It Went By Too Fast

[timvp]

http://www-unix.ecs.umass.edu/~bobrow/david.gif

http://www.kskssports.com/ksks_sports/sports_illustrated/1980s/images/si8689.jpeg

http://www.strictlymint.com/online_store/store/images/11696.jpg

http://www.sportseye.com/newsstand/tsn/david-robinson.jpg

http://www.sporever.fr/mediastore/common/archives_sporever_NE_PAS_UTILISER/basket/NBA/San_Antonio_Spurs/David_Robinson.jpg

http://www.kskssports.com/ksks_sports/sports_illustrated/1990s/images/si9034.jpeg

http://www.nationalradio.com/D_Robinson.jpg

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030617/sp2.jpg

http://www.photofile.com/Photos/Albums/03_Spurs_Champs_Album/Images/David_Robinson_W_Trophy.JPG

:depressed

[Marco]

Tears to my eyes. Sigh.

[RobinsontoDuncan]

I would have done anything to see him play in his prime, i think i would do anything to see him play like that agian now..... yeah this sucks

[samikeyp]

http://www.strictlymint.com/online_store/store/images/11696.jpg

I have this card. Only cost me .75 at the time.

[ZStomp]

I would have done anything to see him play in his prime, i think i would do anything to see him play like that agian now..... yeah this sucks

I'm lucky to have seen him in his prime. :fro

[Ghost Writer]

One time when I vacationed in SA, mouse gave me that Robinson card for free and that was in 2001.

Was there an Admiral halftime ceremony last night or something.

[Spurminator]

I paid 45 bucks for that fucking card... Back when I was young enough that 45 bucks was a LOT of money.

What's it worth now, like, 15?

[exstatic]

I don't think so, GW, but they did interview him during the game.

[Drachen]

I own it too, got it in a pack of cards.

[whottt]

I would have done anything to see him play in his prime, i think i would do anything to see him play like that agian now..... yeah this sucks

You want to get an idea of Drob in his prime...I'll try and piece together what he looked like out of modern players..

Offense - Amare Stoudamire, now comes the closest IMO...only Drob was bigger, better, and faster...better dunker, better passer, better PCT shooter, better FT shooter, better jumper.

But the way Amare looks on offense is very similar to what Drob looked like...A bigman with superior speed...as fast many as point guards in the NBA, and powerful hops...On offense lots of jumping and alley ooping and finishing jams...Drob could play in a half court offense passably, he was still next to impossible to guard with one man, either he got fouled on his move to the basket or someone got dunked on or laid up upon,...but it wasn't his strength, running was...

Whether Drob was on O or D...you could always tell he had been in the military...his back was always perfectly straight and you could say he played his entire career standing at attention. His Jumper was kind of funky looking too...like he was on a pogo stick or something...perfectly straight body..you could say he jumped at attention too...it was like one of those kids games where you hit the button and the man shoots the basketball at the hoop..It was very mechanical looking, but it worked.

His dunks were fucking awesome...Dunno why he was never in a dunk contest....Drob may have been a nice guy but his dunks were nasty, evil, ugly and mean...and mofo's did not like getting dunked on by him because he'd make them look like they should be playing in a CBA game. Even better, there were a ton of them his first few years in the league :I don't care how street and how much of a balla they were...Drob's dunks were nastier. I think that's why he was never accepted by the ballas of the league...it just wasn't right to them for a christian nice guy to be able dunk like that. I've seen more than one guy want to fight Drob rather than get dunked on by him again. :fro



Defense - This is the tough one... A cross between Ben Wallace and AK-47...He put up stats like Wallace...but he looked liked AK-47 does when he is defending in the paint...lots of high jumping blocks and quick hands that could steal the ball. Only like with Amare...Drob was better than both these guys in just about every aspect...better shotblocker, better steal artist, quicker, and stronger.

I'll give Wallace this...he's a better rebounder...but that's it...AK-47 isn't in Drob's league as an actual defender in any category...but visually they looked similar when playing D. Shotblocking was his forte...Drob was arguably the greatest shotblocker in history prior to his injury...not just in NBA history...in history period...

Get this...in 1996...

He held just about every shotblocking record in NCAA history(since broken)...
and at the time of his injury he was the all time leader in blocks per game in the NBA...
and he was the career leader in blocks in the Olympics...

That's a lot of freaking block records there for a guy who really didn't even play high school ball and really didn't even play his first year of college....he had only had about an 11 year basketball career at that point in time...



If you you try to sum it up all in one player the closest guy who matches Drob's versatility is KG...But Drob wasn't the perimeter player, rebounder or passer that KG has become...in everything else he was better...and he was much more of a tougher inside player on offense and defense.


Career - Garnett....If you want to see kind of what it was like being a Spurfan back then and the frustrations we went through...imagine what it's been like being a TWolf Fan up until the last 2 years...A one man team pretty much surrounded by journeymen. The one man brings it every night in the regular season because he has too...and has to put up numbers...he has to put up 20-10 for his team to win, to carry his team just far enough to get it's ass beat by a more balanced, talented, and just plain superior team.

Only like with the other comparisons...Drob was better...KG used to carry his team to a 5 or 6 seed and finish second or third in the division, get bounced in the first round...Drob never finished lower than second place in the division, he won the division as often as not, and he'd get us to the second round about the same.


Does it sound like I am romanticizing him by collecting all these elite defensive and offensive players? Perhaps...Does it sound like that would be the most efficient player ever? An NBA fantasy league dream?

