From Heeren's 91-92 Basketball Abstract, the All-Mean Team: -Cartwright for elbowing peeps -Barkley for techs & fan interactions -Mahorn for KOing Price -Gilliam for trying to attack Pearl after a game -LaSalle does a lot nasty little things -Laimbeer more whiner than hacker

Bonus Hollander POTD Gary Garland. NJ hooper went to DePaul & was 2nd scorer after Aguirre for great 78-79 team. Was drafted 30th in 79 by DEN. Had 4 ppg as rookie but was waived. Became a singer and was a backup singer for his sister Whitney Houston (really).

Hollander POTD Bill Hanzlik. Notre Dame SF was drafted 20th by SEA in 82. Traded to DEN in 83 where "forte first, last and always is defense." Was designated non-scorer on high octane Doug Moe offense thru 90. Peaked at 13 ppg in 86-87. Had epic cowboy mustache.

Hollinger POTD Eddy Curry. Baby Shaq was HS big man drafted 4th in 01 by CHI. He could score in the post but was not great at D or passing. NY gave him big deal + he put up 19.6 in 06-07 but issues kept him off the court. Retired in 13. Also a shoutout to Hoopsworld in this bio.

Bonus Hollander POTD Butch Lee. Puerto Rico-born hooper was a star on Marquette's 76-77 title team. Drafted 10th in 78 by ATL but Hubie was not a fan & traded him to CLE after 49 gms. Had 9 ppg as a rook but blew out knee in 79 ending NBA career. Played & coached in PR after.

Hollander POTD Jerome Lane. Pitt PF broke glass w/dunks & FTs. Drafted 23rd by DEN in 1988. Great boarder had 9.3 rpg in 1990-91 but struggled in other areas. Bounced around NBA from 1991-93 before doing CBA/abroad thru 2000. Among best Akron-born hoopers.

Hollinger POTD Corliss Williamson. Big Nasty won a title w/Arkansas. Drafted 13th in 95 by SAC. Undersized PF who could score in the post (peak 17.7 ppg in 97-98) but a tweener in other areas. Great bench scorer for DET (6th Man of Yr in 01-02). Ended career back in SAC in 07.

From a 1985 issue of Jet, some hoops stuff and bonus Dave Parker sighting:

Bonus Hollander POTD Howard Eisley. BC PG drafted 30th in 94 by MIN. Waived 2x as a rook. In 95, signed by UTA + became Stockton's best caddy thru 00. Got huge contract w/DAL but was not great as a starter. Played til 07. Has been an asst coach in the NBA & at Michigan.

Hollander POTD Bernard King. Tennessee SF was 7th pick in 77 by NJ. Scored in NJ but traded to UTA where he had bad time. Traded to GS in 80 & he got his life & game together. Traded to NY in 82 where he leveled up even further. Per Attles: "Best practice player I've ever seen."

A little more love for Elden Campbell, coverage of his great work against Shaq in Game 1 of the 04 Finals (he also played well against the Bulls in the 91 Finals as a rookie): www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/20...

Sad Bonus Hollander POTD Elden Campbell. Clemson PF drafted 27th in 90 by LAL. Barely played as rook but played well v CHI in Finals. Improved but had rep of lacking intensity. Became solid C w/LAL & CHA from 96-02 (averaged 13 ppg 8 rpg). Ended as a good backup w/DET in 05. RIP.

Hollander POTD Greg Sutton. Oral Roberts G was drafted 49th by SA in 91. Great college scorer (34 ppg). More of a solid backup as a pro. Had stints w/SA, CHA & PHI thru 96. Also played abroad thru 2002.

Hollinger POTD Robert Swift. California high schooler was drafted 12th in 04 by SEA. Played 95 games in 5 yrs in the NBA. Most time was 05-06 (20 mpg & had 6 ppg, 5.6 rpg). Injuries & off court stuff ended NBA career by age 24. Played abroad thru 2021.

Bonus Hollander POTD Alan Henderson. Indiana F drafted 16th in 95 by ATL. Spent 2 yrs as role player. In 97-98, PT jumped & won MIP. Had 12 ppg 6.5 rpg in 4 yrs as starter. Back to bench in 01. Traded to DAL in 04 then to CLE + PHI before retiring in 07. Very good o-rebounder.

Hollander POTD Mike Bantom. St Joe's star was drafted 8th by PHO in 73. After a few meh yrs, put up 18.6 ppg, 8.6 rpg w/Nets in 77 & KOed Marvin Barnes in a fight. Started w/IND from 77-81 (14 ppg, 7 rpg). Starred in Italy from 82-89. Later, worked for the NBA as an exec.

Hollinger POTD Gary Payton. This bio from after 03-04 when he chased a ring w/Kobe & Shaq. 35 year old GP had a pretty good year but didn't totally fit in. Also, his defense was not as good as his peak. Fell off in the playoffs. Played 3 more yrs & won ring w/MIA in 06.

