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sportsline.com ranks Rocket finals among best and worst

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Valio!, Jun 5, 2001.

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  1. Valio!

    Valio! Member

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    Just saw this on sportsline.com. Mike Kahn ranks what he considers the best and worst NBA finals. he put the rocket championship years in both best (#4) and worst (#3) catagories...

    (Worst) 1995: The Houston Rockets won their second consecutive title, sweeping the Orlando Magic. This was the first
    and only trip to the Finals for the Magic, and essentially destroyed what was expected to be an Eastern dynasty built around
    Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway. Nick Anderson missed four free throws in a row as the Magic blew a five-point lead in the
    final 20 seconds of Game 1, and it took five years for the franchise to begin picking up the pieces with completely different
    players. It also was the one and only title for Clyde Drexler.

    4. (best) 1994: The Rockets beat the Knicks in seven games, in what many remember as the O.J. Finals, considering during Game 4 in New York, half the media was upstairs watching Al
    Cowlings helping O.J. Simpson flee in a white Bronco after the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson. The series itself was exceptional, and the Knicks, coached by Pat Riley, had every chance to win in Games 6 and 7, with John Starks missing more shots than any other sane player even attempted on that day. There was no shortage of stories, not the least of which was the Hakeem Olajuwon-Patrick Ewing matchup.

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    "The difference in this (tied) series has been Dikembe Mutombo" - Bill Walton
     
    #1 Valio!, Jun 5, 2001
  2. Cliffnote

    Cliffnote Member

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    i remember sitting at the very last row of game 7...it was one of the greatest memories of my life

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    #2 Cliffnote, Jun 5, 2001
  3. DREAMer

    DREAMer Member

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    1995 the 3rd worst???
    • It was Houston's repeat
    • The winning percentage of the team's we had to go through to get there was unbelievable
    • The whole Clyde/Olajuwon reunion worked like a fairytale
    • The Rockets totally decimated what was supposed to be the "future" of the NBA in Hardaway and Shaq
    • The games were exciting as hell. Those missed free throws didn't exactly "win" it for Houston. Hakeem had to tip in Clyde's brick on a great play


    Just because the Finals were a sweep didn't make it worse than any other... IMO


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    DREAMer's Rocket Page
     
    #3 DREAMer, Jun 6, 2001
  4. ZRB

    ZRB Contributing Member

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    It was great for Rocket fans, but how entertaining would it have been for a neutral audience? A sweep in the finals? Not much fun.

    Ha ha ha, suckers...

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    #4 ZRB, Jun 6, 2001
  5. R0ckets03

    R0ckets03 Contributing Member

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    @#$#%

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    #5 R0ckets03, Jun 6, 2001
  6. Francis3

    Francis3 Member

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    95 as one of the worst? **** Sportsline.com

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    "Break off the block like Maurice Green" --- Steve Francis

    President of the Moochie Norris fan club.
     
    #6 Francis3, Jun 6, 2001
  7. RocksMillenium

    RocksMillenium Contributing Member

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    I think the sweep in 1995 as one of the worst series is fair. I think people are bias because it was the Rockets. Funny, a lot of the people who are ripping on sportsline for saying it was one of the worst series are saying the Finals this year might be boring because the Lakers might sweep it. In the overall scheme of things, a sweep is never exciting except for the team doing the sweeping.

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    "I'm not here to protect my reputation, I'm here to make my reputation! Mama Barkley didn't raise no chumps!" - Charles Barkley

    [This message has been edited by RocksMillenium (edited June 06, 2001).]
     
    #7 RocksMillenium, Jun 6, 2001
  8. Toast

    Toast Member

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    As a Rockets fan, I'd have to say that those are the 2 best finals serieses ever.

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    Founding Father of the
    Refs Suck Club
     
    #8 Toast, Jun 6, 2001
  9. smoothie

    smoothie Jabari Jungle

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    i second that.

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    #9 smoothie, Jun 6, 2001
  10. Sonny

    Sonny Contributing Member

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    Mo Sweeps for Rockets , Mo Better!


