Poll: Best duo im Rockets History Murphy/Tomjanovich? Lucas/Malone? Sampson/Olajuwon? Olajuwon/Drexler? Francis/Mobley? Kennard Winchester/Tree Rollins?
It's hard to put Malone and Lucas as a duo since Rudy T and Calvin were pretty much the dominant Rockets back then. Imagine how good that team could have been had Lucas stayed out of trouble and on the court for the Rockets. I think Malone and Murphy could be considered a combo. Here is the Combos that I think were the best...not the combo's with the most potential but the ones that were the best. 1. Dream and Thorpe - Best big man duo in the NBA that year and several years prior to that and led the Rockets to the best start in NBA history and the Rockets 1st NBA championship. 2. Dream and Drexler - If he had started the season with the Rockets their record might have been a lot better that year but who cares since the two led the Rockets to an NBA championship. They also had some very good years together after that never missing the play-offs and almost getting back to the NBA championship. 3. Malone and Murphy - After Lucas was shipped off due to injury and Rudy T got his face fractured these two basically were the glue to a team that not only made the play-offs but only came up one series short of an NBA championship trip one year and making it to the NBA championship the another. 4. Dream and Sampson - These two could have made history. Just like when Malone was the star on the team John Lucas could have made these two so much better if he had not gotten himself in trouble yet again. And again the Rockets persevered making to an NBA finals regardless of the loss of John Lucas and once again falling at the hands of Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics. I think I am in the majority hear when I Say I would have loved to have had the chance to watch these two mature together. I truly think that had Sampson avoided injury they would have done spectacular things together.
I would say that Dream was past his prime as well....physically speaking. Of course his knowledge of the game and skill level were at a high but I don't think he was as physically dominating during the championship years as he was just a few years earlier when he was leading the league in Rebounds and blocked shots.
I used Lucas as Malone partner not because Lucas was an all-time great, but because he complimented Mo very well and I think they ran a good two man game. And I'm talking the 3 years or so Mo was putting up 27-30 ppg, not his first few seasons when Rudy and Clavin were still running the show.
I can't think of anyone that comes close to Drexler and Dream even in the last few years of their careers. Certainly no one since the 70's.
But John Lucas and Moses Malone only played 2 seasons together and Malone was not the dominant offensive player in either of those years. Malone did not start having his monster offensive years until after Lucas had left the Rockets. Malone averaged 13 points a game one year with Lucas and 19 points a game the next year with Lucas. Those were the only two years those two played together.
IF Sampson had stayed healthy, the twin tower approach of Sampson/Dream would have been the greatest in Rockets history, maybe even basketball history. Those two were pretty nasty from the clips that I've seen. Still, have to give it to the unlikely Rockets team that won it as a 6th seed. Dream and Clyde were a beauty to watch that year, simply amazing.
One thing that the Samson-Dream combo allowed which made them both better was the way they could share the inside pounding for rebounds. Putting Ralph (primarily, not exclusively) on the defensive boards allowed Dream to use his energy (and his Moses Malone training) to focus on being a great offensive rebounder. And Ralph was a great outlet passer. Ralph directly to Lloyd or Ralph to a middleman to Lloyd got the break going as fast as anybody in the game at that time -- even the Showtime Lakers. And Lloyd was such a great finisher that he could go in one-on-three and get the basket. The point at which I realized this team had the potential they showed in 1986 was a game against the Lakers a couple of weeks after the All-Star break when they beat the Lakers at their own game. If that team could have stayed together, drug-free and healthy, we wouldn't be spending so much time wondering "What if?" concerning Dream and Jordan. We'd be reminiscing about the great finals battles between the Twin Towers and the Man. I can't argue with the Clyde-Dream matchup because it went all the way successfully. But I have to give Ralph-Dream equal billing because they went up against MUCH better competition (Celtics & Showtime) and showed they were on the verge of being just as good.
errghh. edit. When I said "potential they showed in 1986", I meant "potential they showed in the 1986 playoffs"
Have to slightly disagree with that. Hakeem was in his prime up until the 97-98 season when he was out with a blood clot in his leg. Before then he avg. 23-25 points and 10-12 reb a game and still considered the best center in the game.
