As I was walking my son this morning in the park and just thinking in general, I thought whatever happened to signature moves in the NBA? Have the youngsters just stopped working on them? You all know what I am talking about- Kareem's Skyhook, Gervin's finger roll, Dr. J's hang near the basket and up and under move, Worthy's pivot near the baseline and finish to the basket against a defender, Dantley's back to the basket shake and bake move to his defender, and Miller and Rip's running around various screens to get open. You know what they were going to do each game, and so did they but the defenders still couldn't stop them. They had their moves perfected to such an extent. Why don't today's player build on this? Obviously they were effectively used. Sometimes I feel like today's players are like automatons.
I think a lot of the old signature moves had to do with lack of exposure. I've probably only ever seen 3 clips of George Gervin in my life, and they all show a finger roll. It's also how the information is presented to us. I never saw Gervin play and obviously archival footage is limited, so I am forced to rely on word of mouth and the media. Dr J only did the hang once, but again because that is the ever-lasting image we are constantly reminded of whenever people talk about him, that's what we have to remember him by. These days with every single game being broadcast on TV or the internet, we see so much of the players, there are no one or two plays or images that we are reminded of. We see them makes thousands of plays every season - unless we all reminisce on one particular move or play in unison, we won't create a lasting image.
Gervin was a teammate of both Julius Erving and Michael Jordan. Watched him play when he was at EMU.......
Touche! BL. Supercollider does have that. I was thinking more along the lines of a go to move that is almost impossible to stop and they could turn to to score. Kareem used the skyhook effectively even into his advanced years and I don't think anyone was able to stop it. I think even Magic developed a baby hook which he used in the 87 finals. With the type of athletes we have today who are bigger and stronger, you would think we would have a sky hook finger roll, pivot at the basket and dream shake you out of your shoes cross-over. I know I'm going a little crazy here.
I went to WW3 when Hulk Hogan fought Andre the Giant...in fromt of 90,000 at the Silverdome. Saw Gervin back in the early 70s
Great question Vincy, great question! Here's the irony, we have a player on THIS team with a signature move.......Tayshaun Princes hook shot is pretty effective, yet we HATE to see it. Folks also hated to see Adrian "The Teacher" Dantley pound the rock in the post for 18 seconds, same with Barkley too. Most signature moves come from veterans who have perfected them over the course of a career. Remember MJ only started going to the fade away late in his career.
Sheed's baseline turning fade over his right shoulder is the closest i can think of from our recent teams. The defender was irrelevant. Team could always go to it when needed.
Webz somewhat touched on it, but I think the guys grew up in or around the 90's were able to easily watch NBA games and pattered their moves based on other players moves. KG does the Dream Shake for example. Also, for this current group of players a signature move has been replaced by a signature selling of contact to draw fouls.
It probably is. Zach Lowe referred to it when he was trying to explain how boring OKC are in a Simmons pod. He said something like"I rather watch Tayshaun Prince palming the ball on the perimeter for a full game than the current OKC starting lineup".
Granted, I realize players and coaches watch a lot of tape and scouting on opposing players and their tendencies. If I was a player in today's game I would want to work on adding various moves to the toolbox to make myself well rounded. I realize it takes a career before players add various facets, but it reminds me of the old martial arts movies where each of the practitioners add skills to their craft, until everything becomes second nature.
