Nick Van Exel highlights wow
- Thread starter the cool
- Start date
T.he I.nformant
1st Ballot HOF Teller
One of my favorite Nuggets
That muthafukka was just cold with it
That muthafukka was just cold with it
Del Harris
plus NVE and em were basically Kids living the LA Life and Shaq wanted to Win after that Finals L
Trojan 24
Veteran
Yeah, he was a NICE guy to have on your team. Could do a little of everything without overstepping his bounds and fukking it up for others. Honestly trading him for Glen Rice was just stupid even if Rice was the better scorer and more obvious SF.
I was gonna say, that '98 squad in particular was underperforming as hell. They had four guys make all-star that year (Van Exel, Eddie Jones, Kobe, and Shaq), could play 8-deep, and had a legit MVP-level first option in Shaq, won 61 games in the regular season....and still got swept by an old-ass Utah team.
Besides Kobe they weren't young enough to have no excuses either. They were mostly in their primes already, had plenty of playoff experience, and Shaq, Horry, and Campbell all had Finals experience.
Van Exel: 26
Eddie Jones: 26
Rick Fox: 28
Robert Horry: 27
Shaq: 25
Kobe: 19
Campbell: 28
Fisher: 23
That's barely even a young team. That's a PRIME team. Just not enough true leadership. What they needed was Phil to step in and put folk in their place.
Edit: just looked at the Utah series and those shooting %'s by the guards.
Van Exel: 24% FG, 19% 3pt
Eddie Jones: 41% FG, 29% 3pt
Kobe: 37% FG, 00% 3pt
Fisher 35% FG, 17% 3pt
How you gonna be athletic as fukk with geriatric-ass 6'2" Stockton and Hornacek guarding you and still not hit a shot all series?
Big reason why they ended up moving on from NVE and Eddie
Team with these kind of athletes getting swept
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Tookalossfellbackcameback
Superstar
I remember watching college basketball on ABC Saturday afternoon as a kid around '91...Nick was at Cincinnati. Dude was so cold that game...he's the reason I started wearing a t-shirt underneath my jersey.
I'll never forget that particular broadcast Mark Jones was doing PBP...Nick got going and Jones said something like..."Van Exel must've listened to Michael Jackson before the game because he wanna be starting something"...shyt was classic Mark Jones who still says that same kind of shyt 30+ years later.
I'll never forget that particular broadcast Mark Jones was doing PBP...Nick got going and Jones said something like..."Van Exel must've listened to Michael Jackson before the game because he wanna be starting something"...shyt was classic Mark Jones who still says that same kind of shyt 30+ years later.
Mandizi
5-I-3 till I D-I-E
Stockton and Malone
That's a shytty excuse when Stockton and Malone were 35 years old at that point and had been losing to everyone for over a decade.
A better, more prime version of that Jazz team couldn't beat the Sonics in '96 or even a lesser version of those Sonics in '93. They couldn't beat the Rockets in '94 or '95 when Hakeem didn't have as many all-stars around him as Shaq had. They couldn't beat the Blazers in '91 or '92 either. And a lot of those series went just 5 games. So what business do they have coming in and SWEEPING the Shaq-Jones-Van Exel-Kobe Lakers? In fact came one game away from sweeping them two years in a row.
Shaq an all-time top 10 in his prime, had 3 all-stars next to him, a squad that went legit 8 deep, three of those eight with Finals experience, and won 61 games. They don't deserve excuses, they fukking underperformed badly.
The very next year that exact same Jazz team got dispatched in the 2nd round by a Blazers team led by 27yo JR Rider, 26yo Brian Grant, and a 24yo Sheed averaging just 12ppg.
No excuses.
Mandizi
5-I-3 till I D-I-E
Still don't change the fact the Shaq/NVE/Jones lead Lakers lost to the Jazz in back-to-back seasons. Ain't no excuse, that is factual.
I'm just saying, that team beat themselves. In '98 if they hadn't lost to the Jazz they would have lost to the Spurs (who swept LA the next year in '99). In '97 if they hadn't lost to the Jazz they would have lost to the Rockets (who had already beaten a most disciplined Shaq team in '95). That squad just did not get their discipline in order until they got rid of van Exel, Phil came on board, and Kobe developed into a more central role.
Agreed. Stockton and Malone can't be the reason alone
Someone else (was it you?) Brought up how Nick Van Exel just flat didn't shoot well at all, which is a better explanation at least
I think the point is that that shouldn't have been owned by the Jazz like that
Erratic415
Superstar
The Lakers (especially Shaq) were getting a lot of criticism in the late 90s for having so much talent but never getting out of the West. Not only that, but they lost 4-1 in 97’ and then got swept in 98 and 99’. When Shaq’s squads got eliminated, they lost really badly. All sweeps and a 4-1.
Look at these dreadful shooting numbers in 98’ WCF outside of Shaq
www.basketball-reference.com
This was the series when Van Exel had his infamous “1…2….3….Cancun” when the Lakers were down 3-0 in the series.
They had some similar struggles the next year (Rice really struggled), and Duncan shyt all over them.
Look at these dreadful shooting numbers in 98’ WCF outside of Shaq
1998 NBA Western Conference Finals - Lakers vs. Jazz | Basketball-Reference.com
Summary and statistics for the 1998 NBA Western Conference Finals - Lakers vs. Jazz
www.basketball-reference.com
This was the series when Van Exel had his infamous “1…2….3….Cancun” when the Lakers were down 3-0 in the series.
They had some similar struggles the next year (Rice really struggled), and Duncan shyt all over them.