Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA2K20)

[trekfan]

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


Ch. 24

The Boston Celtics weren’t expected to be here — not again, not after the way the East shook out. Chicago had seemed to find their way and gelled as a team, they were expected to make it to the Finals this time — but the veteran Celtics, whether by savvy or the luck of the Irish, survived the playoffs. A close five-game series with Philly, followed by another seven-game slugfest with Cleveland, before meeting the Bulls in the ECF … and beating them soundly.

“The mystique was alive and well,” said NBA columnist Sam Gray. “The Boston media and fans seemed to be willing Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parrish to one more title — and it was, for the NBA, a ratings boon. Boston versus Houston, round two — sequels make a lot of money.”

Boston believed themselves prepared to face Houston — yes, the Rockets were younger, more athletic, and defending champions, but Houston also had expectations on them that Boston didn’t. “We knew what it felt like to defend a title,” said Larry Bird. “We knew how much of a toll that took.”

The Rockets, for their part, weren’t underestimating Boston — despite getting the better of them both times they played in the regular season, Coach Randy Kern was telling his players not to be fooled by those old dogs in green. “Randy didn’t let us think for a *ucking instant that the Celtics weren’t gonna fight us to the death for this one,” said Gary Payton. “And I sure as *uck wasn’t about to let them embarrass me again.”

Payton, as a rookie, had a harsh spotlight shone on him during the last Finals; Danny Ainge showed him up and got him to foul at a humiliating rate. It was a memory that had stuck with Payton for nearly a year and now was the time he would get a chance to exorcise those demons.

Game 1 tipped off in Houston, the Rockets having home-court advantage, and that advantage was the slight edge they needed; the Celtics didn’t just come out and roll over — they battled Houston to a near standstill in the first half. The Rockets won the first quarter 25-23, lost the second by same score, and the two teams were tied 48 all at the half.

The second-half saw the Rockets give Mario Elie some time off the bench, which allowed him to tally a surprising 14 points in 18 minutes and Houston rode Pippen (23-5-5-3) and Payton (19-8-15-2) to a close 102-101 win. Game 1 was in the books and it was a game that promised the world a tight series.

Game 2 wasn’t that close a game at all.





The first few minutes of Game 2 was a defensive matter, as neither team — either due to good defense or bad nerves — could sink a shot, at least until Pippen was fouled with 9:31 to go in the quarter.



The Rockets transition game made the Celtics look like they were standing still. The old legs of Boston went down 29-20 at the end of one and entered halftime down 61-46 — a score that only grew from there as the Celtics lost 123-94 in a blowout win that stunned Boston.




“Not sure why we even bothered to show up,” Bird said after the game. “Doesn’t look like we want to be here.”

The call-out was a tactic Bird had used before to light a fire under his teammates and it was an effective one for Game 3 — Boston, now on their home-court, came out and battered their way to a win. Despite being down 51-48 at the half, the Celtics watched Bird (32-7-9-3) and Reggie Lewis (22-4) put on magnificent performances in the overtime victory, just edging out the Rockers 112-110.

Boston had avoided a 3-0 hole and had new life.

It was a frustrating loss for the Rockets and that frustration boiled over in Game 4, as Houston got shellacked 33-12 in the first quarter — Pippen, Grant, and Payton all accumulating fouls at a high rate, each of them fouling out late in the third quarter and watching the rest of the game from the bench as their team collapsed 114-90.

“We were too hot-headed,” Kern recalled. “We came out and didn’t play aggressive, we played reckless, and that’s how you lose an entire series. When you come out and play reckless, the officials won’t give you the benefit of the doubt anymore.”

The Rockets were now on their heels, but were heading back to Houston in a series tied 2-2. The Rockets had expected Boston to take one game at the old Boston Garden, but not both. “The trip back was all about re-centering ourselves,” said Horace Grant. “We let Game 3 slip away and we played like dumb*sses in the next one … we had to play within ourselves.”

It was the first — and only time — that Pippen, Grant, and Payton had all fouled out together. The three pillars of the Rockets let the rest of the team know that Game 4 was on them, their fault, and — led by Pippen — promised that Game 5 would be a redemption.

Kern made no coaching adjustments, confident his players would answer the call on their own. “Tinkering with lineups doesn’t always lead to success,” said Kern. “I decided to stick with what got us there — if things looked off in the game, then I’d tinker.”

Game 5 saw the Rockets back at home and Houston needed the boost — the Celtics, now confident, weren’t going to go into the night quietly. “We could beat them,” said Bird. “We knew we could, we saw we could, and we really believed we *ucking would.”

The first quarter saw the teams battle out to a tense 27-27 tie — early foul trouble with Payton and Thorpe forced Houston to go to Pippen at a point earlier than expected, but the move paid dividends in the second when the Rockets won the quarter and took a 51-49 lead into the half. It was a lead neither side felt good about, though — Houston was unhappy at how the officials were calling the game, while Boston’s veteran big-three of Bird, McHale, and Parish were struggling. Bird, in particular, was having a tough time scoring and it was only thanks to Boston’s bench and Reggie Lewis that the team was even that close.

The third quarter saw Boston’s struggles continue as they fell behind 79-71 entering the fourth and still, Bird was cold as ice. “My back was really bothering me,” said Bird. “I fell on it chasing a ball out of bounds and just tried to play through it, but it was locking up fierce.”

The fourth saw the Celtics fall — Boston simply couldn’t keep up as the Rockets pulled away and Houston didn’t pull its starters even with the game out of reach. “They didn’t want to come out, and I was fine with that,” said Kern after the game.







It was a big win and showed the world that Houston wasn’t going to bow down to the almighty mystique of the Boston Celtics. At least not on their own home-court; in Boston, the story was different as Game 6 saw the Celtics bounce back in a huge way, getting both Scot Roth and Scottie Pippen to foul out early in the third quarter — and that allowed Boston to cruise to a 122-89 win. Pippen was held to a paltry 6 points in a disappointing display. “I failed tonight,” Pippen stated bluntly after the game. “I failed and we lost. This is on me.”

Once more, the Finals would come down to a Game 7 but this time it would be in Houston — could the Rockets close out the Celtics or would Boston finish them off?

Game 7 tipped off and immediately it became apparent that the Rockets weren’t going to entertain the thought of the Celtics winning the contest. Houston exploded out to a 28-6 lead, led in large part by Gary Payton, who had an incredible first quarter (Payton finished with 10 points and 7 assists in the quarter) and the Celtics looking like someone rocked them with an uppercut. Boston never recovered.

“We knew we could frustrate them if we made it slow, but they played so fast … we didn’t have the legs left,” said Bird. “Our season ended after the first quarter and we all knew it.”

Houston would win Game 7 by a score of 105-73 — a curb-stomping blowout. For the first time in the Rockets history, they got to celebrate a title on their home-floor.










Gary Payton was named Finals MVP, rewarded for locking down Danny Ainge and Reggie Lewis across seven games.




The final box score of the series showed three things: first, that the Celtics as the NBA knew them were likely done. A 30-point loss in a Finals Game 7 showed just how far the Celtics had fallen off — no longer were they the top competition in the league; the years of basketball mileage had reduced the team from great to just good, a chasm in a league as talented as the NBA.

Second, it showed that Houston’s second superstar was officially Gary Payton — there had been some debate whether Payton was really that important, but the way he locked down Danny Ainge and Reggie Lewis during the Finals series had put that debate to rest — it was now Pippen and Payton as the top two stars, no longer Pippen and Grant.

Third, it showed Houston had a well-balanced roster; even when the Rockets best players weren’t hitting at the same time, the other players — Thorpe, Malone, Elie, Roth — all played well and allowed the stars to feed off them when they fell into a funk.

This was, top-to-bottom, a championship roster with two titles under their belts — and they were going to be the favorites entering next year, barring any significant changes.

