Dirk has a chance here to put an exclamation point on his career. There have been very few guys to win a championship with such little help.

93/94 Hakeem
02/03 Dunan

Would have to look back into the something before the 80s to find another.

Detroit you could argue had only 1 main guy or no main guy.

The thing about them though is their starting 5 were all-star quality, so probably not a legit argument.

Can't think of any other champions in NBA history with no other All-NBA caliber players. Arguments could be made for the 75 Warriors and maybe 77 Blazers. I don't think any of the current Mavs role players will ever be All-NBA caliber. At least in 2006 you could see potential in Josh Howard and Devin Harris. The Mavs are loaded with past their prime All-NBA players which has to be unique. But Marion, Kidd and Peja are completely different players than they were in their prime.

Duncan had to beat Shaq/Kobe and Hakeem had to beat Barkley/Johnson and Stockton/Malone to get there. I can't see Dirk getting past the best 2 players in the league playing with such extreme motivation to prove themselves and avoid humiliation. It's too much to ask for. Game 2 was great but we won't see Lebron and Wade settle for all those weak 3s moving forward.

[This message has been edited by InternetFan02 (edited 6/3/2011 8:13a).]

This team really reminds me of the 94-95 Rockets. Also, remember that Hakeem had to go against Shaq and Ewing in his two Finals.

Good point. I am getting my hopes up.




They may have settled for bad shots but they made most of them.... and Dallas had 20 turnovers. The Heat are a flawed team almost everywhere but those three players.

95 Rockets had Drexler. Ewing would have been another arguable 1 main guy champion had he beaten Hakeem in 94

But the '94 team did not. Who was the Rockets second best player that year? Robert Horry?

This Mavs team does seem similar to those Rockets teams. Just when you think they are done for they come back and stun you.

As a Heat hater I loved that.

The Rockets second best player in 1994 was Otis Thorpe. That playoff run by Hakeem was still one of the most impressive I have ever seen. A lot of people forget as the years pass, but that run was even better than what Dirk and Lebron have done this year.

"Sports do not build character. They reveal it."
-John Wooden

quote:

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Who was the Rockets second best player that year? Robert Horry?

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all around most reliable? probably OT.

And Kenny Smith was the glue.

* edit: damn my brain... I posted them backwards the first time.

[This message has been edited by Gramercy Riffs (edited 6/3/2011 9:01a).]

nm

[This message has been edited by Gramercy Riffs (edited 6/3/2011 9:01a).]

quote:

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A lot of people forget as the years pass, but that run was even better than what Dirk and Lebron have done this year.

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Dirk has gone against 6 of the other top 9 players on the 1st/2nd all-NBA teams. That's probably unprecedented.

And that Rockets 94 team had 0 past present or future star role players unless you want to count rookie Sam Cassell. Amazing.

Hakeem took out 6 1st/2nd teamers in 95, but he had help from Clyde. They also defeated teams who won 60, 59, 62, and 57 games.

03 Spurs only had Duncan on an All-NBA team. Ginobili and Parker did have potential, but Ginobili averaged 7 points 2 rebounds and 2 assists that year. Robinson hadn't been All-NBA 3rd team in 2 years or All-NBA 2nd team in 5 years and averaged 7.8/6.6 in the playoffs in 03.

Since 03, all the 2003 teammates of Tim Duncan have combined for 3 All-NBA third team appearances. He went through 6 of the 1-3rd team players (6 of the players were eastern conference and not on the Nets.)

^
Don't forget Steve Kerr!

95 Drexler could almost be compared to Kidd right now. HOF caliber, but past his prime.

I think Detroit doesn't get enough credit. Ben Wallace was a very limited player, a poor man's tyson chandler. Rip Hamilton was also fairly one dimensional. Billups was a legit allstar, and Sheed had that magic in spurts, hut other times he wasn't spectacular. Tayshaun Prince was great at his role, but he was definitely a role player like Tony Allen or Shane Battier. The bench wasn't incredibly deep.

For those that have brought up Hakeem's 1993-94 season, here are his stats from that year:

Pts: 28.9
Reb: 11.0
Blk: 4.0
Ast: 4.3
Stl: 1.8
Fou: 3.6

Those stats were flat out amazing. I added-in the fouls stat to show he played such amazing defense without fouling.

Dirk has been great, no question, but he hasn't also played defense the way Hakeem did in that playoff run.

"Sports do not build character. They reveal it."
-John Wooden

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more blocks/game & more assists/game than fouls/game.
wow.

quote:

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95 Drexler could almost be compared to Kidd right now. HOF caliber, but past his prime.

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Past his prime? Of course. But he still averaged 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists, and he put up 41 points (while Hakeem had 40) in a key playoff victory over the Jazz.

Clyde was clutch after the midseason trade and even better in the playoffs (including a 15-point quarter in Orlando and several key steals that helped Houston come home with a 2-0 lead. Hakeem definitely had help.

Yeah...if Dirk wins, it'd be more impressive than Duncans considering the circumstances.

Spurs beating the Lakers was impressive but Dirk got injured in the WCF and the New Jersey Nets?? All they had was Kidd.

Dirk's run would be more impressive than Duncans. Cant speak on Hakeems.

[This message has been edited by TheMasterplan (edited 6/5/2011 10:53p).]

Weren't Kidd, Martin, and Jefferson a fairly formidable trio back then?

Just looked it up. Kidd, Martin, and Jefferson averaged 18.7, 16.7, and 15.5 that regular season.

So nothing spectacular... Kidd was definitely carrying the load... that team would have been pretty crappy without Kidd dishing out 9 assists per game.

Dirk's run would not be better than either Hakeem or Duncan's. Duncan had better PER than hakeem in both the regular season and playoffs in their respective years as well