Back when AK-47 was playing with Stockton and Malone...
- Thread starter prodigy
- Start date
Nice!
During the 3rd play - Stock passes to AK then cuts to the middle - it seems AK broke the play. Normally the ball goes to the 4 or to somebody from the weak side but instead AK drove to the basket. Stock seemed unaware that AK drove to the basket and in effect clogs the middle.
During the 3rd play - Stock passes to AK then cuts to the middle - it seems AK broke the play. Normally the ball goes to the 4 or to somebody from the weak side but instead AK drove to the basket. Stock seemed unaware that AK drove to the basket and in effect clogs the middle.
It must have been awesome to block Jordan
Kyoto
Well-Known Member
It'll be just like saying, 'I beat Muhammed Ali in a fist fight,... It was last year, but I still did.'
mellow
Well-Known Member
I rembemer watching this game and that season. Ak Made the jazz interesting for me again, It was fun to see the unexpected, scoring and passing from new angles. It was refreshing, exciting, it was AK playing ball and not 'running the offense'. AK just made things happen, he was creative, instinctive, and just played ball. Sloan is structured and repetitive. Both are talented and succesful, but it is unfortunate they were paired together. AK might've been legendary had he played on a free flowing team, and his leaving wouldn't have significantly hurt sloan. Watching Sloan break AK was like watching an old man beat the spirit out of a puppy.
Jordan was still pretty good when he played with the Wizards, he was a lot less efficient, but he was still a good player.
Fakers Luck
Well-Known Member
I've always thought the same thing. Sloan might even agree (candidly) that he just didn't know how to deal with such a unique player. He couldn't sacrifice the system for an individual. Sloan is a better coach than he used to be.
roseparkjazzfan
Well-Known Member
i liked the black jerseies, and that wizard team should of been a lot better. ak was sick back then
Darkwing Duck
Well-Known Member
Yes, but Sloan is always about getting layups. Catching a defender off guard who is expecting a specific play is perfectly fine.
vslice02
Well-Known Member
I was at the (then-called) MCI Center for this game. Bryon Russell got hurt in the first-half so Quincy played big minutes and actually ended up with a career-high like 18-20 points. Still, Jordan went for 40+ on Quincy and whoever was guarding him.
Also regarding AK, in his first 4 years I've never seen anyone block more jumpshots than him. It's one thing to just block shots at the rim, but the way he would roam all over the court and block your jumper from behind was unbelieavable.
carolinajazz
Well-Known Member
...Klinko had free reign to crash boards and just in general, wreck havoc on the opposition....because they had to concentrate so much on Stockton and Malone! Take your eye off either one of them or just let up a bit and it was two points...generally a lay up! So Klinko just free lanced and did just fine! NOW, we don't have a Stockton/Malone combination anymore....and Klinko has to do more "thinking" out there....not his real strong suit!
If you start thinking too much, CJ, especially in the NBA, you're going to be a step behind. You need to react. In fact, I remember Stockton saying that in one of his interviews. What you do has to become automatic and intuitive. Maybe that's why guys have trouble with Jerry's system, but why John and Karl were able to do it so well, because it became second nature to them.
vslice02
Well-Known Member
I disagree, obvi not Stockton&Malone, but Deron&Boozer running screen-roll (w/Memo spotting up outside) more than occupied the defense. Taking nothing away from Brewer, but he basically scored 8 pts per game just by cutting to the basket when his defender lost focus on him. I just think in 03-04, AK got so used to handling the ball that he couldn't/didn't want to go back to being a role-player offensively, while the injuries took away some of the athleticism that made him such a great defensive player.
Jazz4ever
Well-Known Member
And you have been a jazz fan how long? Malone was nothing but a 45% ineffecient jump shooter his last two years here - layups came few and far between for him. They were not fun years, we knew a 1st round exit was more assured back then than now.
unluckyseventeen
Well-Known Member
It's a shame he's not a world-class defender anymore. I remember back in the day he used to post 4 or 5 blocks in a game without any trouble. I've also never seen anybody go from being so good, like top 5 in the league at his position, to barely getting 6th man production without any sort of significant injury.