As the Rockets celebrated their second straight title in their hometown, there was only one person on the planet who looked at Houston’s roster and saw the need for something different.

It was their GM, Nate Hale, and he would make a series of moves in the summer that would set off a firestorm. “I had come to the conclusion that the team, as constructed, had reached its peak,” said Hale. “In stocks, when that happens, it’s time to sell high — recoup your current value and flip that for better long-term value.”

Houston — and the rest of the NBA — was about to watch Hale do what no GM in their right mind did: he was about to break up a championship winning squad … while they were still on top.

[trekfan]

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


Ch. 25

The idea to break up the Rockets didn’t occur overnight for Hale — it started with a thought birthed by lottery balls. On May 17th, 1992, the Houston Rockets — thanks to the Sleepy Floyd trade nearly two years earlier (the pick formerly belonged to the Wizards) — had the 10th best odds of getting the top pick in the 1992 NBA Draft. Statistically, the Rockets had a 4.5% chance at grabbing the top selection and adding a high-upside player to their already stacked roster.



The Rockets front office was, to say the least, excited about the prospect, but that excitement turned to elation when the lottery was over and Houston had gotten the fourth overall pick in the stacked draft. “We knew, then and there, that we were going to get a player who could keep our team contending for titles,” said Hale.




The Toronto Raptors had managed to snag the top overall pick, giving the expansion franchise — the only one in Canada — a chance to grab a foundational superstar who could lead their team into a successful future. The Raptors GM, Quincy Taggart, already had a jersey made for the pick they were going take: Shaquille O’Neal. “I can’t wait to see him on the court,” said Taggart the day of the lottery. “He’ll be the biggest star in our country, quite literally.”

There was one problem with Taggart’s proclamation: O’Neal didn’t want to go to Canada. In a statement released by his agent the very next day, O’Neal said that he appreciated the Raptors enthusiasm, but that he would refuse to play in Toronto if they drafted him, saying that the team was too far from his family. He also ruled out Milwaukee. He would sit out the season if drafted by either of those teams.

It was a bold but calculated move on the part of O’Neal and his camp. “I was going to pull an Elway,” recalled O’Neal. “I didn’t want any part of Toronto or Milwaukee … I wasn’t gonna be my best in places like that.”

The rest of the NBA was now caught in a bind: would they trade up for O’Neal, setting a precedent many GMs considered dangerous? Or would they sit back and bet that Toronto and Milwaukee wouldn’t take him, hoping that O’Neal would slide? It was a game of chicken for multiple front offices and agents. O’Neal’s statement essentially threw the draft’s expected order out the window.

“Shaq put out a call that I heard loud and clear,” said Hale. When the GM of the Rockets read the statement, he immediately began drawing up potential trade packages but he let no one else know. If word got out that he was even considering breaking up the team for a rookie — even a rookie like O’Neal — it would surely distract the Rockets on the court and cause their pursuit of a second-straight title to fall short.

After the Rockets won the title, only 36 hours after the final buzzer of the season had sounded, did Hale inform his closest front office staff members of his idea. To say they were shocked would be an understatement.

“I thought he had lost his damned mind,” said international scout Marcus Jones. A former point guard who had gone undrafted twelve years before, Jones had gone overseas where he earned a good amount of money and experience; after his playing career he became a well-trusted scout in the international scene. When Hale had taken over the Rockets, he had hired Jones as his full-time scout with a significant pay-bump.

But even a bigger check couldn’t make the idea of breaking up a championship-winning squad palatable. “I told him he was a lunatic.”

Hale’s second lieutenant, Tank Jackson — a seven-foot pale beanpole who was as much a cowboy as he was a plugged in domestic scout (and whose father had desperately wanted him to be a football player) — was less apoplectic. “I thought it was a bad idea but I was willing to hear him out.” Jackson had been part of organizations that hung onto championship cores just a little too long — and by doing so had set themselves back years. “I’d rip the band-aid off sooner than later, all things the same.”

Neither Jones or Jackson were convinced Hale’s plan was viable. Sure, O’Neal had declared he wouldn’t he wouldn’t play in Toronto or Milwaukee, but did he really mean it? The draft was only a week away and so far the Raptors hadn’t even entertained any offers, at least publicly. But that fact didn’t deter Hale in the slightest. “Deals don’t get done in public if they’re done right,” he told his lieutenants.

The night of June 17th, 1992, Nate Hale called up Quincy Taggart to test the waters — he knew the Raptors were a franchise struggling to build a foundation, a culture, and a fanbase for team that hadn’t seen much success in its brief two years of existence. He asked the question that he was sure others had asked Taggart: what was the price for the top selection?

“I told him I needed at least a top-five pick, a few starters, and at least one other first rounder unprotected,” recalled Taggart. “I told him that was my starting point — that was what I needed to hear in order to consider the proposal, not accept it. I set the bar so high … I never thought anyone would reach it.”

Taggart was under massive pressure by his fanbase to get O’Neal; ownership was less sure if O’Neal was worth the trouble but wasn’t willing to sell low on the big man. “To pass on Shaq was to sign my own death warrant,” said Taggart. “I couldn’t pick someone ahead of him, I’d never work in the NBA again as an executive if I let him dictate terms like he wanted. He was holding us hostage, I was holding him hostage. I wasn’t going to give up or surrender … I knew he wanted to play and I knew he could make a lot of money being the focal point of our franchise. That would win out, in my mind.”

Taggart’s price had driven away other suitors — the Magic didn’t have the stomach for such a price and didn’t call back. Neither did the Grizzlies — the Pelicans had called, heard the price, and debated about it, but eventually decided against making an offer; they knew their star, Toni Kukoc, would have to be included in order to get a deal done and they weren’t willing to do that.

Hale was left looking through his drawn up trade packages and trying to figure out which one could work. “I knew we couldn’t trade Pippen or Payton; doing that was a waste of my time. Shaq was incredibly valuable but I couldn’t risk losing either of those players … they were cornerstones. Ultimately, it came down to who would be expendable if we had Shaq.”

Hale, to Taggart’s surprise, called back the next day with an offer: Otis Thorpe, the Rockets two first rounders in the 1992 draft (the 4th and 30th overall picks respectively) and PF Derek Strong. Thorpe was a starting center off a title squad, Strong had played a big role in the 1991 season and had important moments in the postseason the previous two years … it was a decent starting point.

Taggart took the offer into consideration for a few minutes, talking it through, then soundly rejected it. It wasn’t enough. He would need more to get approval from ownership.

Hale went back to the drawing board and decided the next expendable piece was Mario Elie — Elie had performed far above expectations in the 1992 playoffs and had been a key reason why Houston survived against Boston; Hale called up Utah and asked it they’d be interested in acquiring Elie for their 1st rounder, 12th overall. The Jazz didn’t hesitate to jump at the offer; desperate to make the playoffs with Stockton and Malone after missing it the last two years, they were feeling the pressure. “Another young player doesn’t help us win next spring,” said Jazz GM Frank Layden days later. “We wanted to give our guys the best chance to win a title this year.”

Armed with that extra pick — assuming Toronto agreed — Hale called back and offered it up in addition to the other players. A second lottery pick was enough to move the needle for Taggart; he’d be able to get two championship-winning players (one a starter and the other good enough to be one on their team) and two lottery picks, plus a late-round 1st that could yield future assets. It was a steep price to pay for a top overall pick, but Taggart had the approval of ownership to do it — they didn’t want the headache that Shaq appeared to be. “They wanted to win then, not bet on Shaq getting them there eventually,” said Taggart. “We did the deal and I hoped I wouldn’t regret it.”




