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Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)
Hard to believe Chicago could even lose a game with MJ and Hakeem. Unreal pairing.Comment
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Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)
NBA League Update: Holiday Edition
By Sam Gray
Injuries:
Standings:
At the top of the West are the Houston Rockets — Pippen (24-6-5), rookie Gary Payton (17-4-11), and Horace Grant (17-10-5) are performing beyond expectations; Pippen is shining as the number one option. The Suns (6th seed last year) are second with PG Kevin Johnson leading the team (18-4-12). The Spurs and Lakers round out the top-4, the two veteran squads looking to snag the top spot in a competitive West. The Nuggets and Blazers are lagging behind, Portland especially looking creaky — last season’s WCF champ may have to make a move to right the ship.
Fighting for the 7th and 8th seeds are the T’Wolves, Warriors, Jazz, Mavericks (fallen short of expectations due to injuries to three starters), Clippers (the surprise of the West so far), and Sonics; anyone of those squads could make it into the postseason.
At the bottom of the West, the Pelicans, Grizzlies, and the Kings — surprising no one. Sacramento is particularly bad and the organization should consider selling off everything at this point … if they can find any takers.
The top of the East is led by the veteran Celtics — after an offseason that saw them bring back Danny Ainge, Boston is performing like we’re still in the 80s. Detroit is right behind them, as is Chicago (Jordan putting up 29-6-5 and Hakeem with 27-12) — the Bulls dynastic duo doing everything promised so far. Right behind them are the Cavs, just looking outside but close, and then the rest — the Bucks and the surprising Heat (Glen Rice with 18-6 and rookie Derrick Coleman with 21-9).
In the middle, fighting for the 7th and 8th seeds, are the Hawks, 76ers, Wizards (losers of 7 straight), and Pacers. Every one of these teams wants to make the playoffs, but so far not a single one has grabbed the baton and run with it. The Magic are possibly a playoff contender if they can go on a run.
At the bottom of the East, well outside the playoff race, are the Hornets (entertaining but still lacking star power), the massively disappointing Knicks (expect New York to be busy around the deadline), the expansion Raptors, and the Nets (disappointing but unsurprisingly so with their numerous injuries).Comment
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Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)
That 13.1 point differential is telling for the Bulls. They may be the best team in the NBA, they just need their record to catch up to the way they've played.?The Bulgarian Brothers - a story of two brothers (Oggy and Dinko) as they coach in the NCAA and the NBA.
?Ask me about the Xbox Ally handheld - I'm on the team that made it.Comment
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Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)
Ch. 10
Six days after the defeat of the Bulls, the Rockets headed to LA to face off against Magic Johnson, James Worthy, and the Lakers. While Houston had been surprising people all year with their play, the Lakers were looking like a veteran squad on a mission; Magic Johnson had managed to convince Kareem to come out of retirement for one last run and though the veteran was no longer capable of big minutes, in short bursts he provided incredible play.
The Lakers were a team that many believed could get back to the Finals after a disappointing 1989-90 finish (first round out, 3-2, to Phoenix in an upset) and LA was competing for the top seed in the conference. Houston was younger, yes, but experience mattered in the NBA — no one on the Rockets had ever been to the Finals and not a one of them had led a team there.
Johnson had led multiple teams there. He wasn’t as young as he used to be, true, but he could still fill up the stat sheet and he certainly was the best leader in the NBA; everyone who played with him had their games elevated.
“This is a test,” Kern told the press the day before the game. “We know how good we are, we know how good we want to be, and this game will show us just how far we have to go.”
The head coach was anticipating a close game, but it didn’t look that way in the first half. The Rockets had their usual slow start before things heated up around the 8 minute mark of the first quarter; that’s when Gary Payton found his fellow backcourt mate, Scott Roth, for an easy alley-oop.
