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[NBA Trades Episode #51] Greatest Rockets GM of all time : Steve Patterson

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by tinman, Jul 1, 2019.

  1. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
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    @Clutch


    The 25-year anniversary of the 1994 Houston Rockets championship squad is descending upon us, and it made sense to have the original architect of that team on. Steve Patterson got his start in sports at an early age when his father Ray Patterson was president of the Milwaukee Bucks.

    Steve went on to work with his dad in Houston during the 1980s. Steve worked in various departments, working in the legal field with contracts, working with the marketing department and more. He helped install a ticketing computer system for the Rockets and also helped bring the All-Star Game to Houston.

    Steve took the position of general manager (youngest in the NBA) in 1989 with the Rockets. He was responsible for acquiring guards Vernon Maxwell and Kenny Smith. Patterson also drafted Robert Horry and Sam Cassell. Of the 11 players that played in the NBA Finals, seven were acquired by the Rockets with Patterson acquiring them as Houston’s lead decision maker.

    In this episode, Steve and I discussed the trades and transactions he made to build the Rockets around Hakeem Olajuwon, a contractual feud with Olajuwon and how that played out, and what it was like to see the Rockets win a title the year after he had been let go by new owner Les Alexander.
     
    #1 tinman, Jul 1, 2019
    saleem, fallenphoenix, cheke64 and 6 others like this.
  2. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
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    Greatest GM in Rockets history
    Only real fans know this
    @Os Trigonum
     
    #2 tinman, Jul 7, 2019
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  3. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
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    Bump cause
    @Sanctity

    needs to learn

    @topfive
    Thanks we need to correct every single member who is wrong about Rockets History

    @Clutch
    How do we fix this lack of history for the fans?
     
    #3 tinman, Jan 11, 2020
  4. xiki

    xiki Contributing Member

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    He worked with two GOATs, The Dream and Rudy T.

    Where in the world is there a hoops HoF withOUT Rudy T???
     
    #4 xiki, Jan 11, 2020
  5. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
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    I’m sure newbs don’t know about Rudy T
    Somehow credits Les for both of them
     
    #5 tinman, Jan 11, 2020
  6. xiki

    xiki Contributing Member

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    Owner Alexander deserves less and lesser, lessest even, for the B2B.

    Rudy T and Mr Dream deserve credit larger than Texas.
     
    #6 xiki, Jan 11, 2020
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  7. JW86

    JW86 Member

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    Alexander was a piece of **** for every single move he made in the beginning, same like Tilman but even worse. How do you let go the guy who formed a large part of what was then a contending team? And for all the greatness that is Morey for making crazy deals out of nowhere, he can definitely be blamed for the lack of building a team with young guys who stick around, drafter or acquired.
     
    #7 JW86, Jan 11, 2020
  8. napalm06

    napalm06 Huge Flopping Fan

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    Not disputing Patterson as #1, it is probably deserved even though he only had a 4-5 year run if I remember correctly.

    But a side comment on Morey. I believe he has put together two championship teams - 2009 (lost in 7 to the champs with injuries to Mac, Yao, and Dikembe) and 2018 (lost in 7 to the champs with injuries to Paul and Moute). Not sure he is going to be able to do it again with another meddling owner now that we've burned every asset and repeatedly made regression moves since then.

    I don't know who the GM was that put together the 1986 finals team, but they also deserve a mention for beating the Lakers and getting 2 on the Celtics during that dynasty era with Hakeem, Sampson, Lloyd and Lucas. [Another side note: Ralph Sampson hit 3 of 4 three-pointers that he took in the playoffs with the Rockets. What a tragically forgotten player. He would be epically dominant in today's game.]
     
    #8 napalm06, Jan 11, 2020
    Last edited: Jan 11, 2020
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  9. snowconeman22

    snowconeman22 Member

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    @napalm06

    I would argue 3 .

    The two teams you mentioned , and my dark horse ... the 14-15 rockets

    Maybe we weren’t clearly a top 2 team , but we made it to the Wcf despite injuries to our starting PG and PF .

    Bev , James , Ariza , DMO , Dwight with the headband brothers off the bench could have certainly won that year
     
    #9 snowconeman22, Jan 11, 2020
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  10. Ziggy

    Ziggy QUEEN ANON

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    The guy that set UT back a decade.
     
    #10 Ziggy, Jan 11, 2020
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  11. napalm06

    napalm06 Huge Flopping Fan

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    A real contender for sure, but I consider the other two teams to be absolute locks if healthy.
     
    #11 napalm06, Jan 11, 2020
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  12. napalm06

    napalm06 Huge Flopping Fan

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    Isaiah Hartenstein:
    "In a lot of games we let the other teams back in, so in this one we kept the gas on the pedal."

    Well said.
     
    #12 napalm06, Jan 11, 2020
  13. cheke64

    cheke64 Member

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    Explain
     
    #13 cheke64, Jan 11, 2020
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