June 19th, 1992, was the day the deal officially went through — Otis Thorpe was on vacation with his family in the Caribbean when his agent reached him with the news. Thorpe was gutted — after two years of being told he wasn’t going to be traded and two straight titles, he had been shipped off to another NBA team in another damned country. “I went from having a great time to having a *hitty time on that vacation,” said Thorpe. “I was furious … but my agent told me that Hale had gotten the Raptors’ word, written and guaranteed, that I’d get a contract extension from them six months from then. He didn’t have to do that … I was still mad, but the fact that he went out of his way to get me that deal, to take care of me and mine like that … it softened the blow.”

Derek Strong, by comparison, was thrilled — he and his cat, Boots, would be heading to a new country for new adventures. “Boots was a long-haired boy, so going from the heat of Texas to the chilled out Canada air, I thought that would be good for him,” said Strong. Strong and his cat would go on to become fan favorites in Toronto, where the Raptors media department would frequently feature them in PR material.

Elie, getting shipped off to Utah, wasn’t terribly surprised — his deal was up the next summer and he wasn’t planning on taking discounts. He had made it known to the Houston front office that his price tag was going to be high. “I had a few years of earnings to make up, they knew it and I knew it, and they decided they wouldn’t pay it,” said Elie. The Jazz, upon completing the trade, signed Elie to a three-year extension to keep him out of free agency and Elie went to Utah a happy man.

The other Rockets were split on the deal; the biggest division came between Pippen and Grant. Pippen was happy to see the front office strengthening the team and wished his former teammates well publicly, but privately he was glad to see Strong go — he didn’t believe Strong wanted to be there at all. Thorpe was harder to say goodbye to, but in Pippen’s mind the big man played a bit too soft … Thorpe was never a great rebounder and didn’t finish strong around the rim. “In my mind, Otis’ game was a bit too finesse for us,” said Pippen. “His game made it harder for us to play at our best.”

Grant wasn’t happy to see Thorpe go at all; Grant felt that Thorpe and Strong were forgotten about, like himself, and the three bigs commiserated often over all the playtime — and press — Pippen and Payton got. “It felt like they got shipped off for a lottery ticket,” Grant recalled. “I wasn’t a much of a gambler and we had just won a second-straight title … I hated to see them go. I felt like those two guys had already sacrificed so much due to Moses coming aboard and now, to see them get sent away for a rookie … it made me sick.”

Gary Payton, for his part, wasn’t sure which way to feel — he’d seen O’Neal play, he’d heard from his own friends how amazing O’Neal was, but could the 7’1” big fella be the same force he was in college? “I didn’t *ucking know,” said Payton. “I just hoped Nate and his crew knew what the hell they were doing … I wouldn’t have done the deal, but I didn’t think there was any *ucking way someone was gonna trade that pick to begin with.”

Payton wasn’t the only one who believed Toronto wouldn’t make that trade. Wrote Houston Chronicle columnist Chris Judge:

The Rockets have done the unthinkable — they’ve traded away their starting center, two important role players, and a bunch of picks for just one player. Undoubtedly, Shaquille O’Neal is a rare talent that deserves to be the top selection in the draft, but is he worth this much? Especially when the Raptors were willing to part with the pick? Houston either got robbed or committed a robbery, and we’ll know when the season starts which one is the truth.

For Shaquille O’Neal, the trade was a sure sign that he had made the right decision in telling the world his feelings on Toronto and Milwaukee. “I said to the NBA, ‘Come and get me’ and only one team did: the Rockets. They didn’t care about the cost … they knew I was gonna make them better and I knew I was gonna be better with them.”

O’Neal’s agent also had a vested interest in his client being in Houston — it was where his only other client was. Jarrod Mitchell, thanks to Pippen and the Rockets success, had managed to snag O’Neal as a client when O’Neal had declared for the draft. “I was beyond thankful,” said Mitchell. “He chose me out of a hundred other guys and it was because of how things went down in Chicago.” Mitchell wasn’t looking to be the handler of dozens of players — he wanted to handle specific clients, clients that he felt he could steer towards good organizations. The Rockets, in Mitchell’s mind, was the best organization in the NBA — and the fact that Houston had traded up for his guy made Mitchell’s life a lot easier.

“Shaq and Scottie got along well — when the deal was done and Houston had the pick, I arranged a meeting between the two and they hit it off,” said Mitchell. “Shaq was this loud, joyful, generous guy and he recognized Scottie’s talent … he wasn’t a guy who was walking around thinking he was the greatest thing ever. He knew he had to prove himself before his peers.”

The 1992 NBA Draft saw the Rockets surprise no one and they eagerly selected O’Neal, making him their top — and only — draft choice of the night. But O’Neal wasn’t their only rookie to sign that summer — after a year in Slovenia, fighting for his country’s independence, Sasa Drobnjak came over and signed a deal. The 6’10” PF was largely forgotten about by the coaching staff and the fans, but Hale was high on the prospect. “I thought he was going to prove to be a very important piece for us,” said Hale.

The Rockets draft night had been a huge success, but the rest of the league wasn’t sitting idly by as Houston tried to position itself as the ruling dynasty of the NBA: there were other teams in Texas, after all, and the former great teams of the Western Conference certainly weren’t going to surrender their season so early.

The Rockets had upped the ante — the rest of the league would soon follow suit.

[jj248]

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

The guy who decided to cook his meat was crazy, until everyone tried it. And they've been in 2 straight game 7s in their repeat. To the old Celtics.

[trekfan]

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


The SI 1992 NBA Draft Recap
By Sam Gray

The NBA saw the draft set off what promises to be a wild offseason, as multiple teams and players moved around and reshaped the league. First up, the pre-draft trades:




The Raptors engaged with Houston and Utah to ship off the 1st overall pick, a deal that has been in the works for days. Once Toronto won the draft lottery, with Milwaukee behind them, presumptive (near-lock) 1st overall pick Shaquille O’Neal released a statement saying he wouldn’t play in either town — the Raptors had to get value back and after dangling that pick to multiple teams, Houston presented the best, most asset rich package.

Toronto received Thorpe (starting center), the 4th, 12th, and 30th overall picks, plus PF Derek Strong (himself the 17th overall pick in the 1990 draft). Mario Elie gets shipped to the Jazz in exchange for their 1st, and Houston gets the coveted 1st overall pick.

For Utah, this deal was simple: unwilling to bring back Alex English (who can score in bunches but defend nothing), Elle gives them exactly what they want at that spot for much cheaper (Elie agreed to a 3yr extension with them). Toronto receives two veteran players, both of which were fine with being sent there, as the Raptors will be able to give them both big contract extensions in the next two years. Houston’s play to land O’Neal stripped them of three valuable players, one a starter, but enables them to lock in O’Neal on a cheap rookie contract and keep their title window wide-open (assuming O’Neal pans out).



Next up, the Pacers decided to blow it up — with two key starters free agents (PG Fleming, SF Person), Indiana and Reggie Miller agreed that neither party was happy — and Reggie got shipped off to San Antonio for Jeff Hornacek. Hornacek and the Spurs weren’t a good fit together (as proven in the playoffs, where San Antonio was embarrassed in Round 2 by Houston). Indiana also sent away Schrempf in exchange for the Suns Armen Gilliam, and the Pacers got two additional 1st rounders out of it.

For San Antonio, this trade was a clear response to the Rockets and their second-straight title. For the Suns, Schrempf represents a clear offensive upgrade over Gilliam and someone who can take over for Tom Chambers (who’s 34 and may not play as well much longer).



Finally, the Sonics and Celtics engaged in a deal, as Boston wanted to trade up in the draft — this was a simple exchange of picks, as the Celtics sent the Sonics their lightly protected 1993 1st for the 20th overall selection.


All that out of the way, the draft started and the first pick went exactly as expected.