Well that's exactly what Drob was, as his record 5 IBM efficiency awards, won in a league with Shaq, Hakeem, Magic, Barkley and Jordan all active players... attest...and he was that versatile...as his being the only man besides Kareem to lead the league in blocks, boards, and scoring proves...as his being the 1st player in NBA history to finish ranked in the top 5 in blocks steals and rebounds, all in the same season, also proves. Oh yeah..and the only guy other than MJ to win a scoring title and a DPOY award. Or to look at it another way...Drob won a scoring title, scored 70 in a game...once lead the Spurs in assists.....and he'd be the first to tell you that he was a defensive player...not an offensive player.


That description is about what DRob looked like and what his career was like...only he was better than that description...and don't listen to the haters...Hakeem got him for 6 games and Drob got him 90% of the rest of the time....if he hadn't been surrounded by journeymen guards and aging vets he would have won an NBA title. He wasn't soft...at the same time he wasn't clutch either...he was more like consistent...he'd hit a shot and then he'd miss a shot and it usually ended up being about 50%...


Although his J was kind of streaky...

It wasn't very often that he'd get super hot and score 17 in a row like Duncan did....at the same time...he didn't get very cold either....and the only way to stop him was to double team him or more...and that's exactly why he had such frustrating playoffs against the Rockets and especially the Jazz...

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

I'd say that's a pretty fair assesment, Whottt.

[SequSpur]

Yep, agreed...

I wish David Robinson could have played for 5 more years.

[whottt]

Thanks Blaze. I'm gonna go and cry now :)

[Jimcs50]

So it goes.

[herbivore female]

amare is as a close a right handed version of david you will find.

you'll notice david is sort of a rare big man who never really had a hook shot.

it's because he didn't need 1. at his peak, no one could block his shot 1-1.

he is likely to go down as the most athletic big man in nba history - ever.

and he's right up there with guards.

and he was surrounded by much less talent than kg had in his early goings. a young marbury or a primed gugliotta he had not.

david's best support player was sean elliott. we all know sean was a nice player, but not the secondary support you need to get to the nba finals.

if david were to come back healthy now, he'd still be a top center in the league.

1. shaq
2. david
3. yao


and i still think it's amazing how much injury he played through and never mentioned even though he was "soft." look how fast most players to day are quick to point out how they are hurt while they play or won't suit up at all.

david would play through all kinds of pain.

it was obvious because he couldn't play well. it wasn't that david would all of a sudden suck like a lot of people thought. it was that he was in pain. david pain free in his later stages was like that mavs game where he had all those dunks and malik said it was turn back the turn back the clock game.

i've always been kind of bitter about how spurs fans treated him when he was stiff. he suited up and was still better than most, but he couldn't give the caliber he normally could and would be trashed by spurs fans.

and don't pretend like it wasn't you because 98% of fans did it.

[whottt]

amare is as a close a right handed version of david you will find.

That's a good point herbie...Drob was as left handed as they come, his game was totally left handed.

[Drachen]

Dont forget, he was the last player to record a quadruple double. Timmy D came 2 blocks away from supplanting david in the last game of the 2003 championship season (also davids last game, which would have been the PERFECT changing of the guard)

[TNT21]

That was a nice trip down memory lane. I remember him throwing down alley oops from damn near midcourt. This man was awesome!! It was because of him that I became a Spurs fan when I was about 12 yrs old. A nicer guy you will not find. I remember one summer, I sent him his bball card to autograph...it took almost a year for it to get back to me, but when it did, it came with a note saying he was sorry it had taken him so long to get it back to me. That's the type of people we need in the NBA now, not these so called BALLAS that care about making it on the highlight reel every night. He will go down as being the fastest big man ever! This guy would outrun most guards any night. DROB, you are truly missed!!

[samikeyp]

I own it too, got it in a pack of cards.

me too!

I got to see David in his first playoff game, in the Arena against Denver. It rocked.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

He's the only seven footer I've ever heard of even attempting a 360 dunk, much less scoring one. That was a sight to behold.

[Drachen]

He's the only seven footer I've ever heard of even attempting a 360 dunk, much less scoring one. That was a sight to behold.


DAMN YOU! for making me remember that, I only wish we had a clip of it.

[mattyc]

Those were the days.

:depressed

No-one will ever be a better Spur than he, although Timmy is the next best thing. Still hard to believe that he is retired.

Seeing him on the broadcast in the stands was cool though. Good to see he's still out and about.

Fecking legend.

[RobinsontoDuncan]

oh god now you make me want to cry, damn you whottt, cant you ever just lie for pity's skae.... back when he was in his prime i was working 100 hours a week and i really had no clue what basketbll was, now i can retire whenever i want to and he is gone....this sucks

[Walton Buys Off Me]

nice job timvp

[ALVAREZ6]

nice job timvp

word

[GoSpurs21]

my wife found a tape of the Spurs Magic game from March 6, 1994 and we watched it yesterday. it was alot of fun watching that game. it was the 2nd game of a double header on NBC and there was alot of pieces on DRob and Rodman. It was the game where David slammed the ball and Dennis jumped on top of him. The Spurs were down by 17 in the 3rd but came back to win by 8. Final score was something like 111 to 103. DRob 36pts 13rbs 6ast 5blk on Snaq's and Sleeply Floyds birthday

It was fun to compare that team (barely played defense) to the current squad. I kept telling my wife that if we could take the David Robinson of 94 and replace todays Tim Duncan we would definitely win 70 games this year. David was that good. That was the year David won the scoring title, but was beat out by Hakeem for MVP. We lost to Utah in the 1st round because Lucas was playing David around 48mpg. Big Dave was just worn out by the playoffs



DRob was like a 7ft Jordan without the supporting cast and burning competative