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kenyan_cheena · 06-17-2015, 07:36 PM

It's unfortunate for the Cavs that on both occasions they made it to The Finals, Lebron had a sub-standard supporting cast. Hopefully for them they can win it next season. I won't even mind if they beat the Warriors to do it, 'cause I'm just so happy that they finally did it this year.

As a Dubs fan of 25 years, I have been thinking back a lot on the lineups they had during that time, and how they previously came close to putting a real contender together. There's only two times really. The first was in the early '90s just after the Run-TMC era ended. They traded Mitch Richmond to Sacramento for Billy Owens at the beginning of the '91-'92 season and went 55-27. They were led by Tim Hardaway (23.4 pts, 10 ast, 2 stl per game), Chris Mullin (25.6 pts, 5.6 reb, 2.1 stl), Sarunas Marciulionis (18.9 pts) and Owens (14.3 pts, 8 reb). They were the #3 seeds, but Seattle upset them in the 1st round, 3-1. Ironically, the 7th-seeded Warriors had themselves upset San Antonio in the '91 playoffs.

In '92-'93 they went a disappointing 34-48, with Hardaway, Mullin and Marciulionis missing a combined 104 games through injury. But Sprewell was drafted by them in '92, so the future looked bright, especially when they picked up Chris Webber at the '93 draft. They went 50-32 in '93-'94 with a roster that did not include Hardaway or Marciulionis as they were both injured for the entire campaign. Marciulionis was then traded during the offseason.

It was all set for '94-'95 to be the year for them, but then it all fell apart. First thing was Webber, the rookie of the year for '94, getting himself traded to Washington for Tom freaking Gugliotta, because he didn't get along with Nelly. Then more injuries during the season. Mullin only played 25 games, Gugliotta 40, and Sprewell and Hardaway missed a combined 33. They went 26-56, and that was when their window closed. They went 36-46 in '95-'96 and 30-52 in '96-'97. By then, Hardaway was gone, Mullin was 33, and Sprewell was leading the team. If everything had fallen into place for '94-'95, they would have had a starting lineup that included Mullin, Hardaway, Sprewell and Webber, but it was not to be.

The other group that could have turned into a contender was the "We Believe" lineup of the late 2000s. If you remember, they acquired Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson and went 42-40 in '06-'07, finishing the regular season with a 16-6 run to secure the #8 seed. They then shocked the Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs and could have beaten the Jazz if not for a couple of late collapses. They traded Jason Richardson to Charlotte for Brandan Wright during the '07 draft, and although they went 48-34 in '07-'08 and missed the playoffs in an historically awesome western conference, I've always felt that trading Richardson was a terrible move. He was a Warriors stalwart, and the team that finished the previous season with so much promise deserved the chance to see what they could do together for an entire season. I think that if they had kept him, they would have made the playoffs that year. It was back to mediocrity in '08-'09.

06-17-2015, 07:36 PM	#92
kenyan_cheena Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 9,037	It's unfortunate for the Cavs that on both occasions they made it to The Finals, Lebron had a sub-standard supporting cast. Hopefully for them they can win it next season. I won't even mind if they beat the Warriors to do it, 'cause I'm just so happy that they finally did it this year. As a Dubs fan of 25 years, I have been thinking back a lot on the lineups they had during that time, and how they previously came close to putting a real contender together. There's only two times really. The first was in the early '90s just after the Run-TMC era ended. They traded Mitch Richmond to Sacramento for Billy Owens at the beginning of the '91-'92 season and went 55-27. They were led by Tim Hardaway (23.4 pts, 10 ast, 2 stl per game), Chris Mullin (25.6 pts, 5.6 reb, 2.1 stl), Sarunas Marciulionis (18.9 pts) and Owens (14.3 pts, 8 reb). They were the #3 seeds, but Seattle upset them in the 1st round, 3-1. Ironically, the 7th-seeded Warriors had themselves upset San Antonio in the '91 playoffs. In '92-'93 they went a disappointing 34-48, with Hardaway, Mullin and Marciulionis missing a combined 104 games through injury. But Sprewell was drafted by them in '92, so the future looked bright, especially when they picked up Chris Webber at the '93 draft. They went 50-32 in '93-'94 with a roster that did not include Hardaway or Marciulionis as they were both injured for the entire campaign. Marciulionis was then traded during the offseason. It was all set for '94-'95 to be the year for them, but then it all fell apart. First thing was Webber, the rookie of the year for '94, getting himself traded to Washington for Tom freaking Gugliotta, because he didn't get along with Nelly. Then more injuries during the season. Mullin only played 25 games, Gugliotta 40, and Sprewell and Hardaway missed a combined 33. They went 26-56, and that was when their window closed. They went 36-46 in '95-'96 and 30-52 in '96-'97. By then, Hardaway was gone, Mullin was 33, and Sprewell was leading the team. If everything had fallen into place for '94-'95, they would have had a starting lineup that included Mullin, Hardaway, Sprewell and Webber, but it was not to be. The other group that could have turned into a contender was the "We Believe" lineup of the late 2000s. If you remember, they acquired Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson and went 42-40 in '06-'07, finishing the regular season with a 16-6 run to secure the #8 seed. They then shocked the Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs and could have beaten the Jazz if not for a couple of late collapses. They traded Jason Richardson to Charlotte for Brandan Wright during the '07 draft, and although they went 48-34 in '07-'08 and missed the playoffs in an historically awesome western conference, I've always felt that trading Richardson was a terrible move. He was a Warriors stalwart, and the team that finished the previous season with so much promise deserved the chance to see what they could do together for an entire season. I think that if they had kept him, they would have made the playoffs that year. It was back to mediocrity in '08-'09. Last edited by kenyan_cheena; 06-17-2015 at 07:44 PM.