Got a nice “Tuesday Night with NBAtv” tripleheader for you. First, we get to see why Gary Payton and Chris Webber didn’t join Shaq on stage with the Jabbawockeez:
Next, Shaq has a special request for Payton and Webber; give him a reprise of the Planet Rock beatbox. Shaq goes to town from there:
And finally a short but sweet version of “What The Hell Did Gary Payton Just Say?”, with Ahmad and Webber getting an assist:
Someday NBAtv will start broadcasting in HD, and my Tuesday nights will be perfect.
Oh for the good ole days. The NBA on CBS. The montages set to techno-jazz music overlaid with Dick Stockton’s classic, never and always dated delivery. How I miss it.
I recently found a 1986 All Star Game preview in my collection. It had everything you’d imagine: Bad basketball card simulations, bad music, and wall to wall slo-mo - over which Stockton laid his poetic and only occasionally insightful narration.
I was just about to post that video, when I began to think about how much I’d love to have Dick Stockton and his old crew make a version for the 2009 All Star game. Same music, same cheese, same 1980’s “NBA on CBS” goodness. Well, wouldn’t you know I found a way to get access to the old crew!
So if you’ve grown tired of the slick production of today’s NBA and would like to take a 2 minute trip back in time, here’s Dick Stockton with your 2009 NBA All Stars…
Tomorrow I’ll post the actual 1986 version. Enjoy.
The preamble: I love NBAtv. Hours and hours of people that know something about basketball sifting through the nightly highlights. And when the show’s over, it loops! Every Tuesday Ahmad Rashad, Chris Webber and Gary Payton host the show. It’s not exactly like you’ve joined them at Ahmad’s house to watch a game; but the only difference is they’d be dressed in sweats and not suits. Other than that, it’s exactly the same. It’s another Festivus miracle!
**If you haven’t already, watch the first episode of “What The Hell Did Gary Payton Just Say?” HERE. It has the full explanation of the game.
Alonzo Mourning sat in for Webber this week, and the look on his face as Payton is being driven mad my Ahmad is priceless.
And don’t think I’m going to miss another opportunity to show the sweetest Draft Day card you’ll ever see:
The combo of the look, the suit, and the green phone is all Payton baby (did I mention the phone?). And as unique as he is in the studio, he was just as unique on the floor. An incredible combo of skills on both ends. He is the only point guard ever to win defensive player of the year. How amazing is that fact? Here are the names from the past 20 years of DPOY: Cooper, Jordan, Eaton, Rodman, Robinson, Olajuwon, Mutombo, Mourning, Wallace, Artest, Camby, Garnett AND… Payton.
There are two short clips this week, so let’s play:
**Edit: A viewer has discovered that it’s even funnier the 2nd time if you listen but don’t watch. Damn if he isn’t right.
“Join us next Wednesday at Didn’t Draw Iron for another episode of…. ‘What the Hell did Gary Payton Just Say?’”!
I’ve seen bits and pieces of information about Michael Jordan’s 55 vs Kobe Bryant’s 61 thrown around. I thought I’d try and gather the relevant facts of each performance, along with some video of both:
MINUTES PLAYED
MJ: 39
KB: 37 SHOOTING
MJ: 21/37 - .568
KB: 19/31 - .613 FT’s
MJ: 10/11
KB: 20/20 REBOUNDS
MJ: 4
KB: 0 ASSISTS
MJ: 2
KB: 3 DEFENSE RANK
95 NYK: #1 in the league @ 95.1 per game (they gave up 113 - 18 above their average)
09 NYK: #22 @ 106.5 per game (they gave up 126 - 25 above their average)
POINTS OF INTEREST
• The 3pt line was shortened to a uniform 22ft in 1995 (changed back in 98). About 1.9ft closer at the top of the key vs today’s line.
• MJ scored nearly 49% of his teams points, KB scored 48%
• Contrary to the often stated - MJ did not have a well rounded game. Both players were all scoring and not much else.
ESPN created a nice highlight package of MJ’s game:
Wish I had MJ’s entire game so I could isolate every shot (yes I’m that sick, and I’m working on it).
It’s been done for Kobe - here’s every shot (courtesy of elderdrn/youtube):
I’ve laid out the facts so you can be the judge on evaluating both performances. My opinion? Could have just been the shots ESPN picked to show, and defensive rank aside; the 95 Knick’s defense on Jordan doesn’t look all that much better than the 2009 Knicks (Jordan had a way of doing that though). Both had a lot of single coverage (as stated in the highlights, MJ was single covered much of the game by 6′3″ John Starks). Both had defenders sagging a few feet off them, which they punished. The video seems to back up the general belief that MJ was quicker and stronger to the hoop (that baseline post move was nasty), and Kobe has a bit more range (some of those shots were just sick).