Bonus Hollander POTD Billy Thompson. Louisville dunker drafted 19th by LAL in 86. Tore knee & barely played. MIA took him in 88 expansion where he put up 11 ppg 7 rpg but lost job in 90. Out of NBA by 92 but played abroad til 98, notably well in Israel. Now a pastor in Florida.

Hollander POTD Joel Kramer. San Diego St F was drafted 63rd in 78 by PHO. Made team, as a hustler and was solid bench guy thru 83. Per bio "looks like an English professor." Peaked at 6 ppg 4 rpg as a rook & time declined from there. Now works in finance.

From Heeren's 90-91 Basketball Abstract, an attempt to guess the best bigs of the 90s: -Correctly pegged DRob & Hakeem as top -Knew Vlade was good but is a bit high -Was bullish on young Shaq but not bullish enough -A few prospects didn't pan out -A bit too down on Daugherty

Hollinger POTD Mark Blount. Pitt C was drafted in 97 by SEA but didn't make NBA til 2000 w/BOS. Turned into starter w/10 ppg 7 rpg in 03-04. Got big contract and disappointed. Also was decent starter for MIN & MIA thru 2009. This bio explains the Fluke Rule for free agents.

More fun with AI: How good would NJ Nets have been if Drazen returned in 93-94? According to ChatGPT, a bit better:

Bonus Hollander POTD Paul Westphal. USC SG was drafted 10th in 72 by BOS. After 3 yrs of improvement, traded to PHO where he busted out, scoring 20+ ppg 5 yrs in a row. Declined quickly & retired by 84. Later was coach for PHO. Per this bio, big John Stewart fan (not that one). RIP.

Messing around with AI for totally useful reason...to project the blocks per game of Russ & Wilt:

Hollander POTD Jamal Mashburn. Kentucky star SF was drafted 4th in 93 by DAL. Put up 24 ppg but feuded w/the other Js & dealt to MIA in 96 where he was key cog (16 ppg 5 rpg 3.4 apg). Sent to CHA in 00, became a primary scorer again (20.6 ppg). Retired in 04 at age 31 w/bad knee.

From the 02-03 Basketball Prospectus: Who is the greatest rebounder of all time? An early article that teaches about rebound rate and how insane Rodman's rates were, even compared to Wilt & Russ...

From Heeren's Basketball Abstract. 93-94 positional rankings.. . PG Stockton SG Sprewell SF Pippen PF K Malone C D Robinso

Bonus Hollander POTD Dee Brown. Super fast Jacksonville G was drafted 19th by BOS in 90. Immediate sparkplug for aging core & won slam dunk contest w/impressive blind dunk. Blew out knee in 91 & was solid but not star after. Finished up w/ORL & TOR as 3-pt specialist.

Hollander POTD Roy Tarpley. Michigan C was drafted 7th in 86 by DAL. Skilled + strong (14 ppg 12 rpg in 87-88) but injuries & drugs kept him out after 88. Banned in 90 but returned in 94-95 & was still good but banned again. Played in Europe/CBA til 2006. Died in 2015 RIP.

From the 02-03 Basketball Prospectus...how good the 01-02 Sixers would've been without Iverson, the entire hub of their offense. Interesting assessment of on/off factors in the time before plus/minus data:

Bonus Hollander POTD Johnny Newman. Richmond SF was drafted 29th by CLE in 86. Waived but signe w/NY & was a starter from 87-90. Signed w/CHA in 90 & peaked at 17 ppg in 90-91. Bounced around as solid vet thru 02 w/MIL, NJ, DAL, DEN & CLE. Per bio "would try to dunk on King Kong."

Hollander POTD Nick Van Exel. Cincy PG fell to 93 2nd round. Keyed LAL's nice 95 playoff run. Things got a little testy after (clashed w/Del Harris). Traded to DEN in 98, where he had best stats. In 02, went to DAL + was part of excellent offense. Retired in 06 & now is a coach.

From the 02-03 Basketball Prospectus, the Shaq-Kobe Lakers of 99-02 are compared with other 3-year dynasties and they come in the middle of the pack....explanation below...

Bonus Hollander POTD Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. UCLA legend drafted 1st by MIL in 69 & had 29 ppg, 14.5 rpg as rook. Stat peak was 35 pg in 71-72. Won title in MIL but forced trade to LAL in 75 where he won MVPs and titles. This bio is 1st and last time he was mentioned w/John Denver.

Hollander POTD Larry Bird. The Legend's bio from his season where he won his 2nd title & his 1st MVP. Per this bio: "MVP for season, MVP for playoffs, MVP for universe." He would go on to win 3 MVPs in a row. Bird came in 2nd in the MVP vote the prior 3 years too.

