Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)

[trekfan]

Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)

Barkley and Magic will be quite the fun duo to see unfold. I'm guessing in this alternative history Magic won't have to leave the league early.

Yeah, Magic stays healthy here and doesn't leave the league early -- Bird actually manages to hang around a little longer too (though whether that's for the best or not is debatable). Last bit of the offseason today and then tomorrow we'll start the 1991-92 regular season.

[trekfan]

Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)


The 1990-91 Out of Nowhere All-Stars
By Sam Gray

Every year in the NBA, there are always players that surprise the league and establish themselves as more than anything people thought they could be — for some players, these types of transformations occur after years of hardships and these are the players we’re looking at today. Welcome to this year’s Out of Nowhere All-Stars, a spotlight on players the league forgot about for a time that have, seemingly, come out of nowhere to become a talent NBA executives will want.

1. Tony Campbell


Campbell is not a name many thought would be here, especially after his failed stints with the Pistons (who drafted him 20th overall in 1984) and the Lakers (who traded for him and got little out of him). Campbell was signed by the T’Wolves last year and had a remarkable year on a terrible expansion team — many though that would be the extent of his impact, but this season Campbell helped guide the T’Wolves to their first every playoff appearance. Campbell got better in every way this season and the T’Wolves have hit upon a certifiable stud for their franchise.

2. Rod Strickland


Drafted by the Knicks, Strickland was almost traded in the 89-90 season, but the deal was pulled at the last minute; that might go down as one of the most fortunate non-deals in Knicks history as Strickland exploded this past season, helping the Knicks resemble an actual professional team and forming a deadly partnership with Patrick Ewing. Strickland improved his stats in big ways — going from 12.2 PPG to 17.4 PPG and becoming way more efficient with the basketball, all in similar minutes. If he can continue to be this good, the Knicks may be back in contention sooner than many think.

3. Derrick Gervin


The New Orleans Pelicans had a rough first year in the NBA, but Gervin was a bright spot and the truest definition of an Out of Nowhere All-Star. Gervin came into the league years ago, but went nowhere fast — he was a fringe player for years, hanging around other leagues before signing a training camp deal with the Pelicans and becoming their star attraction. A hustle scorer, Gervin thrived in the NOLA system and played hard every night. A free agent this summer, Gervin will have interest all over the league, but NOLA is likely to pay him big money to keep him in their jersey — he’s one of the few good things they have.

[studbucket]

Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)

Campbell is a shock. Strickland not too surprising for me.

Gervin is fun! He is George's little brother and was the Israeli league MVP in real life in 1995: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derrick_Gervin

[trekfan]

Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)

Campbell is a shock. Strickland not too surprising for me.

Gervin is fun! He is George's little brother and was the Israeli league MVP in real life in 1995: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derrick_Gervin

I was surprised at Campbell, especially considering how the T'Wolves struggled IRL, but in this universe he's a solid starter. Rod "The God" Strickland is a 2K cheat code most years, and Gervin is definitely someone I had never even heard of till this game -- I'm happy he's thriving, though I'm not sure if he'll ever be able to thrive on a winning team (I feel like his stats look so good because NOLA gives him all the shots, but we'll see I guess).

[trekfan]

Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)


Ch. 18

The first two weeks of the 1991-92 season were incredible for the Rockets, as they lost only one game — a 106-102 affair with the Warriors, who got to exact a small sliver of revenge on Houston. But that loss was minor compared to the blowouts the Runnin’ Rockets were authoring — a 113-82 opening night destruction of the Pacers, a 122-106 beatdown of the Suns, a 106-79 curb-stomping of the Jazz. It was as though Houston could do no wrong and with every win the confidence of the players only grew.

“We were kicking *ss and taking names and it felt good,” recalled Gary Payton. “Those mother*uckers didn’t stand a chance against us.”

