Basketball & the Push Off
NBA Finals 1998. i remember where i watched every game. I remember who i was with, and if i think hard i might remember what i ate... what i drank was easy; coffee.
The 1998 finals were the Bulls sixth title, which meant it was Jordan & Pippen & co's second three-peat. i was not rooting for the bulls on this one. i wanted Stockton and Malone to get their ring (both have since retired without a championship, Malone even came close with the Lakers - but probably regrets not suiting up with the Heat.)
The sixth game ended with Jordan shooting over (thru?) Bryon Russell. Bulls were down by one, then they were up by one; game over, series over. For almost ten years i've been jousting with basketball fans (and good friends) about Jordans "push off" of Russell to create separation on that last fateful shot. Surely it was an offensive foul. i have the game on DVD and, to torture myself i watch it... like yesterday afternoon era and i watched it, again.
You can see the grainy shot at 2:54 of the below youtube video. if you care...
/and if you watch the whole video, 4:44 was beautiful too, no?
Guess what? it might not have been that much of a push off, in fact... after all this time it now occurs to me that motive may have been involved in the announcers calling of that shot. See, as the live broadcast records, it was Isiah Thomas who commented, in the heat of the moment that Jordan got away with a push off, he then goes on to talk about Super stars getting that treatment. Golly, Thomas never EVER had any bad things to say about Jordan did he? (for the record, yeah, i think those two had some moments of opposition.)
So, while i'm not a Jordan fan per se, and i still believe the "five point swing" in that game should have gotten the Jazz to a seventh game, i might actually be at rest when considering the push-off, or lack there of. Fans can be rabid, and blind. i suppose i may have edged that territory... i should have taken note of the Thomas angle back then... but it took a few years. All that being said, i still intend to harass Jordan/Bulls fans with the push-off comment. It's just good clean fun!
Speaking of Pippen, while watching the game (where Pippens' back is uber sore) Renee asks if Pippen was really all that good? "Of course" i said, Jordan didn't win any rings without Pip (just like Kobe hasn't won any without Shaq). In fact, at 42 Pippen is still playing pro ball... accross the pond: Pippen Scores in Finnish League
The 1998 finals were the Bulls sixth title, which meant it was Jordan & Pippen & co's second three-peat. i was not rooting for the bulls on this one. i wanted Stockton and Malone to get their ring (both have since retired without a championship, Malone even came close with the Lakers - but probably regrets not suiting up with the Heat.)
The sixth game ended with Jordan shooting over (thru?) Bryon Russell. Bulls were down by one, then they were up by one; game over, series over. For almost ten years i've been jousting with basketball fans (and good friends) about Jordans "push off" of Russell to create separation on that last fateful shot. Surely it was an offensive foul. i have the game on DVD and, to torture myself i watch it... like yesterday afternoon era and i watched it, again.
You can see the grainy shot at 2:54 of the below youtube video. if you care...
/and if you watch the whole video, 4:44 was beautiful too, no?
Guess what? it might not have been that much of a push off, in fact... after all this time it now occurs to me that motive may have been involved in the announcers calling of that shot. See, as the live broadcast records, it was Isiah Thomas who commented, in the heat of the moment that Jordan got away with a push off, he then goes on to talk about Super stars getting that treatment. Golly, Thomas never EVER had any bad things to say about Jordan did he? (for the record, yeah, i think those two had some moments of opposition.)
So, while i'm not a Jordan fan per se, and i still believe the "five point swing" in that game should have gotten the Jazz to a seventh game, i might actually be at rest when considering the push-off, or lack there of. Fans can be rabid, and blind. i suppose i may have edged that territory... i should have taken note of the Thomas angle back then... but it took a few years. All that being said, i still intend to harass Jordan/Bulls fans with the push-off comment. It's just good clean fun!
Speaking of Pippen, while watching the game (where Pippens' back is uber sore) Renee asks if Pippen was really all that good? "Of course" i said, Jordan didn't win any rings without Pip (just like Kobe hasn't won any without Shaq). In fact, at 42 Pippen is still playing pro ball... accross the pond: Pippen Scores in Finnish League
posted by jace anderson at 7:30 PM
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