OK, we got the easy one out of the way. At the 2 spot, Jordan gives this team, and any team, a chance to win on any given night. Although Jordan did have Pippen, the Robin to his Batman, Jordan didn’t have the luxury of a dominant big man in his time; can you imagine? With the man in the middle being Cartwright for the first 3 peat, and Longley for the 2nd trio, nothing against them, but… we could do a whole hell of a lot better. We will do better on our all time NBA team.
We turn our attention to the center position. This one, and all the others going forward, are not that easy of a slam dunk. There are not that many people in this discussion, but there is no clear cut favorite. Let’s start off with that group. Kareem, Russell, Wilt, Shaq, and Hakeem. OK, so although we will not agree on who actually makes the cut, I feel pretty good about picking from this group; we’re in a no lose situation. Any one of them will be better than Cartwright or Longley. And yes, when it’s all said and done, this team that I have assembled would beat any other team ever… even the 92 Dream Team, although Jordan guarding Jordan would be entertaining.
Let’s start off with the guys I never saw play: Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. They should not be eliminated from contention for only that reason, however, there is definitely bias towards the guys I did see play; we’ll see that throughout this process. Russell brings the jewelry; 11 rings!!! Damn Celtics… haha. One of the things I’ll be looking for up and down this lineup is defense! For that argument alone, the answer should be Bill; would you call him more of a defensive specialist though? He’s more than that surely… maybe he makes the roster, but he’s not the starter. Then there’s Wilt… all those points, all those women. 100 points in a game; 2nd highest PPG ever… behind MJ. He gobbled up plenty of boards too, but maybe not so dominant on the defensive side… although lots of stats weren’t kept way back when. Maybe if I saw him play I’d be swayed more to select him; we’re moving on.
That brings us to the 3 guys that I DID see play, although in Kareem’s case, it was towards the end of his career. Still, is there a more trademark shot than his sky hook? I certainly think MJ’s fadeaway would rank 2nd, but can’t think of any shot that is more well known than Kareem’s sky hook. All time leader in points, games, minutes, field goals, field goal attempts, blocks, defensive rebounds, wins, and fouls; well if you play long enough, you can break any record, right? It’s not a knock against him, I’m just saying; longevity was huge for Jabbar. And yes, he played defense too. Although never winning DPOY, he was on the first (5x) and second (6x) team a combined 11 times. I’m really torn here…
If you drink too much and put a strain on the arteries if you viagra samples australia suffer from any cardiovascular problems. Some research suggest an increased risk of cardiac death compared cheap cialis soft with age-/gender-matched control subjects without CKD. As for the liquid form of click address now pfizer viagra mastercard Sildenafil, it acting already in 15 minutes after intake. Simply put: if your partner’s diet consists of meat, potatoes, and beer, this has levitra mastercard to change. “Spouses are often enablers of lifestyle changes, which is why the woman’s workout and eating habits matter to his ED improvement,” explains Walker.I saw Shaq and Hakeem play most of their careers, and thus, they do have an unfair advantage. Although if I’d have to pick one of them, it’s an easy decision. Love Shaq… think he’s awesome… but it’s Hakeem all day every day, kind of like the 1995 NBA finals… a clean sweep. So it’s down to Hakeem vs Kareem…
Let’s talk about Hakeem a bit, and why HE is my choice for starting center on this team. DPOY of the year twice. Not only does he have the points, blocks, rebounds, he even has steals… I believe the most steals per game for a center; I like that. I also like all his post moves; the fadeaway a la MJ, the up and under, little hook shot, he even hit some outside shots. I was watching a bit of the 1994 finals.. him vs Ewing (yeah what about Ewing?).. that was classic, but again, Hakeem came out on top. Who else was on those Rocket championship teams? Kenny Smith, Cassell, Horry, Maxwell, Thorpe… Drexler was there for the 2nd one. It was all about Hakeem. I’d love to think the Bulls would have won against them in 94 & 95 had MJ not retired, but it wouldn’t have been easy. Plus, the Rockets didn’t make the Finals any of those other 6 years; maybe we would have had some more insight if we actually matched up with them in the Finals one time. Regardless, I’m rolling with the Dream…
So Hakeem edges out Kareem for the starting nod; we’ll have to revisit the center position when we fill out the roster, but for now, the starter is set. So Jordan at the 2 & Olajuwon at the 5. I’m good with it. Next…
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