He averaged nearly 7 FT attempts per game for three solid years.
Compare Josh Carlton who led the team with 3.8 attempts per game this year.
Otis was so strong, he would do the opposite of a fade away. He would float forward into the defender just to draw contact, and he made a lot of these shots he was fouled on. Of the 7 FT attempts per game, I’d say close to half were “and ones.”
Of course, his shooting was so pure and legendary. One of a handful of guards ever to shoot 50% from the field for an entire NBA career.
I don’t consider passing on MJ a mistake when Dream was the pick. There was not another team in the league who would have taken anyone other than Dream 1st.
The mistake was Portland taking Sam Bowie with the 2nd pick.
Somewhere along lifes long line, I heard that (I believe) Sampson was taken, shortly after Hakeem, while MJ was still available, but I could be totally mistaken . . . . .
I saw Otis play as a freshman, and he did indeed have the sweetest shot in Cougar history–a midrange, that he shot at a very high percentage. He was 6-4, which was pretty big for a guard at the time, and I could feel immediately that he was something special already as a frosh. His senior year was very special, as I recall he averaged 30 and shot 56 per cent, and was a consensus all-america. His NBA career was injury-shortened, but he made all-NBA before getting hurt. I remember him saying that the only sure things in life were taxes, death, and his jump shot.
The year the Rockets drafted Dream, MJ was drafted 3rd because Portland needed a center and drafted Sam Bowie 2nd. Had the Rockets traded Ralph to Portland for the 2nd pick the Rockets could have had Dream and MJ on the same team.
To make things worse Portland offered their 1st pick for Sampson. If Patterson and Fitch were not so stupid, we could have had Jordan and Drexler. The 2 rings could have been 10.
Holding onto Ralph Sampson was a huge mistake. When he got hurt (knee I think), he went home instead of rehabbing with the trainers with the Rockets came back the next season and was never the same. Remember someone say…Hakeem had the heart of lion and Sampson had a heart the size of a key hole.