Moses Malone had seamlessly slid into the starting role, getting about 30 minutes a night while Otis Thorpe took over the sixth-man role, also getting about 30 minutes a night. The two would even play together on the floor as Thorpe proved his worth as a big contributor off the bench — he was basically a starter, though coming off the bench didn’t please him and some other members of the team.

“I thought it was unnecessary,” said Thorpe. “I started the year before and we won a title; why bring me off the bench and start Moses? Moses was old, no offense, and he couldn’t keep up with some of the younger guys. I could. But Randy gave us both equal minutes and stayed with the hot hand in the fourth, some some nights he started and I finished or vice-versa. I wasn’t happy about it, especially since I had signed a two-year extension during the summer, but I was willing to let it go if we were winning.”

Thorpe wasn’t the only one with gripes — second-year bench big Derek Strong had been virtually removed from the lineup, going from the first big off the bench to getting barely five minutes a night. It was a setback Strong wasn’t prepared for; he figured after his solid season off the bench (10-7) he’d see similar minutes — instead, he was banished and he logged an average of 7 MPG that season. “It was hard,” said Strong. “I just never got in the same rhythm that season and I felt like *hit.”

The Rockets first hint of adversity would occur on November 13th, 1991. Houston welcomed the Spurs to town and San Antonio was sporting a new, highly-paid SG in Jeff Hornacek — but their record didn’t reflect a smooth integration of their new teammates.




Despite Hornacek being an upgrade, his presence seemed to upset the balance the Spurs had achieved the season before. Now instead of the ball finding its way to Robinson, Hornacek would get the ball and stretch the floor. A fit that, on paper, looked promising was instead proving to be difficult. “We just need to learn each other more,” said Robinson before the game. “We’ll get better as the season goes on.”

At 4-4, the Spurs looked surprisingly unsteady, but they had enough in the tank to take on the Rockets — San Antonio hadn’t forgotten the way the WCF went and were eager to prove they were better. It initially looked like the Spurs had made the right moves — the first quarter saw both teams play a tough, hard-nosed defense and force bad shots from one another. It wasn’t the high-scoring affair the Rockets had engaged in for nearly three weeks — instead, it was a grind-it-out game that was straight out of the Bad Boy Pistons playbook.

With just under 1:35 to go in the first, Houston strung together a beautiful defensive sequence that saw the Spurs get locked down for what felt like minutes; that high-level defense then led to an explosive finish at the other end.



It was the type of sequence that Coach Randy Kern knew would stick in the craw of the Spurs and when the second quarter came around, Kern unleashed Scottie Pippen, running the point. Pippen was a mismatch that simply couldn’t be contained by the defense unless they switched their coverages, which would only force more mismatches — Pippen was playing like an early MVP favorite and it was a thousand percent on purpose.



“I wanted MVP that year,” Pippen said. “I had beaten Michael, I had gotten the championship, but I wanted everyone to know — him included — that I wasn’t simply a very good player. I was an MVP-caliber player and I wanted that recognition.” During the offseason, Pippen had approached Kern about letting him run point more often — Kern was all for it, if Pippen kept the other players involved. “He was adamant that the other guys had to be involved, otherwise it wouldn’t work,” said Pippen, “and he was right — if I had just run point to score, the rest of the team would have rebelled.”

The Spurs had no answer for the Rockets in the second, losing the quarter 31-21 and the rest of the game saw San Antonio try — and fail — to dig themselves out of the hole they were in. It was a poor performance for the Spurs, who proved nothing that night.




The Rockets went 8-2 in the next ten games, before an early December matchup with the Detroit Pistons. That’s when Houston’s Terry Moncrief would trip down some stairs at the Rockets arena and end up breaking his ankle — he would be out for the next 6 months. Houston would win that game but would find themselves down another man when PF Derek Strong failed to report for their flight to Indiana on December 7th, 1991.

Strong was MIA — no one knew where he was — and the team was forced to leave him behind. A Rockets video intern would be dispatched to Strong’s house to find that the forward was tending to his sick cat.

