Recognizing Greatness

[Kashanova]

Re: recognizing greatness.

michael jordan's first home game against the magic after hearing how shaq was the future of the nba...

64 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 5 steals.

i think he had a bad wrist but still only shot jumpers.

he owned shaq, but I thought it was cool how like Jordan has a mentoring relationship with him

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: recognizing greatness.

Vince Carter damn near single handedly putting Toronto out the playoffs in 07.

Hakeem against Shaq in the 95 Finals. His numbers for that were crazy good.

Be back with more later.

[Kashanova]

Re: recognizing greatness.

in 2004 Tmac 62 pts 10 rebs 5 assts on 54% shooting

in 2003 Tmac 46 pts 10 rebs 13 assts on 49% shooting against the 02-03 nets who were 2nd in opp. ppg, the magic also won that game

another note only 7 players have had triple doubles and scored more than 40 points

Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Lebron James, Tracy Mcgrady, Chris Webber, Vince Carter and Michael Adams

[Jasong7777]

Re: recognizing greatness.

Man Michael Adams was that dude. Forgot all about him.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: recognizing greatness.

Amare going up for 37 and 12 against Tim Duncan in the 2005 WCF, including one of the most dominating fourth quarters I've watched in Game 5 of that series.

Steve Nash putting up 34 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists in Game 5 against the Mavericks in 2005 to put the team up 3-2, coming off the heels of a 48 point performance the game before, then going for 39 points, 12 assists, and 9 rebounds in Game 6 including the game-tying three to send it to OT where we clinched the series.

Kevin Johnson playing 62 of 63 minutes in Game 3 of the 1993 NBA Finals.

Charles Barkley putting up 44 points and 24 rebounds in Game Seven of the 1993 Western Semis.

Dirk dropping 50 points, including 25 in the fourth quarter (oh, he doesn't step up though, right?) against the Suns in Game 5 of the 2006 Western Finals.



....that's all I have for now, I just woke up.

[The15thunter]

Re: recognizing greatness.

Amare going up for 37 and 12 against Tim Duncan in the 2005 WCF, including one of the most dominating fourth quarters I've watched in Game 5 of that series.

Steve Nash putting up 34 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists in Game 5 against the Mavericks in 2005 to put the team up 3-2, coming off the heels of a 48 point performance the game before, then going for 39 points, 12 assists, and 9 rebounds in Game 6 including the game-tying three to send it to OT where we clinched the series.

Kevin Johnson playing 62 of 63 minutes in Game 3 of the 1993 NBA Finals.

Charles Barkley putting up 44 points and 24 rebounds in Game Seven of the 1993 Western Semis.

Dirk dropping 50 points, including 25 in the fourth quarter (oh, he doesn't step up though, right?) against the Suns in Game 5 of the 2006 Western Finals.



....that's all I have for now, I just woke up.

i remember that amare game where he legitimately was the best player on the court. i thought he had turned the corner at that point and was going to be a certified 25+ and 10+ guy, because he eviscerated tim duncan.

[TheBadazz]

Re: Recognizing Greatness

Mr. Jordan. vs Cavs during playoffs (I forgot what year)

I remember he scored 50 on the Cavs one game and afterward Ron Harper said he score 50, but that was on Craig Ehlo, he wasn't going to do that to him. So the next game Jordan scored 55 on him. I guess Ron shouldn't have opened his mouth.

[marq]

Re: recognizing greatness.

Penny Hardaway '97 First Round against Miami Heat (best defensive rating, #3 opp. ppg 89.3):

Game 3: 16-30 .533 8boards 2ast. 2stl 42points

Game 4: 12-23 .522 7boards 4ast. 4stl 3blks 41 points

first time back to back playoff 40 points by 1 player against a Pat Riley D IIRC.

