Comments on: Players & Coaches Who Won Championships With Multiple Teams

By: Lili Bourbeau

Lili Bourbeau — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 06:05:41 +0000

I had success using writingscore.com for an essay I needed to hand in last minute. I actually got a pretty good grade if I remember correctly lol. What are some other good writing services you guys have success with?

By: Charles

Charles — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 02:40:05 +0000

Gene Conley wins 3 NBA titles with the Celtics and 1 World Series with the Milwaukee Braves.

By: latopia

latopia — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 14:46:06 +0000

Cort Says on June 29th, 2011 at 12:19 am anthony: yes plus kareem originally won the 1980 finals mvp but then they re-voted when he wasnt there This is either fabricated or unsubstantiated. According to the Wiki entry for the 1980 Finals, Abdul-Jabbar twisted his ankle in Game 5; Magic started at C in Game 6, tookover, brought home LAL's 1st trophy for the 80's. n.b. KAJ maintained a double-double throughout the Finals; but so did Magic, who almost averaged a triple and did, in fact, do so in Games 5 & 6.

By: LT Jaeger

LT Jaeger — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 07:19:55 +0000

Cort, Magic's size advantage was CONSTANTLY measured throughout his career, as it should have been. While I agree that Kareem was the MVP of the playoffs, and have heard a number of times that a re-vote was taken so CBS would have someone to interview after the game, Magic did indeed play center during that game, along with some time at G & F. The Lakers had Brad Holland, Michael Cooper, Jamaal Wilkes and Norm Nixon on the court at the same time; obviously Magic was the center in that combination.

As for the Riley zone used by those teams, it was more of a half-court trap to take advantage of the quickness of having Cooper, Nixon, Wilkes, Magic and McAdoo on the court at the same time rather than to hide anyone's deficiencies. If anything, the trap was used MORE when Magic was off the court than when he was on it.

By: Keith Ellis

Keith Ellis — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 21:47:23 +0000

Twiddling its thumbs w/ the lockout underway & its 30 franchises as defunct as the Pittsburgh Condors or Baltimore Claws, the NBA today sets the official historical record straight regarding Magic Johnson, rookie Center -- http://www.nba.com/video/channels/nba_tv/2011/06/30/magic_jumps_center.nba/

By: Keith Ellis

Keith Ellis — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 16:15:07 +0000

A precursor of the "mythologizing" that Magic played Center to clinch Game Six in Philly is the fable that Willis Reed "played Center" in the renowned Game Seven at MSG ten years before Earvin. In reality the late Nate Bowman spent almost half the game at Center, as Reed was used sparingly (by normal standards) there. That 1970 Game Seven boxscore, BTW, apportions Knick minutes easily per-position. DeBusschere & Stallworth's strong-forward minutes sum exactly 48, as do Bradley & Cazzie's at the other wing. Riordan occupied all ten of Frazier & Barnett's missed minutes in the backcourt, & as noted Bowman's 21 minutes dovetailed w/ Reed's 27.

By: Keith Ellis

Keith Ellis — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 15:55:13 +0000

Magic said he played C. Hot Rod said it. Bill Russell & Brent Musberger did, too. What everybody saw & believed in 1980 can't be contradicted on a whim by Darko or an embarrassed DDawkins thirty years later. Magic not only scored while playing Center; he defended Dawkins in the post (see the YouTube video), too. Sure, Kobe Bryant make a key defensive switch on Dwight Howard in the '09 Finals -- but nobody in 2009 said Kobe "started the game at Center" in place of either Bynum or Gasol. Magic DID start Game Six at Center in place of the injured Abdul, who BTW is hardly underappreciated as the recipient of six MVP awards. If we must pick the better player I, too, take Jabbar over Johnson. Bird, I'm not so sure. All three are amongst the Top Ten ABA/NBA pros ever. Norm Nixon is hardly one to criticize a teammate's penchant for gambling on Defense; the post-post-Merger Year NN stole at a rabbit's clip & in his soph season cracked 200 thefts. Perhaps we can concile ourselves, Cort, w/ the statement that Magic Johnson "started Game Six at Center & eventually played all five positions in a dominating performance," as Darko's cyber-colleague Wikipedia retells the story. Sure, most of us know there are only three positions in Bkb -- Center, Forward, Guard. Twenty-year-old Magic, by showing such flash (albeit briefly) in the moment his club most needed their Center, proved he could fill all five holes on a basketball court, denominations be damned.

