I n the chronicle a week ago of more- the TV - ratings- preview writer posed the question to One of the Maloofs - owners of the Sacramento Kings. If you had it to do over - would you have kept the Rockets. The Maloof Bros. sold the Rockets to Charlie Thomas in about 1982 or 1983 after the death of their father. The Maloof Brother said he wished they had kept the Rockets, as they bought the Kings soon after. My question to you is What would have been diffferent do you think? This is one of those theoretical - tangents like NIKOS poses. I always enjoy his posts. I did not like Charlie Thomas as and owner. His GM - Steve Patterson was horrible. Alienated his star player again and again.When they were in control it was difficult to be a fan- watching some of the heartache they caused. We will never know if Hakeem could have gotten a championship earlier in his career if he had an owner that would have built a team around him. The Maloofs hired George Petrie, and gave him carte blanche to build a team. Petrie made some amazing trades, they have an outstanding coach in Adelman and support staff. They seem to be good owners. I have no problem with our current owner- I like the bold moves that Les Alexander has made- he is a good owner I feel we are lucky to have. Wanted your thoughts on this.
I don't think it would of mattered if the Maloofs had us or not. I'm pretty sure they would of done the same as they are doing w/ the Kings. The Maloofs have built a playoff-bound franchise team, and so has Alexander. Charlie Thomas was a disappointment and should of stayed out of the NBA. But overall, I'm glad the Rockets didn't have Bud Adams as their owner. Or we would be screwed calling them the Nashville Hillbillies
I do not believe the Maloofs were 'ready', 'prepard' tpo be NBA owners the first time. Like many players they matured late, as owners.
My impression of Charlie Thomas and Steve Patterson were that they were snake oil salesmen. They new how to get people excited about the team but quite often fell short of delivering the goods. I don't know how accurate a statement that is about alienating the players. I always thought they treated Ralph Sampson with kids gloves. I remember after Sampson got hurt that he watched several games in the stands sitting next to Charlie Thomas. I think they got a bad rap because of the Dream scenario in the late 90's. I believe that Thomas and Paterson had a very strong desire to win. I believe Patterson was the GM in Milwaukee when they won the championship with Lew Alcindor so its not like he did not know how to GM. Thomas did take some major chances with the club in an attempt to get a championship in Houston when he brought back John Lucas. Unfortunately that decision backfired badly. Still, the Thomas / Patterson team managed to get us to two NBA championship series in the 80's during a time when the Lakers ruled the floor with Magic and Kereem, no other NBA team from the West did it even once.
Before we call Steve Patterson a bad GM, just remember he was the GM when we aquired Maxwell, Thorpe and Kenny Smith. I believe he was also the GM when we drafted Horry, although credit here goes mostly to Rudy. He had a pretty large part in building up our championship teams, yet never got the credit for it.
Steve Patterson was a very good GM. He was much better than Ray who had no clue what he was doing. Les fired Steve because he had a hard time marketing the team (remember those 2 for 1 coupons in the paper?). Years later, Les admitted that if he could do it over again, he would never have fired Patterson. Patterson built those championship teams. He was a very good Basketball GM.
I remember on draft day when everyone wanted Harold Miner and Patterson was forced to defned the Robert Horry pick. He said that he was not going to pick a guard who averaged 1 assist/game in college and Robert Horry was goig to be a very good player.
So it was Patterson that drafted Horry? I figured it was. I believe Patterson was fired after Les Alexander took over the team, which was the summer before our first championship season. Horry was drafted the year before. One thing about Patterson, hes definately diverse. He went onto be a big part of the Aeros, and now the Texans.
Yes. Les fired Patterson because he had a hard time selling out the building. As we all now see, taht's not exactly the easiest thing to do in Houston. Crash , Steve's father Ray was the one whose claim to fame was being in Milwaukee when Kareem was there. He was a terrible GM. Ray looked like Richard Dawson's twin brother.
Charlie Thomas bought the rockets so he could eventually field this line up of players: Thorpe Horry Olajuwon Maxwell And Smith Horry was the missing piece. Once he was drafted and starting, Thomas' goal was realized and he could sell the team.
RIET, Thanks for the correction I had forgotten that there were actually two Pattersons. Although wasn't Ray the residing GM on three completely different teams that played in the NBA championship series with one winning? That's not a bad record.
I remember Ray Patterson being here in 1977 (the earliest Rockets memory I have) and I think he won executive of the year that season. By the early 80's Ray was totally washed up. He had no clue what he was doing. Even when we traded Sampson, we only got back Joe Barely Cares and Sleepy Floyd. Floyd was ok, but they were both on the declining years. We also traded to get an over the hill Purvis Short and Terry Teagle. We becamse Golden State Part II which was pretty sad considering they were just as bad back then as now. Ray's best effort was helping the Rockets tank so we got some good draft choices.
RIET, It was Steve that traded away Ralph Sampson and Steve Harris for JBC and Sleepy Floyed. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/1644466 Such was the case in December 1987, when the Rockets' front offices were still housed in The Summit. The rock band Def Leppard was practicing for an upcoming concert, and general manager Steve Patterson was trying to swing a deal that would send Sampson to Golden State for Joe Barry Carroll and Eric Floyd.
Riet, Man you are being hard on old Ray. Give the guy just a little credit. He was the man responsible for brining Oscar Robertson into Milwaukee to help Kareem win his first title. Also, he was responsible for aquiring Lloyd, Wiggins and Lucas as well as drafting Petersen, Sampson, Reid and Olajuwon. That 86 team was awesome. I dont think you can blame Patterson for three of our best players getting kicked out of the league for drug abuse or blame him for Sampson falling apart due to injuries. If this team had stayed clean and healthy, we would have been a perinnial contender for a ring. Also, with regards to the Sampson/Harris for Carroll/Floyd trade. I think it was a good trade for us considering not less than a year later, it was very obvious that Sampson's knees were totally shot and he had zero left. Just look at Sampson's stats after his first year with GS. Sad. Carroll was what he was. I dont remember him staying with us past that first year. Floyd was a very colid contributor and not a bad little player. I remember he once dropped 52 in a playoff game on someone when he was with GS and along with Hakeem dropped 40+ (only the 2nd time this has been done in NBA history (the other time being Hakeem and Clyde )) on Dallas in the playoffs in the late 80s.
Codell, Your right JBC stayed with us just one year and then moved on to N.J. I always thought that Steve Francis kind of reminded me a little of Sleepy Floyed. Both play the point but seem a little like a 2 guard.
BTW, For anyone that did not click on the link a couple of posts back here is the remainder of that story about def leopard and Ralph Sampson. Patterson was on the phone with the Warriors' Don Nelson discussing trade specifics when the racket became unbearable. "That damn Def Leppard!" Patterson roared. To which Nelson replied: "Don't talk about your father that way." I thought it was pretty funny.
Crash, I remember when Floyd was with GS, that he was mentioned in the same breath as Fat Lever because both of them would drop triple doubles on teams from time to time. After that trade, Floyd actually had some very good assist years. In fact, in the last 16 years, he might be at or near the top in APG average. Floyd's downfall was he wasnt a great shooter. Steve is a better shooter than Floyd and much more athletic. I think their similarities are that they are in their size and their well-rounded games.
I think Floyd did that against the Lakers. He set some kind of playoff record for most points in the first half.
Here ya go (from cbssportsline.com refering to the record for most points in one half of a playoff game): "Floyd had 39 for Golden State in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers on May 10, 1987." Actually, Floyd scored his 39 in the 2nd half and 29 points in the 4th quarter alone. I remember GS ended up winning that game but ultimately lose the series to the Lakers who would go on to win the title that year.
