Old School King Question circa 9697: Abdul-Rauf

[Nikos]

This is a question for Kings fans who watched back in the 90s: the Mitch Richmond Era.

In 1996-97 Mahmoud Abdul Rauf was a very solid player in the league for 3-4 years prior to his Sacramento arrival. Question is, what happened to him when he came? Why did his production and overall play drop so much? Was he a bad fit? Sure he was always poor defensively, but as a Nuggett he was an excellent shooter/scorer who was their leader on offense. Why did he play so poorly alongside Mitch Richmond?

(For some reason I was reminded of Rauf after watching Jason Terry. Terry is obviously the superior defender. But they both are similiar in terms of how they fill up the stat sheet. Both were subpar playmakers for their teamattes, bur excellent shooters, above average scorers -- especially off the pick.)

 

[Amanjoy]

This is a question for Kings fans who watched back in the 90s: the Mitch Richmond Era.

In 1996-97 Mahmoud Abdul Rauf was a very solid player in the league for 3-4 years prior to his Sacramento arrival. Question is, what happened to him when he came? Why did his production and overall play drop so much? Was he a bad fit? Sure he was always poor defensively, but as a Nuggett he was an excellent shooter/scorer who was their leader on offense. Why did he play so poorly alongside Mitch Richmond?

(For some reason I was reminded of Rauf after watching Jason Terry. Terry is obviously the superior defender. But they both are similiar in terms of how they fill up the stat sheet. Both were subpar playmakers for their teamattes, bur excellent shooters, above average scorers -- especially off the pick.)

Mauhmoud was the man in Denver, and the team was centered around him creating for himself and for others. JTerry played a similar style in Atlanta. He was the guy, and everything revolved around him being able to create for himself. However, since going to Dallas, he's bought into the fact that he can benefit from Nowitzki being the dominant force and focal point of that offense. The majority of what Terry gets within the Mavs' offensive sets are pick n' roll/ pickn' pop plays or open spot-up shots out of a double-team.

Everytime Dallas has the ball, the defense is on pins and needles worrying about Dirk, that Terry and Josh Howard benefit from single coverage opportunities to take their guys to the basket, or they are wide-open for 3's because guys like Dirk and Stackhouse draw the defense in. Looking to get the ball to Dirk first has given Terry the opportuniy to still put up big numbers, but in a more efficient way.

I think Mauhmoud never really accepted that role as pass-first PG. He didn't fully realize how he could benefit from defenses focusing on Mitch. He just never bought into it. Instead he tried to create for himself first a lot of the time because that's what he did best, and for whatever reason, his game all of a sudden wasn't as deadly with the Kings as it was with Denver for whatever reason.

 

[Kev.in]

On paper it looked like a real potent backcourt but I guess Mahmoud never really figured out where he fit into the offense and the Kings never really figured out how to use him. He wasn't as much of a point guard as advertised and didn't assert himself as much as I would've liked. Richmond still got his, but Abdul-Rauf went from taking almost 17 shots a game in the previous season with Denver to taking only 12 a game with the Kings and his assists were down by 4 per game (6.8 to 2.5) so I think that says he wasn't getting as many touches as he was used to.

 

[Viking]

Heh. I've got a foil basketball card of his. He was the man. (at least when he was on the nuggets)

 

[Bricklayer]

Actually an interesting question Nikos, although of ancient vintage.

I remember being all for picking him up. Thought he'd be a perfect microwave-like 3rd combo guard. But to say it didn't work would be a vast understatement. Defense was atrocious, and the offense fell way off as well. Think a lot of it though may have been neck up. That was the end of his career, and not because of age (he was all of 28 I believe). He was a starnge guy, had the flag disrespect fiasco, had a feeling he was turning into a religious zealot etc. Think he may have just gone Bison Dele on us and lost all focus on basketball. Last time I heard he was off playing in Turkey somewhere I think.



As an aside, a bit of ancient Rauf trivia from before he became Rauf -- something that's bothered me for many years:

Rauf, back when he was still Chris Jackson, led the nation in scoring as a freshman at LSU. Something ridiculous like 30ppg too. Then he left school to go be drafted. Immediately afterward not one, but TWO giant centers showed up at LSU -- Stanley Roberts and one Shaquille O'Neal. They actually were running them on the floor together in what may have been the most monstrous double post frontline in the history of college basketball. Then Roberts left early to get drafted too.

In any case, if Jackson (Rauf) and Roberts don't bail early, in an era when bailing early wasn't yet universal, by Jackson's senior yeaar LSU could have had a 30ppg super-scoring college guard in Jackson, AND a twin towers pair of 7'1" 300lb monsters in Roberts and Shaq all on the team at the same time. Might have been NCAA championship and a team we'd still be talking about now. Instead everybody bailed too soon, earned a little cash, but aside from Shaq, no glory in their careers. Kind of sad.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I think he kind of freaked out with the whole national anthem bit and was never the same player afterwards.

eta for Brick: He actually only lasted two seasons in Turkey, retired, attempted a comeback with the Grizzlies in 2000, stopped playing again, played a few more years in various Euro leagues and now runs a mosque in his home town.

