Uncensored Writing: Cleveland Cavaliers

Showing posts with label Cleveland Cavaliers. Show all posts

Thursday, April 12, 2018

The 45 Most Important Players to the Chicago Bulls Dynasty - #5 Ron Harper

Ron Harper
Ron Harper is always a guy who perplexed me. Drafted eighth overall in the 1986 NBA Draft, he was a great player back in his day for both the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Clippers. The numbers don't lie. He had three years of averaging over 20 points per game and four other years of over 18 points per game. On top of that, he added five rebounds, five assists, two steals, and a block through his first eight seasons. Despite all of that production, he was never once named to an All-Star team.

I wanted to touch on those first eight seasons, because he went to the Bulls during his ninth season, and it is baffling what happened when he did. Joining the Bulls before the 1994-95 season, Harper was brought in to be another scoring option to help out Scottie Pippen, especially with Horace Grant leaving in the offseason. The year before he averaged over 20 points per game, so he appeared to be a great fit for a Bulls team that was in desperate need of a shooting guard with Michael Jordan leaving the team after that first threepeat.

But for some reason, it just didn't happen for Ron Harper. He managed to eclipse 20 points just three times throughout the entire season. His reduced role turned into a completely diminished role when Michael Jordan returned as he didn't move to backup shooting guard; he moved to the end of the bench and barely played in the playoffs. For the season, he ended up averaging less points than Will Perdue, averaging a very nice 6.9 points per game.

The following year would start the Bulls second threepeat, and even though Harper was no longer filling up the box score, he was still an incredibly valuable part of those Bulls championship teams. He started alongside Jordan in the backcourt, and he was the guy who was willing to do the dirty work. He freed up Jordan to take on a less demanding defensive assignment in order to fully focus on carrying the offense. He was a guy who was in the right place at the right time on offense to keep the Triangle working. He never had any standout performances, but that was no longer his job, and maybe the thing that stood out the most was how happily he accepted his new role.

Harper would hang around the Bulls for the strike-shortened 19999 season, but then sign with the Los Angeles Lakers to rejoin Phil Jackson and win an additional two championship rings before retiring in 2001. Despite taking a backseat later in his career, Harper reflects fondly on his time as he was finally on a winning team. Considering he has enough rings to fill a whole hand, it didn't work out too bad for him.

Previous Entries:

#24 - Dickey Simpkins

#17 - Cliff Levingston

#16 - Stacey King

#15 - Jason Caffey

#14 - Bill Wennington

Thursday, March 22, 2018

The 45 Most Important Players to the Chicago Bulls Dynasty - #11 Steve Kerr

Steve Kerr
Steve Kerr, more commonly referred to as the Lebanon Leprechaun (I may be the first person to ever call him that, but he was born in Lebanon), came out of his career at Arizona ready to set the world on fire. This was especially true since he was a lights out shooter, setting a record for 3-point percentage at 57.3%. He was drafted in the second round by the nearby Phoenix Suns. His early career saw him bounce from the Suns to the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Orlando Magic before becoming a free agent in 1993. That is when he signed with the Chicago Bulls and would truly find his niche in the NBA.

Kerr had his best years with the Chicago Bulls, but a lot of this was due to the Bulls seeing value in his contributions and giving him more minutes than he received anywhere else. I mean, the guy shot over 50% from deep in his first season with the Cavaliers, and then shot 43% and 45% respectively in the two following years, but back then, NBA teams didn't know that threes were better since they are one more than two. In those two non-title winning years, Kerr backed up B.J. Armstrong, although he still finished fifth on the team in minutes as he received a lot of time at both guard positions off the bench.

Although B.J. Armstrong was lost in the expansion draft to the Toronto Raptors, Kerr's role only switched in that he was now backing up Ron Harper instead of Armstrong. His numbers during those championship years barely changed, which may have been the greatest attribute of Steve Kerr; you knew what you could expect from him. He wasn't going to be the best defender or playmaker, but when it came down to making shots, there weren't many guys you would rather have with the ball in his hands.

Since Steve Kerr was consistent in his play, there really aren't any interesting box scores to point to. There are no games where he went off for big points or completely took the game over in any way. That was never meant to be his role, and he never tried to fill it. Instead, Steve Kerr's Bulls tenure is one of moments, and there is one moment that stands above all others.

In Game Six of the 1997 NBA Finals, the Bulls were tied with the Utah Jazz at 86. time was running down on the shot clock, and the Jazz chose to double team Michael Jordan. With five seconds left on the clock, Jordan passed to Steve Kerr from 15 feet out, and this is what happened.

I highly recommend watching the video as the speech after is nearly as good as the shot.

But this is what Steve Kerr will always be remembered for as a player. To be fair, it's really damn tough to top hitting a game winning shot to win a NBA Championship. But it is also hilarious what are considered Steve Kerr's top 10 highlights in the following YouTube video.

1. Shot to win Championship - this one is totally legitimate.
2. Drive penetration, banks it in, and-one, a nice play.
3. Pump-fake, dribble, nails jumper.
4. Hits a floater.
5. Three-pointer in transition.
6. Off-balance three-pointer, another nice play.
7. Assist to Toni Kukoc
8. Rebound followed by assist to Jordan who hits a layup.
9. Gets pass from Michael Jordan, takes a dribble, hits mid-range jumper.
10. Give and Go with Bill Wennington.

Outside of number one, there are probably quite a few players who have better highlight videos from a single game, but hey, it worked for Kerr. And even after leaving the Bulls, he managed to join the San Antonio Spurs and win two more titles.