Boots the cat was the same kitten Strong had received through his endorsement deal during the summer and had become an important part of Strong’s life since — especially as he found himself glued to the bench. “I wasn’t getting my time and Boots was sick, so I stayed back. I wasn’t about to leave him,” recalled Strong. “That whole season I felt like dead weight on the team … but Boots loved me. We’d watch film together, we’d hang out together … my cat got me through it.”

Coach Kern wasn’t amused but wasn’t going to worry about it — Strong’s absence on the road trip was barely noticed as Houston stormed through it, going 4-0. “A cat was the least of my concerns,” said Kern. “At the time, I was worried we were getting too full of ourselves.”

The Rockets could seemingly do no wrong — they won three more straight games before uncharacteristically dropping two straight, a 109-105 contest against the Nuggets and a 115-95 blowout loss to the Cavs on Christmas Eve — that game, however, was less about Cleveland and more about Kern giving his starters the night off. “I played my bench and the league was pissed,” said Kern. “They scheduled us for a back-to-back on Christmas Eve and Christmas day — what kind of bull*hit was that? So I played my bench, gave my starters the night off, and told the bench guys to have fun. I wasn’t sweating that game. I was worried about the next one.”

The Christmas day game was versus the Lakers and LA was looking like one of the better teams in the conference, despite a slower-than-expected start.





The Lakers were getting an unusual amount of pressure from their crosstown rivals, the Clippers, who were having a magical season — the Lakers, by comparison, looked like a team trying to figure out how the new pieces fit. Barkley, back to playing PF, was thriving but his playstyle and Johnson’s weren’t melding as well as many expected. “It was a struggle at first, no doubt,” Magic Johnson recalled. “But Charles and I, we knew we were good. We just had to learn each other’s flow.”

The game was highly anticipated and highly rated — both teams drew big crowds, in person and on TV, and this type of superstar-powered contest on Christmas day was exactly what the NBA wanted. The game was a close affair in the first quarter, but a few plays stood out — a sequence showing why both teams were so good.



At the end of one, the teams were tied 27-27, and at the half the Lakers actually led, 51-47. It was one of the rare times during that season that Houston was behind at the half and Coach Kern was actually thankful for it. “I told the guys in the locker room that we were feeling ourselves too much — the Lakers were playing to our ego. We needed to step back and do what got us there in the first place,” said Kern.”

Kern shifted the offense away from Pippen and Payton and instead went to Horace Grant. “He told me, ‘Go out there and make Barkley mad’ and that was the order I was looking for,” Grant recalled. “I knew how to get under Chuck’s skin and scoring on him made him want to score back — he’d throw off his whole team to get back at you.”

That’s exactly what Barkley did in the third. While Grant was being fed easy buckets by Payton and Pippen, Barkley was struggling to get the same buckets on the other end — Grant would score, hustle back, and get in Barkley’s face. The height difference was noticeable between the two players and Barkley would get fouled, repeatedly, by the Rockets bigs to throw him off.

It paid dividends in the second half, as Barkley kept going to the line, slowing the game down, and couldn’t get in the same groove he was in during the first half. Houston would win the game 121-111.





It was a needed reality check for the Rockets and one their head coach was thankful for. Houston had rushed out to an amazing record by the time the holidays hit, but they weren’t alone in that — there were other powerhouse teams all over the league on the hunt for the Runnin’ Rockets.

[RolePlayer]

Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)

Great win to start out the new year, Barkley and Magic were a formidable duo in their first game together but you guys were better. Great game from Horace Grant.

[kibaxx7]

Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)

Nice to see Moses here. The Blazers almost had him back in the '70s, I'm not sure what to do there.

[trekfan]

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, Payton, and Grant are doing exactly what they did last year, just with the addition of Moses Malone (12-8 in 28 minutes a night); the Rockets have no championship slump. The Clippers are surprisingly second with SG Kendell Gill leading the team (17-4-18) and Charles Oakley providing tough defense and boards (14-11). The Suns, Mavericks, Spurs, and Blazers are looking to snag the top spot in a competitive West, each potentially good enough to grab the 2nd seed at this point.

