I think the 86 team was definitely better than the first championship team, I'm not sure about the second championship team. Even though the second championship team ran the table without the homecourt, beating some really really good teams, that 86 team shredded the Lakers when they were in full Showtime mode. It's hard to describe today what it meant at the time but it was such a huge deal to beat the Lakers the way we beat them. I guess the closest comparison would have been if someone had b**** slapped the Bulls right in the middle of their title runs. As a fan you could just sense something great was happening and that it was just the beginning. So bittersweet...
Responses are that the Twin Towers team had the talent and the Championship teams the chemistry and discipline. Team chemistry and discipline comes by playing together for a while, something the Twin Towers didnt get a chance to do. For the extrapolation extreme, The Twin Towers team as-is inexeperienced with its full roster non-suspended, would come out on top over the championship teams cuz of the depth, versaility and mismatches. The 93-94 team had enough beef in the middle so Hakeem /Thorpe /Horry /Maxwell /Smith vs Akeem /Sampson /McCray /Lloyd /Lucas Carl Herrera would offset Jim Petersen some, Elie would guard Robert Reid, Young Cassell against Allen Leavell... 93-94 would put up a better fight than originally thought. And the championship teams beat some quality on-paper and real life teams. I'm saying though, it took 4 Hall of Famers in Bird, McHale, Parrish and Walton and almost Hall of Famer Dennis Johnson to hold off the Twin Towers, and drugs... They had John Lucas? It was either he wasnt there, or when he was there others werent there.
Sacramento Kings versus Houston - Playoffs 1985/86 Part One <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wgcF-glJy2E&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wgcF-glJy2E&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> Sacramento Kings versus Houston - Playoffs 1985/86 Part Two <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ngpB19lzhVs&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ngpB19lzhVs&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
This is the key. 86 Dream vs 93 Dream is not apples to apples comparison. I mean if the Rockets had won only one championship, this would be debatable. But winning back to back championships is no joke. The Spurs have had amazing teams over the last ten years and have not been able to do it.
Oh... i think i read that one... i guess it wasn't meant for me though. I don't really see MJ in the same light as everyone else does. He's just one of the best to me, not head and shoulders above the rest.
The 1993-94 Rockets are one of the most underrated teams of all time, even (especially) by fans on this board. They matched up with every team in the NBA very well and were much better on offense than people have a tendency to recall. Their memory is marred by the low-scoring Knicks series - but tHe Knicks-Rockets series featured more offense than those 6-game brickfests that Utah and Chicago combined for in 97 and 98. I mean Utah put up 54 points in one game. 54 points! But since those games have the aura of Jordan nobody rmembers them that way. The fact that the Rockets basically beat the Knicks at their own brawling game is a testament to that team as far as I'm concerned. The 94 Rox were able to brawl with the biggest brawlers in the league. They were able to run with the runners. They were able to do this because they had a versatile cast of characters surrounding Hakeem. OT was an absolute tank at PF. Vernon was unstoppable on nights when he was on, and could be a lockdown defender. Kenny could shoot lights out..and when he couldn't Cassell would step in. Horry was Horry - another guy who could do everything. Along with Cassell the bench boasted Herrera - a very good PF in spot duty, and Elie - another exceedingly versatile role player. 1-8 that is an incredibly well balanced lineup. And as for the "oh what about Seattle" gimmick - an inferior Rockets team took the 1993 Sonics to overtime in the 7th game in Seattle - only to fall victim to a phantom 6th foul on Olajuwon and to have Vernon's jumper rim out at the end of regulation, along with a few other phantom calls - in a series that was decided almost entirely by home court advantage. Homecourt advantage that the Rockets WOULD have had, except for the fact that David Robinson tipped in a ball a FULL SECOND after the buzzer went off and there was no way to reveiew the play in the final game of the regular season....one of the reasons why the rule exists today.
the 86 Rockets team beat the better team than what any of the 90s Rockets faced. That 86 Lakers team would have steamrolled the Knicks and Magic. We never saw the Magic or the Knicks again. That Laker team ended up winning a couple more championships before Magic got HIV.
i was truly a youngin' during the mid-80s but even i knew how great hakeem and sampson could be. they put the spurs twin towers to shame. but that's part of the game: injuries and other stuff that you can't really control.
That article is sickening! S I C K E N I N G ! I remember 'the shot', 'the fight', then 'the comeback' most vividly about that era, but I completely forgot about the drug suspensions and Ralph's injuries (specifics) . . . until reading the article. Also remember, I was only 12-13 around that time too, so I didn't account for "talent", "depth", or anything like that, I just knew the team was good. And to be reminded . . .
1:35 mark, classic OT move! 2:30 mark: To think I lived about 5 miles away from Dream at that house & never harassed him! I lived just on the otherside of Kuykendahl, just passed Louetta.
How do we know this - they played in a completely different era. Are they playing by 1986 rules or 1995 rules - during which time there a lot more pushing, shoving, and holding was allowed. Kurt Rambis was a tough guy, sure, but is he going to keep Oakley, Ewing, AND Mason, among others, from pushing, shoving, and brawling the Lakers around inside? I doubt it.
