#Western conference finals how to
#Western conference finals series

The Rockets also acquired Clyde Drexler at the trade deadline, who had made seven consecutive all-star teams and was the focal point of some dangerous Portland squads. They brought back most players from their 1994 championship team but only finished sixth in the Western Conference. A closer inspection, however, reveals that Houston actually underperformed that season. Looking at the record of both teams, one might assume that the Spurs surrounded Robinson with much better pieces than the Rockets did with Olajuwon. Speaking of Olajuwon’s supporting cast, this leads me to my next point. This is understandable, but it’s still not an excuse for an NBA coach to fail at formulating a better game plan when they’ll be facing the same team over the course of an entire playoff series. Hill was reluctant to have the Spurs team up on Olajuwon because he was afraid of leaving Houston’s shooters open. News flash: there’s not a single player in history who could have performed at their highest level when they’re playing over 40 minutes a game while doing the heavy lifting at both ends of the court. Imagine having the offence run through your star player and also asking him to play one-on-one against the most dominant force in basketball. While the Rockets were double and triple-teaming Robinson every time he stepped past half-court, Hill had The Admiral play Olajuwon straight up, and the results were.

#Western conference finals series

It’s not a coincidence that he was fired less than a year and a half after the series ended and was out of the league for almost a decade afterwards. More specifically, there are three aspects in particular that stands out: Bob Hill’s questionable coaching, the supporting cast of both teams, and everyone’s favorite Spur, Dennis Rodman.īob Hill was outcoached, plain and simple. The box score certainly backs up this narrative, but stats can often be misleading there were plenty of external factors that led to the seemingly lopsided matchup between the two star centers. If you were too young (or weren’t born yet) to remember the events of that series, there’s a good chance that the basketball community (more specifically, r/NBA) has convinced you that Robinson got his you-know-what handed to him by The Dream. There’s no denying that the 1995 season ended in disappointment for San Antonio, and I won’t try and convince you that Robinson outplayed Hakeem Olajuwon.

I’d be surprised if more than half of you are still reading, but I might be able to help alleviate some of the pain of that playoff series, especially when it comes to David Robinson’s performance.

#Western conference finals how to

Want to know how to ruin a Spurs fan’s day? Just utter these five words: The 1995 Western Conference Finals.