Fighting for the 7th and 8th seeds are the Jazz, Nuggets, Lakers, Sonics, and Warriors — each of them could make the postseason, though each has flaws. Utah and LA still getting used to their new pieces (Rivers and Barkley), while the Sonics and Warriors have looked outclassed against the top competition.

At the bottom of the West, trying to win the Shaq Sweepstakes, are the T’Wolves (performing badly), Kings, Grizzlies, and Pelicans. NOLA, especially, wants a shot at Shaq, as his arrival would be a huge boost for their struggling franchise.








The top of the East is led by the Bulls — after an offseason of big signings, Chicago’s new additions (Humphries, Nance, and Anderson) have all panned out as Jordan and Hakeem continue to dominate. Behind them are the Knicks and Celtics, both teams performing well, though New York wasn’t expected to be this good after the last few years (former Clipper Charles Smith is putting up 21-8, a big number combined with Ewings 24-11). Behind them are the 76ers (James Worthy has been worthy, putting in 19-5-5), the Cavs, and then the drop-off hits with Miami, barely above .500.

In the middle, fighting for the 7th and 8th seeds, are the Pistons, Pacers, and Hawks — each team could make the playoffs, but each one looks creaky. Detroit has the best chance at righting the ship thanks to their defense, but the old team may not have the legs to carry them much longer. The Wizards potentially could climb their way back, but the team seems lost and Washington is desperate not to lose a lottery pick (the one they sent over to Houston for Sleepy Floyd last season).

At the bottom of the East, well outside the playoff race, are the Bucks, Hornets, Raptors, and Nets. Each team wants Shaq, but New Jersey is especially bad with only 3 wins and 16 straight losses.

[trekfan]

Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)

Great win to start out the new year, Barkley and Magic were a formidable duo in their first game together but you guys were better. Great game from Horace Grant.

Horace is sneaky good -- this dynasty has really upped my appreciation for him. If the Bulls didn't replace him with Rodman in the second-three peat, I don't know if Chicago would have won more titles.

Nice to see Moses here. The Blazers almost had him back in the '70s, I'm not sure what to do there.

Love Moses Malone, he's a really semi-forgotten about superstar center. The dude was the king of rebounding -- Rodman gets a lot more PR for that, but Malone really rebounded his way to multiple MVPs, a title, and many all-star appearances and he was around a long time.



Malone's appearance in this story is more than a feel-good thing; he matters for his ability to teach, to mentor (he famously mentored Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley in fact) and his influence will affect certain things in the future.

[trekfan]

Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)


Ch. 19

The post-holiday schedule saw the Rockets continue to roll, winning the next 11 games straight despite missing Otis Thorpe for five of them. Thorpe was informed by the league that he had failed his routine drug test and was suspended for the next five games because of it. Thorpe was incensed — nothing he had put into his body could have caused a drug test failure.

“Otis was angry,” recalled Coach Kern. “He couldn’t believe he got busted for something because he was clean, and I believed him.” When the league told the Rockets what he had gotten busted for — and when the press got wind of it — a major distraction was born. Thorpe had failed his drug test because the league had detected faint hints of steroids in it.

Otis Thorpe wasn’t a steroid user — that much everyone knew. But it didn’t matter to the league as they had to suspend Thorpe and on January 11th, 1992, Thorpe was glued to the bench for the next five games. The headline in the sports section of the Houston Chronicle the next morning screamed, RUNNIN’ ROCKETS OR ROIDING ROCKETS?

It was the type of distraction that birthed more every minute it dragged on. Kern called a meeting between Hale and the head trainer, Harvey Ross, to figure out what the hell had happened — and how many more of his players might find themselves suspended. The meeting took place away from Rockets headquarters, at a little BBQ restaurant nestled away just outside of Houston — one of Kern’s favorite places — and the restaurant was closed for the day.

