Some observations from Game 1: Dream shot more jumpers than I remembered. Against Shaq the next year, I remember him swishing jumper after jumper. His outside shot made him a danger to score wherever he got the ball. He didn't need to be on the low block. Sam was a ballhog, even back back then. Most of the time when he got the ball in 1/2 court he either shot it or at least tried to shoot and only gave up the ball when he couldn't. He was a lot like Mike James is now, but much slower and worse on defense. John Starks was just as horrible in Game 1 as in Game 7. He was something like 5-20. And MAN!, what an emotional powder keg. Mad Max had 10 technicals in the playoffs, including Game 1, more than double that of the next player. The game was brutally physical and bodies flew everywhere. Riley created "uglyball" as an equalizer to make up for the Knicks lack of offensive firepower. In the 2nd half, BOTH teams shot less than 30% from the field. The Knicks suffered through an 0-9 stretch and another 1-15 stretch during the game but were still only down 4 (with the ball) with a minute left. For a non-Rockets and non-Knicks fan, it was far worse than anything the Spurs and Pistons offered up this year. Our interior passing, at least in the first half, was a thing of beauty. If our current Rockets team had Derek Harper and a good backup PG, we would win the NBA championship. I liked him with the Mavs, hated him with the Knicks, but the guy knew how to make plays on offense and defense. His on-ball pressure was great. There were a couple of very clear shots of JVG. He looked like a young boy and he had hair.
Dream was totally abusing the Knicks defence (shooting 8/10 at one point), so Riley sent in the thugs. It's interesting to note the mugging that Dream got, which pretty much stopped him in his tracks and forced him out of the paint, is pretty much what Yao endures every game.
One thing stands out in game 1 is Otis Thorpe. God, if we have Otis right now along side Yao, his energy and amazing outlet pass. Very active on the board too. 10x better than Juwan Howard IMHO. Dream was dream, but dream was also held, pushed, shoved by the Knicks (bunch of bullies), much like Yao has to encounter every freaking day inside. Rockets big men (Dream, Yao) has a tendency to not get calls inside and refs just swallow the whistle when Dream was fouled inside so was Yao. Ref's treatment to Yao was even worse, Yao tried to do some of what the defender gave him on the other end, and usually call for an offensive foul. Cassell was very good but a little immature in terms of getting his instead of making a good play. It's a shame that Jordan was out that year, we would probably have a truly EPIC final if we played the Bulls.
Looking back, I see that what I wrote could have been interpreted as being slightly disrespectful of Dream. That was not my intent, not at all. He was unbelievably good! Before downloading the game, I thought my fond memories of Dream were exaggerating his abilities. Reality rarely matches up to our rosy recollections, so I was bracing myself for some disappointment. But I needn't have worried. Dream was far, far better than I remembered -- I watched the entire first quarter with my jaws dropping in awe! Like this --> So thank you again, R2K, for bringing the true Dream back to me.
OK, I'm seeding again. To other folks: if you haven't ever seen Hakeem in his prime, download this game and prepare to be awed.
Yep, the Otis of that year would have been really good for the Rockets in '04-05. But while I was watching the game, the player I found myself repeatedly wishing for was el thuggo, Charles Oakley. This was strange because I really hated Oakley in 1994, when I was watching the series live. It was painful watching him beat up the Dream. But now, ten years later, and with the outcome of the series fixed in history I am much mellower. I can now see his virtues: he was a ferocious rebounder and defender, a pretty good shooter (better than Stro, I think), a good passer, and of course, a really tough guy. He was everything we need in a 4. If Oakley in his prime were on the Rockets this year, I would seriously start thinking championship.
Yeah mines is about the same. 18% d/l for me so far and 1 day left to finish. When I got back from throwing back a few in a bar, I was greated with a tree down in my neighbors front yard and no lights at my place. And the funny part is my neighbor lights were still on and mine of course wasnt. anyway soon as I finish d/ling it i'll be sure to seed it.
Im showing a average swarm speed of 10 kB/s IT is unfortunate that out of the 390 downloads, only 28 seeds are active. if we can get some folks that downloaded and will reopen their clients for seeding...your speeds would pick up Ive uploaded over 8G on this file alone.. Update: Am processing Game 3 (since game 2 was a loss, and I dont have all of it..Im skipping it for now) right now...will probably have it linked up later today
Before and after Game 1, I didn't think the Knicks had a chance against us in a 7 game series. I felt Game 1 was their best chance to catch the Rockets rusty after the long layoff. After the Game 2 loss, I was crushed. The Phoenix series was such an emotional roller coaster for me, I vowed never again to take for granted the Rockets would beat anyone. But I slipped up when the Finals started because the Knicks didn't seem good enough to have a legit chance. After letting my guard down, I felt like someone stabbed me in the stomach after Game 2. It was a given we would win it. I can hardly wait to see Sam's clutch 3 pointer very late in Game 3. He had his problems but did he have unusual guts for a rookie!
How do you seed? you just leave your BT client open right? Anyway great to watch this game. Brought back some memories and seems players back then just hustled hustled hustled like crazy on every play. Intensity of that game was phenomenal.
depends on which client you use. azureus automatically seeds after you finish downloading unless you manually tell it not to. check to see if you are showing any uploading activity.
Thanks for the video! I forgot how terrible our backcourt played that series. And I miss those Otis Thorpe baseball passes. It was funny seeing a young Jeff Van Gundy too.
