Cabbage, if u read a little carefull I base by whole argument on Hakeem being "healthy". If he is not healthy then I dont even want to guess about his numbers. ------------------ Fun Police Says: 1. Posting in stupid threads is not FUN! 2. Spelling, grammar, punctuation and sentence structure are not FUN! 3. Stupid BBS names are not FUN! 4. Annoying Mango can be really FUN! 5. Conduct yourself in a FUN way! The Fun Police are Watching. Eat MANGOES & Have FUN or be Assimilated.
verse: I definitely now get your point. Rodman was a great example. I completely disagree with your take on Iverson, but for the sake of this thread, I won't get started again on that debate. That little guy completely changes the outlook of a game with his playmaking abilities. ------------------ "At least I screw sheeps..." - Corey Benjamin of the Clutch BBS.
Rockets03: Even if the respiratory condition magically disappears, and Hakeem is as healthy as possible, his 38 year old body is not capable of contributing double digits. His explosiveness is gone, and he is nothing but a bench contributor at this point. ------------------ "At least I screw sheeps..." - Corey Benjamin of the Clutch BBS.
thacabbage, OK, lets go with this: Throughout training camp and preseason, it is evident that Dream has the stamina to play 15 minutes a game and anything beyond that is just too exhausting. He plays at a level equal to or slightly below his 1999-2000 season. Coaching decision to make: Does he start and play a bit and rest, play a bit and rest and so on? Does he come off the bench to spell Cato to acquire his 15 minutes? Mango ------------------ 1. Put new topics in the proper forum 2. Use clear wording for new threads 3. No duplicate threads 4. Conduct yourself as an adult The Serious Police are watching Donate Blood or be assimilated!
Hakeem got the ball shoveled to him. We stunk up the place that year. In the payoffs it was ALL charles Barkley. ------------------
Mango: He comes off the bench. Cato is the center in our future. Get him comfortable to that role as soon as possible. ------------------ "At least I screw sheeps..." - Corey Benjamin of the Clutch BBS.
thacabbage, No problem with that, but sentimental fans will want him to start just for the sake of starting in his farewell season. Mango ------------------ 1. Put new topics in the proper forum 2. Use clear wording for new threads 3. No duplicate threads 4. Conduct yourself as an adult The Serious Police are watching Donate Blood or be assimilated!
You guys are worried about the wrong thing. Dream keeps getting injured. When he comes back "he's better than ever", and then he gets injured again. I wish the best for him, but you guys should manage your expectations. ------------------ "At one of these governors' conferences, George [W. Bush] turns to me and says: 'What are they talking about?' I said: 'I don't know.' He said: 'You don't know anything, do you?' And I said: 'Not one thing.' [Bush] said: 'Neither do I.' And we kind of high-fived." --Republican Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico shares a verbal exchange that took place between he and George W. Bush. (Quote is from the Los Angeles Times, 5/31/00) Dubyah Speaks
I am ashamed to be reading some of these posts. Hakeem Olajuwon has been this franchise for the past decade and a half. He brought us two championships. He has sweat blood and tears for this organization. Now, I agree that he has lost his fire....and that, I think, is his main problem. Injuries are more mental than anything....and I think Hakeem feels old. However, I think he is going to surprise us all this year. There is still a little "Nigerian Nightmare" left in the man, and I think we're going to get to see it this year. As far as this theory I'm reading from some of my esteemed colleagues on this site that Hakeem should come off the bench and let Cato get used to being a starter.....I'm sorry, but you can take that theory and stick it straight up your a$$. I like Cato as much as the next guy, but that's an insult to the man that has been an institution for the city of Houston for fifteen years. Now, I'm sorry for the harsh language, but that really pi$$e$ me off. Hakeem starts....he's earned it. ------------------ "I'll take a Dream Shake for two, please."
