Legendary is like Jordan's shot over Russell, Magic's hook against the Celts, Witl's 100 point game, Kobe's 81 point game, Reggie for 8 points in 9 seconds, Reggie versus Spike to beat the Knicks in the playoffs, T-Mac's 13 points in 33 seconds....... Wilt/Russell wars Bird/Magic finals Jordan's game with the flu against the Jazz Hakeem's series against SA in 95 West's shot from 75 feet in the finals to tie the game, etc The legendary comeback in 1970 finals by Reed etc I'm not exactly sure that Sampsn's shot over Kareem to win the WCF was "legendary" to me that's like saying Stockton's shot over Barkley in '97 was "legendary" let's not get carried away There's a difference between extremely memorable and legendary, and Sampson's shot is one step below the legenday rung I would say.
Whatever. Your logic doesn't make sense anyway. A legend of the game takes time and with time hopefully Yao will become legendary, but sorry Ralph Sampson is just not Legendary.
Oh, is tinman hung up on a single shot over the lakers. Great shot, but one shot does not make a career. Had Sampson been the MVP over the celtics and brought the Rockets their first championship that might have helped.
At least you're saying that as your belief and not as perceived fact. Go look at the rosters of the 80's. That was arguably the best era ever seen in basketball. How many legendary teams came out of that decade? You had the Showtime Lakers and Larry's Celtics who would pretty much mop the floor with any team you'll find nowadays. The Bad Boys of Detroit were coming into their own near the end of the 80's. Then you had teams like the 76'ers with Dr. J and Moses Malone whom people always seem to forget when talking about great centers. The Bucks had Sidney Moncrief lead them to a few good years (NBA.com implied that the Defensive Player of the Year award was created with him in mind.) The Hawks with Dominique were actually a respectable team and made some noise in the playoffs. And let's not even get into the talent (remember that guys like MJ and Hakeem were still playing in the 80's.) Sports don't always progress with age. Look at the center position nowadays. It was far better just a decade ago and two and a half decades before that.
Look,the Rockets were the only team besides the Lakers to make it out of the West to the Finals in the eighties.A healthy Sampson was a huge reason the second time.Those Lakers and Celtics teams were quite possibly the greatest teams of all time.With a healthy Ralph and sans the Cocaine we would undoubtedly have more titles...and Sampson would get the respect he deserves.
you speak the truth. they already forgot about Ralph and what he did. I hope the machines take over and John Conner wont save us.
True, however when debating big men you have to also point out that it was ILLEGAL then to use the defense now that teams use on Yao. Something everyone seems to forget.
Saying that because people don't think Samspon was some bball messiah that people will "forget Hakeem in another 10-15 years" is absolutely ridiculous. Get over it, Hakeem is a basketball GOD, Sampson is just a notable in the league. Don't even come up with some insult like that because it doesn't even relate to the topic. If you actually think Samspon is being insulted because some people 'forgot" about him and that this means people will "forget" about Hakeem, then you must really be drinking the Sampson kool aid.
I can't believe some of the comments I'm seeing on this thread. A player like Sampson wouldn't be able to handle the D's that are out there today? I doubt Yao and most centers playing today could handle the D's that were being played in the 80's. While scoring is down significantly compared to the 80's that has more to do with diluted talent than better D's what people forget, or never realized since they didn't see games played in the 80's and prior was that the NBA was full of big men whose play often resembled hockey goons and all sorts of thuggery happened that wouldn't be tolerated in todays NBA. I love Yao and thinks he is one of great players of now but Yao would be very hard pressed to deal with the thuggishness of Kurt Rambis and Robert Parrish. If Yao has trouble getting knocked off the blocks by smaller but stronger players like AK47 imagine the hell he would've had to deal with guys like Bill Hanzlik who specialized in kneeing Sampson and bigger players in the butt to get them out of position. D in the NBA is far softer now than it was in 1986 and while Sampson was knocked for being soft then what he went through was war compared to what we see now. Don't think so just rewatch the 1986 playoff and championship series. Also just to add I love Yao but he's not even the 4th best center in Rox history. I would put him behind Olajuwon, Moses Malone, Elvin Hayes, and Sampson. Given time I believe he will move up in that consideration but he's not there yet. I think the problem with this thread is that those arguing for Yao are arguing his potential which is great but he isn't there yet, while those arguing for Sampson are arguing for his potential which was cut short. Both are speculative but just taken what Sampson did in his years with the Rox and what Yao has done so far I would say Sampson is better. All of that could change in coming years ifYao lives up to his potential.
How many Rox fans still talk about Moses Malone? How many talk about Elvin Hayes? People tend to put more importance on their own time than looking at history. Its not just in sports but politics and music too. I have no doubt that 10 years from now a generation of Rox fans who never saw Hakeem play will be putting less stock in him.
Apparently someone forgot to explain to you the difference between man to man defense and zone defense. If you can't figure it out see Hakeem versus Sonics 1996 2nd round series.
Sampson played against zone D's in college and did quite well in them. The zones the pros play now aren't nearly as restrictive as college zones. The difference though is that the NBA has cracked down a lot more on handchecking and elbows that were routinely used in the 80's and older. Again watch the 86' playoff series.
They never knew Robert Reid, Rodney McCray.. They never knew AKEEM yes AKEEM They never knew the NBA on CBS They never knew "BEAT LA" They never knew the SUMMIT They never knew Houston Wrestling at the Sam Houston Colliseum They never knew the Jacksons Victory Tour They never knew Good Times They never knew Star Trek the Wrath of Khan
They never knew you Kathy They dont know about you UNICRON They dont know about you Face, BA, Hannibal, Murdock They dont know about you Airwolf
