Back in the 1990s and late 1990s KJ was one of the best Point Guard's For the Suns, even his first retirement the Suns wanted him back in 2000 with Jason Kidd got injured. And before KJ retired for the second time he taught Steve Nash he's basketball skills as a point guard during practices.
KJ simply has always been my alltime NBA idol. Still remember watching this match on live back in the old old days. This fella was sick to watch when he's absolutely injury-free. He's just like a combination of AI + CP3.
LOL, I like how the announcer says ""he's playing like he invented the game" LOL, I've never heard anything like that in all the years of watching basketball..I love it
whenever I got good grades in school, my mother would buy me new sneakers for the school year. I had Jordan "Playoffs" 8's in 93, Nike "Air CB34's" in 94 (Barkley), and Converse "Run'n'Slams" (KJs) in 95. All REALLY nice sneakers.
@@phatplates A better passer/distributor. A better shooter ( .490 field goal percentage) and one of the best 3-point shooters in the history of the game (.428). A better free throw shooter (90.43%).
One of my NBA Heroes(And I'm from Houston)! Explosive first step(with change of pace crossover) was one of the best ever! I patterned my one-on-one game after this should be H.O.F.er. 6' point guard that's dunked on Olajuwon and Mark Eaton!! Wow!! Only Jordan has dunked on those 2 All-time great shot blockers. I remember this series and my heart almost stopped watching K.J. dominate my beloved Rockets. Great Upload. K.J. Salute!!
KJ is now in the talks of becoming a HOFer,. He deserves to get in, the only thing that is holding him back is all the injuries he got in his career but he is definitely a HOFer in my eyes.
Kevin Johnson was on one this game, you don't see too many point guards drive to the hole these days successfully (with the exception of a John Wall) like KJ did. I would like to see Stephen Curry drive to the hole more he can actually penetrate very well.
Two problems with this Phoenix teams: 1) Barkley was a ball-stopper; his style didn't mesh with the run-n'-gun style Kevin thrived in, hence them never really being on @ the same time 2) They really coulda used a stretch 5, someone to pull Olajuwon away from underneath the basket If they could've at least achieved #2, Houston doesn't get past Phoenix either year
***** This might just be the best comment I've ever read on YT. I personally don't sentiment with how highly you view Akeem, but a fantastic comment nonetheless. Two questions: 1) who are you 2) what's your YT channel? I know you got a channel w/ throwback games
Abel Mehari Well, things would've been different had Rodman been fully commited to the team, and not have one foot out the door. Regardless though, Robinson had a good enough team to get past Houston, and should've learned his lesson about leaving his feet only when the opposition leaves theirs. Akeem deserves credit though, for finally having a great series, even though Akeem didn't really care about the team, or anything else as much as that performance was him caring about personal accomplishments/accolade. I give him credit, he worked hard from saving his legacy as being remembered as the 7ft Gilbert Arenas
This Rockets team would've had no chance against a team with a stretch 5, the Sonics sweeping them the following year proved that. The version of the team prior to Drexler joining were stronger in the interior they probably would've been better equipped to counter it because that would've allowed Dream to stay in the paint like he wanted to. The 7 game series the Sonics won was really because in overtime of the last game there was back to back plays where supposedly a foul and turnover went against the Rockets when they were both incorrect calls. The Sonics took advantage of it leading by 4 which was significant because the game was tied before that happened.
No you are completely wrong. First of all Barkley was a "ball stopper" only on the half court offense. The suns without him would be very midiocre on set offense. Secondly at the time there were not really stretch fives in the nba. Actually Klein could hit some outside shots. Of course Hakeem was illegal on defense most of the time. The problem in 1995 for the suns was Danny Manning's injury, (a 18/6/3 player) and Majerle playing like shit for the second straight play offs.