From there, the Rockets began to roll — but slowly. The Lakers, no defensive slouches and one of the best teams in the league, kept the Rockets lead from getting too big, but by the beginning of the second things were looking a little dicey, thanks to Scottie Pippen’s incredible athleticism.
With under 4 minutes to go in the second, Pippen would get another poster dunk — this time on Vlade Divac, hushing the crowd and energizing the Rockets. “I wasn’t head hunting, but I’ll take another one,” Pippen said after the game.
It looked like a rout was coming but in the second half the Lakers battled back; Johnson was a tough opponent for Gary Payton and he used every veteran trick he had to keep the rookie on his toes. “Gary was tough to fool, but he was young then and a little eager,” recalled Johnson. “He hadn’t studied us all yet, and I used my know-how to get us back into that game.”
The Lakers would make a spirited run in the fourth, but ultimately fall short, 115-111, in a game many thought was a preview of the playoffs. “I knew we could get the better of them in a series,” Johnson said. “They had a tendency to relax when they were up and that was a mistake against us.”
The win meant a lot to the team — once more they had faced down a veteran squad composed of the game’s best players and once more they had come out victorious. That night, no one could sleep in the hotel and the Rockets players went out and did what most teams do after a victory in LA: they partied.
The next night they played the Clippers and lost, 82-81. The Rockets defense was, as usual, pretty good but the offense was a mess. “The guys couldn’t run because they were gassed from the night before,” Kern said after the game, a hint of amusement in his voice. The head coach didn’t chew out his squad after the game, but did remind them that having fun was well and good — as long as they showed up to play on both ends.
The gentle reminder stuck with the Rockets players all season. “Randy had a way of putting *hit in perspective and not blowing up about dumb things,” said Gary Payton. “He could get angry, no doubt, but he didn’t treat us like children or like dumb *ucks; we got a lot of respect from him and he earned ours right back.”
The Rockets would travel to Memphis and bested the Grizzlies two days later, then return home to throttle the 76ers, before taking a close OT loss to the T’Wolves two nights after that. Losses to teams like the T’Wolves stuck in Kern’s craw, but he wasn’t worried about them.
He was worried about the Celtics. Boston was up next and these Celtics looked like their old, healthy selves. That was due in no small part to the Rockets own head trainer, Harvey Ross — Ross had consulted with both Bird and McHale during the offseason, pointing them in the direction of doctors who could help their aging bodies heal up and stay strong during the course of the season.
Bird and McHale were playing like they were young again: Bird putting up 23-7-8 with 2 steals and McHale adding 19-7 with 3 blocks. Both players were performing like the calendar read 1981, not 1991, and it was one of the best stories of the year.
“Every writer wanted to see the Celtics look good again,” said NBA columnist Sam Gray. “Magic and Bird, the Lakers and Celtics, they had defined — and revived — the NBA when it was at its lowest. To see those two both thriving in the early part of the new decade made a lot of people happy.”
The first quarter saw the teams battling back and forth, nothing of ease coming for either side. Though the Rockets were young and held the athletic advantage, the Celtics were a lot smarter. “They liked to run variations of the same thing,” recalled Larry Bird. “We studied the tape and saw it, they were just doing the same thing with a different flair. Nothing complicated.”
It made for a rare first quarter for the Rockets as they watched Larry Bird seemingly read their mind — he didn’t get any steals and only managed a single block, but Bird was getting to Houston’s spots before they could. “Incredibly impressive and frustrating,” said Kern. “I took a few timeouts to see if we could straighten out how he was beating us to the spots, but he just kept doing it and kept smiling as he looked back at us.”
Bird’s first quarter helped the Celtics get a 26-24 lead on the Rockets — and that usually wasn’t a good sign. “I think in most of our losses up to that point, losing the first quarter was something we did,” said Kern. In fact, in 9 out of the Rockets 10 losses so far that season, they had lost the first quarter: things weren’t looking great.
Kern’s message to his team before the start of the second was direct: be unpredictable. Mix things up. Don’t be afraid to try.
