sook, you're not helping your rookie status without mentioning the Rockets were down 3-2 to the Knicks in the NBA finals, plus we were down 0-2 going to Phoenix with the CHOKE CITY label slapped on them. the 1994 Team had to also carry the weight of the Oilers debacle and the OJ Simpson car chase on them.
Again, comparisons are foolish. 95 doesn't win without the clutch performance of 94 to build on and 94 doesn't win in 95. My original answer should be the only one considered on a true Rockets site: 7 games with the 7th never decided because of an infinite number of overtimes. And respect Rudy T's answer when asked a similar question... you can't choose between your kids.
this is true rimrocker cause i believe you have seem both championships, you don't drop this 'oh well we have 2 all stars' on that 95 team. well, we had 2 all stars on the 1994 team, otis thorpe was an allstar (1991-92). its hard to choose. people say 1995 had these memorable shots like Mario Elie's KOD, but 1994 had Cassell had the 3 in New York, arguably the most important shot in Rockets history. he misses that, no championship, 1 or 2. who's to say what would happen if maxwell decided to become a bench player? we actually would have someone to guard Gary Payton in 96, if we play Max and Clyde at the same time. Sweat Child O Mine? or Paradise City?
True Story: Every morning before leaving for work on a 94 Finals game day, I would take one shot with no warm-up from the end of my driveway. If I made it, the Rockets would win that night. if I missed, they would lose. The shot I took before Game 7, with nobody around but my dog was the most pressure I've ever felt in sports, work, or school. Swish! I am Clutch City.
CENTER 1994 Hakeem vs. 1995 Hakeem Not even close. 1994 Hakeem was a great player. 1995 Hakeem was a great player with something to prove (MVP status). 1995 Hakeem was just playing at a different level: even 1994 Hakeem would have trouble keeping up. ADVANTAGE: 1995 FORWARD 1994 Otis Thorpe vs. 1995 Carl Herrera Sorry, Carl, but Otis wins this one in a landslide. OT was maybe the most underrated part of the 1994 championship team. Herrera was a good, solid player, but OT was just better ADVANTAGE: 1994 FORWARD 1994 Robert Horry vs. 1995 Robert Horry. Not as much of an advantage as Hakeem, but 1995 Horry takes this one based on his stepped-up defense. ADVANTAGE: 1995 GUARD 1994 Vernon Maxwell vs. 1995 Clyde Drexler Sorry, tinman: Mad Max was a very good player, but Clyde is HOF material. ADVANTAGE: 1995 GUARD 1994 Kenny Smith vs. 1995 Kenny Smith. Same defense (or lack thereof) same twisting, tornado-like shot. Really, not much difference, though the 1995 version did make a higher 3-point percentage (.429 vs. .405) ADVANTAGE: Tie BENCH 1994 vs 1995 Both had their strengths and weakenesses (Charles Jones? Chucky Brown?), but both had Sam Cassell and Mario Elie, so you can call this one a wash. ADVANTAGE: Tie BOTTOM LINE: Hakeem's stepped-up play combined with the addition of a legend in Drexler means the 1995 team wins the series in six games.
i think 94 team was a better team with hakeem,otis,horry,madmax and kenny. the team was balanced in every position but for sure 95's championship was greater than 94.
dude, did you seriously watch both teams? Even. 1994 Dream was the MVP and Defensive player of the Year, he was insanely good and durable that year. plus Dream vs Dream? even. Dude.. Carl Herrera WAS A BENCH PLAYER do you know who started at PF in 1995? it was an experiment of Chilcutt, Chucky Brown, til ultimately we put Horry at PF. So OT vs Chucky/Horry/Chilcutt, OT still wins on the boards and shooting percentage 1994 Robert Horry was playing the SF position so its Robert Horry vs Mario Elie . see Blazers vs Rockets 1994 playoffs for Head-to-Head. yes it really happened. Even. Max and Clyde were basically even in scoring except for 1 game. Clyde held in check by Max. Kenny Smith of 1994 went off on Utah. Kenny Smith of 1995 went off on Orlando. Even. 1995 was a weaker bench since we had zero backup center. OT played backup center. Herrera was healthier in 1994. Its even. the fact that Drexler was better overall than Maxwell has nothing to do with Maxwell, historically playing him to a draw. Kobe is better than Paul Pierce, but Pierce locked him up in the Finals. but this is NOT a WHAT IF argument cause Drexler did face Maxwell in 1994. Either you had a bad memory or you didn't see that Portland series at all.