For those needing some other info on Penny:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/blog/?p=4647

for good measure, he dropped a 33pts 10boards and 6ast. in Game 5

[airjoca]

Re: Recognizing Greatness

Mr. Jordan. vs Cavs during playoffs (I forgot what year)

I remember he scored 50 on the Cavs one game and afterward Ron Harper said he score 50, but that was on Craig Ehlo, he wasn't going to do that to him. So the next game Jordan scored 55 on him. I guess Ron shouldn't have opened his mouth.

Wow, that's just crazy, beautiful and "Jordanesque".

Edit: think I found it:

Edit2: this was the first time a player scored 50 in back to back playoff games. Has anyone else done it since?
<object height="385" width="480">


<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/U06ly1eN4tI&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="480"></object>

[Starlin4Prez]

Re: Recognizing Greatness

Mr. Jordan. vs Cavs during playoffs (I forgot what year)

I remember he scored 50 on the Cavs one game and afterward Ron Harper said he score 50, but that was on Craig Ehlo, he wasn't going to do that to him. So the next game Jordan scored 55 on him. I guess Ron shouldn't have opened his mouth.

Wouldn't quite say that was a forgotten performance...

[The15thunter]

Re: Recognizing Greatness

Wouldn't quite say that was a forgotten performance...

really? how come? i know it was historic, but no one really knows about the accomplishment, and it's not one of his more famous cleveland beatings. i had never seen or heard of it, and it was great to watch.

i give it two thumbs up.

[J_Posse]

Re: recognizing greatness.

i remember that amare game where he legitimately was the best player on the court. i thought he had turned the corner at that point and was going to be a certified 25+ and 10+ guy, because he eviscerated tim duncan.

Amare never was the best player on the floor during that series. Duncan and Ginobili were the best players throughout that series and that's why the Spurs won so easily. Plus, Amar'e definitely didn't "eviscerate" Tim Duncan during that series. Duncan put up 25, 13 & 2 on two severely sprained ankles.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: recognizing greatness.

LOL @ the Spurs "winning so easily". How soon we forget that the Suns held the lead going into the fourth quarter Games 1 and 2. The Suns, who were highly inexperienced and playing without Joe Johnson for the first two games (and hardly healthy the next 3) had to play the worst possible basketball and the Spurs had to play the best possible basketball to win. We started ****ing Jim Jackson for goodness' sake, and Quentin Richardson was hot GARBAGE the whole playoffs.

The Spur margins of victory were 7, 3, 10, and 6. Hardly "so easily". The closest five game series I've ever watched in my life.

Wanna know exactly what had to happen for the Spurs to win those games?

Game 1:

Barry scored 13 of his 21 points in a blistering fourth quarter as the Spurs looked like the team with high-powered offense in a 121-114 victory over the Phoenix Suns in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals

Barry, quiet the entire postseason, stepped up big in the final period by making three 3-pointers and all five of his shots. He made back-to-back shots from the arc 39 seconds apart to cap a 12-4 surge and give the Spurs a 106-98 lead with 4:08 remaining.

Brent ****ing Barry scoring 21 points in a playoff game? Scoring 13 in the fourth quarter? Okay.

The Spurs displayed championship poise in the fourth quarter, scoring 43 points on 72 percent (16-of-22) shooting.

"Not a situation we expect to be in, scoring that many points in the fourth quarter, but an opportunity we'll take," Duncan said.

FORTY-THREE POINT QUARTER NEEDED.

Amare had two quick fouls (in four minutes) to begin this game, and had to sit most of the first quarter also.

Game 2:

For the second straight game, San Antonio erased a fourth-quarter deficit with great shooting. In Game One, the Spurs scored 43 points on 16-of-22 shooting in the final period. In Game Two, they scored 31 on 12-of-17.

The Suns held an 85-80 lead entering the final period, when Duncan scored 14 points. The Spurs finally regained the lead at 98-97 with 4:33 remaining on a jumper by Game One hero Brent Barry.

Despite their sharp execution, the Spurs still trailed, 102-100, with just under three minutes to go after a 3-pointer by Nash, the NBA MVP who had 29 points and 15 assists.

