ESPN Offseason Spotlight: Rockets are a Playoff Team!

No no no, the real reason the Bulls won 6 championships is because they didn't have to face Dan Langhi! Then there is the other reason, Wilt Chamberlin retired, and also Bill Russell, hmmm also because Celtics started declining right before the 90's. Of course the only reason the Bulls didnt win atleast 20 championships is because MJ didn't skip Kindergarden to play in the NBA.

If they would just listen to themselfs....hey only reason Rockets won Orlando series is because the brick missed all 4, only reason Celtics won that one championship is because Bird stole inbound pass for an assist....

=)

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i don't mean to get into this endless argument, i just have a question:

i remember (correctly or not, i don't know) that the rockets played the 91-95 bulls pretty strongly. in fact, vernon maxwell and clyde drexler were probably two of the best defenders of MJ in the league. does anyone have (or know where to get) the stats of rockets-bulls games from 91-95?

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[This message has been edited by Plato (edited August 03, 2000).]

 

I really think it is sad that the ESPN article had a lot of positive things to say and all everyone can dwell on is the "*" next to the Rockets championships. We will never know who would have one so please accept it as I have. Houston has two championship banners and that is all that matters. No one can ever take that away. Lets talk about how much ass Shandon kicked last year, how much Kenny is going to improve this year, and last but certainly not least, the best backcourt in the game!!!!

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Once again, quit hating Jordan. You guys talk about how Pazson and Kerr hit big shots for Jordan, but c'mon didn't we get big shots from Elie, Cassell, Maxwell, and Kenny Smith during our championship years? All championship teams need big shots from role players. Cassell hit the big shot against the Knicks in the '94 finals. Elie had the big shot against the Suns. Maxwell had big shots againt the Knicks in game 7 of the '94 finals. Kenny was big in the finals with the Magic. Hakeem had help too. All championship teams have to get help, they can't rely on only one player. Jordan had help and Hakeem did too. I agree that there shouldn't be an asterisk by our championship years, we deserved them, but Michael was the greatest basketball player. I don't know why you want to disregard his greatness and legendary status for the Rocket's sake. The Rockets and Hakeem were awesome in the championship years. But Michael's Bulls were the dominant team of the '90s. Whoever said that Michael and the Bulls couldn't overcome a dominant center, that isn't true. Once Michael got dedicated the summer after he came back, the Bulls swept the Magic with Shaq (and that was when Penny was a superstar) and they swept the Heat with Zo, although Zo wasn't as good. Remember when Ewing was a dominant force on the Knicks, those Knicks couldn't get past the Bulls . So Michael's Bulls weakness was not a dominant center.

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"See they pick and pick and pick. Man they picked me to death."
-Steve Francis on the Utah Jazz

 

JT,
The Rockets did not play Seattle well at all. We couldn't get them off our backs. We got swept by them, so we didn't play them well. You can't follow up a statement of "We didn't matchup Seattle well" with "we played them well". If my memory serves me correctly, the Sonics beat us 10 or 11 straight times until we got Barkley.

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"See they pick and pick and pick. Man they picked me to death."
-Steve Francis on the Utah Jazz

 

if we should thank jordan for the championship, then the rest of the championships should have an asterisk after them. Hey, there should be an asterisk after the Lakers championship. We could say that about all the teams that win the championship from now on. Hey, Jordan is the best player ever, (the truth, sorry guys), and who could beat Jordan, nobody. So who the hell cares whether people say it was because Jordan was gone. Just tell them, who COULD beat jordan? NOBODY. And tell them, at least we were smart enough to take advantage of our opportunities. The Spurs, Lakers and the rest of the following champions would have never won if Jordan was there. 'Nuff said.

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That's how I remember it too. I'd really like see the head-to-head record if anybody has access to stats like that.


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I always find the "if MJ had been there" stuff a little humerous, and a lot frustrating. I wanted to see how Jordan did the season he came back, and I found this page: http://www.nba.com/mjretirement/mj9495.html The caption under his picture is especially interesting to me: "Jordan returned to basketball for the 1995 playoffs and showed he hadn't lost a step."

When talking about the Rockets championships, the stock answer is, "Jordan wasn't there."
When talking about the fact that Jordan was there in 1995, the stock answer is, "He wasn't %100."
When the Rockets championships aren't under consideration, the stock answer is, "He never lost a step in his ability."
When you put them altogether, it's obvious people will say whatever suits them at the time.

THERE ARE NO ASTERISKS, ONLY CHAMPIONS. Jordan didn't get it done that year; no excuses. Hakeem did get it done; no apologies needed.

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[This message has been edited by TraJ (edited August 03, 2000).]

 

"Once again, quit hating Jordan."

Once again, NO ONE IS. We're pissed at the media. Just because someone doesn't WORSHIP Jordan, it does not mean that they hate him.

"I don't know why you want to disregard his greatness and legendary status for the Rocket's sake."

