in and scored like no body's bussiness I'd also have to say Sam Cassell. He hit big shots for us his ROOKIE year in the Finals....thats ballsy. That and I remember when Minny made the playoffs 2 years ago and after he hit a big shot, he ran around pretending his genitals were to big for him to run......it was funny to watch.
The most incredible evidence of "the zone" that I've ever seen was when Rod Strickland went crazy one night and scored 50+ points against the Rockets. It was even more weird becuase he really wasn't that great of a player. He just happened to be in the zone that night. EDIT: It was Mitch Richmond, not Rod Strickland. For some strange reason, I always get those names mixed up.
I have to agree. Kobe's first half against the Wizards in MJ's final appearance at Staples was the most incredible performance I've ever seen buy a guy "in the zone." He had 42 points at the end of the freaking first half.
Pete Maravich On Feb. 25, 1977 scored 68 points in a game against the New York Knicks despite the efforts of defensive ace Walt Frazier to bottle him up. Maravich's performance that day ranks as the 11th-best single-game total in NBA history. And Larry Bird's 60 point game vs Atlanta during the 1984-85 season. As the game went on and he saw how hot he was, he began taking shots from everywhere. As he continued making them, the Hawks bench couldn't help but laugh and fall out of their chairs.
Not really talking about "clutch shooters" here. Talking about players who, when they get on a roll, can drop 20-30 on you in a quarter. BobFinn and JBIIRockets have the right thing in mind. Another underated one is Sleppy Floyd. He had an epic quarter/half against the Lakers in the playoffs in 87. He also had a couple of "in the zone" games for us, one of which was in the playoffs against Dallas, when both Akeem and he went off for 40 each (which has been done only twice in playoff history; bonus points to whoever can name the other pair who did it).
I believe Jalen Rose n Reggie Miller did it during Indy's run to the finals in 2000. Twas the second round, game1 vs Philly.
Tiny Archibald Bernard King Iceman Tom Chambers Marques Johnson Adrian Dantley Alex English Dominique Iverson
You beat me to it. Bernard King may have been the most unbelieveable "zone" player ever. For a 2-3 year period, he was sick! And this was AFTER his knee problems.
