There's a new DVD set out by NBA Entertainment (was discussed in here before on an NBA.com poll) called, "NBA's top 10 greatest." I was finally able to watch it recently, and I was horrified. It is by far the biggest sham of a DVD set I've ever seen. Clearly, someone put it together inside of a week.
-The main DVD, set up like a selection show with a panel of experts such as Walt Frazier, Bill Walton, George Gervin, Dave Cowens and Ric Bucher
They don't really select the top plays themselves, they just go over their opinions, and the winners are ultimately decided by the fans from various NBA.com polls.
And, by what they've shown from all-star voting, the fans are GREAT at picking from lists.....
The best part: They dont even SHOW you the greatest moments, just clips. They list who won each poll, and after announcing the winner, they don't show you the actual winning PLAY again, they just move on.
The categories for greatest moments are:
-Greatest finals moment- Jordan's shot in game 6 (even though it says game 7 on the list) of the 1998 NBA finals beat Jordan's flu-game in 1997, the 3-overtime game between boston and phoenix in 1976, and Magic's best game of his career as a rookie in game 6 of the 1980 finals. Thhis can be argued, but it was by far the most sane list.
-Greatest move- Jordan's hand-switch in game 2 of the 1991 finals beat
-Greatest coaching performance- Phil's title run beat out Red's title run. I guess winning 9 titles in 12 years is better than winning 9 in 10 years?
-Greatest duel Magic vs Bird beat out Celtics-Lakers by a hair. Not that I need to remind you, they PLAYED ON THE LAKERS AND CELTICS. Assinine to put teams and player rivalries in the same category.
-Greatest shot- Fisher's 0.4 shot to beat the Spurs somehow managed to beat Jerry West's halfcourt buzzer-beater to send game 3 of the 1970 finals to overtime, Miller's 6 points in 3 seconds to tie NY, and Paxon's three to win the Bulls their 3rd straight title in 1993. Huh?
-Greatest upset- My favorite part of this list. Why? because their nominees were three upsets and two COMEBACKS. Somehow, the Nuggest upset of Seattle in 94 managed to lose to TMac's 13 points in 1 minute vs the Spurs. PICK A CATEGORY, NBA.com! THE ROCKETS BEATING THE SPURS AT HOME WAS NOT EVEN AN UPSET AT ALL!
The best part about this category? They didnt even SHOW all 13 points, just the winning shot
-Greatest team- 96 Bulls beat out the 87 Lakers and 86 Celtics. Can't say it's a horrible pick.
-Greatest new star- Lebron. Did they just throw in this one to make it an even 10 categories?
-Greatest dunk contest performance- Vince in 2000 beat out MJ in 88 and Spud in 86. No argument here, for once.
-Greatest duo- Pippen/Jordan beat out Magic/Kareem. Again, good enough selection.
.......and now for the REAL fun part:
Included are their selections from the best games of the last 4 decades, in their entirety. Included are:
game 7, 1970 NBA finals, Lakers at Knicks:
Ok, Willis Reed hobbling off and hitting 2 jumpers to start the game was cool. Walt Frazier's 35 points, 14 assists and 7 boards was great too. However, this game was over IN THE FIRST QUARTER. NY won by 14, and it wasnt even that close!
You know, I seem to recall a 3-overtime game in 1976 that was kinda good....naaaaah, lets watch Willis Reed hobble around for 4 minutes!
game 2, 1986 first round, Bulls at Celtics:
Ok, the reason this game was shown was obvious: Jordan's record 63 points. At first glance, it was a close game too- double-overtime. Once again, however, anybody who's seen this game will tell you that aside from Jordan, nobody else played well in this game. The Celtics played like utter garbage. Great single performance, but you could pick at least 8 or 9 Celtics-Lakers games from the 80's that were better games. this game might be between 15-20 on a better list.
game 6 (not 7 NBA, learn to count), 1998 NBA finals, Bulls at Jazz:
Again, until the last MINUTE of the game, it was very poorly-played. Pippen was about %10 with his bad back, the Jazz were cracking under the pressure, and the Bulls were in the prevent offense stalling to keep it close, because Jordan was the only Bull that wasnt injured or choking. Great last minute, too bad the first 47 were ugly.
I seem to recall several Knicks-Pacers games that were of better quality in that decade, along with some Knicks-Heat games, Bulls-Knicks, etc.
The best one, however was their choice for the current decade:
game 5, 2004 WCF, Lakers at Spurs:
The last game I said was a great final Minute. This game? A great final 0.4. That's it, folks. The final score was 74-73, and it wasn't because of good defense. This probably shouldn't be on the top 100 list.