I never had a problem with his stance on the anthem, but he should have known better if he couldn't handle the very predictable results.

 

[NoBonus]

What was the Flag/National anthem fiasco?

 

[NoBonus]

Nevermind, I found out this from Wikipedia:

National anthem controversy

Abdul-Rauf is perhaps best known for the controversy he created when he refused to stand for the Star Spangled Banner before games, stating that the flag was a "symbol of oppression" and that the United States had a long "history of tyranny". He said that standing to the national anthem would therefore conflict with his Islamic beliefs. The NBA suspended Abdul-Rauf for his refusal to stand, but the suspension lasted only one game, as the league was able to work out a compromise with him, whereby he would stand during the playing of the national anthem and silently recite an islamic prayer.

 

[Gary]

Yah, I never liked the guy because of the whole anthem thing. Without going into it too much basically a lot of people felt he was spitting on the people that were providing for him.

 

[walker60]

Yah, I never liked the guy because of the whole anthem thing. Without going into it too much basically a lot of people felt he was spitting on the people that were providing for him.

Agreed. Also, didn't he have some syndrome that made his muscles twitch a lot (sorry if I sound insensitive but I can't remember what the name of it was)? Did that contribute to his decline at all?

 

[RyanWiggum]

Agreed. Also, didn't he have some syndrome that made his muscles twitch a lot (sorry if I sound insensitive but I can't remember what the name of it was)? Did that contribute to his decline at all?

he had turrets syndrome i believe.

 

[NoBonus]

he had turrets syndrome i believe.

I thought that was John Starks?

 

[VF21]

I think Mauhmoud never really accepted that role as pass-first PG. He didn't fully realize how he could benefit from defenses focusing on Mitch. He just never bought into it. Instead he tried to create for himself first a lot of the time because that's what he did best, and for whatever reason, his game all of a sudden wasn't as deadly with the Kings as it was with Denver for whatever reason.

I had the feeling occasionally that he actually resented Mitch. He had talent and potential but the chip on his shoulder was massive and, at times, almost too big for him to even see around IMHO.

 

[VF21]

he had turrets syndrome i believe.

Tourette Syndrome...which is not only tics but inappropriate verbalizations (coprolalia). Coprolalia does not have to be exclusively swear words. Many times coprolalia manifests itself as socially inappropriate or unacceptable words or phrases, such as the overwhelming urge to use a racial epithet, even though that is the last thing you want to do. Something about the "forbiddenness" of it impells a person with coprolalia to say it, seemingly against their will.
-------------------------------------
But I don't think Abdul-Rauf suffered from that particular ailment.

EDIT: I stand corrected by Brickie.

 

[Bricklayer]

I thought that was John Starks?

No, it was definitely Rauf (Tourete's).

Starks just had "I was born without a brain stem" syndrome.

 

[Wuster]

Against us, Rauf was absolutely unbelievable... a lights-out streak shooter worth the price of admission to see. With us, well that is a different story.

 

[nebs]

I found a tape last year when I moved and it had a couple Kings games on it from when Rauf was on the team. I actually have a bunch of sports tapes from those days. NFL, MLB, NBA. I don't even own a vcr now though.

 

[BRad1055]

I still have an old kings game on tape I believe it was the last game of the 96-97 season the year when Eddie Jordan took over midseason anyway we were playing at Golden State and it was when Gary Gerould did tv and grant did radio full time for that two year span. Anyway Rauf went off for like 18 in the fourth and like 10 in overtime and the Kings won and he ended with like 38 points, but he was hitting three after three after three and at one point he hit like four or five in a row. That was also back when the Warriors had Spree and Rick Adelman as head coach.

 

[BigWaxer]

I remember this guy, not my favorite and I was more like the "Major League" field takers during these years. 'THE KINGS WILL BE * AGAIN THIS YEAR"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Abdul-Rauf

 

[walker60]

He was a good shooter, too bad all that had to happen.

 

[Starting Five]

From what can remember he was basically a " catch & shoot guard ". He was very one dimensional. He couldn't pentitrate to the hoop and he couldn't guard anyone. He would run to his favorite spots on the floor and shoot the ball. He was a pretty good scorer when he was " on " , you know. I think in one game he scored 50 or something like that. When those buckets didn't go in..he sucked.

 

[nebs]

I believe the commercials and print in the media etc was "Runnin' at ya!" Anyone else on board with that memory? Gary St. Jean was all over that.

