Eddie Griffin for sure. Could block, could rebound, could score in the post, could hit the 3. And Yao for me is up there, but it is not his fault, that underachieving dick Thomas basically ended Yao's MVP like season
I would say those were inflated expectations especially given the two powerhouses of LA and Boston standing in the way at the time. Sampson had an immediate impact when he came in the league on a truly awful team at the time and in his third year helping the Rockets soundly beat the defending NBA Champion Lakers was also no mean feat either. Yes the Rockets likely could've gone on to more championships if Sampson had stayed healthy but as is he contributed a lot to the Rockets when he could and I would say more than probably 80% of the players to have ever donned a Rockets a uniform.
Was a key player in getting to the NBA Finals, including his miracle shot against the Lakers, so I can't say that.
I agree the hype coming in for Sampson was ridiculous but that is why that is hype. Still though for 3 years Sampson came close to living up to that hype and helped to turn the Rockets from a doormat to a legit contender. I agree hype plays a role in expectations but I would say that dissapointment would be if they never could live up to the hype. Sampson did manage to live up to it for awhile whereas someone like Sam Bowie or Eddie Griffin never could live up to the expectations placed on them.
.1 John Lucas - I don't think this one is even close in my book. John ripped the heart out of the Rockets (and me not once but twice). No one will ever convince me that the Rockets would not have won the championship in 86 if Lucas is the point guard. 2. Scottie Pippen - We had Barkley and Dream. Pippen was coming in as the new face of the franchise. We were going to have the best front court in the league and get at least one more championship. Pippen was suppose to retire a Rocket but instead he was a whinny little B@#* that showed zero class and could not even help us out of the 1st round. No one will ever convince me that he was not half steppin at the end of the season and especially in the play-offs. He is easily my most hated Rocket of all time. .3 Eddie Griffin - I was on Chat the day we drafted Eddie. I don't recall one negative thing written about getting Eddie. Everyone thought he was going to be the next great franchise player. Hakeem lite. Unfortunately we all know how his story ended. Honorable mention: Kelvin Cato, Steve Francis, Ralph Sampson I put these three on the list because of what was expected of them as individual players. Cato was given a huge contract because he was suppose to lead the league in blocked shots and rebounding every year. Steve Francis was suppose to be NBA MVP material and be one of the greatest point guards in the game. Of course his skill and BBIQ never lived up to his athleticism. Ralph will be discussed further. Ralph Sampson - The biggest enigma in Houston pro sports history IMO. I happen to be a big Ralph Sampson fan. I still believe that if Sampson does not get injured in Boston and if John Lucas does not get himself booted from the club then the 80's would be remembered for the Lakers, Celtics and Rockets...what could have been. What most people don't remember about Sampson though is that even minus the injury he was heavily criticized for his lack of toughness, lack of heart and lack of consistency. If someone wanted to make a case that Sampson was the biggest disappointment in franchise history I think they could make a very good case for that and not due to injuries. Does anyone remember how Karl Malone first made a name for himself? He basically said in the paper that he was going to abuse Ralph Samson in a game and then he went out and completely dominated him. I have hated Malone ever since. Starting in college Ralph never lived up to expectations, Virginia was suppose to win the NCAA championship easy in Sampson's senior year but of course they did not. Coming out of Virginia Sampson was suppose to be the next coming of Wilt Chamberlain and never attained that. What was so painful about Sampson's career was the constant tease of what could have been. ROY award, All-Star Game MVP and an endorsement from Magic Johnson stating that if Sampson were a Laker you could fit him up for 5 more rings. Of course there was the greatest moment in Sampson's career when he hit the volleyball like game winning shot that eliminated the Lakers from the play-offs and put the Rockets in the 86 NBA finals when Dream was in the locker room. All were teases of what could have been but all were sandwiched by games when Sampson did not live up to expectations. Bill Fitch and the media in Houston was always wanting Ralph to be more physical but Ralph wanted to handle the ball like a guard and play on the perimeter. There could be a whole thread on discussing Ralph and his failed expectations that had little to do with his injury. Of course the injury shortened his career, was ultimately responsible for his exile from Houston kept him from being a very good or possibly even a great player for years to come. But regardless of the injury Ralph was never going to be the great player everyone expected when he was drafted.
I think you have to start a new thread with different perimeters. Exclude players who had their career cut short because of injuries. Include good to excellent players tossed for drug violations (Wiggins, LLoyd, Lucas), those who were drafted and didn't pan out (too many to list), and players we traded for that promptly went on vacation when they got here. I don't think a player like Sampson should be on this list at all. edit: and I disagree with you, crash.