At the top, the Rockets selected C Shaquille O’Neal. The surprisingly spry and fast O’Neal dominated in college and his ability to bully people inside and run the floor makes him an ideal match for the Runnin’ Rockets. Did Houston trade too much to get Shaq? Debatable, but pairing O’Neal with veteran Moses Malone (who taught Hakeem a few things) should do nothing but accelerate Shaq’s development into the superstar the league believes he can be.


2nd overall, the the Bucks made the easy selection of C Alonzo Mourning. Mourning, unlike O’Neal, wasn’t against being drafted by anyone and Mourning has made that clear in his statements that whatever town he lands in, he’ll do his best to bring a title to. Mourning isn’t quite the destructive force that Shaq is, but he’s far more versatile (Mourning can shoot the ball decently from mid-range unlike Shaq) and Milwaukee will happily take him.

3rd overall, the Magic were left with the best big on the board — Duke’s Christian Laettner. Laettner may have been the most hated player in college basketball last season and Orlando may need some of that edge after watching their chance at Shaq slip through their fingers not just once (losing the lottery) but twice (when Toronto rejected their trade offer for the pick). Laettner should pair up well with the Magic’s other big, young C Felton Spencer, but just how good he can be is a question.

4th overall, the Raptors pick up SG Jim Jackson. Jackson had no issues playing in Toronto and his dynamic wing play is something the team desperately needs as the previous starter, veteran Lloyd Lewis, is highly likely to depart in free agency. Jackson can score the ball nearly at will and though his defense isn’t great, it’s at least average — pairing him with PG Kenny Anderson, PF Antonio Davis, and veteran C Otis Thorpe may give the Raptors their first legitimate NBA team in franchise history.


5th overall, the Grizzlies selected SF/PF Clarence Weatherspoon. Weatherspoon is a bit of a tweener, but could easily start at PF or be the Grizzlies designated sixth-man at this stage of his career — Memphis needs all the talent it could get and though they would have preferred a more exciting player here, Weatherspoon meets a need they had and has a high ceiling — whether the rookie will finish his contract with Memphis is another story, as the Grizzlies may have made this selection with an eye towards a future trade.




6th overall, the Pelicans grabbed SG/SF Malik Sealy. Sealy is a lanky scorer, able to get buckets and defend at a high level … when he’s motivated. NOLA is betting they can get him motivated, as the franchise missed out on O’Neal and is in desperate need of winning more than 14 games a year — unfortunately for them, they play in a brutal Southwest division (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and fellow expansion team Memphis) and so far the Pelicans haven’t had any luck getting high in the lottery or finding any steals in free agency. NOLA needs Sealy to hit, bottom-line.

7th overall, the Nets grabbed PF Laphonso Ellis. Ellis will immediately project as a starter for a Nets team that, two years ago, was coming off a 50-win season and a playoff berth; everything has fallen apart since but Ellis should help right the ship behind last year’s picks SF Billy Owens and C Stanley Roberts.

8th overall, the Kings select SG Harold Miner. Miner has incredible measurables and can leap out of the building if need be, a trait Sacramento’s guards just haven’t had. With many of their veterans free agents and unlikely (definitely an understatement) to come back to the losing squad, the Kings are looking at Miner as a building block for their next iteration.

9th overall were the Hornets and Charlotte made C PJ Brown their pick. Brown was considered by many experts to be a bit of a reach here, but after O’Neal and Mourning, the center pool dried up fast. Brown will come in and immediately take the starting job from former lottery pick JR Reid (who is expected to enter free agency). Whether this pick will be enough to get Charlotte closer to the playoffs is another question entirely, but the Hornets are full of hope that Brown will make a difference.

10th saw the T’Wolves pick up SF Walt Williams. Williams will represent new blood at the SF position as longtime starter Ty Corbin has made it known he won’t be back in the twin cities. Williams has a great shot, can play good defense, and has the skills to shift down or up in position if need be; he’s not a sexy pick, but Minnesota isn’t a franchise that makes sexy picks.



At 11, the Nuggets selected Latrell Spreewell. The firecracker scorer from Alabama, Spreewell can get a bucket from anywhere on the court and plays solid, if unremarkable, defense. The biggest drawback Spreewell has (and why he wasn’t selected higher) is that he’s known to have a temper, especially when things aren’t going his way on the court. Spreewell will need to mature some, but he’ll have that chance in Denver as he’ll be coming off the bench as a sixth-man — a good role for a player of his type early in their careers.

At 12, the Raptors — using the pick from Utah — select SF Tracy Murray. Murray represents Toronto’s belief that their current starter, SF Johnny Newman (former Knick) will depart at the end of his contract — Murray will be his replacement and until then serve as the designated scorer off the bench. Murray’s good at many things, but not great at anything — perhaps by the time he becomes a starter that will change.

At 13, the 76ers added SG Todd Day. Day will be a rotation piece at this stage of his career but Philly has greater plans for him, as he’s expected to succeed Hersey Hawkins when his contract is up (in the summer of 1994). Hawkins has been adamant that he won’t agree to a contract extension with any team, preferring to hit free agency, so Philly is handcuffed to him until then or they can convince him to change his mind; in the meantime, Day will be getting valuable reps on a Sixers team that surprised many with how well they performed in the playoffs last year.

At 14, the Pacers add SG/SF Doug Christie. Christie will not be looked upon as the successor of Reggie Miller, but Indiana expects him to contribute right away. Christie’s an incredible defender for his age and has a good deep shot, which should allow the new-look Pacers to spread the floor consistently. Depending on how free agency plays out, the Pacers could be forced to start Christie at SF, where they currently have a giant hole.

At 15, the Hawks add PG Brent Price, brother of Mark Price. Price was widely considered one of the better PG prospects in this class, but that’s not saying much as the PG pool was quite shallow this year; Price won’t be expected to be anything more than a rotation piece in a make-or-break year for the Dominique Wilkins lead Hawks, who may be forced to blow it up (and trade Wilkins away) if they can’t manage to do more than sneak into the playoffs.



The most interesting pick here is SF/PF Robert Horry. Horry is young, can shoot, and plays a position the Blazers may need to fill as Clyde Drexler is a free agent and signs are pointing towards him leaving. If Clyde bolts from Portland, Horry will be thrust into more minutes and the Blazers may find themselves picking quite high next season.



At 21 the Pacers, using the pick acquired Reggie Miller trade, select C/PF Oliver Miller. With Rik Smits a free agent next summer and Indiana unsure if he’ll come back, Miller is a safe selection, though a bit of an undersized one. Miller’s not ready to start this year, but if forced to he could absorb some minutes - Indiana is hoping they won’t be forced to.



At 27 the ECF champs, Boston, select C Sean Rooks in a move to address just how old their frontcourt is. Rooks will join fellow rookie PF Tom Gugliotta (selected 20th overall) as part of a draft class that Boston is hoping will grow up quickly as Bird is 35, McHale is 34 (and a free agent next summer), and Parrish is 39 — the end for this core is near and Boston is hoping to achieve the title they’ve come so close to getting this season.

[trekfan]

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







1992 Free Agency Recap
By Sam Gray



The moratorium period is over and the NBA is back to business, in a league reshaped by multiple offseason moves. Let’s review the major signings — good, bad, or ugly:

PF/SF Chuck Person to PHI — Good. Person, who’s played with Indiana the last few years, is a 21-7 threat, a big who can shoot and stretch the floor; he was miscast in Indiana, who played him too often as an SF, but in Philly he’ll assume the starting PF role and be able to give Dawkins, Hawkins, and Worthy a lot of space to work with.

SF Otis Smith to MIL — Bad. The Bucks are a franchise in a rut; despite drafting Alonzo Mourning, Shaq’s declaration about the city (“Not a place I want to be with my family, that’s for sure,” said Shaq) was emblematic of what a lot of players were telling their agents — don’t send me to Milwaukee. The Bucks ownership hasn’t exactly been present or helpful in the day-to-day operation and Milwaukee’s front office was only able to grab Smith, who can score (averaged 16-6 last year off the bench) but provides no defense. Expect the Bucks to be at the top of the lottery once more after this season.