Kern began the meeting bluntly, telling Hale and Ross that his players weren’t using steroids — he kept an eye on that type of stuff, knowing how drugs could destroy a locker room. Ross cut him off before he could go any further, because he knew exactly where the steroids had come from: his training staff. Unknown to Ross, one of his training interns had been mixing steroids into Thorpe’s ankle cream; Thorpe had rolled it weeks before and it just wasn’t healing right, so the intern took it upon himself to get it healed faster.

It was a shortcut, plain and simple, that came from good intentions. “It was a *uck-up,” recalled Ross. “It was one of my guys that did it and I was just as mad as everyone else.”

Kern’s next question was the one he was afraid to ask: how many players had this intern dealt with? “I couldn’t say for sure,” Ross said. “I told them that the intern in question claimed he had only done it to help Thorpe and no one else, but I wasn’t sure if I believed him.”

Everyone in that meeting knew the league would be extra vigilant in testing them and they wouldn’t let anything slide; the Rockets had lost the benefit of the doubt, not only with the league, but the public. Houston would go on to win the next five games, most blowouts, but the Rockets players would be tested “randomly” after those games a dozen times.

“They made us pee in these *ucking cups so regularly, I thought about giving them a discount card,” recalled Gary Payton. “Those drug guys were always looking at us funny — they didn’t think we were that good, they thought we were using to be that good. *uck those guys.”

Houston would get Thorpe back on January 21st, just in time to face Cleveland and debut the Rockets newest alternate uniforms — the baby blues.






Cleveland came into the game looking to beat the Rockets at their best — both teams were doing quite well, though Houston’s pace put them in historic record territory. The way the Rockets were playing, they might just finish the season breaking the regular-season win record, held by the 1971-72 Lakers at 69-13. “It was on our minds, that record,” recalled Horace Grant. “Like everything else, it was a distraction, but some guys wanted to go out and get that record … to have that type regular season dominance would put you in the history books.”

Coach Kern didn’t give a *hit about that record, however. “I told my guys to *uck that record and anything else — those Lakers finished the season by winning the title. That was most important … I wanted a group of finishers, not record-chasers,” said Kern.

Cleveland fought hard in the first quarter to get out to a lead and hold it, but every time they did the Rockets clawed their way back — neither team could maintain an advantage for long, at least until the early second quarter. That’s when the Rockets started doing something they didn’t do often — hit triples consistently. The deep ball was flying in the second and the first one to hit came from Scottie Pippen, who wasn’t a prolific three-point bomber, but got his only one to fall to give the Rockets a lead. Houston didn’t look back after that, running the Cavs off the court and reasserting their dominance over Cleveland.

“I always like beating Cleveland,” Pippen said after the game.





The Mavericks would come to town a week later and, like Houston, were having a great season — sitting at 30-13, Dallas was the greatest threat to the Rockets hopes of winning the division and everyone in Dallas knew it. The team, from the coaching staff to the front office, knew that Trent Lewis wasn’t happy about how well Houston was doing: Lewis was on a mission to break the Rockets and his team was the owner’s weapon of choice.

“We knew we had to perform,” recalled Derek Harper. “Lewis was angry that Houston was just cruising through the season so easily and, really, he was pissed that his brother had won a title before him. He wanted to beat them bad and every time we saw him during the season, he drove home the point that we were the best team in Texas and we had to make sure everyone knew that.”

The additions of Ricky Pierce and Rick Mahorn had been exactly what the doctor ordered for Dallas — the Mavericks needed new blood, a kick in the pants, and those two new players provided it. Mahorn was instrumental in helping the other players on the team adjust to the Rockets strategies — he knew Kern back in Detroit and knew how to prepare against him.

This was their first matchup of the season and it was a brutal fight in the first half, both team’s offenses seemingly stuck in the mud as the defenses forced miss after miss after miss. “It wasn’t a pretty game, it was a grimey game. We dirtied it up and I knew Randy hated that,” recalled Mahorn. “He loved offense more than defense, but knew defense was the way to win when it mattered most.”

