at least it's trinitron quality video the drama and crowd and ac green laying on the floor perfect drama
34 year anniversary of the Sampson game. Available on Amazon Prime. https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B086Z6YQCR/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r
There is a regular season game vs Nuggets from 86 on Prime there too. Some other Rockets games I saw scrolling through last night 87 Game 6 vs Sonics 93 Game 5 vs Clippers 93 Game 7 vs Sonics 09 Game 1 vs Lakers
This was the highest point of Rocket fandom to date. We went from last in the league to the finals in 2 or 3 years. It was like a Disney movie happening in real life staring home town heroes. Just fantastic. The twin towers were just larger than life. “Unbeatable” & “Dream” songs all over the radio. The people of Houston were on fire for the young Rockets. We all knew this was going to be our first championship ever! The first of many!
People should watch this game. Most exciting and intense game in Rockets history in my opinion, and I’ve seen most. The fights, the ejections, the big shots, the biggest shot in Rockets history. Ralph and Akeem played like men possessed, throwing haymakers left and right. In the end the fabled Lakers go down, and the Rockets stand tall in victory. Must see TV.
Just coincidence that I watched it today on the anniversary. Great game overall. Akeem had sooo much quickness.... and a quick temper. Lakers were intentionally trying to get both him and Ralph ejected. Of course David Stern found another way to knock that team down a few levels... ...but the Moreyball in me was thinking... WHY ARE YOU TAKING THOSE LONG 2s!?! YOU HAVE THE RANGE TO KNOCK THOSE 3s DOWN.
I remember watching it back then I can say live because it was on tape delay back then. For you young ones they used to not have playoff games live they would air them after the 10pm news. I screamed when Sampson hit the shot I have no idea how I didn't wake the entire house up.
Regular season vs Lakers Dec 85 you could see how good John Lucas was at pushing the ball and getting us easy looks in transition. This Rockets team was really one of the few teams in the league that would try and run the showtime Lakers.
this was on nbatv the other day. i literally don't think i've seen a big man expend as much energy as hakeem in this game. it's almost like he can't stop moving. he chases steals 30 feet from the basket. every time we score a fastbreak layup hakeem pops in the screen and you realize he was running. then he turns and runs back on defense. and of course he's posting and making super quick moves all game (lakers mostly just foul him). i wouldn't say all the motion was productive as he frequently got himself out of position, but he also didn't just stand there after missing a steal or running the break, he ran hard to get back in the play. i can't think of a big man that i've seen run that much in one game. he just doesn't get tired. this was my other thought from the game. the crazy lack of spacing for hakeem and sampson because everyone was shooting 20 footers. how did someone watch akeem olajuwon obliterate post defenders from damn near day 1 in the league and watch us give him no room to operate by constantly shooting 18 to 22 footers, often with the help defender practically sitting in olajuwon's lap as he caught the ball, and it take 6 ****ing years for someone to come along and go "hey, what if we gave this hakeem guy the ball every time and put a bunch of 3 point shooters around him so he has room to operate, what do you guys think?" the fact hakeem was scoring in the low 20's in the early 90's is criminal.
damn, how many times did hakeem and kareem dunk on each other? one thing that didn't stand out to me when i was younger but has the last few years, is just how damn tall kareem was. i don't even know what a high school or college person was doing when they guarded him. praying i guess. also, john lucas's fastbreak at the 5 minute mark is hilarious. he has kareem in front of him with 3 trailers all running, waiting to get the ball for the dunk and he just launches a shot over kareem that almost misses the backboard.
It looked bad but he used to shoot this high arching bank shot where he would run down the white line that borders the 3 second area and make them at a high percentage. It was beyond crazy to watch him do it on a regular basis.