By: Cort

Cort — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 06:36:58 +0000

Johnson did not play center, watch the whole game. Just because Johnson said he was going to play center to Hot Rod Hundley doesnt make it true, obviously. Shaq said he made FTs when they counted too. Does that make it true as well, because he said it? He obviously didnt. Johnson was a shameless self-promoter, and still is, who never missed a camera. Johnson benefited from a huge size and weight advantage, but this usually went unsaid because people liked and were seduced by his fake persona and the NBA PR machine. However, Kareem was often put down for having a height advantage to explain away his dominance, because people didnt like him and he wasnt fake. Sullen often yes, but not a phony. Yet his size advantage wasnt as large as Johnson's. Bird was never guarded by 6-1 or 6-3 guards, or he would have scored at will. He almost did anyway. Bird was a far better defender than Johnson. Larry made 3 all-NBA defense 2nd teams 1982-84, when the coaches voted on it. Johnson gambled all the time for steals and never guarded the other team's best player or guard. McHale and Maxwell usually guarded the other team's best offensive forward because they were better 1 on 1 defender than Bird. But Larry was a great team defender and his all-around duties and minutes were so heavy it was asking too much to make him guard the other team's best scoring forward. I do agree that the power forward and small forward notions are usually useless. I dont see the delineations in most cases. I think it started with the 1977 Blazer title team, which had Maurice Lucas as the prototype power forward, and Bob Gross as the prototype move without the ball small forward. Greta guards like West, Robertson, Frazier, Westphal, DJ weent point guards of off guards - hey were just guards. Bird was a forwward who could play anywhere ont he court. In Basketball Digest articles from the early 1980s, Norm Nixon criticized Johnson heavily for gambling for steals (he also played only zone in college and LA played a thinly-veiled zone in the Riley years to hide Johnson's defensive deficiencies) and for holding the ball too long on the break and for pouting when he didnt have the ball. He also lamented that he had to guard the other team's best scoring and quick guard because Johnson couldnt. The FreeDarko book mention about Game 6 is mainly from Darryl Dawkins, who said in his autobiography that Johnson didnt play center. Just because a guy scores on a center a few times doesnt make him a center. Happens in every game when a guard drives in and scores. I thought the book was pretty good, mostly essays. Read it before you put it down.

By: AYC

AYC — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 20:35:51 +0000

Good post, Bill. I'd add that Larry Bird usually covered whichever forward was a weaker scorer, which meant he often covered power forwards, while Kevin McHale covered athletic small forwards like Nique. So who was the SF and who was the PF? It's also worth mentioning that Magic's role with the Lakers changed over time. He might not have played center often, but early in his career he did play a lot at power forward; they already had Norm Nixon at the point, and PF was their weakest position; Magic had the size and rebounding ability to give them quality minutes at that spot. Playing at PF helps to explain how Magic was able to avg double figures rebounding on the '80 and '82 championship squads. When Norm Nixon was replaced by Byron Scott, Magic became the full-time PG; his rebounding totals dropped, and his assists rose as a result

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:47:05 +0000

Since Johnson was a primary ballhandler and played a lot on the perimeter on offense and did not guard the low post (Darryl Dawkins in this case), i would say that makes him what we normally call a guard or at most a small forward - especially in 1980, when offenses were more traditional with low post centers on almost all teams.
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Positions change. Walton was raised in the UCLA system of a center who plays at the high post and passes well -- was he not a center?

Wilt lead the league in assists -- was he not a center?

Barkley shot a ton of 3s and often ran the offense, was he not a PF?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtJu-8oxvm4
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/PHI/1988.html (1st in rebounds, 1st in blocks, 2nd in 3s, 2nd in assists -- what position did he play?)

Laimbeer in 1990 was out-rebounded by a small forward and lead the team in 3pts made (2nd in 3pt %). He was often in lineups with John Salley and James Edwards where he was the 3rd tallest man on the court. Was he not a center? [it helps when that SF is Dennis Rodman]

Hell, look at the 1996-1997 Blazers. Arvydas Sabonis, Chris Dudley, Cliff Robinson, Jermaine O'Neal, and Rasheed Wallace. Wallace was 3rd on the team amongst the centers on 3s attempted -- Sabonis took 132 and Robinson took 350. Sabonis was 2nd amongst centers for rebounds and Robinson was 3rd. Were they not centers?

Speaking of Wallace -- look at this clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh1tSS7hr1Q

It's not Ben Wallace who's guarding Shaq, it's Rasheed Wallace. In these sets, he's a PF on offense and a C on defense. The next year, when the PF was Mourning instead of Malone, it was Ben on Shaw and Rasheed on Mourning. In those same series, Kobe and Dwyane Wade (SGs) were guarded by Tayshaun Prince -- a 6'9" small forward. Was Rip Hamilton then not a SG?

Vlade Divac often ran the offense for his teams -- was he not a center?

Here's a flip argument -- Duncan claims to be a PF, but he's functioned as San Antonio's center since Robinson retired. What is he?

Magic was a 6'9" ball-handler. By the standards of the late 70s NBA, he was too tall and too slow to be a PG. You've got to call him something, and not every player is easily boxed into a conventional descriptor. There is more than one way to skin a cat, and many great NBA players have defied conventional or era-appropriate positional descriptions. (Rodman did a center's job as a 6'7" small forward; Barkley was a 6'6" PF who ran the offense and took 3s; Ben Wallace was a 6'9" center in a body the same size as LeBron James'; etc.) There are more Euro Centers than Traditional Centers in the NBA today -- should we get rid of C altogether and just use OPF and IPF?