Who was Olajuwon second superstar? Detroits?
I hate to say it, but Olajuwan at his best was better than Ewing at his best. The year we went to the finals they both had no true supporting superstar, Olajuwan was better. However, if Starks had not had his worst game ever, things might be different. Then the next year Olajuwan had Drexler, who retired as an all-star level player, definitely better than Olajuwan's wingman in his first Championship season.
Detroit had both Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars, both HOF players. They had Rodman, HOF. Laimbeer was an all-star. That team was stacked. Extremely talented. Let put it like this: If Starks was anywhere near as good as Joe Dumars, Houston does not beat the Knicks.
in the 90's...Ewing had a wonderful cast. Harper, Starks, Mason, OAKLEY!!!...and later in his career he Camby, Sprewell, Houston and Larry Johnson. I don't blame him for the Knicks shortcomings (coaches) but I am NOT going to give him all the credit either....
I'm not sure what you mean about the shortcomings and credit. All I am saying is that if Ewing had had his "Scottie Pippen", maybe we have a championship. The Knicks never got him the level of talent he needed until his later years, and then he was broken down already. We never had the real LJ either. We had the injury-remade LJ, kinda like Miami had the injury-remade Majerle.
Starks and Oakley were nice players, but both were pretty limited. Both were prone to making boneheaded plays too. You could count on Oakley to throw a behind the back pass out of bounds late in a big game. Starks was tough as nails, but he was overmatched against bigger and more talented shooting guards frequently. That was why Riley insituted the murderball style, because of the talent gap.
We always got beat by more skilled, more talented team. I like toughness, but talent has to come with it.
oohah