    95 was a freaking Cinderella story.
    -Lowest seed (6) ever to win the ring.
    -We beat 4 50 win teams.
    -Came back from 3-1 down vs Phoenix
    -Down 13 in 4th quarter at Utah in game 5 first round and won.

    It was the first game of the 95 Finals that decided it all. Nick the Brick missing 4 free throws , Kenny the JET busting 7 threes including the game tying last second 3 over Penny, and Dream's Tip in of Clyde's layup in OT. The rest of the finals was pretty much the Rockets giving the Magic an a$$ wooping.

    If the Knicks would have won it in 99 being the 8th seed then everyone would be calling that one of the best Finals ever.... Just the national media screwing the Rocks again... I still hate Sports Illustrated.

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    Go Rockets!!!
    SS
     
    #10 Sonny, Jun 6, 2001
  11. moestavern19

    moestavern19 Member

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    You have to remember people , we are biased , It must have been boring after that great game 1 to see 3 staright games of ass-kickin .

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    #11 moestavern19, Jun 6, 2001
  12. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Contributing Member

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    When I saw the title, I figured they rank '94 in the worst and '95 in the best because '94 caught a lot of flak for being such a physical, half-court, grind-it-out series. I loved it but a lot of other people didn't seem to.

    But it makes some sense now. The '95 playoff run was fantastic but the Finals itself was only exciting for the neutral fan in Game 1. Game 1 had the Shaq-Dream feud, Anderson choking, Smith's 3-pointer for OT and the tip-in. Great great game. But we pretty much embarassed them the rest of the series. I, of course, loved every second of it.

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    #12 JuanValdez, Jun 6, 2001
  13. Toast

    Toast Member

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    Yeah, I remember everyone around the nation saying how much they hated the slow-paced, defense-oriented, half-court games played by the Knicks & Rockets in 94. They said there wasn't enough scoring or excitement in those games. Now all of a sudden that's one of the top finals of all time? It's about time people realized how good that series was! [​IMG]

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    Founding Father of the
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    #13 Toast, Jun 7, 2001
  14. DaneB

    DaneB Member

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    What about game 6 in the 1986 Western Finals against the Lakers? Hakeem tears it up in his second season with 28 points and gets thrown out for getting into a fight. Ralph Sampson goes on to hit the miracle "shot hear around the world". That was a kick ass game.

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    "I would like to live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were ever supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever."
    -Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss Universe contest
     
    #14 DaneB, Jun 7, 2001
  15. Nick

    Nick Contributing Member

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    I believe the Sampson shot was game 5, not game 6. And, we're talking about the finals here.

    Speaking of 95, I do agree that with it being a sweep, it was not that great of a series...but, that game one is one of the best final games EVER. Seriously, it will rank up there with Jordan's sick game, 1987 Magic hook at the buzzer, and now after last night's game....Sixers stunning one of the greatest post-season teams in a long time, and doing it in overtime.

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    --if time spent on this board = # of posts, I would have a lot of them. Obviously, there is no correlation...
     
    #15 Nick, Jun 7, 2001
  16. haven

    haven Member

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    I was at summer camp during both of those finals, so I got to watch them with a variety of people.

    I actually preferred the 95 Finals, because it was so unexpected. Most of the people at camp, despite it being in Western LA, were just bandwaggoners for Orlando.

    I can't tell you how sweet it was for the Rockets to crush the media-hyped Magic. The magic fans had to buy the Rockets fans pizza, after game 4... my only sports bet, ever [​IMG].

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    A few years back on the Senate floor...
    Phil Gramm: "If Democrats could, they'd tax the air we breathe."
    Ted Kennedy (jumping up): "By God, why didn't I think of that sooner!"

    Boston College - NCAA Hockey National Champions 2001
     
    #16 haven, Jun 7, 2001
  17. Valio!

    Valio! Member

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    good or bad, people can say what they want about the 1995 finals. But the road that led up to those finals was unbelievable!!! I remember taking a tv to work during that last game against the Suns and just catching Mario's kiss of death. Unbelievable trip to the finals. Really was a team of destiny.

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    "The difference in this (tied) series has been Dikembe Mutombo" - Bill Walton
     
    #17 Valio!, Jun 7, 2001
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