Yeah, so easy. Sooooo easy.

The only game they legitimately won and were clearly the better team was Game 3. Yeah, we were inexperienced and ultimately couldn't get the late stops to close the games out like we should have but let's stop with this "easily" crap, because you and I both know that its a complete, obvious fabrication of the truth of what happened in that series.

Jeez.

[dsallupinyaarea]

Re: Recognizing Greatness

I hate to continue to beat the Jordan drum but:<o></o>
<o></o>
Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals<o></o>
<o></o>Guy drops 45 points at age 35 with no legs and pippen being used exclusively as a decoy because of a bad back (he was in and out of the game for very long stretches). This, mind you, was his third straight 100 game season and he was visibly exhausted throughout the contest. The Jazz were clearly the better team and he beat them by himself. Re-watch the last 40 seconds of that game. Jordan catches inbound pass goes coast to coast for a lay-up, steals the ball from Malone, comes down the court for the shot. Ridiculous.


I know the caption says under-rated and this received hype, but I think it was still a little under-rated. This seriously might be the greatest athletic achievement I've ever seen. Malone had an amazing game but afterwards he had this look like "i just can't beat this guy" and he couldn't.
<o>
</o>

[J_Posse]

Re: recognizing greatness.

LOL @ the Spurs "winning so easily". How soon we forget that the Suns held the lead going into the fourth quarter Games 1 and 2. The Suns, who were highly inexperienced and playing without Joe Johnson for the first two games (and hardly healthy the next 3) had to play the worst possible basketball and the Spurs had to play the best possible basketball to win. We started ****ing Jim Jackson for goodness' sake, and Quentin Richardson was hot GARBAGE the whole playoffs.

Duncan was still playing through a sprained ankle from the series before. Injuries and poor play are just excuses for your team being unable to win.

Game 1:

Brent ****ing Barry scoring 21 points in a playoff game? Scoring 13 in the fourth quarter? Okay.

FORTY-THREE POINT QUARTER NEEDED.

Amare had two quick fouls (in four minutes) to begin this game, and had to sit most of the first quarter also.

That's called a player stepping up especially when he's known as being very good outside shooter like Barry was at the time.

That's how pathetic the Suns defense was they could give up 40+ points in a 4th quarter of the WCF. Plus, the irony isn't lost on me that the Spurs committed the same act this past playoffs against Phoenix.

Amar'e is a moron on defense and is known for picking up ticky-tack fouls. Maybe he shouldn't have preoccupied himself with doing push-ups during the game, and instead concentrated his efforts on playing defense without fouling.

Game 2:

