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Where's my 1992 Dream Team DVD?!
- Thread starter DMczaf
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Christoff Yurievich
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I've always wondered how Christian Laettner got on the first team. He didn't really develop into a guy anyone could build a team around, did he?
DMczaf said:The greatest basketball team ever put together and they still have not released a DVD set of some form?! I think Laker fans are behind this, trying to make sure the future does not know that their semi-god Magic played with god himself, Michael Jordan. I'm on to you, bionic!
*laughs nervously*
DMczaf said:WTF, the picture is changing
How the hell?! What's going on here?!
"Great Scott, bionic! You sent Kwame Brown 12 years into the past!"
:lol
Porthos said:
:lol So true...the practices must've been incredible.
That team still gets an asterisk for (1) having Christian Laettner anywhere near the team, (2) having Lenny Wilkens anywhere near the team, and (3) not having Isiah Thomas, who's only one of the top five point guards in the history of basketball. But hey, it isn't like they missed him. :lol
BTW, it's incredible seeing how lean, lanky and undeformed those guys look compared to the hoopsters of today. I personally think today's athletes work too much with the weights, and it's probably helped lead to the increase in injuries that you see today.
bune duggy said:
Christian Laettner got on the team as a nod to collegiate players of the past. He was POY and the leader on back-to-back National Championship teams.
Lenny Wilkens is one of the few, if only, people in the NBA Hall of Fame as a player and a coach. Young cats may not know that, but the shell that he is now, and was in Toronto (Atlanta etc) does not encapsulate his whole career.
The practices some have mentioned are not what others may picture. They brought in a college All-Star team to play the Dream team. This team, which included all-time NCAA Assist leader Bobby Hurley and Grant Hill, were the only team to beat the Dream Team in an exhibition/scrimmage. If I recall, it was by a pretty big margin too. It opened up the Dream Team's eyes, and led to their "healthy" victories over the world that summer.
In summary, everyone on the team deserved to be there, although I can't argue that I'd put Isiah on over John Stockton at that point in time.
soundwave05
Member
Laettner got onto the team because they wanted to have one college player and he was the college player of the year. Interestingly enough though, they were seriously considering Shaquille O' Neal of LSU (who would be drafted by the Orlando Magic that summer), but opted to pick Laettner instead.
Anyway I think there may be no DVD because the games really weren't competetive at all (to say the least). If they had some bonus DVD footage of the practise sessions though ... that would be incredible.
Anyway I think there may be no DVD because the games really weren't competetive at all (to say the least). If they had some bonus DVD footage of the practise sessions though ... that would be incredible.
They NEED to make a Dream Team DVD. People (read: me) are willing to pay good money for it. 
I hear the practices and scrimmages with the collegiate team were crazy. Magic said that in the Dream Team-only practices, Jordan would drop like 50 points every run (oh, you knew I'd work his name in somehow). Laettner rode their coattails for a medal. Supposedly in one of the scrimmages with the college players, Grant Hill got a bit frisky guarding Jordan on the wing and deflected a pass to MJ out of bounds; while waiting to inbound the ball, Jordan told Hill (in Grant's own words): "this isn't college, kid; I can get the ball whenever I want to, and I can do whatever I want with it". Grant Hill said "I thought about it for a minute and said to myself, 'you know, he's right'".
EDIT: Btw, Shinobi, who are your top 5 PG's of all time? Mine, in no order, are:
Magic
Stockton
Isiah
Kidd (though the lack of rings and a consistent J hurts him; still, one of the best playmakers ever)
After this, it'd be either Robertson (if you consider him a PG-- to me, when a guy averages 10 assists, he's a PG), or Archibald or Cousy. I can't decide for the fifth slot. Unless I'm forgetting someone.