Cabbage- Do you really believe Cato is the Center of the future? I personally think Cato is horrible. Compare his rebounds/minute or offensive productivity to other NBA starters and he is very weak. Yeah he can block a shot, but so can Osterfat and I don't see Utah counting on him any more than usual. I still honestly see Dream as being more productive than Cato even if Dream only plays 15 minutes a game. At least Dream will rebound and has an offensive game more than stand around, wait for his man to double franchise run towards the hoop, hope the ball hits him in the hands and then hope to lay it in. I hope Cato proves me wrong, but when i look at Cato I see the Cowardly Lion from the wizard of Oz. No Heart. ------------------
He has some potential though, hehehe... yeah he was horrible last year because he wasn't bad or anything simply he just didn't have the heart to go along with his god given talent(athleticism). If only he has the half the heart of Chuckie or Dream, sigh... But I do believe he can pan out to be a very very good Center only because there are only few decent ceters left. ------------------ Hack a Shaq you'll be winning Hack-him you'll be dreaming.
A dose of reality.... Barring any major injuries in the NBA, the BEST I can see for the Rocks is a 7th place finish. At worst, they finish 00-01 with close to .500 and are just out of the playoffs as the whole conference has improved. Within these extremes, it really doesn't matter who starts. A win-win situation is to start Dream (the younger Cato is better of the bench) with the understanding that he goes as hard as he can for as long as he can. My guess is about 6-8 minutes into the 1st quarter. Cato comes in and finishes the quarter gets a spell from Dream (or Collier or Pig) mid 2nd quarter against the opposing backup 5. Repeat in 2nd half. I can't imagine Dream or Cato having worse stats this year compared to last. The 2 combined last year for 19 PPG, 3.5 blocks, 12.2 boards (9.2 def) and 1.8 assists. This is NOT bad production from the 5 especially considering this is a guard oriented team(forget the salary arguments - save it for another thread). Even if we got Brian Grant or Antonio Davis, or Mo Taylor we will not finish higher than 6th and their addition would just take us deeper into the playoffs (but not the conference finals). Bottomline - for better or worse these are the cards we were dealt so let Dream start and go out hustling (if he is able). ------------------ GATER
everybody on this board listen up! the dream is the only superstar that the city of Houston has ever had to bring a world championship here.The man has one more season left and all you all want to do is send him out dissing him and talking crap about his stats and this and that.Yet you name a freeway after a 500 pitcher who just so happened to get a lot of strikeouts. BUT when given the perfect opportunity to lead the astros to the world series and bring championship to Houston,he fizzled.To say dreams fire has died is crap!a old lion is still a lion,and lions are the king of the jungle.the dream was supposed to be washed up so they gave david robinson the MVP trophy and all the dream did was go out without the trash-talking ala shack, and show the world who was really the MVP and bring a championship to the city of HOUSTON.I went to the parades and the reception at the dome,i enjoyed what other cities have tasted and it tastes good.So when i see dream the taste comes back and the memories are anew.So please quit bashing the only person who has led us to the promised land.By the way i live in la la land and i have this type of crap everyday,but like a true houstonian,texan,and rocketfan i still phrase the DREAM and will defend him just as travis did the alamo till my last breath.So kill all the _itching and complaining and let THE MAN go out with class. After all you didnt have grit your teeth and endure it while these clowns celebrated their championship. ------------------
I see that this thread has veered from its original intent. TCab tried to get it back on the straight and narrow, but with little success. I didn't want to rehash this whole, "Should Hakeem start or come off the bench?" "Is Hakeem still good enough to contribute?" "Will Hakeem be healthy?" blah, blah, blah. We've heard it all a million times. I was just trying to get a little rant off my chest. People like to act as though Hakeem has been "done" for years, when in fact he hasn't. ------------------ I have a dream.........his name's Hakeem. DREAMer's Rocket Page
Being honest isn't wrong, mean or degrading. Are we the kind of people who would want someone to tell us that there is a piece of toilet paper hanging out the bottom of our pants leg or would we rather walk around a party all night with it like that so we don't have to go through the embarassment of having to pull it out and throw it away? I, for one, would hope someone would tell me. Hakeem is just not that good anymore. Having him come off the bench behind Cato because he definetly cannot help us win a championship next year is not an insult. It is just smart. The right thing to do is the right thing for the team. If that means coming off the bench then Hakeem's last year will go down in the history books as a year that he made a noble sacrifice for the freanchise. The wrong thing to do is to play Hakeem because of what he has done in the past and not because of what he can or will be able to do. His last season would then be known as a feeble and selfish effort to go out with a big bang. ------------------