<table style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; width: 90%;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td width="75"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="50"> <tbody><tr> <td width="37"> </td> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 07.gif="" );="" width:="" 1px;="" height:="" 24px;="" background-position:="" center="" center;="" valign="middle" width="100%"> Quote:</td> <td> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> <td align="left">
</td> <td align="right" width="100%"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td width="100%"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 11.gif="" );="" width:="" 100%;="" height:="" 24px;="" width="100%">
</td> <td align="left"> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 04.gif="" );="" width:="" 37px;="" height:="" 1px;="" width="37">
</td> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 00.gif="" );="" width:="" 100%;="" height:="" 1px;="" width="100%">
</td> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 05.gif="" );="" width:="" 18px;="" height:="" 1px;="" width="18">
</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 04.gif="" );="" width:="" 37px;="" height:="" 1px;="" width="37">
</td> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 00.gif="" );="" width:="" 100%;="" height:="" 1px;="" width="100%"> For the second straight game, San Antonio erased a fourth-quarter deficit with great shooting. In Game One, the Spurs scored 43 points on 16-of-22 shooting in the final period. In Game Two, they scored 31 on 12-of-17.
</td> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 05.gif="" );="" width:="" 18px;="" height:="" 1px;="" width="18">
</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="37"> </td> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 02.gif="" );="" width:="" 100%;="" height:="" 14px;="" width="100%">
</td> <td width="18"> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table>
<table style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; width: 90%;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td width="75"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="50"> <tbody><tr> <td width="37"> </td> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 07.gif="" );="" width:="" 1px;="" height:="" 24px;="" background-position:="" center="" center;="" valign="middle" width="100%"> Quote:</td> <td> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> <td align="left">
</td> <td align="right" width="100%"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td width="100%"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 11.gif="" );="" width:="" 100%;="" height:="" 24px;="" width="100%">
</td> <td align="left"> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 04.gif="" );="" width:="" 37px;="" height:="" 1px;="" width="37">
</td> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 00.gif="" );="" width:="" 100%;="" height:="" 1px;="" width="100%">
</td> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 05.gif="" );="" width:="" 18px;="" height:="" 1px;="" width="18">
</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 04.gif="" );="" width:="" 37px;="" height:="" 1px;="" width="37">
</td> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 00.gif="" );="" width:="" 100%;="" height:="" 1px;="" width="100%"> The Suns held an 85-80 lead entering the final period, when Duncan scored 14 points. The Spurs finally regained the lead at 98-97 with 4:33 remaining on a jumper by Game One hero Brent Barry.
</td> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 05.gif="" );="" width:="" 18px;="" height:="" 1px;="" width="18">
</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="37"> </td> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 02.gif="" );="" width:="" 100%;="" height:="" 14px;="" width="100%">
</td> <td width="18"> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table>
<table style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; width: 90%;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr> <td> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td width="75"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="50"> <tbody><tr> <td width="37"> </td> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 07.gif="" );="" width:="" 1px;="" height:="" 24px;="" background-position:="" center="" center;="" valign="middle" width="100%"> Quote:</td> <td> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> <td align="left">
</td> <td align="right" width="100%"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td width="100%"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 11.gif="" );="" width:="" 100%;="" height:="" 24px;="" width="100%">
</td> <td align="left"> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 04.gif="" );="" width:="" 37px;="" height:="" 1px;="" width="37">
</td> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 00.gif="" );="" width:="" 100%;="" height:="" 1px;="" width="100%">
</td> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 05.gif="" );="" width:="" 18px;="" height:="" 1px;="" width="18">
</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 04.gif="" );="" width:="" 37px;="" height:="" 1px;="" width="37">
</td> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 00.gif="" );="" width:="" 100%;="" height:="" 1px;="" width="100%"> Despite their sharp execution, the Spurs still trailed, 102-100, with just under three minutes to go after a 3-pointer by Nash, the NBA MVP who had 29 points and 15 assists.
</td> <td style="" vbulletin="" images="" quotes="" 05.gif="" );="" width:="" 18px;="" height:="" 1px;="" width="18">
</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="37"> </td> </tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>

Yet, the Spurs managed to comeback and win game 2. D'Antoni was an idiot who couldn't manage to eliminate any of the Spurs key pieces. On the other hand Popovich let Nash-Stoudemire have their way while their teammates, in particular Shawn Marion, contributed very little throughout the series. Pop outcoached D'Antoni and the Spurs were the better team point blank. Oh, and had Duncan not sprained his ankle against Detroit late in the season Phoenix may not have even gotten the 1st seed.

The only game they legitimately won and were clearly the better team was Game 3. Yeah, we were inexperienced and ultimately couldn't get the late stops to close the games out like we should have but let's stop with this "easily" crap, because you and I both know that its a complete, obvious fabrication of the truth of what happened in that series.

Jeez.

The 2008 series between the Spurs and Suns was far more winnable than the 2006 series.The Spurs were clearly the better team because they won the series 4-1 and went on to win the championship. The Suns just didn't have the needed combination of players that could defend the paint and defend the Parker-Ginobili combination in the perimeter. Just like the Suns were clearly the better team this past post-season even though the Spurs made it a competitive series (or as competitive as a sweep can be).