Del Harris' Encouragement to Yao Ming & the Rockets

pryuen · Mar 18, 2006

Just when the fickle fans or even most of us are now giving up for the season, just want to share this with you guys.

It is tough but NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE !!!

http://sports.tom.com/2006-03-17/0424/17007527.html

Special Correspondent Luo Ke reports fro Houston

There was more than 1 minutes to go before half time for the game between the Houston Rockets and the Dallas Mavericks. But the attention of the audience at the Toyota Centre were already distracted, and they were surprised and started to scream when familiar old faces started appearing in the players' tunnel.

First half ended, and players from the Rockets and Mavericks qucikly dispersed and evaculated from the court, and entered Gene Peterson, who had been the radio commentator for the Rockets for over 30+ years; he would be the Master of Ceremony of a special ceremony during the half time intermission.

"It was 25 years ago when the Houston Rockets made history by entering the NBA Final." No one is more qualified than this silver-gray haired 60-year-old to recollect history. Gene Peterson is the only one reporter amongst the current reporters that followed and reported games of the Houston Rockets that was lucky enough to be present to witness that piece of history. That is probably also why he is the official Voice of the Rockets. "That was the very first time Houston Rockets were made known to the basketball world. So tonight, let's relive that magical moment 25 years ago." The huge screen above Toyota Centre then started to replay clippages of those exciting years.

Shortly afterwards, the then head coach and assistant coach, Del Harris (the current assistant coach of Dallas Mavericks) and Carroll Dawson (the current General Manager of the Houston Rockets) entered the centre court. They are now in different worlds (as far as both teams are concerned), but 25 years ago, they had worked hand in hand to create that miracle. Following them were major players of that team, and when the last 3 players entered, the whole Toyota Centre were roaring and cheering, much louder than the cheer they gave to any of the current Rockets, including Yao Ming.

"Rudy Tomjanovich !", "Calvin Murphy !" "Moses Malone !!" Each time as Gene Peterson called out the names of the players, it just seemed that every of the Houstonians in the stands were basked in long-gone glory and honor. The old comrades hugged each other excitedly on the court while the fans cheered and wiped aways tears from their eyes. "When can we enjoy such ecstasy again ? They are the pride of Houstonians." The reporter overheard the murmurs of a 20-year-old fan nearby.

Actually there are profound meaning that Rockets management chose to hold this ceremony at this very moment. That 1980 ~ 81 Rockets made it to the playoff with a regualr season result of 40W and 42L; And just like the current season, they were exactly the same at the 62 games mark: 29W 33L. When asked about the current plight of the Rockets, Del Harris said with regrets: "It was so obvious that injuries and sicknesses had brought the Rockets down. Yao Ming had been playing to his utmost capabilities, and had carried this team on his back. Just like tonight, his performance is absolutely phenomenal. But the question is the Western Conference is just too strong. Not only the Rockets must continue to win their games, but they must also hope other teams lose theirs."

Del Harris still took pride of the masterpiece he managed to achieve 25 years ago. "Actually their situation is not too far off from what we were at 25 years ago. There were 5 games left, and no one believed we could enter the playoff. Our only chance was that we won all 5 of them. But when we won 4 of them, we were already into the playoff !! We finally made it !!" The Rockets finally made it at #6 for the playoff (At that time, only 6 teams for the playoff). They further eliminated the Magic Johnson-led LA Lakers, the #1 seeded San Antonio Spurs, and then beat the Kansas Kings 4 ~ 1 in the Western Conference. Even though they were beaten in the Final by the Boston Celtics, the Rockets had indeed in that season accomplished the impossible mission.

When Del Harris met Yao Ming after the games, they did not talked about the playoff. He knew Yao Ming is under extreme pressure right now. But when he left Toyota Centre, when asked about whether the Rockets could create a miracle and make it to the playoff, he said: "This is still achievable. Nothing is impossible."
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tigermission1 · Mar 18, 2006

You know, I appreciate the nostalgia and everything, but I absolutely HATE the fact that everytime there is an obstacle to overcome for today's Rockets team, someone brings up the championship years.

Man, those were unique teams with unique players, a lot of heart and toughness, and a destiny written all over their journey to the championship. This team has ZERO resemblance to that one, it's not fair to these guys to keep trumping them over the head with those legendary teams we had in the mid-90s.

Let them be themselves and develop their own memories/history. Let's stop. Those championship teams did things that had never happened in NBA history before, they made be believe in destinies when I was skeptical of such a thing as 'destiny' and thought it was silly talk (you had to watch how they won it all, weird things happened throughout those playoff series that almost everytime things bounced our way).

Just Let these guys create their own identity and entrench their own memories into our collective minds.

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