schneider@vlnvax.DEC (09/18/85)
> With the NBA season fast approaching ( the Pistons started selling tickets > yesterday ), I find myself wondering about a trade Detroit and Washington > made in the off-season. Detroit sent Dan Roundfield to the Bullets for Rick > Mahorn and Mike Gibson, who played in Italy last year. What I want to know > is: Can Mahorn do anything on the basketball court except be a goon? Mahorn does have a knack for throwing his elbows around but so do a lot of other players who haven't received the noteriety for it. These are the kind of things announcers pick up on (believing the observations of others and propogating them) and thus his reputation preceeds him in the fans mind. He's also strong and large inside which is just what Detroit needs. > ........ I'm beginning to think the Pistons made a big mistake. The *only* > reason they blew out New Jersey in the 1st round last year was because Round- > field dominated Buck Williams. True, he was injured a lot during the season; > he missed about half the year. But this trade still leaves them without a > Williams-type power forward, which they need to rise to the top of their > division. Nobody has ever dominated Buck Williams! Nobody. The man is unparalleled in the NBA. Also Roundfield proved he wasn't a "Williams-type power forward" and thus the trade was made. With him getting on in age and his lack of performance over the course of the year, his pathetic play against the Celtics put the final nail in his coffin. In his defense, in the playoffs last year almost everyone had trouble keeping up with Kevin McHale. As often happens in the NBA teams go as far as they can and then think about why they didn't go further, not how they got as far as they did. Now they make trades which they believe will give them that extra push in the playoffs, never mind if they are weakening the structure which finished the season in the money. It remains to be seen how players like Mahorn, Walton, etc. work out but in some cases management seems to be short-sighted in their pursuit of the title. > Mark Tompkins > > P.S. How 'bout it, Nets? Mahorn and Benson for Buck? :-) :-) Sorry, the Nets still wouldn't blink if you threw in Laimbeir, Long and Isiah... Daniel Schneider {decvax}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-vlnvax!schneider
mlt@mb2c.UUCP (Mark L. Tompkins) (09/19/85)
> ........ I'm beginning to think the Pistons made a big mistake. The *only* > reason they blew out New Jersey in the 1st round last year was because Round- > field dominated Buck Williams. >>Nobody has ever dominated Buck Williams! Nobody. The man is unparalleled >>in the NBA. Also Roundfield proved he wasn't a "Williams-type power forward" >>and thus the trade was made. Give me a break! The man is a tremendous player, but he's far from a god. Even Dwight Gooden loses once in a while :-). In last year's playoff series, Roundfield definitely outplayed Buck in the first 2 games. He shut down Buck from scoring and kept him off the boards to an extent, while averaging ~22 pts. The third game was pretty much a standoff. > Mark Tompkins > P.S. How 'bout it, Nets? Mahorn and Benson for Buck? :-) :-) >>Sorry, the Nets still wouldn't blink if you threw in Laimbeir, Long >>and Isiah... >>Daniel Schneider HA! I wouldn't trade Isaiah Thomas for the whole Nets team. HE is unparallel- ed in the NBA. Why, if he were 6-8 inches taller, he'd make Magic look like Danny Ainge :-) ( Green flames most definitely heading this way ). Mark Tompkins