Deckard, You don't recall all of the lack of heart articles in the Chronicle or the Post? You don't remember all of the frustrations because of the inconsistency which laced Ralph's career as a Rocket? You don't remember all of the talk about Ralph's lack of toughness? You don't remember when Ralph was drafted he was suppose to be the next coming of Wilt? Sports writers were saying that he might be the best Center in the history of the game. Do you remember the Karl Malone game? I'm just saying that Ralph's downfall is not based solely on his injury... his inability to live up to expectations started in college and he had already started giving up the leadership of the Rockets to Dream prior to the injury.
I remember all of that. I also remember some great games by Ralph. He was inconsistent. Fitch, in my opinion, was the wrong coach for him. If he'd had access to someone like Grover, someone to build him up to take the pounding in the NBA, it would have made a big difference, IMO. The guy was used to things being easy for him in college. Coming into the league was a huge adjustment, and then we drafted Dream, who promptly took away his position. That required even more of an adjustment. Then he was injured. Remember, the guy was still early in his career when he was hurt. I liked your reference to Lucas. Had we had Lucas in the '86 playoffs, I agree. I will always believe we would have won. Had Sampson had Lucas during his career and not been injured, he very well could have been a top 50 player. It just didn't pan out. The guy had incredible potential, unrealized. He was MVP at the All Star game at a very young age as a center. Ralph suffered a "perfect storm" of bad luck. I guess I'm just willing to cut him more slack than some people are.
Hey don't get me wrong. I am a Ralph Sampson fan and cut him a lot of slack. He should have never moved from the center position IMO but Dream just did not posses the basketball skills to play away from the basket at that point in his career. I think if you take away that Boston game where he got hurt and he has a much more productive career as a Houston Rocket and enjoys many more All Star games. But I don't think he possessed the personality to ever achieve the Wilt Chamberlain expectations that were placed on him. I don't think he was ever going to be the best player at his position or the best player on his team.
This thread is just stupid. People saying that Ralph was a dissapointment because he wasn't as good as Wilt Chamberlin? I guess some people thought he was going to be the greatest of all time, but that was expecting too much. Ralph was a tall thin player. He was more of a finesse player than a bruiser. He averaged 20 and 10 and shot 50% from the field for the Rockets. I just don't see how anyone could say he was one of our biggest dissapointments.
Disappointment based on expectations. As I said earlier do you remember all of the negative pub he was getting from Houston Sports Writers when he was a Rocket? Lack of Heart, lack of toughness, wanting to play like a guard (this was not a compliment). When he was drafted, it was with the expectations that he would be the most dominating player in the league...period. I remember all of the frustrations, don't know if you do or not, everyone wanted Ralph to play like a big man. Ralph certainly remembers it.
In 83-84 Ralph averaged 20.98 and 11.13 In 84-85 Ralph averaged 22.06 and 10.40 In 85-86 Ralph averaged 18.87 and 11.13 I think the numbers show Ralph played like a "big man". Some people complained about Ralph then, and some complain about Ralph now, and I don't know why. In 84-85, Ralph had to start playing away from the basket because Hakeem was better suited for the post. Ralph still posted good numbers, even as he now had to share the ball with Hakeem. Ralph was not Wilt or Kareem or Hakeem, but he was one of the best players the Rockets ever had. If you expected Ralph to be the greatest player of all time then yes, I guess he was a dissapointment.
You will not hurt my feelings by putting TMac in there. I don't think the expectations on TMac ever approached what they were for Sampson though.
I think many of y'all assessment are based on way over inflated expectations. In regard to Sampson and also for those saying that Yao is a big dissapointment. The NBA is a tough league consider that Sampson got the Rockets to an NBA championship beating one of the all time greatest teams in the NBA and taking another one of the all time greatest teams to 6 games. Now think about that there are teams like the Denver Nuggets who have never even been to the NBA championship yet I doubt Nuggets fans will say that Alex English was a huge dissapointment.
Hey like I said I liked Ralph. And I think had he not gotten hurt, he and Dream would have done damage to the league together. But for a player to come out of college with the expectations of turning into the best player in the league and possibly the best center of all time it was a clear disappointment when he was neither the best player on his team or the best player in the league at his position. Those last two facts really had nothing to do with his injuries but more to do with his personality which made him disappear at times.
