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From: schneider@vlnvax.DEC
Newsgroups: net.sport.hoops
Subject: Re: Mahorn for Roundfield
Message-ID: <470@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 18-Sep-85 11:09:01 EDT
Article-I.D.: decwrl.470
Posted: Wed Sep 18 11:09:01 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 20-Sep-85 04:22:28 EDT
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> With the NBA season fast approaching ( the Pistons started selling tickets
> yesterday ), I find myself wondering about a trade Detroit and Washington
> made in the off-season.  Detroit sent Dan Roundfield to the Bullets for Rick
> Mahorn and Mike Gibson, who played in Italy last year.  What I want to know
> is: Can Mahorn do anything on the basketball court except be a goon?  

Mahorn does have a knack for throwing his elbows around but so do a lot of
other players who haven't received the noteriety for it.  These are the kind
of things announcers pick up on (believing the observations of others and
propogating them) and thus his reputation preceeds him in the fans mind.
He's also strong and large inside which is just what Detroit needs.

> ........ I'm beginning to think the Pistons made a big mistake.  The *only*
> reason they blew out New Jersey in the 1st round last year was because Round-
> field dominated Buck Williams.  True, he was injured a lot during the season;
> he missed about half the year.  But this trade still leaves them without a 
> Williams-type power forward, which they need to rise to the top of their 
> division.

Nobody has ever dominated Buck Williams!  Nobody.  The man is unparalleled
in the NBA.  Also Roundfield proved he wasn't a "Williams-type power forward"
and thus the trade was made.  With him getting on in age and his lack of
performance over the course of the year, his pathetic play against the 
Celtics put the final nail in his coffin.  In his defense, in the playoffs
last year almost everyone had trouble keeping up with Kevin McHale.
As often happens in the NBA teams go as far as they can and then think
about why they didn't go further, not how they got as far as they did.
Now they make trades which they believe will give them that extra push
in the playoffs, never mind if they are weakening the structure which 
finished the season in the money.  It remains to be seen how players like
Mahorn, Walton, etc. work out but in some cases management seems to
be short-sighted in their pursuit of the title.

> Mark Tompkins
>  
> P.S. How 'bout it, Nets?  Mahorn and Benson for Buck? :-) :-)

Sorry, the Nets still wouldn't blink if you threw in Laimbeir, Long
and Isiah...

	Daniel Schneider
	{decvax}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-vlnvax!schneider