If you could pick 2 role players from the 2005 playoff team...

Mike James and Dikembe Mutombo. Jon Barry would also be nice but there wouldn't be room for him

 

All I remember mike James doing was freezing tax out of the offense when he was on fire. he was the only player capable of stopping Mac in that series..

And in that series Yao was probably a role player.

 

Bob Sura was the heart of the team even though he was not a key player on that team. He only averaged like 10 points per game that year.

Bobby Sura was all heart and one of the grittiest players in Rockets History. He defined mental toughness and had it in spades. Something Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming lacked. His mere presence on the floor made everyone play at a higher level and with more intensity. There is no way that Rockets team goes as far as it did in the playoffs without him.

The effect that Bobby Sura's had on that team was similar to the effect that Mario Ellie had on the 94 and 95 teams and Ron Artest had on the 2009 team.

The next biggest role player on that team was Dikembe Mutombo.

Obviously Ryan Bowen was a key part of that team, especially on the defensive end, but Bobby Sura and Dikembe Mutombo had a bigger effect.

 

It sucked that Bobby did not come back the following year. Management kept a roster spot open for him all summer hoping he would recover from his injuries.

Unfortunately he retired. The pain he was playing through was a result of his injuries and it was too much for him to play through.

 

Probably the only guys that were as mentally tough as Bobby Sura were Vernon Maxwell and Mario Ellie. If you want to include key rotation players that had the same level of toughness, it would be limited to Ron Artest, Moses Malone, and Hakeem Olajuwon. There really were not a lot of players like Bobby Sura.

Bobby Sura defined what it meant to be gritty. Even though he only played one year for us, for a lot of the guys on the board, he is an all time fan favorites and one of my favorite players.

 

Bobby Sura Stats from the 2005 Mavs Series


7.9 pts a game on 43% shooting


People need to stop lionizing this guy - he's part of the reason we lost that series. TMAC had very little help.

 

I mean the 2005 team is sort of the definition of top heavy.


Do this with the 2009 team - a team that actually HAD legit role players....

 

Since: Jan 2015


sura faints

 

Sura was a solid back up, it's too bad he couldn't shoot consistently. I would take Deke and Juwan (healthy).

 

let me guess.. you didn't watch that series

 

I watched that series. I've been a Rockets fan since 1993.

 

Did you?

He scored TWELVE POINTS in the last 4 games.

Including zero in game 6 and zero in game 7.

 

epitomizes just how **** our role players were

 

I would agree with Sura and Mutombo.

Dwight, Mutombo, Capella, Smith, Jones... The Mavs wouldn't score another layup the rest of the series.

 

definitely yao and sura

 

Nachbar & Jim Jackson.

 

jim jackson and mutombo - damn we've had some great players come through this city

 

I totally forgot Jim Jackson was ever a Rocket.

 

I still remember the 3 he missed against the Lakers in 2004. Screw that guy.