This is for the old school fans. I started watching the rebels when they played the series with Georgetown and I think John Flowers dunked on Ewing once. Anyway I don't remember seeing Hudson play before his injury. How would Hudson have ranked among rebel greats if he hadn't blown out his knee? What were his strengths? I imagined he would've been like a moses scurry with offense and a good handle.
Eldridge Hudson question
- Thread starter JTthe2nd
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I never saw him pre-injury. A few here have. I hope they chime in.
What I’ve always heard is that pre-injury, he could really do it all and at a pretty high level. Not quite as high of a level as Magic Johnson, but that’s the name that was brought up to me many times - in that he could essentially play any position on the floor effectively because of his unique combination of size, speed and ability.
Joe said what I had to say basically. I used to hear a lot of Magic comparisons but I think that was just because he was well rounded, around the same height, and from Inglewood. Different time back in the 80's. Blowing out your knee ruined your career, not so much these days. Forwards rarely had handles and passing skills in the 80's.
In the 80’s Lloyd Daniels was the closest comparison to Magic Johnson, but Eldridge Hudson was not far off. Eldridge was a bit shorter than Magic but for someone at that size prior to the knee injury could do a lot with the basketball in his hands.
Similar to Magic in the early to mid 80’s he was not a great jump shooter from distance and not quite the deaf passer Magic was (he would drive Jerry crazy at times playing too loose with the ball), but his play making ability/potential was undeniable. Also like Magic he was a great rebounder, second on the team in rebounds in 82-83 behind Sidney Green.
He was a McDonald’s All-American who a good number of people considered the number one small forward in the class of 1982. He led Carson High to a CA state title in 82. Despite his obvious talent some schools shied away from recruiting him as he had a rep as being hard to coach, too emotional.
No question he would have been a first round pick, probably a high one, had it not been for the knee injury. He injured it really bad first slipping on a wet spot on the court going for a loose ball against Utah on New Year’s Day. He should have stayed out longer in hindsight but came back too soon (only missed a couple of games) and re-injured worse again against Utah State landing on a player’s foot coming down after a rebound.
He missed the remainder of the regular season and instead of shutting it down came back for the PCAA tournament basically playing on one leg for what was left of the season. Had he never gotten hurt who knows how far that team could have gone in the tournament, he was that kind of a difference maker as a freshman.
Jerry announced at the 83 post season banquet he would miss the entire 83-84 season to rehab. At the time there was concern Eldridge might never play again. Unfortunately medicine back then is no where near what it is today and he was never able to return to the form he showed the first half of the 82-83 season.
Eldridge deserves a lot of credit though. Instead of sulking over lost potential he reinvented his game. By his senior year became a very good defender which when he came out of high school he was not known for at all.
Similar to Magic in the early to mid 80’s he was not a great jump shooter from distance and not quite the deaf passer Magic was (he would drive Jerry crazy at times playing too loose with the ball), but his play making ability/potential was undeniable. Also like Magic he was a great rebounder, second on the team in rebounds in 82-83 behind Sidney Green.
He was a McDonald’s All-American who a good number of people considered the number one small forward in the class of 1982. He led Carson High to a CA state title in 82. Despite his obvious talent some schools shied away from recruiting him as he had a rep as being hard to coach, too emotional.
No question he would have been a first round pick, probably a high one, had it not been for the knee injury. He injured it really bad first slipping on a wet spot on the court going for a loose ball against Utah on New Year’s Day. He should have stayed out longer in hindsight but came back too soon (only missed a couple of games) and re-injured worse again against Utah State landing on a player’s foot coming down after a rebound.
He missed the remainder of the regular season and instead of shutting it down came back for the PCAA tournament basically playing on one leg for what was left of the season. Had he never gotten hurt who knows how far that team could have gone in the tournament, he was that kind of a difference maker as a freshman.
Jerry announced at the 83 post season banquet he would miss the entire 83-84 season to rehab. At the time there was concern Eldridge might never play again. Unfortunately medicine back then is no where near what it is today and he was never able to return to the form he showed the first half of the 82-83 season.
Eldridge deserves a lot of credit though. Instead of sulking over lost potential he reinvented his game. By his senior year became a very good defender which when he came out of high school he was not known for at all.
Is there any games on you tube of "el hud" pre injury? I only have seen the ncaa playoff game where they could not make free throws vs nc state and blew the game. In that game he was just ok. That was after the injury.