The Rockets entered halftime with a slim 46-45 lead. Neither team was in real foul trouble, but both teams were clearly trying to outlast one another. Looking at his team in the locker room, Kern decided to call upon Tim Legler to start at SG over Roth — Roth had size and reach, but was getting lost on screens with Pierce. “He told me to go out there and stick to Pierce like wet tissue paper,” recalled Legler. “This was my time to play, so I went out there and became Pierce’s shadow.”

Legler wasn’t very athletic — something everyone in the league knew — but he was very intelligent. He communicated well on defense, he wasn’t afraid to take shots, and he did an excellent job of playing his role. Roth was struggling, so Legler went in. It proved to be the winning move as Legler made life miserable for Ricky Pierce and anyone else he was switched on.

“His energy was infectious,” Kern said after the game. “He came in and changed the dynamic.”



With Legler out there, Payton and Pippen put on a two-man show, both players finishing with over 40 points each and demolishing Dallas like they were an expansion team full of fringe players. It was a sweet victory for the Rockets and a humiliating defeat for Dallas.





“I turned off my TV after the third quarter and went to bed,” recalled Trent Lewis. “I couldn’t believe they had done it again … I was sure I had a team full of chokers. I was willing to burn it all down then, but I cooled off by the morning.” Ultimately, a regular season loss didn’t matter — as long as they made the playoffs and beat the Rockets there, that would be enough.


The Rockets seemed to be lapping the competition. “We were just orbiting the Earth,” said Payton. “I chatted up every opposing player to let them know we were gonna leave their *ss behind and laugh as we did it.”

The swagger the Rockets were playing with was dangerous but there was little the coaching staff could do to stop it. Film sessions were productive, but there were always highlight plays that players got excited for. The pride in what the team was doing was infectious — Kern worried it would bite them in the *ss at the worst moment, but he couldn’t disagree with the results the Rockets were getting. His team was killing the competition and they were doing it with great joy.

Towards the end of January, the Rockets traveled to Chicago to take on the new-look Bulls. Houston was 39-5, Chicago was 37-8, and both teams seemed to be destined to clash in the Finals. Tickets for the game were going for insane prices and the Bulls were frothing at the mouth. “Chicago wanted to beat Houston bad,” said NBA columnist Sam Gray. “It was a matter of principle for both Jordan and Hakeem … they felt the Rockets were fake champions and Jordan had a bone to pick.”

Much like Houston, Chicago was embroiled a bit in a controversy of its own — a book titled The Jordan Rules had released in November of 1991 that painted a very unflattering picture of Jordan and the Bulls organization as a whole. “That book made Jordan look like a psychotic competitor — which he was — but more than anything it broke the public image of Jordan as this smiling, ad-friendly superstar. That Jordan went away and the hyper-competitive, will-punch teammates Jordan took its place,” said Gray.

Jordan and the Bulls organization believed that the unflattering details had come directly from two former Bulls: Pippen and Grant. Both players publicly denied giving interviews to the author of the book at the time, but in the years since have admitted that they were part of it. “I wanted the world to know the real Michael Jordan,” said Pippen. “He wasn’t this kind figure, he wasn’t a guy who wanted the team to succeed without him — he needed the team to succeed because of him.”

The Chicago press had obsessed over that book until the Rockets steroid situation occurred. The steroid story hadn’t been forgotten about by the national media, especially in the towns of contenders. The local papers and newscasts would refer to the story as often as they could and question whether anyone else on the Rockets were guilty of using. The NBA had conducted an investigation and quickly determined there was nothing really going on, but that didn’t matter to opposing fans or players; everything Houston did the year before, everything Houston was doing now, was surrounded by suspicion.

Jordan went so far as to question whether the Rockets title from the year before deserved to have an asterisk by it. “I question whether Thorpe was using then,” Jordan said in a pre-game interview. “He came back from that ACL injury pretty fast … the league should look into it.”