I hear the practices and scrimmages with the collegiate team were crazy. Magic said that in the Dream Team-only practices, Jordan would drop like 50 points every run (oh, you knew I'd work his name in somehow
). Laettner rode their coattails for a medal. Supposedly in one of the scrimmages with the college players, Grant Hill got a bit frisky guarding Jordan on the wing and deflected a pass to MJ out of bounds; while waiting to inbound the ball, Jordan told Hill (in Grant's own words): "this isn't college, kid; I can get the ball whenever I want to, and I can do whatever I want with it". Grant Hill said "I thought about it for a minute and said to myself, 'you know, he's right'". EDIT: Btw, Shinobi, who are your top 5 PG's of all time? Mine, in no order, are:
Magic
Stockton
Isiah
Kidd (though the lack of rings and a consistent J hurts him; still, one of the best playmakers ever)
After this, it'd be either Robertson (if you consider him a PG-- to me, when a guy averages 10 assists, he's a PG
), or Archibald or Cousy. I can't decide for the fifth slot. Unless I'm forgetting someone.Ninja Scooter
Member
bune duggy said:
because Jordan was a prick and refused to allow Isiah Thomas on the team. In hindsight, Shaq would have been a better choice to put on than Laetner, but what are you gonna do? Its not like the team needed any more help anyway.
Loki, any idea who else filled out that collegiate roster?
Hurley would have been going into his senior year, and Hill into his junior year. Grant made a huge step up from his junior to senior year, I still blame him for Duke's loss to Cal in the round of 32 Hurley's senior year (against J-Kidd as a freshman). Hill as a senior single-handedly carried us to the finals the next year however, as a true point-forward, so all was eventually forgiven.
Laetnner rode everyone's coattails to a gold medal just as much as any other collegiate player would have done on that team, including Shaq. Laettner owned Shaq as a senior at LSU, of course he had a lot more talent around him than Shaq did. People forget how good Laettner was in college, and he was an NBA All-Star too.
Hurley would have been going into his senior year, and Hill into his junior year. Grant made a huge step up from his junior to senior year, I still blame him for Duke's loss to Cal in the round of 32 Hurley's senior year (against J-Kidd as a freshman). Hill as a senior single-handedly carried us to the finals the next year however, as a true point-forward, so all was eventually forgiven.
Laetnner rode everyone's coattails to a gold medal just as much as any other collegiate player would have done on that team, including Shaq. Laettner owned Shaq as a senior at LSU, of course he had a lot more talent around him than Shaq did. People forget how good Laettner was in college, and he was an NBA All-Star too.
Ninja Scooter said:
Jordan WAS a prick. He was still pissed at Thomas for "freezing" him out of an NBA All-Star game. This man speaks the truth, except that Laettner had a much more decorated college career than Shaq "I won at every level, except college and the pros" (this quote was before his three-peat.)
Yeah, Jordan was likely responsible for keeping Thomas off the Dream Team, but you guys are acting as if Isiah was an angel, and that Jordan had no legitimate reason to be pissed off at him. Hopefully that taught Isiah a lesson-- I saw that All-Star game, and Isiah CLEARLY was intentionally not passing the ball to Jordan. That, coupled with the numerous physical cheap shots Thomas and the other Pistons took at Jordan during those 80's playoff series, likely left a lasting impression with MJ.
I have no idea who the other college players were on that squad, DJ. I've only read anecdotes like the one I posted above; never saw a roster-- I'm sure with some snooping online you could find it.
I have no idea who the other college players were on that squad, DJ. I've only read anecdotes like the one I posted above; never saw a roster-- I'm sure with some snooping online you could find it.
DJ_Tet said:Oh, Isiah was no angel.
He's got 40 well-deserved stitches in his head from Malone to prove it. He still should have been on the Dream Team over Stockton though
Nah, I don't think anything justifies what Malone did, really. Keeping a guy off a legendary team is one thing, but 40 stitches? Man, I saw that hit, and it was brutal. Malone's caught lots of guys with those 'bows over the years; I have one play on this "NBA Jams" music video I have where they cut away from the aftermath, but some guy is coming to the hoop and Malone just levels him with an elbow right in the temple-- I honestly don't know how the guy didn't end up with brain damage, as he came into it full tilt. Oh, Malone made it look unintentional enough, but you know, when a guy does something too many times...