 

[VF21]

For those of you who may not know: We do NOT discuss politics or religion here. We tried a couple of times and both times were disasters. For that reason, several posts that went off track and into the subject of politics, religion and/or both have been deleted.

VF21

 

[LPKingsFan]

I believe the commercials and print in the media etc was "Runnin' at ya!" Anyone else on board with that memory? Gary St. Jean was all over that.

!!! I had a tape with the theme song "Sacramento Kings... Runnin' at ya!" Wish I could find it somewhere...

 

[PJAZZ19]

For those of you who don't know...it's "Tourette's"...which is actually something that I have myself. The national anthem thing was (and still is) a non-issue to me, but I have the utmost respect for him because of how he overcame adversity.

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

I know Mahmoud had a viral infection of the eye that rapidly spread and affected his vision, and I think that probably played a huge role in his shooting, and shortly after he retired.

Oh, and as far as Kings songs, if anyone has a copy of 'The Kings come out at night'(a play on the Whodini song Freaks come out at night, of course), that would be awesome to hear again...that was from 1985. I also remember Kitty O' Neal doing 'Stand by your Kings'. And also the 'Hot fun in the Wintertime' song, too. Or that horrible rap from the first year that St. Jean was hear that had Bobby Hurley, then showed a pic of the Hurley Way sign, and said something like 'Walt Williams with the socks...we wit' it, we wit' it'. Anyone else remember these songs??

 

[QueensFan]

I know Mahmoud had a viral infection of the eye that rapidly spread and affected his vision, and I think that probably played a huge role in his shooting, and shortly after he retired.

Oh, and as far as Kings songs, if anyone has a copy of 'The Kings come out at night'(a play on the Whodini song Freaks come out at night, of course), that would be awesome to hear again...that was from 1985. I also remember Kitty O' Neal doing 'Stand by your Kings'. And also the 'Hot fun in the Wintertime' song, too. Or that horrible rap from the first year that St. Jean was hear that had Bobby Hurley, then showed a pic of the Hurley Way sign, and said something like 'Walt Williams with the socks...we wit' it, we wit' it'. Anyone else remember these songs??

Oh man, so many memories. Yup, I remember the Walt Williams with the socks song and the Runnin' at Ya! stuff. Good times

 

[Nikos]

I still have an old kings game on tape I believe it was the last game of the 96-97 season the year when Eddie Jordan took over midseason anyway we were playing at Golden State and it was when Gary Gerould did tv and grant did radio full time for that two year span. Anyway Rauf went off for like 18 in the fourth and like 10 in overtime and the Kings won and he ended with like 38 points, but he was hitting three after three after three and at one point he hit like four or five in a row. That was also back when the Warriors had Spree and Rick Adelman as head coach.

Any chance I can borrow that tape?

 

[nebs]

I know Mahmoud had a viral infection of the eye that rapidly spread and affected his vision, and I think that probably played a huge role in his shooting, and shortly after he retired.

Oh, and as far as Kings songs, if anyone has a copy of 'The Kings come out at night'(a play on the Whodini song Freaks come out at night, of course), that would be awesome to hear again...that was from 1985. I also remember Kitty O' Neal doing 'Stand by your Kings'. And also the 'Hot fun in the Wintertime' song, too. Or that horrible rap from the first year that St. Jean was hear that had Bobby Hurley, then showed a pic of the Hurley Way sign, and said something like 'Walt Williams with the socks...we wit' it, we wit' it'. Anyone else remember these songs??

BWAAHAHAA I remember that! "Walt Williams with the socks.. we wit it we wit it." ~ I had forgotten about it though. I met Walt while he was doing a taped interview actually. It was down near the garage under Arco, where the players exit. I got to hang in the room right outside the locker room a few times as a kid. I saw Spud Webb hit a keg there and Wayman Tisdale.. all those guys. All kinds of food and stuff for those guys back then. I can only imagine how it is now with the Maloofs running the show.

Remember when Bobby Hurley had those commercials for his new shoes?? They were called "ITZ's" Which stood for "In The Zone." LMAO.

 

[LPKingsFan]

I know Mahmoud had a viral infection of the eye that rapidly spread and affected his vision, and I think that probably played a huge role in his shooting, and shortly after he retired.

Oh, and as far as Kings songs, if anyone has a copy of 'The Kings come out at night'(a play on the Whodini song Freaks come out at night, of course), that would be awesome to hear again...that was from 1985. I also remember Kitty O' Neal doing 'Stand by your Kings'. And also the 'Hot fun in the Wintertime' song, too. Or that horrible rap from the first year that St. Jean was hear that had Bobby Hurley, then showed a pic of the Hurley Way sign, and said something like 'Walt Williams with the socks...we wit' it, we wit' it'. Anyone else remember these songs??

...And Bobby Hur-ley! We wit it! We wit it!

Priceless