After his playing career was over, he bounced around between being a General Manager, broadcaster, and now the Head Coach of the Golden State Warriors, where he has won an additional two titles, giving him seven overall, one more than former teammate, Michael Jordan. Steve Kerr may not be flashy, but he sure as hell is effective. Even crazier, as long as his health holds out, he's nowhere near being finished.

Previous Entries:

#24 - Dickey Simpkins

#17 - Cliff Levingston

#16 - Stacey King

#15 - Jason Caffey

#14 - Bill Wennington

#13 - Will Perdue

#12 - Scott Williams

Thursday, December 14, 2017

The 45 Most Important Players to the Chicago Bulls Dynasty - #38 Joe Courtney

Joe Courtney
Joe Courtney was never a guy who would wow anyone with his statistics. Even in college at Southern Mississippi, his senior year only led him to scoring 8.6 points with 5.3 rebounds per game. But what he lacks in per game stats, he more than makes up for it with the fact that he has played for a lot of different basketball teams. I mean A LOT of different basketball teams. I was going to write them out, but that seemed like an incredible pain, so here it is from Wikipedia:

1992–1993	Sioux Falls Skyforce
1993	Rockford Lightning
1993	Chicago Bulls
1993	Golden State Warriors
1993–1994	Phoenix Suns
1994	Milwaukee Bucks
1994–1995	Mexico City Aztecas
1995	Cholet Basket
1995	Rockford Lightning
1995–1996	Cleveland Cavaliers
1996–1997	Quad City Thunder
1997	Philadelphia 76ers
1997	La Crosse Bobcats
1997	San Antonio Spurs
1997	Fórum Valladolid
1997–1998	Rockford Lightning
1998	Idaho Stampede
1998–1999	NKK SeaHawks
1999	Cincinnati Stuff
1999–2000	Panteras de Miranda
2000–2001	Idaho Stampede
2001	Krka Novo Mesto

I counted 22 stints with 20 different teams. And that doesn't even mention that he went to two schools for college. Joe Courtney got around.

Like many of the early names on this list, Courtney was signed for the 1992 preseason before being released before the season began. But he showed enough for the Bulls to bring him back in January of 1993 and signed him to a ten day contract.

He actually ended up getting two ten-day contracts. Why did the Bulls give him that extension? Well, it probably had something to do with this:
Courtney would end up playing five games for the Bulls over that 20-day stretch, and he was pretty solid, accumulating 34 minutes of action, accumulating 11 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, an assist, and a block. He also managed 9 fouls, but at least he made an impact.

Unfortunately, the Bulls were done with him after those 20 days as the Bulls decided not to keep him around for the rest of the season. But things worked out well for Joe. First off, you should definitely check out his YouTube page. Don't watch the self-help videos, but do watch that he posted every single highlight of his NBA career. It's awesome, because I would do the exact same thing if I had played in the NBA. Also, probably more importantly, he started a business in Scottsdale, AZ and even wrote a self-help book. Joe Courtney got around, but it seems like he settled into a pretty good place.

Previous Entries:

Monday, June 1, 2015

Who Will Win the 2015 NBA Finals?

The Cavs are set to take on the Warriors in the NBA Finals, and people are wondering whether LeBron can do it again and lead a team to a championship. He has been incredible in these playoffs, and the Cavs dispatched every Eastern Conference foe that got in their way with little resistance. The Warriors did basically the same thing to the Western Conference, so it appears that there are two titans ready to square off for the title. There's just one problem with that. The Eastern Conference was terrible this year, and the Warriors, if healthy, are going to steamroll the Cavaliers.

Now, this isn't a knock on LeBron James. He's still the best basketball player in the world (and I guess I must also say that this statement is not a knock on Steph Curry), as there is no one better at taking over games and physically dominating his opponents. As great as LeBron is, this team still wasn't good enough to have the best record in the East. They beat the Celtics easily, and were able to polish off the Bulls after having troubles early on. They looked impressive against the Hawks, but the Hawks didn't had injuries stacked up and clearly ran out of gas towards the end of the regular season.

Still, it has not just been LeBron who has done well in these playoffs. The supporting cast has played surprisingly well. As a Bulls fan, it seriously angered me how many rebounds Tristan Thompson had and how JR Smith seemed to never miss a shot. And don't get me started on Dellavedova. But just looking at these rosters, does anybody see a single advantage for the Cavs outside of LeBron? These Cavs are not the Miami Heat of the past four seasons. Kyrie is not on Dwyane Wade's level, and Cleveland has nobody even worth comparing to Chris Bosh.

Yet everyone seems to think this will be a competitive series. LeBron may be the best player in the NBA, but it seems safe to say that the current MVP, Steph Curry, is at least in the top-5. But LeBron is flanked by Kyrie and a bunch of solid but not impactful role players. I mean, if you were ranking the players in this series, how many Warriors would you list before you got to the third Cavs player? I think most people would list Klay, Draymond, Barnes, Bogut, and Iguodola. Maybe even Shaun Livingston. That is just too big of a talent gap for LeBron and even a 100% healthy Kyrie to make up for.

Let's look at it this way. Do you really think the Cavaliers would have gotten past the Memphis Grizzlies? They would have pounded the Cavaliers into submission. They nearly did it to the Warriors, but the Warriors had more talent, so they were able to eventually figure things out.

And that's the way I see this series going. Even if the Cavaliers start out looking good, the Warriors have way more talent, and they have a coaching staff who eventually figures things out. The Klay Thompson concussion is a big concern, but if he is healthy, there is no way the Warriors lose this series.

Prediction: Warriors by Gentleman's Sweep