SF Ron Anderson/SF Buck Johnson to CHI — Good? The Bulls made it to the ECF last season before the veteran Celtics upset them rather easily, 4-1, as Jordan and Hakeem once more fell short and had to watch their former teammates in Houston win it all, again. Chicago didn’t have a lot cap room to make a major move and neither Jordan or Hakeem have committed to a contract extension, which means — as of now — the two are slated to become free agents next summer and potentially upset the entire NBA world. Chicago is staring down a barrel of loaded, angry gun and if they can’t win a title this year, the Bulls as we know it may be over.

PG Mark Price/SF Orlando Woolridge to CLE — Good. Cleveland didn’t fool around and let Price walk, instead offering him a 5yr max contract and getting him to sign on the dotted line easily. The Cavs added former Laker Woolridge as a scorer off the bench and Cleveland looks reloaded and ready to go for another deep playoff run and a chance at a title.

C Chris Dudley/PG BJ Armstrong/SG Lewis Lloyd/SF Alex English to BOS — Good. The Celtics lost for the second year in a row in a Finals Game 7, but this time instead of loading up exclusively with vets, Boston grabbed some much younger players — Dudley and Armstrong (27 and 26 respectively). Those two, combined with veterans Lloyd (who played well in Toronto) and English (legendary scorer) should help keep Boston near the top of the East and give them a chance to get one more title out of this core.

SF Donald Royal/C Tod Murphy to ATL — Bad. The Hawks barely finished above .500 last year and they snuck into the playoffs because of it … only to get demolished by the Bulls. With Dominique another year older, Atlanta needed to make a major move to get back into the East’s top tier and very much didn’t. The Hawks look DOA this season and that could mean the end of Dominique Wilkins in the ATL.

SG Sarunas Marciulionis to MIA — Good. The Heat addressed their so-so wing players with the addition of Marciulionis, who excelled being the first guard off the bench in Golden State and should do the same here; his size also gives Miami the ability to shift him to SF if needed, a wrinkle they’ll need in the playoffs.

SG Kelvin Upshaw/PF JR Reid to CHA — Bad. The Hornets underwhelmed in free agency and secured players that can help, but not move the needle; Charlotte is stuck on the treadmill of mediocrity that Atlanta now finds itself on and if the Hornets are to avoid that fate, they’ll need to be better at bringing in free agent talent.

SG Kevin Edwards/PG Lester Conner to NYK — Good. The Knicks lost 3-1 last year to the Heat, due in no small part to the bench play of Edwards — Miami let him go, but New York scooped him right up. The Knicks also brought in Conner on a 1yr deal to provide solid backup PG duty and New York managed to address its needs without overpaying badly.

PF/SF Dennis Rodman/PG Mo Cheeks/C Jack Sikma/SG Vernon Maxwell to LAL — Good. The Lakers had serious depth and injury issues last season, which was a disappointment considering the hype Barkley brought. Adding Dennis Rodman (who’ll start at PF while Barkley starts at SF) and his incredible play last season for Detroit (he averaged 18-12-2 in a contract year) will certainly improve the Lakers on-court fortunes. Off the court, putting Barkley and Rodman in the same locker room may result in the first intra-team brawl on the court, especially if Rodman’s big numbers from last season were just a contract-year mirage (which many in the NBA believe).

SG Brian Shaw/SF Jerome Kersey to ORL — Bad? The Magic got younger at the two with Shaw, but a bit older with Kersey, and didn’t really seem to improve the team … but then again the team was bad before, so new blood has to be some sort of improvement. Orlando is a confusing team and has yet to really find its identity as a franchise (unlike the Heat).

SF/SG Clyde Drexler/PF Roy Tarpley to DAL — Good. Dallas was upset in Round 1 by the Clippers in a shocker and they’ve been disappointing the last three years (Round 2 loss, Round 2 loss, and a Round 1 loss) despite their talented roster. With Nate Hale winning 2 titles straight and his brother not making it past the second round, Dallas went all out, grabbing the veteran Drexler, bringing back Tarpley on a big deal, and declaring for all to see that its title or bust time for this core; Drexler signing with Dallas is a huge coup and could propel the Mavericks to greater free agency accomplishments in the future.

PF Larry Krystkowiak/SF Rodney McCray to NJ — Ugly. What exactly are the Nets doing? McCray and Krystkowiak are two veterans who’ll take playing time away from younger players, the exact opposite of what a team in New Jersey’s position should be doing. The Nets front office is desperate, however, and want to compete this year for a playoff spot, hence these signings.

PG Vern Fleming to DEN— Good. The Nuggets let Michael Adams walk and are replacing him with Fleming (15-4-12), formerly of the Pacers. Fleming will bring a lot of scoring to Denver and a dose of solid defense (in short supply last year for the Nuggets down the stretch); his signing may be enough to get the Nuggets back into the postseason.

PG Mark Jackson/SF Rolando Blackman to IND— Good. The Pacers addressed two big needs here, signing Jackson to a long term deal (letting him start finally after years of being a backup on the Knicks) and adding Blackman on a 1yr balloon deal. Jackson will bring defense and passing, Blackman will bring scoring, and the Pacers may have just assembled a better team without Reggie Miller on it.

PG Michael Adams to NOLA — Good. NOLA has tried the Danny Young experiment and found that Young isn’t good enough to direct an NBA offense as a starter; enter in Adams, 29 and coming off a few years of success in Denver (though no playoff berths). Adams will bring good offense and good defense to a struggling NOLA squad that’s in desperate need of a competitive season.

SF Tyrone Corbin/PG Hawoode Workman to DET — Good. The Pistons lost Rodman but replaced him with Corbin, a player who does some things worse than Rodman but also some things better. Workman is a big signing as he’ll look to seize the backup PG role, which Detroit’s former 1st rounder Negele Knight has failed to do in 2 years on the team.


SF/SG Walter Davis to HOU — Good. The Rockets didn’t need much, but after trading away key pieces in Strong, Ellie, and Thorpe, Houston needed some firepower on their bench. Enter in the 38-year-old Davis, fresh off a season as Phoenix’s bench scorer (15-3 in 20 MPG), he’ll see similar minutes here. Davis has made it clear to Houston that this is his final year in the league, but it’s his best shot at getting a title.


PG Darrell Walker/SG Reggie Theus/SF Kiki Vandeweghe to PHX — Good? The Suns added a bunch of veterans who like to score, but not a one of them can defend much anymore. Phoenix will need to be careful how it allocates their minutes, but if the Suns can blend them into their rotation well, they might have a shot at getting back to the WCF, something they managed 2 years ago.

SF Derrick Chievous/PF Terry Davis to POR — Ugly. The Blazers watched franchise legend Drexler walk away and replaced him with bit parts. Neither Chievous or Davis are good enough to replace Drexler, and Portland seems ready to commit to a rebuild if things go bad during the regular season.

PF Sidney Green to GS — Good. The Warrior let Rod Higgins walk and used the savings to bring in Green, who had a good year off the bench for Boston and will look to do similarly here.

[RolePlayer]

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

It's going to be so fun to watch how you develop things with Shaq over the years.

[trekfan]

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

It's going to be so fun to watch how you develop things with Shaq over the years.

Yeah, I really wanted to play with Shaq so I went and got him here -- at first, wasn't sure if the trade I made was fair at all, but things ended up working out better than expected for all parties ... at least for a time.

[trekfan]

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


Ch. 26

The summer of 1992 saw the NBA’s free agency turn into a full-fledged arms race — while Houston had secured itself its big piece in the draft (O’Neal), the other teams in the West turned their attention to trades and free agents to make their teams better. San Antonio, after a year of the Jeff Hornacek experience, shipped him off to Indiana and imported in Reggie Miller — the most talented two-guard the franchise had employed since George Gervin.