He was just sticking up for a teammate. Malone was a jackass too. Isiah talked MUCH shit about Stockton after being left off the Dream Team. Deserved or not, Malone let him have it. Stockton had the last laugh though. He was on the DT, and is career leader in assists and steals.
Of course, Zeke's got two championships, so...
Zeke should have been on the team, bottom line. He was way more accomplished than Stockton was at that point in time. I guess you could say it was Jordan's fault for the 40 stitches
Of course, Zeke's got two championships, so...
Zeke should have been on the team, bottom line. He was way more accomplished than Stockton was at that point in time. I guess you could say it was Jordan's fault for the 40 stitches
DJ_Tet said:He was just sticking up for a teammate. Malone was a jackass too. Isiah talked MUCH shit about Stockton after being left off the Dream Team. Deserved or not, Malone let him have it. Stockton had the last laugh though. He was on the DT, and is career leader in assists and steals.
Of course, Zeke's got two championships, so...
Zeke should have been on the team, bottom line. He was way more accomplished than Stockton was at that point in time. I guess you could say it was Jordan's fault for the 40 stitches
I heard Thomas had a hemorrhoid once back in '90, too. I say it was MJ in the library with the wrench.
(yes, a wrench-- it was a particularly large hemorrhoid)
DJ_Tet said:That's fair enough, I can't stand Lenny personally
I was just pointing out, that somehow, someway, he actually accomplished SOMETHING at SOME POINT in his career lol.
:lol I really don't have anything personal against the guy, but it's clear the game passed him by a looooooong time ago. He should've made like Craig Ehlo and made himself scarce. :lol
I don't have a top five all time PG list to be honest. I have said that I think Isiah is the second best point guard ever behind Magic, but since that seems to ruffle the feathers of Stockton fans I just said top five. But Isiah was absolutely lethal...say what you want about the guy, but from the highlights I saw he played with intelligence and a huge set of balls. I've seen highlights from the game where he dropped like 37 points on one ankle against the Lakers in the '88 finals several times over the past year, a feat that never gets played up for some reason (so the Pistons lost those finals, who cares?). I would bet it'd rank among the top ten playoff performances ever, if people were being objective. Alas, it seems a number of people have a grudge with the guy (don't blame them, I don't like him as a man), so his name never gets thrown out there when talking about the all time greats.
They can't even use lack of rings as an excuse as well, with one for either ring finger. It's just a sad disservice to his talents and legacy...he deserves more.
Yeah, if I had to rank them, I'd probably place Isiah at 2 or 3 also, behind Magic and maybe Stockton. But probably right behind Magic. Isiah was an offensive MACHINE; some of things he did were incredible-- the way he finished lay-ins etc. was unreal. He had a real knack for making crazy shots, much like Jordan. He was also the clutchest of all those PG's with the exception of Magic-- but even then, Isiah could kill you consistently with the big shot, whereas Magic couldn't.
I remember that playoff game in like '84 against NY, where he and Bernard King went back and forth the entire game; King scored like 50, but Isiah scored 16 points in the final 1:32 to force OT. Just an unbelievable feat.
I still maintain that he was one of the 3 quickest players to ever play in the league, along with Iverson and Jordan.
I remember that playoff game in like '84 against NY, where he and Bernard King went back and forth the entire game; King scored like 50, but Isiah scored 16 points in the final 1:32 to force OT. Just an unbelievable feat.
I still maintain that he was one of the 3 quickest players to ever play in the league, along with Iverson and Jordan.
Loki said:
Yep, I agree with you totally on Isiah. He did things that were way beyond Stockton's skill set. The only reason Stockton is even in the discussion is the fact that he is the career leader in assists and steals. He had a boring game otherwise. For my money, give me Magic and Isiah as my top two point guards in history.
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