Some believed the interview was merely Jordan trying to get into the heads of the Rockets. Others believed Jordan was just a sore loser, unable to deal with his former teammates finding such success. There were some in the press who believed that Jordan might have a point — whatever the case, the NBA declined to investigate the matter further, saying that “our investigation was thorough and has satisfied all parties” and that, as far as the NBA was concerned, the matter was closed.

The league office wanted the story to go away.

So did Coach Kern, at least partially. Yes, the steroid incident was damaging and a distraction, but it was also motivation: the Houston Rockets were bonding together, having each other’s backs, because of the way people were attacking their credibility, their honor. “It was helping us become closer as a team, giving us an edge,” said Kern. “As a defending champion, we already had a target on our back, but that bull*hit story made it feel like everyone was out to take us down — they were questioning our very status as champions. They were accusing us of being cheaters.”

Kern’s didn’t need a pre-game speech, he didn’t need any real motivational tactics. He simply took the local headlines of the various Chicago papers, cut them out, and taped them onto the chalkboard. That was all that needed to be said. The defending champions were being questioned and called out. Would the Rockets let that stand?





Both teams started the game out focusing on defense — despite a high scoring first quarter (31-26), neither squad was giving up easy buckets. Both teams were working hard for the points they got and though the Rockets led, the Bulls weren’t far behind. Jordan and Olajuwon were matching Pippen and Payton bucket for bucket.

It was a tough matchup for Moses Malone, who struggled to defend Olajuwon mightily in the first half — despite Malone’s prowess at getting rebounds, defending the best center in the game was another thing altogether. “Moses was getting mugged out there by Hakeem, but he was giving as good as he got,” said Kern. “I played Otis more in the second half, which threw Hakeem off, but that first half was rough.”



The third quarter was where the Rockets really started to pull away — Houston had been battling all game to put away the Bulls, but in the third they were finally able to get momentum, thanks to the athletic abilities of Pippen.



“He wanted that one so bad and we got it for him,” said Grant. “He got Michael right under the rim and slammed it home … he sent a message. He sent it first class and it was received.”

After that ferocious alley-oop, the Bulls would begin a slow collapse — despite the heroics of Jordan and Olajuwon, Houston’s team was better than Chicago’s and the depth the Rockets had won them the day.




Jordan fumed after the game, refusing to answer any questions from the press. The Rockets were more than happy to tell the press that the Bulls weren’t on their level, that they were all talk, and that they were the real contenders — not Chicago. Houston’s players, especially Gary Payton, rubbed the loss in Chicago’s face with the swagger of a champion that felt like they were atop the world.

On February 1st, 1992, Houston would fall off the world — Scottie Pippen had failed a drug test and was suspended for the next five games. Pippen’s failure wasn’t related to steroids — the league wouldn’t clarify exactly why he failed the test, merely that he failed, and Pippen was out. The Rockets appealed but were denied and the press ran with it, asking if Pippen was using too.

Houston would go 3-2 over the next five games before Pippen’s return against the 76ers — it was supposed to be a game where the Rockets would right the ship and once more show that they were the best team in the league. Instead, it featured a lackadaisical performance by Houston, where they didn’t play much defense and got blown out in the fourth quarter to lose the game.







Despite a good performance from Houston’s starters, at least in terms of scoring, the defensive effort was sorely lacking and the Rockets choked away a late lead thanks to fouls — Grant and Payton both fouled out early in the fourth and, worse than that, each got a tech on the way out the door, giving Philly free points. The loss was galling — Philly wasn’t a team on the same level as Houston — and for the first time all season, Randy Kern lost his cool.

The post-game locker room was a warzone as Kern lit into his team for the poor effort. He didn’t just make all-encompassing statements, Kern had specific plays and specific times. He was reciting, from memory, the game log and, perhaps for the first time all season, the Rockets players had their arrogance washed away by shame.

