Nov. 6, 1990 Kenny Smith scores a career-high 35 points and hands out 10 assists to lead the Rockets to a wild 145-135 win over the Denver Nuggets. Three other Houston players top 20 points on the evening, led by Otis Thorpe’s 21 points and 22 boards. Vernon Maxwell adds 23 points and Hakeem Olajuwon pours in 24 points, grabs 13 rebounds and dishes seven assists before fouling out with 4:49 to play. Jan. 29, 1991 With Vernon Maxwell struggling through a 2-for-16 shooting night, Kenny Smith catches fire and scores the Rockets' last eight points, including a 16-foot bank shot with 1.8 seconds remaining to lift Houston past the San Antonio Spurs, 91-89. Smith finishes with 23 points and eight assists. “It’s the best game Kenny has had when we’ve finished with a win," says Rockets Head Coach Don Chaney. “He’s had bigger offensive games, but we’ve come away with losses. And you can never consider a loss your best game." Otis Thorpe leads the Rockets with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Jan. 24, 1991 With Hakeem Olajuwon out due to an injury, Larry Smith steps in and continues his hard-nosed play. Smith controls the paint and grabs 23 rebounds as the Rockets cruise past the expansion Minnesota Timberwolves, 118-94. “He dominated the game, and there was no way we were going to make a run the way that guy was rebounding," says Minnesota coach Bill Musselman. Kenny Smith and Vernon Maxwell combine for 41 points, nailing 17-of-28 shots from the field. Otis Thorpe also has a great outing with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Feb. 15, 1994 In their first game after the All-Star break, Kenny Smith and Hakeem Olajuwon put together dynamic performances against the Atlanta Hawks. Smith has his first double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 assists while Olajuwon does his usual destruction with 28 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. The Rockets hold Atlanta to 14 points in the third quarter and Houston gains the lead with an 18-6 second half spurt, leading the Rockets to a 103-99 victory. Houston avenges an earlier loss to Atlanta that snapped its record 15-0 start. “It’s the first giant step toward the right direction," says Olajuwon. “It was an intense game."
LOL.. so I looked at the poll, I am like, hmm, Rafer Alston? certainly not!! then I went, Vspan? are they serious? the I looked above expecting something like Cassell or something, and all I see is the name of the overrated scrub that everybody including tinman think he was great while in reality he was nothing but a scrub. champion rocket? absolutely.. I will give him that, but great? no. good? no. average? below average. overrated? yes. eveybody loves to mention that "hot night" he had where he scored "8 threes to win the series". which was probably pure luck. and all the things tinman mentioned that make him "great". well tinman, did u forget one important instance of his "greatness"? I will give u a clue: it has something to do with "choking" and the NY knicks. remember? so sadly, and ironically, I voted Vspan...
how did he exactly choke against the Knicks? choking means your end result was losing. I remember the Rockets winning in a tough 7 game series. also, its cool that you DONT PUT STATS OR FACTS in your argument. but hey, what are stats and facts when you obviously never saw Kenny play.
Keep it up. With all due respect, you're turning into a running joke. Did you actually watch the Rockets back then, or were you allowed to stay up that late? No one is saying Kenny was "great." If they did, I must have missed it. He was an excellent role player, who filled his role very well, helped us win a lot of games, and during that period was head and shoulders above any point on the Rockets roster today, excepting McGrady, who isn't a point, but hugely better than any other distributor on the team. (I'm sorry, but I can't help myself. You sound like a teenager with dim memories of watching the Rocks on your Dad's lap in the mid-90's)
Kenny Smith would be an upgrade. -Average court vision, no fancy threading the needle behind the back passing but didnt turn it over too much, adequate ball handling. Quick and fast up and down the court and running straight with the ball but never really was a 'juker' with the ball or used it much (or enough according to general criticism) to create offense. Alston would have the slight edge in creating plays (though maybe not execution) -EXCELLENT shooter, which is where the upgrade comes. On this team would make up for lack of defense with the excellent line drive side-spinning outside shot. He would be Luther Head with the threes and Rafer on the ballhandling. - Look at me reflecting back on the old days now... Kenny didnt have that fiery get-at-em toughness, which Mad Max more than made up for. Him being kept in check by aggressive opposing defenses and helping the no hand-checking rule get instituted doesnt help his cause. But it's not about looking to him as a hero, just if his actual skills would be better now. If you're including the New School backup point guard in Spanoulis, then you should include the Old School backup point guard in Cassell. Dude with that, no contest!
This poll should be 100% in favor of kenny smith. In fact if I could go back in time and put kenny and otis on this team with yao/t-mac, the rockets pg/pf problem is solved. Heck Sam Cassell much better choice than either Alston or Spanoulis.
not even a contest.... Da Jet! Raefer is not even a starter, if a team has legimitate hopes of going deep in the playoffs. VSPAN i'd still consider an "unknown commodity" until he gets considerable playing time on a consistant basis, cant give the nod to potential over stats. Which brings us to the simple truth that WE NEED TO GET A REAL FLIPPIN POINT GUARD!!!!! Ive been a JVG supporter all along, despite the naysayers, but heck, if he STILL thinks Raefer is 'da man' than maybe the naysayers are right. We aint gonna go nowhere with our present backcourt.
NEARLY 12% OF THIS BOARD WOULD TAKE BILLY OVER KENNY SMITH?!?! Are you serious? Wow...now I know there is some irrational love of V-Span...or I suppose, irrational hate of Kenny Smith on this board
This is the same logic as USC fans forgetting that OJ Simpson was a good RB because he killed some people. Or Laker fans forgetting that Magic Johnson was good cause his TV show was terrible. Or William Shatner was the best Star Trek captain cause he sings on Priceline.com commercial. Or Michael Jackson's musically legacy is awesome because little kids keep sueing him This is Benny Hinn logic that some of the Clutchfans fall for.
I voted for Kenny Smith. the Jet fit the system that the rox had back in the day when the offense ran through hakeem. It's practically the same system the current rox are running, except it is run through Yao. This system fits into 'The Jets' strength as a spot up shooter. Practically every perimeter player on the rockets championship seasons were great spot up shooters (Horry, Elie, Maxwell, Smith, Cassell, Drexler, even Scott Brooks and Tim Breaux). The problem with the players on the current rockets roster, is that there aren't alot of great spot up shooters. yea, Head is having a great year, and you can make a case for Battier as well. Other than that, who else on this team can really hit a 3 consistently?? TMac? Rafer? VSpan? Snyder? I don't know, but the guys on this team the best shooters out there. All of our guys are players that like to get up and down the court and penetrate the lane. The only problem is that our Offense runs through yao. A couple solutions to solve this. 1. Trade Yao. 2. Remake the current team. or 3. overhaul our offense and incorperate things into it that will bring out the strengths of all of our players, and not just Yao.
If 'The Jet' had been able to control Harper at all it would not have taken 7 tough games. BTW - that's 12% of clutchfansers who bothered to vote.
Kenny the Jet Smith has to be the second best Rocket PG of all time and my personal third favorite Rocket of all time. The Franchise was the greatest Rocket PG of all time hands down.