The Lakers added mercurial — and potential headcase — Dennis Rodman to their team, in a move that Jerry West was unsure of but felt necessary after the way the Lakers had their season go. “We needed to be contending for titles, not limping towards playoff spots,” said West. “I felt like we had to roll the dice and Doctor Buss felt the same way — we couldn’t afford to be left behind.” West’s addition of Rodman was no coincidence — the Lakers had hired Chuck Daly, Rodman’s former coach in Detroit, after Daly and the Pistons mutually parted ways at the end of Detroit’s season (another first round out).

Dallas didn’t just sit around — they went out and signed Clyde Drexler.

“Getting Clyde was a huge coup,” said Mavericks’ owner Trent Lewis. “We had to make a move to improve our team, to move the needle in a big way … Clyde was someone who knew what it was to play in Texas, what it was to battle in the West against Houston. He wanted to be with us.”

Drexler’s run’s in Portland had come to an inglorious, disappointing end — and it wasn’t an end he wished to repeat in Dallas. “I came here to win titles,” Drexler stated simply in his introduction press conference. But it was more than that for Drexler — the Blazers window of opportunity had been slammed shut by Houston and to have his hometown team do that to him, year after year, had made his feelings towards the Rockets a bit bitter.

The fact that they didn’t even approach him in free agency also added to bad feelings. “My agent called them and wanted to set up a meeting and they declined,” said Drexler. “That stung, it was insulting … I could have worked with them. I really could have, but the way the organization was run, that front office was too arrogant to see that.”

Houston was happy to stay away from any big free agents — they wanted to add pieces to their team, not another big name or a superstar in the making. “We had chemistry to worry about,” said GM Nate Hale. “We didn’t want to get too many guys who wanted the ball … it’s a delicate balance, accumulating talent. You have to have players willing to blend in and buy in. We felt Clyde would be a poor fit for the team we already had.”

The tension between Drexler and the Rockets would rear its ugly head during the 1992 Summer Olympics, where Pippen (selected early on in the process) and Drexler (a late edition) would find themselves on opposite teams in practice and the two went at each other. It was, of all people, Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley who kept the two players from coming to blows, but the tension was thick.

Luckily for the Dream Team, Coach Chuck Daly knew how to keep everyone on the same page and the USA easily took gold.

Free agency saw the Rockets add veteran SF Walter Davis, who had been a good performer off the bench for the Suns the year before and, much like Moses Malone, was looking for to add a ring before his career came to an end. Training camp saw Houston report with new faces at key spots — gone was Thorpe, replaced by O’Neal (who entered camp as the defacto starter and did everything to prove he was, in fact, the unquestionable best option). Out was Elie, replaced by the veteran (and much older) Davis and no longer was Strong glued to the bench — in his place was the unknown rookie Drobnjak, who spoke a decent amount of English … but wasn’t exactly fluent in it.



O’Neal’s first day in camp saw him matched up against the veteran Moses Malone and O’Neal looked like tank with a rocket booster attached to it: he was insanely strong and fast, and made Malone look like a statue multiple times. The coaching staff — especially Randy Kern — hadn’t been sure about the trade, but O’Neal won them over quite quickly. “Shaq came in and showed an amazing burst … he was more powerful, more quick-footed, than anyone knew,” said Kern. “He was going to surprise a lot of people in the league.”

Drobnjak was, compared to O’Neal, not nearly as fluid — the rust was clearly there for the power forward, who had spent the last year in shape but not in basketball shape. “He was in military shape,” said Rockets head trainer Harvey Ross. “The poor kid had been training, daily, for a war that he never had to fight … and once he was sure that the war wasn’t going to happen, he pivoted to trying to get back into basketball shape. Basketball and war are two different things, but Sasa wasn’t someone to do anything half-hearted. He was all heart.”

Drobnjak impressed the coaching staff with his hustle and his confidence. “I tried to come in and make good entrance,” recalled Drobnjak. “I wanted to show I could play and play well … my English was much worse than my basketball, for sure.”

The coaching staff paired Drobnjak with center Terry Moncrief for workout drills and the two hit it off famously. “Sasa and I became almost instant friends, from moment one,” said Moncrief. “He was funny and clever, and he really was a kind guy.”

“Terry and Sasa, they were brothers from another mother,” said O’Neal. “Sasa was a cool, cool customer. Some guys came from the streets, but Sasa came from a place where his life was on the line … he played with joy, played with purpose. He was Saucy Sasa … he didn’t back down and he made you like him for it.”

Drobnjak’s country, Slovenia, had declared its independence in the summer of 1991 and a bloody war could have spawned from it; instead, only a brief ten-day battle occurred with minimal casualties. Among them was Sasa’s elder brother, Marco, who had his right arm permanently damaged by gunfire. Sasa stayed behind in Slovenia, putting his NBA career on hold, to care for his brother, help his country, and keep himself in fighting shape in case things went badly. “I was hopeful I could play in the NBA one day,” said Drobnjak, “but I was much unsure if I would … things in my country were very confusing some days. I feared we would have to go to war in order to protect our independence.”

That war, thankfully, never came and Drobnjak was able to make his way over to the USA where he lived like he was playing on a contract of a fringe NBA player. “He sent back a lot of his money to his brother, his mother, his family,” said Rockets GM Nate Hale. “He had us just deposit it to them directly from his paycheck … he cared very deeply for his family. It spoke to his character and the type of man he was.”

The new Rockets were fitting in well with the rest of the two-time world champion roster — save for a few players who were getting awfully tired of all the press Pippen, Payton, and the two new rookies were getting.

The group of veterans were publicly supportive but privately unhappy. Led by Horace Grant — still unhappy with the way Thorpe and Strong had been traded — the group consisted of Tim Legler and Scot Roth. “We were the other guys,” said Grant. “Also known as ‘the rest of the team’ or ‘Houston’s supporting players’ or other BS like that. We were tired of the focus being so one-sided.”

Their complaining among each other never reached the level of any demands, but it did worry Coach Kern. “We were two-time defending champs and money, fame, it was flowing in all directions. Training camp left guys too much time to think on things that weren’t going to help the team.”

Basketball, thankfully, was right around the corner. The NBA had scheduled — rather cruelly — the Rockets to play the Wizards on opening night. Not only would Washington (and former Rocket Sleepy Floyd) have to watch Houston get their title rings, they’d also have to watch Shaquille O’Neal — a player taken by Houston because of the Sleepy Floyd trade — suit up for his first NBA game.

It would be the game where Shaquille O’Neal simply became “Shaq” to the rest of the NBA — a game where the rookie would prove himself in a big way.

[RolePlayer]

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

“He was in military shape" Idk why but seeing this quote in an NBA context was funny to me even though the real-life circumstances were grim.

[HarkTheSound]

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

Enjoyed catching up here.

Wish Shaq's young cyberface was in NBA 2K23, they took it out from his draft class for whatever reason. Anxious to see how he's utilized with the retooled roster.

[kibaxx7]

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

Oh man... Clyde leaving... I hope I don't have to go through the same scenario.

[trekfan]

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


Ch. 27

The Washington Wizards weren’t a team anyone believed would compete for more than a 7th or 8th seed playoff berth; that was the ceiling for that team. They were lambs that had been led to slaughter but the Wizards, despite missing out on O’Neal due to the Sleepy Floyd trade, weren’t simply prepared to roll over for the defending two-time champions. “We believed we could win,” recalled Sleepy Floyd. “It was our first game, we had a good training camp, and we were living off hope.”



That hope would be snuffed out — first by the Rockets ring ceremony, where the team posed with their new bling and did so with great joy.






