|
Originally Posted by Janett_Reno
I agree again with Silk. Those guys had to be ready at all times as Jordan, Bird and Magic would hit you in the eyes with a pass at anytime, you had to be ready. You play them one on one, you was going to get killed, you double and tripple team them, you was also going to get killed. They passed the ball like a Stockton or Nash, except they was like point guards with the ball that was close to 7' feet tall.
I feel Magic Johnson could have played all 5 positions and be good at any of them. Alby, you are right that McHale was a great player. He was the black hole in the middle, you go to him and it was going in the basket and he was not never passing it back out. Those arms and was so long and he had wonderful pivot moves inside. We need him now, a young McHale. James Worthy was also great swooping in like Connie Hawkins to the rim. Bird and Magic and even Pippen was a product of those 3 great players. You can't double Pippen, Worthy and McHale because it was Bird, magic and Jordan. Plus it was Kareem on LA.
Even when Bob McAdoo's career looked sort of old and over and he came to LA, now he looks like a superstar as Magic found him at the sweet spots and let him fill it up. Bird was this way with Parrish and McHale. Parrish was always rolling to the basket and if you stayed on Bird real close, he just dished to Parrish for a dunk, if you played off him any, it was like a lay up from 25 feet. He was almost impossible to guard. I really feel Michael Cooper played him so hard and the best at times. Bird would go inside and fight then, if a quick skinny guy was on him. He would bump them around and go inside like a center or power forward. He would challenge Mosses Malone, Kareem and much bigger guys and take Cooper down in there. It was bad physical dirty in there.
I might go look for that video of him and Laimbeer fighting. Laimbeer pretty muched would physically beat you up down there in the paint and bruise you. I forget the other Detroit guy that would also. He was very good also and bad physical. Both would hurt you. Bird would even challenge the best fighters and bruisers in the day, down in the paint at their position and Bird would actually fight them, so they respected him in a brawl or his natural talent. I don't think Bird, Magic or Jordan had a weakness. I felt Magic's weakness comming to the nba was his outside shot, they would just leave him open but he said if Larry shot 500 shots a day, he wanted to.
Magic practiced his butt off on his outside shot and very quickly he became so so deadly and a very good shooter and he did not have a weakness.
McHale, i feel Boston was weaker at pg at some of the times as some was slow and Ainge was streaky but pretty good but gave up points on defense. Quinn, Gerald and others was not that great, but Dennis Johnson filled that spot great. McHale made it much easier for the Celts to win titles. LA was sooooooooooo loaded and sooo loaded off the bench, i am not sure if Boston could have won without McHale. He was a nightmare for people inside as you could not stop him as Bird fed him great.
But on the other hand, LA had to have Kareem. It would have been so much harder if they did not have Cooper, Worthy and even AC Green. I would rather have McHale over Worthy but Worthy was so good. I would rather have Kareem over Parrish. You could go on and on but Parrish was solid.
If you played with those 3 guys, you became good because those 3 was perfection. They wanted close to perfection from their teammates and helped them so much. So i do agree McHale, Worthy and Pippen was very important but they became stars with Bird, Magic and Jordan and because of them.
|