And a few days later he made 46 points against the Rockets. He was my favourite play when I was young and I couldn't understand why players like Anfernee Hardaway, Tim Hardaway, Gary Payton were more popular. Their statistic were worse and they were not more spectular. The best lay-ups, moves and dunks made Kevin Johnson inclusive two famous dunks over big men (one of them: Olajuwon). Dennis Johnson is in the Hall of Fame? Why Kevin Johnson is not there? Steve Nash got the MVP award two times but he isn't not best Suns guard ever.
To me Kevin Johnson is better than every point guard of the 2000s, unless you count Iverson as a PG KJ is the only player in history along with Oscar and Isiah to average 20-10 for 3 straight seasons, and he was 0.3 ppg from doing it for a 4th straight season (Isiah and Oscar also both had 4 straight 20-10 seasons) KJ averaged 12+ apg in 88/89 and nobody has done that since Stockton in 94/95. He also had a 46-10 performance in Game 7 against Hakeem's Rockets. I can't think of anybody in recent memory that put up that type of offensive performance in a Game 7. - Kevin Johnson's 6 best seasons 20.4 ppg 12.2 apg on 51% 22.5 ppg 11.4 apg on 50% 22.2 ppg 10.1 apg on 52% 19.7 ppg 10.7 apg on 48% 20.0 ppg 9.5 apg on 49% 20.1 ppg 9.3 apg on 50% - Derrick Rose MVP season 24.1 ppg + 7.4 apg on 45% - He had more points, but KJ killed him in assists, and 1 assist is worth at least 2 points. He also shot much less efficiently than KJ's best seasons. - Chris Paul's 6 best seasons (as high as 2nd place in MVP voting) 22.8 ppg 11.0 apg on 50% 21.1 ppg 11.0 apg on 49% 19.1 ppg 10.7 apg on 47% 19.8 ppg 9.1 apg on 48% 18.7 ppg 10.7 apg on 49% 16.9 ppg 9.7 apg on 48% and Rose and CP3 had the benefit of illegal defensive 3 seconds, no hand check, no physical play, and the no defense era, and still can't beat KJ's numbers. Steve Nash's MVP numbers are also not better than KJ best numbers in his best seasons, and Nash put up those numbers WITH Amare Stoudemire to get those assists. KJ has his best numbers WITHOUT Charles Barkley and his numbers only went down when Barkley came because he had to defer to Chuck as the leader of the team but even when Chuck struggled against the Rockets, KJ would take over like when he dropped 28 ppg and 9.5 apg on 58% shooting against the 1995 Rockets while Chuck had lower production of 22 ppg and 13 rpg on 46% He also took over against the Rockets in 1994 when he averaged 27-10 in that playoff series, and Barkley as a PF only shot 1.3% better than KJ in that series KJ = took a 5 seed Suns team past MVP Magic Johnson with the Lakers and the best record in the league, and crushed them 4-1 in 1990 CP3 = cant take a superstar Blake Griffin past the 2nd round D Rose = even with the best record and defense in the league, can't even beat Lebron's Heat in 2011
And imagine what KJ could do if he played in the modern era. You can see that Gary Payton's numbers took a huge increase, even after his prime, when the rule changes to favor offensive players and point guards were introduced in the post-90s era. Gary Payton In his prime, 1995-1999 6th season - 19.3 ppg + 7.5 apg (Age 27) - won DPOY, led 1996 Sonics to the Finals where they won 2 games against the 72-10 Bulls. 7th season - 21.8 ppg + 7.1 apg (Age 28) 8th season - 19.2 ppg + 8.3 apg (Age 29) 9th season - 21.7 ppg + 8.7 apg (Age 30) a past prime Payton for 4 years post 98-99 rule changes had 10th season - 24.2 ppg + 8.9 apg (age 31) 11th season - 23.1 ppg + 8.1 apg (Age 32) 12th season - 22.1 ppg + 9.0 apg (Age 33) 13th season - 20.4 ppg + 8.3 apg (Age 34) NBA players' primes end at about age 30, yet Payton even at age 31-34 overall put up better scoring AND assist numbers than he did from age 27 to age 30. Payton had FOUR straight seasons of averaging 20+ pts a game after the post-Jordan rule change in 99-00, but he NEVER had back to back seasons of 20+ during the 90s real defense era. Payton's scoring from age 31-33 (after the post-90s rule changes) was higher than his three best scoring totals that he put up at age 26, 28, and 30 (during the 