Then when the game actually began — that’s when the difference between Shaquille O’Neal and every other big on the floor (both in that game and in the league) started to look like the difference between an ant hill and Mount Rushmore. As NBA columnist Sam Gray put it, “It was the scene in Star Wars where Obi Wan said, ‘That’s no moon.’ Shaquille O’Neal isn’t just a rookie — he’s the Deathstar.”

O’Neal was destructive, both on offense and defense, and the moment wasn’t too big for him — he looked completely at ease with it.





O’Neal’s night would be one for the record books, having one of the best rookie debuts in NBA history — he ate all night long and it became apparent to everyone in the building that Houston hadn’t just gotten the best player in the trade with Toronto, they may have gotten the best rookie ever in the deal.






Despite the Wizards best efforts, O’Neal destroyed every big Washington put on him. 40 points, 13 boards, 4 blocks, and 4 steals on superb shooting (16-26 from the field, 8-13 from the line). O’Neal was a beast, a man among boys at the NBA level.

“I was surprised at how well he played,” said Coach Kern after the game. “He never allowed himself to leave the game, even when he got a little foul prone, he just stuck with it.”

“I had to have a big game coming out, to prove to everyone I was there to win then, not later,” recalled O’Neal. “Lot of people talking about me like I wasn’t worth the price the team paid to get me … I wanted to prove them wrong.” O’Neal famously called starting Wizards center, Duane Causewell, “Barbecue Chicken” after the game and the young rookie would go on to make BBQ chicken out of many a player as the season went on.

“It was shock to see a young big come in and dominate like that,” recalled NBA columnist Sam Gray. “Even the most talented of big men usually needed time to adjust to the NBA, but Shaq came in and immediately bulldozed anyone in his way.”

The Rockets first few weeks of the season were filled with wins atop of wins, some close (like one point squeakers against the Pacers and Hawks), others blowouts (like the beatdowns given to the Grizzlies and T’Wolves). November 12th, 1992, saw Houston travel to Dallas to face off against the Drexler-led Mavericks, and the atmosphere — like it seemed to be every year — was playoff levels.

“We knew they were going to come at us hard,” said Pippen. “Drexler thought he could take me, that he could beat us, and he was wrong. He could fight us, but he wasn’t gonna beat us.”

The game was close to begin with — both teams battled. Houston’s Gary Payton was a live wire at the beginning of the game, electrifying the few Houston fans in the arena with his play. O’Neal was great — he scored points, got boards, and dished out some lovely assists for a big.



Despite the early good vibes, Houston fell behind 29-26 in the first thanks to Drexler’s outstanding start — the former Blazer was here to prove everyone wrong about him and he sought out Pippen, challenging the former MVP. “I wanted a piece of Scottie, no doubt,” recalled Drexler. “Things were heated … that game, that first season, I just felt a big chip on my shoulder. I felt like I needed to prove something.”

Dallas Mavericks owner Trent Lewis had seen this movie before, however; he never counted Houston out and, as the second quarter was underway, the Rockets climbed out of their hole and Pippen got going — not as a scorer, but as a passer, finding the young O’Neal for a big slam and the lead.



At the half, Houston led 60-58 and the momentum seemed to be on their side. Coach Kern didn’t harp on any one thing and told his players to go out and have another half like that — he told his team that Dallas was mentally weak. They wouldn’t last. “And you know what? He was *ucking right,” said Payton. “Dallas was soft, Charmin soft.”

The third quarter was another close affair between the teams as Dallas refused to go away and Houston couldn’t pull away — at least not until the final thirty seconds of the quarter. That’s when the Rockets defense manufactured two easy, quick buckets for their offense and the Mavericks home crowd couldn’t believe what they witnessing — yet another collapse.

The third quarter ended with the home crowd booing their own players.

“I was just sick,” said Trent Lewis. “I didn’t blame the crowd an ounce. They were watching the team fail, again.” Dallas would lose the game 115-107, but the final score made the game look closer than it was — the fourth quarter was all Houston. Given a lead and with momentum, the two-time defending champion Rockets played keep away and weren’t particularly threatened.





The loss dropped Dallas to 5-4 while Houston moved to a league-best 8-1. While Lewis pondered exactly what to do about his team — even adding an All-Star like Drexler seemed not to be enough — Houston rolled on. Over the next two-and-a-half weeks, the Rockets went 5-2, besting teams like the 76ers, Pacers, and Spurs by at least 20 points, and looking for all the world like a team destined to crush its opponents all year long despite losing veteran contributor SF Walter Davis.

Davis reported intense chest discomfort after the Mavericks game and was whisked off to a local hospital — it was there that it was discovered that Davis’ heart was enlarged. He was immediately deactivated and began treatment, but the 16-year veteran was devastated.

“I signed with Houston to get a ring before it was all over and I nearly died on the court,” recalled Davis. “I just couldn’t let it go like that … I didn’t want to that to be last thing people thought about my basketball career.” Davis and the Houston medical staff would reevaluated his condition as the weeks went on, but the prognosis was that Davis would miss at least 8 weeks of game time.

Even with all that going on, the Rockets just rolled on. November 29th, 1992, saw the Rockets welcome the new-look Lakers to Houston.




These were the two best teams in the conference and, possibly, the entire league. “It was a big game,” said O’Neal. “I had a lot of respect for the Lakers organization … they were winners. Employed great big men. I wanted to be the best, so I knew I had to show out for them.”

The Lakers new trio — Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, and Dennis Rodman — were racking up wins at a rate even Jerry West was impressed by. “I thought they might break our old record,” said West. “Coach Daly was doing an amazing job of running the team.”

Barkley switching back to SF was a move that had allowed the Lakers to ascend up the standings — and Barkley was dominating his competition, especially in comparison to his matchup against Pippen.




But as the game got under way and both teams battled it out, it became apparent that the younger Rockets weren’t afraid of these new-look Lakers; the team came out, took the Lakers best shots, and then started dishing out better shots.



O’Neal, in particular, was feasting on defense and offense — he was locking down the paint like a man possessed and nothing the Lakers did seemed to make a dent in O’Neal’s efforts. They got extra rebounds, they had long possessions, and at the end of it O’Neal was there keeping the Lakers off the scoreboard. “Shaq was amazing that game,” said Magic Johnson. “Boy, he showed up to play and made life hard for all of us. We had to work and it was hard, hard work.”



The Lakers were down big at the half — 67-44 — and the Lakers wouldn’t get any closer than that. Houston blew them out in embarrassing fashion, humiliating the LA squad. “We got our *ss kicked bad, that’s it, that’s the story, the end,” said a frustrated Barkley after the game.

The win against the new-look Lakers emboldened Houston — if one of the greatest franchises in the league couldn’t stop them, who could? The Rockets rolled on, knocking off the Kings, Suns, Blazers, Grizzlies, Clippers, Pistons, and Heat before an OT loss to Memphis on December 17th, 1992.

That loss preceded the biggest game of the year for Houston — a date in the Windy City vs the Bulls.



The Bulls were the cream of the crop, the top of the East, but Jordan and Hakeem had been here before. Their first season together had seen them be regular season beasts and lost in the second round; their second season had seen more regular season dominance but then they lost to Celtics in the ECF, 4-1. The pressure in Chicago was increasingly, day by day, and the organization had been told by both their superstars that contract talks during the season weren’t going to happen.

Jordan and Hakeem had their sights set on the postseason and winning an NBA title, but to do that everyone knew that — eventually — they’d have to go through the Rockets and Houston wasn’t afraid. Pippen had proven, at least for the present, that he was on Jordan’s level (or at least so close to it no one could tell the difference). Horace Grant had thrived in the Rockets fast-paced system and his versatile skill-set was appreciated in Houston, at least by those that paid attention him.