Just had to get this off my chest. If I ever see the guy who put this set together, I'm going to beat the crap out of him.
-The main DVD, set up like a selection show with a panel of experts such as Walt Frazier, Bill Walton, George Gervin, Dave Cowens and Ric Bucher
They don't really select the top plays themselves, they just go over their opinions, and the winners are ultimately decided by the fans from various NBA.com polls.
And, by what they've shown from all-star voting, the fans are GREAT at picking from lists.....
The best part: They dont even SHOW you the greatest moments, just clips. They list who won each poll, and after announcing the winner, they don't show you the actual winning PLAY again, they just move on.
The categories for greatest moments are:
-Greatest finals moment- Jordan's shot in game 6 (even though it says game 7 on the list) of the 1998 NBA finals beat Jordan's flu-game in 1997, the 3-overtime game between boston and phoenix in 1976, and Magic's best game of his career as a rookie in game 6 of the 1980 finals. Thhis can be argued, but it was by far the most sane list.
-Greatest move- Jordan's hand-switch in game 2 of the 1991 finals beat
-Greatest coaching performance- Phil's title run beat out Red's title run. I guess winning 9 titles in 12 years is better than winning 9 in 10 years?
-Greatest duel Magic vs Bird beat out Celtics-Lakers by a hair. Not that I need to remind you, they PLAYED ON THE LAKERS AND CELTICS. Assinine to put teams and player rivalries in the same category.
-Greatest shot- Fisher's 0.4 shot to beat the Spurs somehow managed to beat Jerry West's halfcourt buzzer-beater to send game 3 of the 1970 finals to overtime, Miller's 6 points in 3 seconds to tie NY, and Paxon's three to win the Bulls their 3rd straight title in 1993. Huh?
-Greatest upset- My favorite part of this list. Why? because their nominees were three upsets and two COMEBACKS. Somehow, the Nuggest upset of Seattle in 94 managed to lose to TMac's 13 points in 1 minute vs the Spurs. PICK A CATEGORY, NBA.com! THE ROCKETS BEATING THE SPURS AT HOME WAS NOT EVEN AN UPSET AT ALL!
The best part about this category? They didnt even SHOW all 13 points, just the winning shot
-Greatest team- 96 Bulls beat out the 87 Lakers and 86 Celtics. Can't say it's a horrible pick.
-Greatest new star- Lebron. Did they just throw in this one to make it an even 10 categories?
-Greatest dunk contest performance- Vince in 2000 beat out MJ in 88 and Spud in 86. No argument here, for once.
-Greatest duo- Pippen/Jordan beat out Magic/Kareem. Again, good enough selection.
.......and now for the REAL fun part:
Included are their selections from the best games of the last 4 decades, in their entirety. Included are:
game 7, 1970 NBA finals, Lakers at Knicks:
Ok, Willis Reed hobbling off and hitting 2 jumpers to start the game was cool. Walt Frazier's 35 points, 14 assists and 7 boards was great too. However, this game was over IN THE FIRST QUARTER. NY won by 14, and it wasnt even that close!
You know, I seem to recall a 3-overtime game in 1976 that was kinda good....naaaaah, lets watch Willis Reed hobble around for 4 minutes!
game 2, 1986 first round, Bulls at Celtics:
Ok, the reason this game was shown was obvious: Jordan's record 63 points. At first glance, it was a close game too- double-overtime. Once again, however, anybody who's seen this game will tell you that aside from Jordan, nobody else played well in this game. The Celtics played like utter garbage. Great single performance, but you could pick at least 8 or 9 Celtics-Lakers games from the 80's that were better games. this game might be between 15-20 on a better list.
game 6 (not 7 NBA, learn to count), 1998 NBA finals, Bulls at Jazz:
Again, until the last MINUTE of the game, it was very poorly-played. Pippen was about %10 with his bad back, the Jazz were cracking under the pressure, and the Bulls were in the prevent offense stalling to keep it close, because Jordan was the only Bull that wasnt injured or choking. Great last minute, too bad the first 47 were ugly.
I seem to recall several Knicks-Pacers games that were of better quality in that decade, along with some Knicks-Heat games, Bulls-Knicks, etc.
The best one, however was their choice for the current decade:
game 5, 2004 WCF, Lakers at Spurs:
The last game I said was a great final Minute. This game? A great final 0.4. That's it, folks. The final score was 74-73, and it wasn't because of good defense. This probably shouldn't be on the top 100 list.
Just had to get this off my chest. If I ever see the guy who put this set together, I'm going to beat the crap out of him.
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