Thank you Zo

[ACF]

Miami retired Alonzo Mourning's
#33 yesterday vs Orlando. I just
wanted to share this with you. I
always liked Zo, especially since
he came back from surgery to play
in the NBA again. A true warrior.

http://www.nba.com/video/games/heat/2009/03/31/nba_mia_mourning_20090330_speech.nba/

Thank you, Zo and happy trails.

[Kwhit10]

Alonzo Mourning was one of the reason I liked basketball at a young age.  I remember watching him at Georgetown when I was 6-7.  When I grew up my favorite teams were the Charlotte Hornets, and then the Miami Heat because those were the two teams he played for.  Was extremely excited to see him get a ring.  True class player, left all on the court every night.

[ACF]

Amen!

[davemonsterband]

His game was so ugly I despised watching him but that's no reason to not give him his dues. He's great proof of what a big man with little offensive skill can do if he works hard and gets better every year. Greg Oden, take note.

[Donoghus]

Zo was a beast in his day.  Tough competitor.  I remember being a kid and watching his Georgetown games and then growing up wathching his exploits in Charlotte with Larry Johnson (the dagger in McHale's last game still hurts), and later those Miami teams with he and Hardaway. 

His game wasn't pretty but he was a gritty player and I appreciated that.

[Steve Weinman]

Well said by all (and thanks for bringing this up, ACF).  Congrats to Zo.

-sw

[PierceMVP08]

I think we can all agree his game was ugly but it was truly a joy to watch him play.  His passion was genuine and never contrived and his Heat teams were one of the reasons I loved the NBA during the 90's.  Always loved watching them play in the playoffs, especially against the Knicks.  Zo was a real beast and certainly had a couple of great years where he dominated.  Best of luck to you Zo.

[Steve Weinman]

I think we can all agree his game was ugly but it was truly a joy to watch him play.  His passion was genuine and never contrived and his Heat teams were one of the reasons I loved the NBA during the 90's.  Always loved watching them play in the playoffs, especially against the Knicks.  Zo was a real beast and certainly had a couple of great years where he dominated.  Best of luck to you Zo.

Ah, nice reference to those Knicks series.  Who could forget this image?   



-sw

[PierceMVP08]

I think we can all agree his game was ugly but it was truly a joy to watch him play.  His passion was genuine and never contrived and his Heat teams were one of the reasons I loved the NBA during the 90's.  Always loved watching them play in the playoffs, especially against the Knicks.  Zo was a real beast and certainly had a couple of great years where he dominated.  Best of luck to you Zo.

Ah, nice reference to those Knicks series.  Who could forget this image?   



-sw

TP for posting this pic... Classic image from the 90's

[KJ33]

I think we can all agree his game was ugly but it was truly a joy to watch him play.  His passion was genuine and never contrived and his Heat teams were one of the reasons I loved the NBA during the 90's.  Always loved watching them play in the playoffs, especially against the Knicks.  Zo was a real beast and certainly had a couple of great years where he dominated.  Best of luck to you Zo.

His game was ugly?  Did you only watch his last few years?  The timing on his shot blocking was a beauty to behold.  He was 6'10" at best, yet blocked shots better than most 7 footers. 

[JSD]

Zo was a beast in his day.  Tough competitor.  I remember being a kid and watching his Georgetown games and then growing up wathching his exploits in Charlotte with Larry Johnson (the dagger in McHale's last game still hurts), and later those Miami teams with he and Hardaway. 

His game wasn't pretty but he was a gritty player and I appreciated that.

Well put Donoghus, that game was pivotal and it was devastating to watch. The C's were so close to bringing it back to Boston for game 5. We would have won that series had he missed that shot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsMbw57bmb0

[davemonsterband]

I think we can all agree his game was ugly but it was truly a joy to watch him play.  His passion was genuine and never contrived and his Heat teams were one of the reasons I loved the NBA during the 90's.  Always loved watching them play in the playoffs, especially against the Knicks.  Zo was a real beast and certainly had a couple of great years where he dominated.  Best of luck to you Zo.

His game was ugly?  Did you only watch his last few years?  The timing on his shot blocking was a beauty to behold.  He was 6'10" at best, yet blocked shots better than most 7 footers. 

There's no other way for me to describe it other than him and Danny Manning were my Shawn Marion of the 90's, I guess I didn't appreciate defense back then like I do now, but regardless, U-G-L-Y.

[PierceMVP08]

I think we can all agree his game was ugly but it was truly a joy to watch him play.  His passion was genuine and never contrived and his Heat teams were one of the reasons I loved the NBA during the 90's.  Always loved watching them play in the playoffs, especially against the Knicks.  Zo was a real beast and certainly had a couple of great years where he dominated.  Best of luck to you Zo.

His game was ugly?  Did you only watch his last few years?  The timing on his shot blocking was a beauty to behold.  He was 6'10" at best, yet blocked shots better than most 7 footers. 

The man could get it done, but it was ugly in the fact that he was not graceful by any stretch of the imagnination, specifically on offense.  His jumpshot was not pretty but effective, and his moves were based on force rather the finesse.  So yes, his game was ugly but effective.