From Dave Heeren's 1994-95 Basketball Abstract, a review of the 86 & 87 drafts: -Len Bias' rate of improvement was staggering and exceed even Stockton's -86's best run of players came in the 2nd round -But for pre-draft camps, Pippen would've fallen to the 2nd round

Bonus Hollander POTD Jim Price. Louisville guard was drafted 16th by LAL in 72. Sat as a rook jumped to 15 ppg in 73-74. Was scoring 21 ppg in 74-75 but traded to MIL was an All-Star. A bench guy on various teams thru 79. Sharman: "I've never seen a rookie guard play better D."

Hollander POTD Shawn Kemp. Indiana PF went from juco to SEA in 89. Took a few yrs to develop but was a frecocious dunker (see Lister, Gatling) + one of the best PFs of the 90s. In 92, didn't just dunk all over GS, he also dominated the series (22 ppg, 54 FG%, 16 rpg, 2.5 bpg).

Hollinger POTD Shawn Kemp. After 99, per this bio, Kemp declined due to a "unique training regimen that combined the worst vices of Henry VIII and William S Burroughs." Traded to POR in 00, he was miserable as bench player for 2 yrs. Took a buyout to play C for 1 final yr w/ORL in 02-03.

Bonus Hollander POTD Mario Elie. Junkyard Dog from NYC bounced around CBA & abroad before getting a shot w/GS in 91. Traded to HOU in 93, became a key piece to 2 titles, including the big shot to sink PHO in 95 playoffs. Also won title w/SA in 99. Very useful player now a coach.

Hollander POTD Anthony Peeler. Missouri SG was drafted 15th by LAL in 92. Played 4 yrs in LA & was solid bench scorer but let go to sign Shaq in 96. Set in to same role w/MIN from 98-03. Led NBA in 3% in 03-04. Also memorably elbowed KG in the noggin. Has coached since retiring.

Hollinger POTD Jared Jeffries. Indiana F was drafted 11th in 02 by WAS. Tore his ACL early rookie yr & came back as a defensive specialist. Long & quick, he could guard SFs & PFs. Offense was afterthought (peaked at 6.8 ppg). Carved out a 10 yr career w/WAS & NY retiring in 2013.

Bonus Hollander POTD Dave Bing. Syracuse star drafted 2nd in 1966 by DET. Scored 20+ ppg his 1st 7 yrs, peaking at 27 ppg. Traded to WAS in 1975 for Kevin Porter + was okay in 1975-76 but aged quickly + retired in 1978. Since then has done a lot: was mayor of DET + a HOFer.

Hollander POTD Oscar Robertson. The Big O was 1st pick in 60 for CIN. Scored 30+ ppg 6x. Averaged triple-double in 61-62. Only peer was Jerry West. Traded to MIL in 70 & won a title w/KAJ. Per bio: "give him a 12-foot shot, he looks for a 10-footer, give him 10, he wants 8."

Hollinger POTD Vin Baker. Son of a preacher was star at Hartford. Drafted 8th in 93 by MIL turned to star by 95-96. Flipped to SEA in 97 and was very good in 97-98 but declined quickly due to off court issues. Per bio, his transition D was really bad in the decline phase.

Bonus Hollander POTD Malik Rose. Philly kid went to Drexel, drafted 44th by CHA in 96. Undersized PF spent most of his career w/SA. Tasked w/keeping knee in Shaq's back all the time. Peaked at 10.4 ppg 6.4 rpg in 02-03. Also played w/NY & OKC thru 09. Very tough defender in post.

Hollander POTD Andrew Toney. SE LA SG was drafted 8th in 80 by PHI. Made impact immediately, was a 2x All-Star & could get his shot off against anyone. Known as The Boston Strangler for all big shots he hit v BOS. Broke his foot in 85 + career ended in 88 at age 30.

Sad Hollinger POTD Rodney Rogers. This bio describes how he was used by BOS as a stretch 5 to beat PHI in the 02 playoffs. Per the bio "he forced bigger players to chase him around the 3pt line & on picknroll...He took Mutombo right out of the series." RIP to one of my faves.

Hollander POTD James Edwards. Buddha was drafted 46th in 77 by LAL but traded 2 month laters + bounced around. Played w/LAL, IND, CLE, PHO, DET, LAC, LAL (again), POR + CHI. Peaked at 17 ppg. Not a great boarder but had killer fadeaway. Won titles in DET & CHI.

Hollander POTD Benoit Benjamin. Creighton C was 3rd pick by LAC in 85. Had skills (peaked at 16.4 ppg in 88-89) but effort was sporadic at best. Also started w/SEA & NJ thru 95. Per bio "he'll be around for years cuz he's tall but will make a career out of getting coaches fired."