Richard Dumas...what could have been

by ron_dasun on Apr 7, 2009 3:18 PM MDT

I remeber as a kid, watching the Sun's trade for Charles Barkley in the summer of 1992. I was so excited thinking about the potent line-up we would run out on the floor. Mark West, Charles Barkley, Cedric Ceballos, Dan Majerle, and Kevin Johnson would be the team I felt could finally dethrone DA BULLS. This team was fully of savy vets and a couple of rookies that were trying to crack the rotation. Oliver Miller from Arkansas was one rookie ( I knew him well being from the South) and Richard Dumas from Oklahoma State ( I wasn't familiar with him at all). As well as Oliver Miller played that year, Richard Dumas was far and away the Suns best rookie. He even unseated Cedric Ceballos for the starting small forward spot. Now Ced was super athletic, but Dumas a freak and quickly gained his teams respect with his abilities. Dumas was Shawn Marion with a nice jumper. He had pogo sticks for legs and believed in finishing emphatically at the rim. The Suns were so impressed that they sent Ceballos packing to the Lakers over the Summer of 1993. Sadly a drug suspension cut short Dumas career with the Suns. Dumas bounced around the league to a couple other teams, but never was able to recapture or build upon his outstanding rookie year. Richard Dumas could have been something special if only he could have exercised his demons. This is another moment in Suns history that didn't quite turn out the way we thought.

game 5 of 1993 finals Richard Dumas at his best

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Agreed

What a team the Suns had then with 2 promising rookies like Miller and Dumas, then tragicly Dumas got into drugs and the big O ate himself out the league and the Suns couldnt stop Olajuwon 2 straight years and it went downhill.

by Lefty3 on Apr 7, 2009 7:33 PM MDT reply actions

that's why I tried to hate Houston

but I couldn’t cause their whole team was a bunch of nice humble guys…except Mario Elie…I did hate him :)

by ron_dasun on Apr 8, 2009 5:14 PM MDT up reply actions

and Robert Horry was such a nice humble guy?

by Aluminum Foyle on Apr 9, 2009 10:42 AM MDT up reply actions

good point

but no one hated Robert Horry back in 1994

by ron_dasun on Apr 9, 2009 3:20 PM MDT up reply actions

So right

Man… that was the team to get it done. In Game 6 they had the lead late, and I still don’t know why they let Pippen go coast to coast and lay it up with no defense on him. If it could have just gone 7 games who knows. But Dumas was a baller. I think Ceballos was hurt, but if they had him as that third scorer and athletic defender. Then the next yr they had Houston down in the series. PHX was up 3-1 I think a let that get away (I never liked Mario Elie after that). Then the team crumbled after that. The Kidd/Hardaway era was interesting but nothing like the Barkley/KJ teams

by Cmart34 on Apr 8, 2009 8:57 AM MDT reply actions

you know the next two years

they had Houston down 3-1 and they came back arghhhhh

by ron_dasun on Apr 8, 2009 5:16 PM MDT up reply actions

Don't forget about the whiner

If Danny Ainge hadn’t been running all around the court trying to double-team someone and stayed home with Paxon…maybe he doesn’t hit the COMPLETELY WIDE OPEN 3-pointer!! 16 years later and that game still haunts me!!

by Sundevil33 on Apr 13, 2009 2:27 PM MDT up reply actions

Ainge did the right thing

Find a video.

Barkley went for a steal at the top of the key, leaving Horace Grant open underneath. Ainge sagged in on Grant, open on the low block. That’s what left Paxon open.

If Charles plays man-up defense instead of making a half-assed steal attempt (it wasn’t even a good try at making a steal), then the Bulls do not have an odd-man advantage and are forced to execute a play instead of swing the ball around against one less defender.

Mmmmm ... Guinness

by JSun on Apr 13, 2009 5:27 PM MDT up reply actions

seen it a million times

Hmmm…Grant open for a layup and the tie…or a wide open paxon and the win…I would have rather seen the tie….Although, coming out of a timeout they should have been able to play a little more solid D…Sad

by Sundevil33 on May 4, 2009 5:42 PM MDT up reply actions

Dumas would have been a BEAST

Steve Nash, the league's MVP, is a longhaired Canadian who spoke out against the war in Iraq and reads The Communist Manifesto. Quentin Richardson declared after a game-winning shot that it "was like Hamlet. It was a suspense thriller, and I killed them at the end." Amare Stoudemire, when asked to comment on a 22-point third quarter against the Kings, said, "I've got a tendency to jump over some guys' heads and throw it down."

by rsavaj on Apr 8, 2009 10:44 AM MDT reply actions

Mmmmm ... Guinness

by JSun on Apr 8, 2009 1:50 PM MDT reply actions

yeah maybe your right

Ced may have been injured, but Richard did thrive in the starting spot

by ron_dasun on Apr 8, 2009 5:12 PM MDT up reply actions

true

so much wasted potential

Mmmmm ... Guinness

by JSun on Apr 8, 2009 6:28 PM MDT up reply actions

Dumas was awesome...

But dude was an idiot – he couldn’t stay clean and even when he was he struggled learning the systems and had a VERY low basketball IQ. The guy had all of the ability but none of the brains.

by watdogg10 on Apr 9, 2009 1:04 PM MDT reply actions