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Thread: Pool:

  1. #1
    Local High School Star robert_shaww's Avatar
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    Default Pool:

    The Nominees:

    Oklahoma City Thunder (2012)
    Ten years from now, people will marvel at one team having Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Serge Ibaka all in the same lineup. That season was one of true beauty for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Durant was having a MVP-caliber season, Harden easily won the Sixth Man of the Year award, Ibaka led the league in blocks and almost took home the Defensive Player of the Year trophy, and Westbrook was averaging a career-high 23.6 points a game. Unfortunately for OKC, they ran into Miami in the Finals and lost in five games.


    Phoenix Suns (1993)
    Charles Barkley firmly believed during the 1992-93 NBA season that he was the best player on the planet. He has been quoted as saying so. With a roaster loaded with talent around Barkley — Dan Majerle, Kevin Johnson, Richard Dumas, Danny Ainge, Cedric Ceballos and Tom Chambers — the suns cruised through the regular season, racking up 62 wins and the NBA’s best record. Sir Charles dropped 25.6 points, 12.2 boards and 5.1 assists a night as he collected the MVP award. However, homecourt advantage and a MVP trophy were not enough to stop Michael Jordan from winning his third-straight NBA title.


    New York Knicks (1994)
    One team that was excited to see His Airness gone was the New York Knicks . With Pat Riley at the helm, the Knicks tied for the East’s best record and sent three players to the All-Star Game (Patrick Ewing, John Starks and Charles Oakley). Ewing played like a man possessed all season, scoring 26 points and pulling down 11 rebounds a night. The Knicks defensive pressure, starting with the play of guards Derek Harper and Starks,was the best in the league. In the NBA Finals, they faced off against Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets and took the series to the full seven games. But poor and non-clutch play from Starks in Games 6 and 7 meant the Knicks came away from the series empty-handed.


    Sacramento Kings (2002)
    Outside of his time with the Fab Five, Chris Webber‘s tenure as the superstar and face of the Sacramento Kings franchise featured the best moments of his basketball career. In 2002, the Kings had one of the better starting fives in all of the NBA. With Mike Bibby, Doug Christie, Peja Stojakovic, Webber and Vlade Divac they had no weak links. Like the ’93 Suns, the Kings also won 62 games during the regular season. But their run was cut short during one of the most remarkable and controversial playoff series: the 2002 Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, led by Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. Besides the shady officiating of Game 6, and then the Kings dramatic meltdown at the free throw line in Game 7, it was the clutch play of another Laker, Robert “Big Shot Bob” Horry, who drained a buzzer-beating three in Game 4, that sealed the end of the Kings season.


    Utah Jazz(1998)
    The Utah Jazz roster in 1998 read like a who’s who of the NBA’s elite. They were coached by the mastermind that is Jerry Sloan; the team was run by the all-time assist and steals leader in NBA history, John Stockton; and at power forward they had the unstoppable force, the man second in career points scored, Karl Malone. You also can’t forget to mention Stockton’s backcourt running mate, Jeff Hornacek. The 1998 Finals gave them a chance to avenge a loss in the previous season’s championship against Jordan and the Bulls, but it didn’t start off to well for the Jazz, who fell behind 3-1 in the series. They forced it to a Game 6 and if it was not for “The Shot” or “The Push Off” (depending on how big a MJ fan you are), Malone and Stockton might have been able to get that elusive championship ring.


    Portland Trail Blazers(2000)
    This Portland team won 59 games, eviscerated the Jazz to get to the Western Conference Finals, and were up 15 points in the fourth quarter of Game 7 against the eventual champion Lakers. They had one of the five best defenses in the league, perhaps the best crowd, and had talent pouring off their roster. They went two deep at every position, and were so loaded that Jermaine O’Neal, a young forward who would eventually make six All-Star Games, couldn’t get out of his warmup suit. The only thing they truly lacked? A go-to player capable of corralling the team’s explosive personalities during crunch time. Steve Smith wanted to be that guy, but was never quite good enough. Rasheed Wallace could’ve been that guy but before he found his calling as a team-first, defense-second Robin in Detroit, he was masquerading as the team’s lone All-Star. Arvydas Sabonis might’ve been that guy if he hadn’t driven his knees into the ground. It came down to Scottie Pippen, who relished the chance to beat old friends like Phil Jackson and Ron Harper in the conference finals.


    Seattle Sonics (1996)
    Over the weekend, Gary “The Glove” Payton was announced as part of this year’s Hall of Fame class. Deservingly so. Payton boasts one of the most impressive resumes of any guard in NBA history. Yet one thing that was missing from that resume — at least until he went ring-chasing as a backup guard in Miami — was a NBA championship. In 1996, Payton and the Seattle Supersonics had a great opportunity to bring the Larry O’Brien trophy to the Northwest. Coached by George Karl and partnered with highflying forward Shawn Kemp and deadeye sharpshooter Detlef Schrempf, Payton’s Sonics would win 64 games during the regular season. After sneaking past the Utah Jazz to get to the NBA Finals, they faced off against the 72-win Bulls and that guy named MJ. Despite some extraordinary late series defense from GP, they were unable to overcome the G.O.A.T., losing in six games. -


    ORLANDO MAGIC (1995)
    Shaq and Penny Hardaway were two players with the combination of size, skill, knowledge and talent that are rarely seen in the NBA. In 1995, this duo was leading a new age explosion in the league and bringing the Orlando Magic to national prominence. Shaq was averaging 29.4 points, 13.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game. Not to be outdone, Penny was contributing 21 points and 7.1 assists of his own. Add in the veteran experience of Horace Grant and you have a team poised to make a run in the postseason. They did that, defeating the Bulls (with Jordan freshly back from retirement) and Reggie Miller‘s Indiana Pacers on their way to a NBA Finals appearance. Waiting for them were the Houston Rockets, featuring a fearsome duo of their own: Clyde Drexler and Hakeem and his unstoppable “Dream Shake.” In a match up of two of the best big men ever, it would be Hakeem and Houston that would emerge victorious. It would be our one and only glimpse of Shaq and Penny in the NBA Finals together.


