WMBD feature on Geno Ford and the Bradley Braves

[basketball nut]

not so fast...
Michael Jordan went two years without hardly picking up a basketbakll -- playing minor league baseball...

Then in 1995 he announced "I'm back" and played the final 17 games in the 1994-1995 season averaging 39.3 minutes per game the most in any year he ever played after 1988...and averaged 27 ppg and 6.9 rpg (also the most in any year he played after 1988 )?
Then the following fall...just 4 months later - he promptly led the Bulls to the 1995-1996 title -- averaging 30.4 ppg, 38 minutes per game, 6.6 rebs
...virtually all of which was accomplished in that one year window you're saying it took "to get into basketball shape".
Interestingly -- each successive season when he was then already back in "basketball shape" his minutes, scoring, and all other measures of productivity declined, and he still led the Bulls to 2 more titles and played four maore seasons....

as many of the BYU kids prove year after year -- those kids coming back from 2+ year missions, if they have the talent, get back into shape pretty quickly..

Was thinking the same thing and they come w/a great work ethic also

[SFP]

Do you think the kid is sitting around on a vacation? I'm sure he's on a program to keep himself in shape. I also would have to believe BU is a good fit for him all around. I hope all the recruits show up as well as NW. They all appear to possess great values which has been a JL trademark of his recruits.

[JMM28]

not so fast...
Michael Jordan went two years without hardly picking up a basketbakll -- playing minor league baseball...

Wrong. He actually played 1 year of minor league baseball, the 1994 season (Feb-Sept for those concerned). He also played in the AFL that Fall, which puts him in baseball until about early November. The 94 season was also the strike season in the majors. MJ did not want to be a replacement player, and the obvious rumors of his return started around Spring Training time. Also, to think that The Greatest That Ever Lived would not pick up a basketball in his house with a full size gym in it is a bit naive.

I do believe MJ would have eventually made it to the majors however. But that is another post for another day.

So keeping track, 1 year off. Another 2-3 months before the comeback of training. Also still playing a professional sport.

Then in 1995 he announced "I'm back" and played the final 17 games in the 1994-1995 season averaging 39.3 minutes per game the most in any year he ever played after 1988...and averaged 27 ppg and 6.9 rpg (also the most in any year he played after 1988 )?

Yes he did, but he also, in his own words, did not even come close to playing like he should have. We aren't talking about ol Zeke Thomas or Magic Johnson here, this is The GOAT. That season he shot his lowest percentage percentage from the field in his career, by a wide margin. His defense was also terrible (for him), and he just didn't have his legs under him.

Then the following fall...just 4 months later - he promptly led the Bulls to the 1995-1996 title -- averaging 30.4 ppg, 38 minutes per game, 6.6 rebs
...virtually all of which was accomplished in that one year window you're saying it took "to get into basketball shape".

Oh you mean exactly a year after he stopped playing baseball. Darn near a year after he started training for his return. Huh. Crazy how that works out. I do believe the Bulls hit their stride that year around January-February time frame too... which would be exactly a year.

Interestingly -- each successive season when he was then already back in "basketball shape" his minutes, scoring, and all other measures of productivity declined, and he still led the Bulls to 2 more titles and played four maore seasons....

Any Michael Jordan fan knows that he only played 2 more seasons after the 96 season. Come on.

Also, not that it really matters, but he played more minutes in his last 2 years than he did in 95-96.

Any Bulls fan born before 1988 knows that the 97-98 team was running on absolute fumes, somehow won the title, and probably would have won it again in 99 with the extended break. I am not really sure how any of this is relevant to Sean Harris, but so be it.


And as for BYU players...
???I came back really slow and out of shape,??? said point guard Austin Ainge, 25, the son of the former basketball star Danny Ainge, who served his mission in the Dominican Republic. ???It was really hard. I personally think anyone who thinks it??™s a benefit, basketball-wise, is crazy. I still don??™t think I??™m as quick as I was in high school.???

And their most successful player on their best team since Danny Ainge didn't actually go on a mission trip, unlike 80+% of their students. Hmmph.

Chris Collinsworth came back from a mission and had gained 30+ lbs, rushed to get himself back into shape, and wound up missing the end of the season with microfracture surgery.

I am no expert in the Latter-day Saints and their ways, but I do know that their mission trips are exactly that. There is not much time allowed for anything but thumping. If he is working out an hour a day, he is extremely lucky.

[mrcoachdude]

What on earth are we arguing about? I know I missed it somewhere....can someone help me?