Settled down and given a bit of green light, Houston put together a 10-2 run in the first 5 minutes of the second. Yes, there were plenty of missed shots, but the Rockets leveraged their youth to run and run hard down the court. The game’s pace accelerated and the Celtics started looking their age.
Pippen’s play would be key in this — entering the second, he had only tallied 14 points. He add 8 points during that 10-2 run and his athletic abilities seemed to grow with each bucket.
In the span of less than a minute the Rockets had made that 10-2 run a 14-2 run and Pippen was exploding. That quarter the Rockets buried the Celtics 28-15 and they’d win every quarter after that — especially the fourth, which saw them embarrass Boston 41-21 in what the Celtics clearly saw was a message.
“They didn’t want us to think we could hang with them,” Bird said. “They just kept running up the score and every basket they scored, I committed to memory. I wasn’t going to forget when we saw them again.”
The final score screamed STATEMENT WIN but in reality it was a game the Celtics head coach, Chris Ford, saw wasn’t going to be won by his older team; he opted for rest in the fourth, playing his reserves, rather than risk his guys getting injured. But such nuance didn’t matter to Houston who saw one of the league’s best — and oldest — teams take a shot at them, get repelled, and then roll over as the Rockets ran them out of the gym.
“It was pretty damn satisfying,” Pippen said. “Boston was always a team you wanted to measure yourself against. Beating Bird wasn’t something I took for granted.”
The win against the Celtics propelled the Rockets, who went 6-3 the rest of January and entered February still hanging onto the top spot, though the Lakers and Suns were both only a few games behind. Houston, though, didn’t seem to mind the competition — the feelings were good in the city and in the organization. The Rockets were looking like a serious threat come playoff time.
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Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)
I'm interested to see how long Bird can go before his back gives out and what Reggie Lewis turns into for Boston.
If "things go perfect" this team could have another 3-5 years of a possible title window.?The Bulgarian Brothers - a story of two brothers (Oggy and Dinko) as they coach in the NCAA and the NBA.
?Ask me about the Xbox Ally handheld - I'm on the team that made it.Comment
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Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)
The Celtics were a real surprise -- I wasn't sure what they would do, as they're heavily reliant on their veteran core. Bird, McHale, and Parrish are their three pillars and they're doing well in the first season.Comment
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Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)
NBA League Update: Trade Deadline Edition
By Sam Gray
All-Star Teams:
The Trades:
The Sonics had to move unhappy player McKey, who has steadily seen his minutes decline since the turn of the new year; McKey wanted more minutes, he wanted to start, and Seattle got him that starting job … in Milwaukee. The Bucks needed a younger body at SF and traded away their backup center Breur (who’ll take the starting job in Seattle) as well as their 1991 1st (top-10 protected, likely to convey). Milwaukee is in tight competition for one of the final playoff spots out East and this could be the last chance this iteration of the team has, as multiple veteran starters are free agents in the summer.
The Knicks search for the right pieces to put around Patrick Ewing continues, as they’ve shipped off Charles Oakley to the Clippers. LAC has watched their playoff chances dwindle in the West as their frontcourt play suffered, mostly due to a lack of toughness inside — toughness Oakley can bring. In return, the Knicks get the more versatile (and higher scoring) Charles Smith. Both players agreed to 2-yr extensions with their new teams, and both teams swapped 1991 2nd rounders to finish the deal.
The final deal of the day saw the 76ers make a trade for Sam Bowie, as the former Net now joins Charles Barkely in Philly. Barkley has been loudly unhappy about the team’s post play, and his complaints have been answered as the 76ers traded for Bowie, giving up their 1991 1st rounder in the process. Philly is hoping this will appease Barkley, who continues to be non-committal about a new contract (he has 2 seasons left on his current deal) and may force a trade out after this season if the 76ers can’t get far in the playoffs.
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Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)
Given their real life roles in the 90s Knicks, a Smith-for-Oakley swap is fascinating to me. I can't imagine Oak will be happy on the Clippers.