“We really *ucked that game up,” said Payton. “Randy was pissed. Maddest I ever saw him. It wasn’t like we dropped a game to a scrappy underdog team or a contender, we met an average *ss team and got schooled.”

Kern called out everyone — Payton and Grant for fouling out, Pippen for poor shot selection, Malone and Thorpe for a lack of domination against inferior bigs. He spared no one and nothing. The Rockets were on a three-game losing streak and looked like chumps, not champs, according to their head coach. “All season I’ve watched you walk around like you’re god’s greatest gift to this *ucking sport and tonight you just *hit the bed!” Kern yelled at them. “Get it through your thick heads: we’re going to drown in the playoffs if we don’t play up to our *ucking level!”

Kern dismissed his team, telling the players to be in their hotel and not — he repeated for emphasis — not break curfew. They were heading to Charlotte in the morning to face the Hornets the next night and he wasn’t going to lose to that team.

The players got the message, rough as it was, and not a single Rocket broke curfew. The Charlotte game saw Houston go down 30-20 at the end of the first, but then the Rockets took off and buried the Hornets the rest of the game, winning 106-92. It was the type of win that made everyone feel better and Kern was pleased. “I was angry with them,” said Kern, “but they knew it was coming from a place of love. We needed to get our heads on straight.”

The All-Star break was four days later and, mercifully, gave the Rockets a chance to catch their breath.

[studbucket]

Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)

Houston's looking extremely good. 44-7 with 31 games left. They could get to 65+ wins, which is a tough thing to do after winning a title.

[marshdaddy]

Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)

Was wondering if you were ever going to lose until that Philly loss. Great win over Chicago, feels like a massive disappointment that they are what they are. Impressive work by Houston though. Payton in the Dallas game was unreal.

[trekfan]

Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)


NBA League Update: Trade Deadline Edition
By Sam Gray


All-Star Teams:




The Trades:



The Wizards, firmly in the late lottery (likely to finish 10-12) and not in control of their 1st rounder, unloaded Bernard King to the Clippers, who — 6 games above .500 and without their starting SF Norman — were desperate to acquire a veteran scorer to help carry them through the rest of the season (Norman is expected to miss roughly 8 more weeks). LAC paid a bit of a premium to acquire King, who also agreed to an expensive 2-year contract extension with the Clippers to facilitate the deal; given the Clippers history, making the playoffs this year is top priority for the franchise.



The Wizards weren’t done dealing either, sending Jeff Malone to the division rival Heat for a 1993 1st rounder. Malone agreed to a 3-year extension with Miami to get the deal done and will instantly slot in as the Heat’s starting two-guard, as their current SG — Kevin Edwards — has been in a slump the last few weeks. Miami, also desperate for a playoff bid, was more than willing to pay DC’s asking price to further guarantee their place in the postseason and give them a shot at getting deeper into the playoffs.




The final deal of the day saw the Lakers — 4 games under .500 and sorely lacking depth — trade away their 1994 1st rounder and last year’s 1st round pick Steve Henson to the woeful Nets for veterans Mo Cheeks and Kelly Tripucka, both players who asked out of New Jersey. The Lakers got a solid deal here, though LA’s continuing to empty their pick storage to put a good team around Magic and Barkley — a combo that sounded very appealing on paper, but so far hasn’t worked out as well as hoped in year one of the experiment.

[studbucket]

Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)

I forgot King was still in the league at this point. He didn't really do much beyond his time with the Knicks in the mid 80s. So weird for him to be on the Clips.

And the Heat got the "discount Malone" - we'll see how he helps them

[trekfan]

Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)

I forgot King was still in the league at this point. He didn't really do much beyond his time with the Knicks in the mid 80s. So weird for him to be on the Clips.

And the Heat got the "discount Malone" - we'll see how he helps them

Bernard King is just a walking bucket. IRL he got injured (again) with the Bullets in the 90-91 season, but here he avoids that fate and gets to hoop in LA -- this trade actually turns out well for both teams, surprisingly. It was way more impactful than I bargained for.