2 questions about ol' otis, 1- does anyone know what he is up to nowadays? and 2- how come after the trade and our second title, how come we didnt try to go out after him again? didnt he sign with detroit as a free agent? sa traded elliot to det for rodman,then he signe d again after that season ended. thorpe would of been better to go for a three peat then the chucky,clilcutt, bryant combo we had. dream,ot,horry,clyde and kenny would have been cool. your thoughts?
This is something I've always wondered. Why do people think that if you had a player once and traded him away that you'd want to bring him back later. That is incredibly RARE in the NBA. And yet, I see all these threads with people suggesting we bring players back even a year after we trade them.
thats why i posted the elliot thing,he went back after playin one year as a piston, why wouldnt he come back,he knew the system,he'd be with the champs,with hakeem and co, i understand what your sayin about why ppl do that, i dont know why,but i was just talkin about ot
From what I read, he was bitter about being traded mid-season without getting the chance to help defend the 1st title. And RT didn't like his apparent meddling and complaining about gameplans, X and O's, etc.
His game diminished soon after too. I remember watching him in a variety of places: Detroit,Portland & Vancouver & he never looked the same. He was getting old.
I heard that Otis was a massive pain in the ass, and Rudy was not so sad to see him go. I think he was painful to coaches and players after Houston as well. From I what I understand, politics is a fairly large part of NBA life, especially for middle to low end players. Bad reps do follow you. You can get away with what you want if you draw fans and / or win, but for the workhorse guys, being a prima donna is not a good career move. Chucky Brown stuck around a long time - 12, 13 years -- with the reputation as a good player, but more importantly, a "coachable" and "hardworking" guy to have around.
If this thread was created a month ago...... "Hey, let's sign him and start him at PG! His massive size would make him a PERFECT compliment to T-Mac."
I think it's simply because he was a tough, non-flashy player who was part of a championship team for us. Also a player everyone liked. I'd want him back, too. I always heard something about there being lockerroom issues with Otis, though I've never seen that confirmed anywhere. I think the quote "lockerroom lawyer" is what I'd heard. If true, that could be one reason why he never came back.
For a guy who was neither exceptionally big nor exceptionally athletic, who had no shooting touch to speak of, OT had a distinguished career. He personified the role-playing big man to a T, and we would never have won that first champioship without him. And he played quite a few effective years after we traded him away. He actually developed a decent midrange J late in his career, which I never thought he'd do based on his years with us.
I remember OT had those huge hands, so after he got a rebound he'd hold the ball way up in the air with one-hand to clear out all the little guys. He also used to throw a real pretty baseball-style outlet pass that could go the length of the court. Evidently, the Grizzlies traded last year's #2 pick to Detroit for his rights back in '97.
OT was absolutely the best at the Pick-n-Roll.. when they had that play working, he was practically unstoppable.. I remember seeing a Rockets game where OT went off for like 48 points or something, basically on non-stop pnr's.. But the guy could not shoot anything other than a layup. I mean it was fuuuuugly. But all in all, yeah I too was sad to see him go. There had to be something else to him that caused him to wear out his welcome.
I heard that same comment, "lockerroom lawyer", pertaining to Otis. I heard it on sportstalk radio (either 610 or 740) a few years back, with the comment being made by some interviewed guest insider, maybe a Chronicle beat reporter or something. Sorry I can't remember the name of the source now.
