Hard for "ASSETS" to have that loving feeling. The Rockets have been shuffling the deck every season for years. Rockets are more like a pick up team.
Exactly. I remember the good ole days when loyalty matters. When players that bled Rockets red like Otis Thorpe, Sam Cassell, Robert Horry, Matt Bullard, Carl Herrea were offered handsome contracts to stay with us for their entire careers. When Rockets management never tried to sign someone like Mark Bryant or Chucky Brown only to trade them a year later like they're not even human. Those were the days when the players were treated like family.
There have always been revolving door players, but usually there's a nucleus of guys (either stars or glue guys) that the fans attach to and that provide an identity to the team. Right now there is only the feeling that no one of these guys may be here in 6 months.
1. Fans don't care about glue guys that don't surround superstars. Heck, one year after Battier is gone there's still a thread complaining about the Gay trade. This despite him being considered around the league by coaches as the ultimate role player. 2. Rotation players from the 94 championship team that left the team within 3 years: Horry, Cassell, Smith, Maxwell, Thorpe, Brooks, Herrera. If you think the teams retain "glue guys", then teams don't exactly use a lot of glue.
Lowry? LOL - the guy had to sign an offer sheet with CLEVELAND to get paid, you think he bleeds Rocket red, no way. He is a competitor, but he was willing to go to one of the worst locations in the world to force a contract, he has no loyalty here nor should he. And Luis has all but said he bought into the team's colors but that all changed when he was traded. The culture the Rockets have created is one of "all for yourself" DD
So does Hakeem not bleed Rocket Red because he requested a trade, one of the factors being he felt he wasn't payed enough? And Luis never said he stopped buying into the team's color when he was about to be traded, that's a load of crap.
He was talking about being traded and how dissappointed he was because he had bought into the Rockets entirely, their colors etc, and then to suddenly be traded was a big shock. DD
bleeding 'rockets red' has an old world charm to it but its unlikely in today's NBA. there isn't a single player we wouldn't move to get the holy grail superstar. the players know this. i'd be more than satisfied with some consummate pros.