    Votes: (Finishes Tomorrow, 8/11).

    2002 Kings 9
    1995 Magic 4
    1996 Sonics 2
    2000 Blazers 2
    2012 Thunder 1
    1993 Suns 0
    1994 Knicks 0
    1998 Jazz 0
    Last edited by robert_shaww; 08-10-2014 at 10:39 PM.

  2. #2
    Local High School Star robert_shaww's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pool:

    My Vote: 2012 Oklahoma City Thunder.

  3. #3
    Bran Fam Member ImKobe's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pool:

    2013 Spurs, obviously.

  4. #4
    Greatest K Xerxes's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pool:

    That Magic team had enough talent to win at least one ring in the 90s. Kings should have won in 02. Between those two.

  5. #5
    NBA Legend dunksby's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pool:

    Quote Originally Posted by robert_shaww
    My Vote: 2012 Oklahoma City Thunder.
    Did you expect a bunch of 20 year olds to win? It's between the Sonics (96) and Orlando (95).

  6. #6
    HomieWeMajor
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    Default Re: Pool:

    02 Kings

  7. #7
    Local High School Star robert_shaww's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pool:

    Quote Originally Posted by dunksby
    Did you expect a bunch of 20 year olds to win? It's between the Sonics (96) and Orlando (95).
    i believe durant and westbrook are 2 of the best 4 players in the league, even in 2012. add ibaka and harden and i still cant understand why they lost in 5.

  8. #8
    Raps Sakkreth's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pool:

    2000 Blazers. West was stacked that year and it took major rigging in WCF (yes sheed choked, but choking alone wouldn't have done it and if it was reffed fairly there would be no game 7 for sure anyways).

  9. #9
    Knicks all da way imdaman99's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pool:

    My vote the 02 Kings. That team had everything except a healthy Peja. Although I am questioning how much they needed a healthy Peja since he always shit the bed against Rick Fox and the Lakers, he would be taking shots away from someone on that team.

    Peja had a wide open 3 in the corner in game 7 tie game with 20 seconds left and shot an airball. The guy was one of the best shooters in the world, I don't care how injured you are you knock it down or at worst are a little close. He shot an airball. An airball!

    Game 7, Kings missed too many FTs at home. I know they got robbed in game 6, but they choked at home. I remember Divac missing FT after FT

  10. #10
    One of the Goodfellas NBAplayoffs2001's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pool:

    Quote Originally Posted by Sakkreth
    2000 Blazers. West was stacked that year and it took major rigging in WCF (yes sheed choked, but choking alone wouldn't have done it and if it was reffed fairly there would be no game 7 for sure anyways).
    Agreed. I was going to say the 2002 Kings but I remember how much talent the Blazers had on their team.

  11. #11
    One Mizzou.
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    Default Re: Pool:

    2000 Blazers

  12. #12
    One of the Goodfellas NBAplayoffs2001's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pool:

    Quote Originally Posted by imdaman99
    My vote the 02 Kings. That team had everything except a healthy Peja. Although I am questioning how much they needed a healthy Peja since he always shit the bed against Rick Fox and the Lakers, he would be taking shots away from someone on that team.

    Peja had a wide open 3 in the corner in game 7 tie game with 20 seconds left and shot an airball. The guy was one of the best shooters in the world, I don't care how injured you are you knock it down or at worst are a little close. He shot an airball. An airball!

    Game 7, Kings missed too many FTs at home. I know they got robbed in game 6, but they choked at home. I remember Divac missing FT after FT
    Rick Fox absolutely locked down Peja in 2001. For a guy in his later years of his career, Rick Fox was like glue to him all series. Peja was a ridiculous shooter, I agree.

  13. #13
    Saw a basketball once
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    Default Re: Pool:

    You can add the early 90s Blazers to the list of contenders, maybe the 1991 version that put up the best record in franchise history. Incredibly deep team (Porter, Duckworth, Kersey, Williams, Ainge, Robinson, Petrovic), led by one of the most versatile SGs in history in Drexler.

  14. #14
    One of the Goodfellas NBAplayoffs2001's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pool:

    Quote Originally Posted by Jupiter1610
    You can add the early 90s Blazers to the list of contenders, maybe the 1991 version that put up the best record in franchise history. Incredibly deep team (Porter, Duckworth, Kersey, Williams, Ainge, Robinson, Petrovic), led by one of the most versatile SGs in history in Drexler.
    +1 completely forgot about this. And the 95 Magic to this day... I always felt they should have at least taken that series to 6 games... damn it Nick Anderson.

  15. #15
    Boom Baby! Reggie43's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pool:

    2000 Blazers

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