Is Danny Manning on the Clippers in this universe??The Bulgarian Brothers - a story of two brothers (Oggy and Dinko) as they coach in the NCAA and the NBA.
?Ask me about the Xbox Ally handheld - I'm on the team that made it.Comment
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Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)
Indeed he is -- he hasn't become as injury prone (so far), and that's part of the reason the Clippers made this trade, as Oakley brings some much needed frontcourt defense.
This trade has some very interesting repercussions in the 91-92 season and reverberates into the 92-93 and 93-94 seasons for both teams. This is one of those moves I didn't expect to impact the league as much as it did.Comment
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Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)
Ch. 11
The trade deadline had been quiet for the Rockets and had been dead silent for Mavericks, who were struggling to stay a few games above .500 at the rate their season was going. Dallas had been bitten by the injury bug and there was nothing anyone could do about it, despite their owner trying his best to come up with some way to address it.
“I didn’t expect the team to get hit so hard with injuries,” recalled Trent Lewis. “I thought keeping everything the same and betting on stability was the right call, but by that point in the season I was seriously doubting my decision. I hired a whole new training staff after Christmas to help our current one, but it did nothing.”
Lewis, like his team, was going to have to buckle down and endure; no amount of money was going to help. Dallas was quiet on the trade front, as the front office concluded that trading any of their draft assets was a bad idea; with so many of their players injured, they didn’t really have anything another team wanted.
But what they did have, thanks to the fans, was an All-Star — Derek Harper was named to the team in the new format, where the top vote getters got to choose their teammates in a draft of sorts. The two team captains were Michael Jordan and … John Stockton?
Yes, that John Stockton — Mr. Reliable, the constant companion to Karl Malone, one of the league’s best who played in Utah. Stockton’s all-star campaign was pushed by the Jazz using every means they had and they mobilized Utah’s fans to get Stockton the honor. “It was really something I didn’t expect,” recalled Stockton. “I thought they were pulling my leg when they told me.”
Stockton and Jordan were now charged with choosing their own teammates — and the draft turned out to be the most interesting thing to happen to the All-Star Game.
“It really was a wild idea that Terrell had,” said NBA columnist Sam Gray. “As Commissioner, he now wielded the power to change a lot of things and one of the first things he changed was the All-Star Game format. He was bored by the West versus East stuff — he wanted to inject a bit of drama, a bit of mystery into the proceedings. The team captains and the draft did that in spades.”
The owners had no issue with it because Terrell had convinced Ted Turner to broadcast the draft, bringing in money and good attention to the league. The public hadn’t completely forgotten about the short lockout the summer before, but that memory was beginning to fade fast.
The draft occurred on a Tuesday night and Jordan was given the first pick — he selected Larry Bird, in a move that surprised few. Jordan had always held Bird in high regard and Bird had done the same with Jordan. Stockton grabbed a big man and went for someone unexpected: Hakeem Olajuwon.
Many had suspected the big man would be selected early on, probably by his teammate, but Stockton had beaten Jordan to the punch. “I knew the value of a great big and I loved Karl, but even he knew Hakeem was the best,” said Stockton.
Jordan’s next pick was a surprise at the time and remains a source of controversy to this day: Scottie Pippen.
The broadcast crew couldn’t hide their shock and the NBA world reacted the same way the next day. Jordan taking Pippen was seen as a major move — was Jordan ready to forgive and forget? Was Pippen?
The answer was an emphatic NO from Pippen. “He picked me to get in my head, that’s it,” Pippen said in the press the next day. “I’m not going to the All-Star Game to forgive him. I’m going to enjoy myself and put on a good show for the fans.”
Jordan played innocent in the press, telling them that he “genuinely believed Scottie was one of the best in the league” but privately Jordan was selecting Pippen for another purpose: he wanted to scout his opponent first hand. In fact, every one of Jordan’s picks was in some way motivated by this.