Wait I re-read a few things...so we are wondering how he can get into shape after a misson trip....probably as easy as Taylor getting back into shape when he is cleared...

SH described as a kid with a constant motor going and really getting after it...I would say if we were talking about a sharp shooter or a ball handler with mad skills..it would take a little while to get back to the game...but a player that would be a player SH is described as..I doubt it would take much time to get back in shape for his game...


Now quit arguing

[JMM28]

What on earth are we arguing about? I know I missed it somewhere....can someone help me?


Wait I re-read a few things...so we are wondering how he can get into shape after a misson trip....probably as easy as Taylor getting back into shape when he is cleared...

SH described as a kid with a constant motor going and really getting after it...I would say if we were talking about a sharp shooter or a ball handler with mad skills..it would take a little while to get back to the game...but a player that would be a player SH is described as..I doubt it would take much time to get back in shape for his game...

Now quit arguing

Fair enough. Agreed. Good point.

[tornado]

Wrong. He actually played...the 1994 season (Feb-Sept

..Any Bulls fan born before 1988 knows that the 97-98 team was running on absolute fumes, somehow won the title....

MJ was out of pro basketball for two full seasons -- if you want to get picky about what he was doing, so can I..
he played one full summer season with the Birminham Barons..
he then played the Fall Seasons in the Arizona Fall League with the Scottsdale Scorpions...
but regardless -- he was out of baseball for TWO full seasons and came back and was still the best player in the league -- he did NOT take a full year to get into playing shape.

"somehow won the title"...hmm....they were a bad team and lucked into the NBA Championship??
They won 62 games, almost 50 more than they did the following season when they no longer had MJ, and were only minimally challenged in four post-season series...3-0, 4-1, 4-3, 4-2..

all teams should be lucky to have those fumes.....

[srw]

Was thinking the same thing and they come w/a great work ethic also

What if they are rail thin?

[Canton BU fan]

The 2006 Cardinals are a better example of getting lucky and winning a championship.

[Bradleyguy10]

The 2006 Cardinals are a better example of getting lucky and winning a championship.

Hey watch it...that team was decimated with injuries that season and finally got healthy in the end before the playoffs.

That 2006 was almost unchanged from the 2005 team which won 100+ games and the 2004 team that went to the world series...it wasn't THAT much of an accident.

[JMM28]

MJ was out of pro basketball for two full seasons -- if you want to get picky about what he was doing, so can I..
he played one full summer season with the Birminham Barons..
he then played the Fall Seasons in the Arizona Fall League with the Scottsdale Scorpions...
but regardless -- he was out of baseball for TWO full seasons and came back and was still the best player in the league -- he did NOT take a full year to get into playing shape.

"somehow won the title"...hmm....they were a bad team and lucked into the NBA Championship??
They won 62 games, almost 50 more than they did the following season when they no longer had MJ, and were only minimally challenged in four post-season series...3-0, 4-1, 4-3, 4-2..

all teams should be lucky to have those fumes.....

I wasn't going to end this, but you won't give up.

By the way, he was out 1 2/3 seasons. Not 2. Big difference there. Even MJ himself said he wasn't nearly the player he wanted to be in 94-95. But I guess I should believe you over the man himself. Go check the MJ rides the bus, Bulls championship videos from 95-96, or any other interview he did in the offseason after 96.

I am not sure where I said lucked into or whatever. Oh that is right I didn't. Those are your words.

The fact is they were runnning on fumes. They had played 300+ games in the 3 seasons. The big 3 were 34-32-36 years old. They only had their regular starting 5 a handful of games. Their odometer was getting pretty high. Pippen had a bad back that flared up in the finals, Rodman was off doing WCW shit, and MJeff was carrying the load.

Saying they were minimally challenged in 4 series tells me you didn't actually watch that postseason. I am not sure where 4-3 is "minimally challenged" either. They came very close to losing that series to the Pacers. 6th man of the decade Toni Kukoc stepped up huge in game 7.

And bringing up the 99 team really doesn't mean...anything. At all. Any Bulls fan knows that season never existed.

[shaunguth]

The 2006 Cardinals are a better example of getting lucky and winning a championship.

They weren't lucky! They were clearly the better team.

[Canton BU fan]

Hey watch it...that team was decimated with injuries that season and finally got healthy in the end before the playoffs.

That 2006 was almost unchanged from the 2005 team which won 100+ games and the 2004 team that went to the world series...it wasn't THAT much of an accident.