Michael Jordan wasn’t the all-powerful destroyer that he had been when Pippen and Grant had left; Jordan’s carefully constructed public persona had been cracked wide open thanks to “The Jordan Rules” and Jordan’s relationship with the press had been increasingly frosty since then.

“He didn’t have the same effortless charm that he did before,” said Chicago Suns-Time writer Greg Bender. “The veneer of ease was gone and replaced with this feeling that everyone knew he was giving answers to questions that weren’t really true … his competitive nature was difficult to bury and after that book came out, he got bitter.”

The bitterness wasn’t reserved for just the press; it was apparent to his teammates as well. Jordan wasn’t as trusting after “The Jordan Rules” came out and it became apparent to the coaching staff that Jordan’s trust issues made him more likely to break out of the triangle offense in critical situations.

“Michael was in a dark place, I really believe that,” said Phil Jackson. “That book had violated the bonds of trust between him and his teammates … he believed that things that a team experienced together in the locker room, on the road, should remain with the team. In the past, that type of bond would have been easier to maintain, but the modern world was so concerned with content and driving up ratings … things like that had gotten lost. It was harder and harder for me to break through to Michael that trust was the biggest key to the triangle offense.”

Hakeem Olajuwon was having trust issues too, though not with the coaching staff or even his other teammates; it was a trust issue with just Michael Jordan. The relationship between the two had started off well enough when Hakeem showed up in Chicago, but the big man quickly became a very popular player in the town … and then he won the MVP.

“Michael deserved that award that year, he did,” Olajuwon would say years later. “I was given it because I was new there … I played well, but not Michael-well.”

Jordan’s intense competitive nature saw Olajuwon’s win as a challenge — a challenge to his leadership, a challenge to his status as the alpha-dog of the Bulls. As Jordan himself would later say in a self-produced documentary:



Jordan and Olajuwon were less teammates and more work-colleagues; they saw each other from 9-5, kicked tail while on the job, then went their separate ways with nary anything else said. It wasn’t an ideal arrangement for either party, but they knew that if they won a title, it would all be worth it.

But first they had to beat Houston. The game was in Chicago, a boon for the Bulls as their home-record had been better than their road record so far that season, but the homecourt advantage didn’t seem to help out when it came to the Rockets; Houston walked out onto the court and stifled the Bulls offense repeatedly in the first few minutes of the game.

The addition of Shaquille O’Neal had rendered the Bulls biggest advantage — Olajuwon — less effective. Shaq gave as good as he got and in some ways better; he was younger, he was fresher, and he was much more motivated to show out against someone he felt was the best in the league.

“Hakeem was the Dream,” O’Neal said. “He was the best big in the league and I wanted to prove I belonged. Scottie, Gary, they had played against Chicago and Jordan before, they had their own thing with him, but I wasn’t after Michael Jordan, I was after Hakeem Olajuwon … I needed The Dream to recognize The Diesel.”



The early defensive sequence for Houston was emblematic of how fierce the Rockets were playing; this was an important game, perhaps the most important game of the year, and the Rockets didn’t want to leave any doubt. Frustration mounted for the Bulls as the first quarter went on, especially as O’Neal gained more and more confidence as he battled Olajuwon.



“Very springy, Shaq was not as grounded as I expected,” Olajuwon said after the game. “He looks quite big but he is much lighter on his feet than he looks.”

The veteran Olajuwon and Bulls struggled to get a handle on the Rockets in the first quarter, but rallied in the second to narrow the Rockets lead to just 65-62 at the half. In the third quarter, however, Houston deployed Scottie Pippen at point and let him deal — the Bulls suffered for it, but Olajuwon’s first half was not his second.

Early in the fourth, down 10 points, Olajuwon got O’Neal to foul out and that opened the door for the Bulls to power back; they won the fourth quarter 33-24 but were denied the final victory as Pippen hit a three with time expiring to win the game for Houston, 126-125 in a tough loss for the Bulls.

Part of the Chicago crowd actually cheered for Pippen when the shot went in, something that Jordan took note of. He would not forget.

As Christmas neared, Houston was rolling but the good vibes for the Rockets wouldn’t last past the holidays — Michael Jordan hadn’t been the only player on the court who had noticed the cheers for Scottie Pippen and Jordan hadn’t been the only player it bothered. The old adage “winning solves everything” had proven true time and again for Houston, but in this case another old adage held even truer:

“From the well of envy, only a fool drinks the water.”

[marshdaddy]

Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA 2K20)

With how dominant the team is, do you have any regrets adding Shaq to the two-time champions? Is it too easy or uncompetitive? I know I’ve made things happen that hampered my team but at least made it more challenging, curious if you’re thinking the same.

[trekfan]

Re: Texas Two Step: An Alternate NBA History (NBA 2K20)

With how dominant the team is, do you have any regrets adding Shaq to the two-time champions? Is it too easy or uncompetitive? I know I’ve made things happen that hampered my team but at least made it more challenging, curious if you’re thinking the same.

Shaq is incredibly fun, maybe too fun -- I really struggled trying to figure out a good trade for him. IRL, Shaq could have possibly been drafted by the T'Wolves but his agent put out a press release saying he wouldn't. That was the impetus to trade for him.


I determined that Milwaukee and Orlando didn't have the goods a struggling (barely relevant) franchise like Toronto needed, so it fell to Houston and considering the history of the Rockets (who have employed Moses Malone and Hakeem), there was little chance they'd pass Shaq up.



The arrival of Shaq did lessen the challenge, at least initially, but his arrival does set off storyline consequences which come to fruition during the 93-94 season (we'll get there). So yes, it made things easier, but also it will make things harder.

[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 continuing to perform at all-star levels, while the addition of young Shaquille O’Neal (19-9-3, with 2 blocks and 2 steals) has added a new dimension to this two-time defending champion; that said, rumors of dissatisfaction with the amount of offensive touches some players are getting continue to swirl, but as they say winning cures everything. The Lakers are right behind them, Magic, Barkley, and Rodman bringing LA back to the top of the West. The Mavericks and Suns are right behind them, though Dallas may fall fast as Clyde Drexler (putting up 21-7-7) is out for 6-8 weeks with injury. Lagging just behind the top crop are the Sonics and Nuggets, both teams performing better than expected.

Fighting for the 7th and 8th seeds are the Spurs (Reggie Miller putting up 22-4-2), the Clippers, and the Warriors. Any of those teams could ascend up or down the standings with how difficult the West is. The Kings and Jazz have an outside shot at making the playoffs, if they can figure out how to succeed, but both teams look a few losses away from making major changes (Utah, especially, may end up blowing up the entire squad after years of disappointments).

At the bottom of the West, attempting to win the Chris Webber sweepstakes, are the Pelicans, Blazers (collapsed without Drexler on the team), T’Wolves, and Grizzles.








The top of the East is led by the Knicks — New York has looked incredible all season long, with Ewing (23-14), Rod Strickland (17-11), and Charles Smith (20-8) leading the way. Behind them are the Celtics (Bird averaging 18-5-9, with Alex English adding 19-3 off the bench), the Pistons, Bulls, and the surprising Toronto Raptors. The Raptors have witnessed 1991 1st rounder Kenny Anderson explode this year (27-1-8) with Otis Thorpe adding 16-9; the trade of the 1992 1st overall pick, criticized by some, has paid off so far. Cleveland is right behind them, hanging on as they await Mark Price’s return from a severe ankle sprain.

In the middle, fighting for the 7th and 8th seeds, are the 76ers, Magic, Hawks, and Hornets; the middle of the East is truly bad this year and any team with a losing record could snag the last playoff spot if they get on a run.

At the bottom of the East, with only single-digit wins, are the Pacers (disappointingly bad considering the roster’s talent), the Nets, the Heat (a 50-win squad last year that’s terrible this year), the Bucks (expected to be bad), and the Wizards (really bad).