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Karl Malone getting the Durant treatment at the end of games 1 and 2 of the second round was crap too. LOL foul on Robinson for getting kicked in the nuts.
I don't have a lot of doubts regarding the outcome of the game 6 if it had been officiated like just half decently, if it was called fairly, doubt is imo 0%. Nevertheless you are right saying they choked during the game 7. I believe they were a bit out of the serie in their mind full of game 6 "ifs". A fully proven PO squad would have overcome that in game 7 but it seems it was too much for them.
BTW I am no Lakers hater (well not that much), the team was not responsible for the bad officiating, to their credit they stayed focus, fought and pulled what was necessary to finally take the serie. At the end some basketball reasons killed the hopes of a very talented team.
Karl Malone getting the Durant treatment at the end of games 1 and 2 of the second round was crap too. LOL foul on Robinson for getting kicked in the nuts.
I was never THAT impressed with those Kings. Webber, Divac, Peja, Christie, Bibby ... I mean that's a good team but hardly a team that should have ever been championship favorites. The Lakers just didn't play that well in that series. It's kinda like the 2005 Spurs vs. Sonics or 1992 Bulls vs. Knicks series where the Spurs and Bulls had a mid-playoff slump and almost choked away a championship. Those Kings were nice but the ref controversy overrates how good they really were. If the 2002 Lakers and the 2002 Kings play 100 times, I'd bet the Lakers win a good 70-75 of the games. Kobe and Shaq were the two best players on the court and PJax > Adelman. It's difficult to overcome that advantage. The Kings almost did it ... but it being that close was fluky, IMO.
(Did I just defend the Lakers and Stern's refs? Ugh.)
The list has to start with the Jazz. It was a massive failure that they had so much talent and never won it all.
The Drexler/Porter/Kersey/Williams/Robinson Blazers might have been the most hardnosed team to never win it.
If we omit seasons in which the best player in the league was suspended for gambling playing baseball, the Hakeem Rockets were pretty good, tbh.
^The Kings were a team-oriented squad tbh. The fact noone jumps out individually doesnt change the fact that they were a great team. Besides Webber was elite at the time, pretty sure he finished in Top 3 (or maybe Top 5) in MVP voting that season.
EDIT: Webber finished 7th in 02'
Jazz stand out because of their longetiviy, they've had 15+ seasons to put it together and couldn't.
Have to disagree. I think the '02 Lakers are the worst championship team of the first half of the 00s. They got by on grit, experience, and timely chokes from both the Kings and our Spurs (who couldn't in' close out a 4th quarter in that series).
On a side note: Don't know what it is about Phil Jackson led teams, but they just never in' choke and are exceptional at mind- in' their opponents into chokejobs.
Let's review:
'98 Jazz: Choked in the 4th in game 6 at home.
'00 Trailblazers: Choked a 4th quarter 15 point lead to lose game 7.
'02 Spurs and Kings: Numerous 4th quarter chokes from the Spurs. Kings choke at the line in game 7 (also choked away a 20 point lead in game 4 of that series).
'04 Spurs: Choked away a commanding 2-0 lead after Jackson decided to give the Spurs open shots.
'10 Celtics: Choked away a 13 point 3rd quarter lead.
The only instance I can remember of a Jackson coached team coughing one up is when the Lakers blew a 24 point lead in the '08 Finals. I don't really count the 3-1 '06 series against the Suns a choke since the Lakers probably should have never been up 3-1 in the first place.
And I believe his undefeated record after winning game 1 of a playoff series is still intact.
I don't know man, that was Sacramento's series. They kicked the out of LA on their own floor in game 3 and then came in and did the same for most of game 4 despite it being an absolute must-win for LA. The Lakers got really damn lucky to not be down 3-1 in that series going back to Sacramento. LA was really vulnerable that year as Fox had gone from a top of the line perimeter defender to scrub that season and Fisher came back down to Earth after going nuts in the 2001 playoffs. Samaki Walker was hardly 2001 Horace Grant also. LA could get spectacularly hot, like when they erased more than half of a 30 point deficit in maybe 2:15 of gametime in game 3, but that team was beatable. The Spurs gave them a series despite having a starting backcourt of a 19 year-old Parker, the corpse of Steve Smith, and then Mark Bryant starting in Robinson's place the first two games. I really think you're overrating the 02 Lakers.
Last edited by baseline bum; 01-31-2013 at 04:01 PM.
Are we talking single years or a group of players? There is a difference.
If we are talking a group of players that had multiple chances but could never get to the finals, then no, they don't belong.
1. The '02 Kings: played 5 on 8 pushed the thing to 7 games. And one of the refs confirmed it was rigged.
2. The '00 Blazers: once again suspect 5 on 8 trough game 7
3. The '07 Suns: Amare and Diaw lost control after Horry hip checked Nash, otherwise they would have won it all.
The other teams weren't really that close.