“He was going to get an up-close and personal look at every player he considered a rival or a threat,” said NBA historian Stanley Sloan. “It was obvious to some of the guys on his team — Pippen, Bird, McHale, Price — and not so much to other guys, like Ewing.”
Scottie Pippen was the Rockets lone all-star, but he wasn’t the lone all-star from Texas: he was joined by the Spurs David Robinson and the Mavericks Derek Harper. Robinson’s selection had been almost a given considering how dominant he had been that season (22-12 with nearly 2 steals and 3 blocks a game). Harper’s selection had not been as much of a guarantee; he missed the ten games over the season with an ankle injury but had bounced back in a big way with 19-3-11 and 2 steals.
“I was honored to get into that game, because I knew the talent on the floor was so high-level,” recalled Harper. “Stockton selecting me was a surprise, but he knew I could play off-guard and I think that’s what got me the nod.”
The 1991 All-Star Game was among the highest rated games in years.
Scottie Pippen didn’t speak with Jordan once that weekend. “I wasn’t gonna say a damn word to him. I knew as soon as I did he’d start to reel me in, talking about the old times … I was done with the old times. I was living in the new times and they were pretty great.”
Jordan tried to engage Pippen but got nothing. The two started the game together and played well on the court, but nary a word was said — the go between for both was veteran Larry Bird. “I basically was the two cans and the string for them; I’d get a message, carry it, carry one back. I think I did that like, three times, before I told them to find someone else. They didn’t, they just didn’t talk to each other at all the rest of the night.”
Team Jordan bested Stockton’s squad 115-111 in the closest All-Star Game in many years. The MVP was, to little surprise, Michael Jordan with 26-3-8 in 32 minutes (the most anyone played on either team). Pippen had a good showing with 11-6-4, with a block and 2 steals in 30 minutes, the second highest on the team.
Jordan exited All-Star Weekend with the MVP but he didn’t really care about that — the knowledge he gained was far more valuable than any trophy. “I saw, first hand, that Scottie was different,” said Jordan. “He was in a place that I didn’t think he could get to … he was hardened. I was a little proud of him to be honest, because it seemed like he finally got what I was trying to teach him.”
The remainder of the season was ahead for everyone, now — the final two months of the regular season would be a sprint for some and a slog for others.
For the Houston Rockets and Scottie Pippen, it would seem to go swimmingly … until it wasn’t.
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Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)
Well, finally read everything! And first, it is so good to have you back, trek. This section will glow differently now. Definitely the idea of a MJ-Hakeem pairing is mindblowing, but I think the Rockets are way past that now! Great record so far.
I really like how Payton is playing, and I also loved the NASA look. This is going pretty fast! I need to find a way to replicate that, the "Pearlman book" angle could help me so thanks for that idea.#AllRed | Club Atlético Independiente
(best viewed on the "vB5" style)
× Watched: Black Eagle (1988), Bring Her Back (2025), Amarcord (1973) ×Comment
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Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)
Thank kibaxx, it's good to back.
Payton is one of my favorite PGs and I loved the way he played -- was very happy when he managed to grab a title with the Heat as a role player. The Rockets have some fun jersey concepts out there and being on PC lets me easily rotate them out over the seasons.
The "Pearlman book" concept really lends to my writing style and has quickly become a favorite of mine. It's a nice balance between the in-depth character stories I like and the quickness of an easy, engaging read. This will probably be a style I lean on heavily in the future and one I look forward to others trying out for themselves.Comment
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Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)
This captures the narcissistic angle of Jordan well. Even when Scottie does well, somehow it's Michael's doing.I was a little proud of him to be honest, because it seemed like he finally got what I was trying to teach him.?The Bulgarian Brothers - a story of two brothers (Oggy and Dinko) as they coach in the NCAA and the NBA.
?Ask me about the Xbox Ally handheld - I'm on the team that made it.Comment
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