I don't know... maybe the fact that we're Rockets fans might have something to do with it...

"Whoever said that Michael and the Bulls couldn't overcome a dominant center, that isn't true. Once Michael got dedicated the summer after he came back, the Bulls swept the Magic with Shaq (and that was when Penny was a superstar) and they swept the Heat with Zo, although Zo wasn't as good. Remember when Ewing was a dominant force on the Knicks, those Knicks couldn't get past the Bulls ."

Man, you rant and rave about how MJ's a demigod and can't believe how we could ever disregard his "greatness" while at the same time you compare the mid-1990's Hakeem Olajuwon to guys that he made look like scrubs at the time. Who's taking away credit for greatness, now?

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WE WILL WATCH THEM FALL... Next year

 

Damn, looks like we'll just have to go out and get ourselves another couple of (non-asterisked) championships in order for this time-tested debate to end. I think I could live with that.
Guys, chill. We can't change the past or many fans' minds. All we can do is look to the future and hope to write a new script with a happy and less "controversial" ending.


ROCKETS 2000 BABY!!! ...there, I feel a little better.

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Ugh, Another Rockets off-season....I'm gonna need a keg
of Pepto-Bismol.

[This message has been edited by AstroRocket (edited August 04, 2000).]

 

From 1989 through 1995, the Rockets were 9-5 against the Bulls, including 5-1 from 1991-1993, the years of the Bulls' first three-peat.

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Thank you keeley. I was pretty sure we had their number back then - glad to know my memory wasn't just distorted by my Rockets bias. The Bulls were lucky those three years that the only team that could beat the Rockets was there to knock us out before we could get to them in the Finals.

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The bulls could never stop Olajuwan or Otis Thorpe for that matter with their front court. And his "Airness" didn't find it so easy to dunk and drive when Hakeem was back there blocking everything in sight.

Remember those days, Hakeem was even doing a number on Shaq which no one can do today. We just couldn't get past the Sonics for some reason.

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Don't forget that Mad Max got into Jordan's head like nobody else. I remember quite vividly the game at Chicago Stadium in March 1991, which the Rockets won. If there was one game that I would choose to showcase Mad Max's unique talent of agitating MJ, that would be it.

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one question...mj averaged like 30 a game for his career while hakeem and clyde those type players average like 24ish probably all though hakeem's had dropped recently.

my feeling is that jordan probably only really deserved about 22 or 23 a game he probably got at least 6 or 7 free throws nearly every game just because he was mj..heck if hakeem got the calls mj did he would have had 30 a game also....and of course the mj fans will say mj is a superstar and all superstars get calls.... that may be true but clyde and dream didn't get the calls that mj got..

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Shane
"Save Our Rockets"
"Life without basketball in Houston........without an arena that is what it will be"

 

AntiSonic, I stated that Hakeem was really awesome in the mid 90's. It's just that for some reason, Hakeem couldn't keep that up for a long period of time. I think Hakeem was truly great and legendary for 4 or 5 years. And in two of the years the Rockets won a championship. The rest of Hakeem's career he was a superstar, but not as legendary as he was in the mid 90's. But the thing is Michael was legendary for maybe 8 or 9 years, and the Bulls won the championship 6 times. That is why I think that the media separates Hakeem from the great ones, Wilt, Bill, Kareem, Michael, Larry, Magic, etc. I don't think that it's right for the media to not give Hakeem more credit but I think that is the reason. Hakeem wasn't legendary longer, I think because of injuries(tendinitis in knees, heart problem, breathing problem).
Rocketfan, if what your saying is true, Michael was merely an ordinary player, and didn't deserve any of the championships he got.

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"See they pick and pick and pick. Man they picked me to death."
-Steve Francis on the Utah Jazz

 

We couldn't guard that brainless guy called Shawn Kemp, and a dirty fighter called Gary Payton.



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Hack a Shaq you'll be winning
Hack-him you'll be dreaming.

 

[/B][/QUOTE]
Dream's final appearance = 4times
MJ's final appearances = 6times.
That is a difference between two players nothing more. Come to think about it Dream had an legendary years, throught his career.
Because players failed to win any rings, doesn't mean that he didn't had a legendary career. Look at Chuckie, or Malone for instance. Those are lengends even though they didn't win any titles.

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Hack a Shaq you'll be winning
Hack-him you'll be dreaming.

 

Rocket JJang, Hakeem had 3 finals appearances, '86, '94, and '95. The other finals apearance the Rockets had was in '81 when Hakeem was a teenager from Nigeria just learning the game of basketball. Hakeem was truly legendary in '94 and '95, where in '86 he was a superstar but not a legend yet. I never said Hakeem didn't have a legendary career, I said that he was truly legendary in the mid '90's. He was a great superstar basically his whole career until these past 2 years, but his years from about '91 to'96 or '97 really rank up there with the all time greats.

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"See they pick and pick and pick. Man they picked me to death."
-Steve Francis on the Utah Jazz