I don't blame the 02 kings for playing like in game 7, they got raped so badly by the refs in game 6 they were still in recovery mode and probably fearing part 2
02-03 mavs tbh
Athletic nig dirk, a little past his prime Finley, pre prime Nash, that nve
Dont forget to add this years Spurs to the list
Malone-Stockton Jazz, 2001-2002 Kings, and 2005-2006 Mavs.
The Jazz were going up against Jordan in his prime.
Both the Kings and Mavs were victims of ty refs but at the same time they did their fair share of choking. Just put it into perspective for a minute. The Kings and Mavs both played horrible at times, got screwed by the refs, and still narrowly lost their series to the Lakers and Heat. If the Kings had made a 2 or 3 more shots or free throws in that 2002 WCF, they would have beaten the Lakers. If the Mavs had made a couple more shots or free throws, they would have beaten D-Whistle and the Heat. The thing that sucks for those Kings and Mavs teams is that they choked really bad, got screwed by the refs, and still narrowly lost.
I don't see it. That team was awful defensively (LOL Don Nelson).
Still think a Pop-coached team would have beaten a D'Antoni coached team in a game 7 if Amar'e wasnt suspended
Would have been difficult @ Phoenix. That year the Suns were good, with all and D'Antoni.
what about the mavs team of the 90s
mashburn
kidd
jackson
Disagree about the Kings shouldn't be one of the teams. Fact that they obviously choked in the series, but requiring some huge help from the refs to lose to the eventual champs tells you how good that team is.
The Kings matched up with the Lakers very well (have enough of a passing offense to destroy a defense with Shaq in the middle, has a good PG to shred the horrible Lakers defense of points, very well balanced offensively, decent defensively), they were like the Rasheed Blazers on roids (which is another team that was royally screwed by the refs for the Lakers 3-peat). In a fairly called series, the Kings would have won at least 70 out of 100 times vs. the Lakers.
As for the Malone Jazz, vastly overrated team. Again, for reasons unknown, Malone always gets protected by refs, especially in the playoffs, perhaps the refs have underaged daughters and they are afraid of the pedophile, but there is always something going on. But Malone was probably one of the most overrated offensive player of all time when it was Stockton who creates a majority of the Jazz offense. In a playoff series, Malone can be contained with a dedicated defense, and the Jazz do not have other notable finishers on that team. On defense, if nut-kicks and elbows to the temple weren't allowed, the Jazz would have been a very average team.
The Drexler Blazers were the real deal.
To rank them
Drexler Blazers
Webber Kings
Kemp/Payton Sonics
Sheed Blazers
Harper/Blackman Mavs
Malone Jazz
Ewing Knicks
he probably would have won the MVP that year instead of Duncan if he has played more than 54 games. Can't give the award to someone who plays that few games; and they were actually winning without him as well.
Exactly my point but if the team was a bit more mentally tough they should have overcome that.
I also disagree with timvp on that one, kings 2002>lakers 2002 IMHO. Shaq and Kobe were the two best players but the rest was a clear advantage to the kings. On top of that it is not like shaq was >>>>>> Divac, divac was still very good same for webber who had a great serie !
I see many of the teams were recently. The 1984 Lakers gave the C's a le. Winning Game 1. Worthy, who had a great game, with the pass to Henderson and lost in OT in Game 2. (Shoulda left the Garden with a 2-0 lead) Game 3 was a turd stomping victory. Game 4 with McHale on Rambis action. They were also up 5 with .59 seconds and the ball and lost the lead. Magic missed two late free throws in OT and the C's stole that game. Should have been a sweep. Lost Game 5 and Game 7.
1989 Lakers were also a great squad. They went through the Western Conference undefeated. Played the Pistons without Magic and Byron Scott because of their brutal injuries. And got swept.
This.
The Kings didn't have a ton of superstar talent, but they had solid talent, and players who knew their roles and played their roles almost flawlessly.
They were like an offensive-minded version of the Pistons that won it all in 03-04. Actually pretty similar to the Mavs in 2011 as well, in terms of them being an extremely balanced, well rounded team of decently talented players who knew their roles.
Kidd/K-Mart/Jefferson made the finals 2 straight years with the Nets, but would they have any shot against the 87-88 Mavs or 01-02 Kings in a playoff series?
Dirk/Nash/Finley Mavs were better, yet still don't belong in this discussion
2000 Blazers were close to completing a comeback from a 3-1 deficit, until they missed 15 straight shots in the 4th quarter of Game 7. And yet Blazers fans continue to complain that they got screwed by the refs.
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