90s era of defense). Payton's FG% post-98/99 was also higher than his FG% in the last season of real defense in 98/99 Payton cited the younger generation, the NBA lockout in 1999, and rule changes as contributing factors to how the point guard position and style of play has changed from his own era. “It’s the way our kids are brought up,” Payton said. “You guys have to understand, basketball has changed." “They had to build it up after the first strike. Basketball was down a little bit. David Stern did a great job of bringing basketball back because he knew kids wanted to see run-and-gun. They didn’t want to see defense like the Knicks were doing. Slowing the ball down, setting up defenses and stuff like that and running plays. Kids weren’t doing that in the playgrounds. So we sped the game up, and that’s what the kids liked. They liked to see dunking, they like to see running, they liked to see scoring and that’s just the way it went.” In 1998/99, the last season of real defense, only 3 players averaged over 23 ppg. After the 1999/00 rule changes to weaken defense, 9 players averaged over 23 ppg. In 1998/99, the last season of real defense, only 5 players averaged 8+ apg. After the 1999/00 rule changes to weaken defense, 9 players averaged 8+ apg In 1998/99, the last season of real defense, only 7 players averaged over 50% FG After the 1999/00 rule changes to weak defense, 15 players averaged over 50% FG The only players that averaged 50% FG in 98/99 were power forwards or centers. If a player like Payton who wasn't even as big of an offensive player like KJ was in the 90s can increase his numbers like that in the 2000s, KJ would be putting up 25-13 a game on well over 50% shooting
***** I honestly can't see many point guards in the last 20 years that could lead that 1990 Suns team (before Barkley) past MVP Magic like KJ did. and KJ also outperformed Barkley in the 1994 and 1995 Playoff series against Hakeem's Rockets as well. But of course, Hakeem was unstoppable in those 2 seasons
@@scarykurapika100yago2 I agree...I was referring more to play style..KJ's game was smooth, Dame's game is smooth, Kyrie's game revolves around set up/counter handles...similar to Isaiah. And that's where their respective similarities end
Too bad that season was even better then 93. They would get their ring against Orlando or whoever came in the finals. And they were 3 x 1. Too bad Ainge made a mistake again (leaving Paxon alone in 93): let Mario alone. Its ridiculous to let K.J out of HOF and add Dick Bavetta.
The Suns wouldn't have beaten the Spurs, much less the Magic who both also had dominant centers. The reason they were heavily favored in this series was because the Rockets didn't have a lot of interior depth with them trading away their main PF and their backup PF was also out injured. The Suns missing so many freethrows in G5 allowed the Rockets to get back in the series, Barkley himself was 1-6 with 1 of the misses coming right before the Rockets sent the game into overtime on their next possession.
Nah, KJ was a better passer than Westbrook. He was a true PG while Russell was SG at UCLA and was a better finisher at the rim. He knew how to use the Pick and Roll effectively while Westbrook would prefer isolation because he sometimes would make bad decision with the ball on the Pick and Roll. If he would have stayed healthy in his prime, he would have been easily a Hall of Famer.
***** hi men i wanted to ask you in your opinion , what could'nt worked for the suns in 1994 and in 1995 against the rockets . In my opinion dan marjely became usless in 1994 series , in preticular from the outside shooting (many misses) after leading in 3pt in that season and barkley's bad back late in the series gave the x factor in the 1994 disaster. In 1995 the suns played smart and succeed in guarding hakeem in the paint and caused him foul trouble in the first games but after 2 games in phoenix , in my opininon the team suddenly became dependent intairly on kj and barkley preformances such as game 4 ( worked ) and game 6, 7 (didnt worked) . Please your response