94 team was a better shooting team. we had great shooters like horry and jent. cassell. even pete chillcut was underrated shooter. also otis thorope and herrar gave us a very intimitading look.
Yup. Every minute of almost every game. Dad owned a sports bar. Agreed, 1994 Hakeem was awesome. The fact that 1995 Hakeem DID NOT receive the awards and accolades is exactly why he stepped up his game. The complete demolition of MVP (Ha!) David Robinson is testament to that fact. Check the stats: http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/1995_start.html Herrera was in there PLENTY as a starter (26 games). I only listed him because he was the best comparison skill-wise to OT. Agreed. OT was Tha Man! Elie started only 13 games in 1995 (incidentally, half as many as Carl Herrera). He was used much more frequently (and with better results, as I recall) as a bench player. I agree Max was a lock-down defender, and matched up well head-to-head with Drexler. But I think Drexler made a bigger impact on the team. And almost no one (present company excluded) would argue that Maxwell deserves a spot in the HOF, while Drexler is a lock. Agreed. Oh, I saw the series. And I remember Mad Max doing a great job on Drexler. But Clyde Drexler playing with Portland is not the same as Clyde Drexler playing with Houston. Surround him with the 1995 team, and I think Max has a harder time playing him straight-up.
the 1994 rockets would have the edge because the OT/Olajuwon tandem would defend or outrebound the 95 rox. on top of that, maxwell would have contained drexler. (anyone who thinks we couldve beat the bulls with jordan because of maxwells defense has to believe that maxwell would have definitely held drexler). Of course this is assuming everyone is healthy. This is also assuming the 95 rox hadnt won a championship yet. 95 Cassell was still not as good as KJ was and the 94 Cassell (altho had problems finishing around the basket) did a good job at the "no defense, try to match KJ's baskets defense". He wouldve done a pretty good job defending his 95 self. 95 Kenny Smith was a step slower than 94 Smith and altho he was clutch in the series against Orlando, I remember jumping for joy when Rudy would leave Cassell in for longer periods of time than the starting Smith. SOOO, the 94 Smith> 95 Smith. The reason why we needed drexler was because maxwell had health problems and off court issues thus caused some team instability. that was apparrent when he quit the team after drexler came in. 95 rox looked better on paper but the 94 rox had all the elements needed to consistently win.
The reason why you saw and remember so many highlights of 95 beating up on Robinson was because San Antonio decided to play him straight up, no help. The Knicks had the better coach (Riley) and knew that no way Dream could not be handled one on one, he threw Oakley, Mason, Charles Smith on the double team, and whenever the double team didn't come fast enough, then you see Ewing get dunked on. its the same dude. Dream had injuries and health issues in 1995 so that was the reason why he didn't get considered for MVP, he didn't play enough on the regular season. He would have averaged 40 points on Ewing if the Knicks let Ewing play him straight up all day.
is that the one with drexler and charles barkley? actually, that team couldve won the championship if drexler hadnt given up in the utah series. it was a badly kept secret that he and barkley didnt get along and he looked really happy when we lost to utah on the last second shot that a very open stockton made. drexler was smiling. still irks me to this day.
Remember we had a trade in the middle of the season for Drexler and we had many different lineups, we tinkered with the lineups til we found one that led us to the championship, our best lineup was this: Lineup for NBA Finals Houston Rockets (3-0) Starters Robert Horry Hakeem Olajuwon Clyde Drexler Mario Elie Kenny Smith we had Chilcutt/Chucky Brown in the lineup, but they played like 10 minutes a game, Elie was basically a starter based on minutes. This was the birth of "Big Shot Rob". Notice how the Lakers/Spurs were successful with Horry at the 4. That's because the other teams' 4 has to guard him on the outside.
Not sure what that means really. The 94 team only played .500 ball the rest of the season after the big winning streak to open the year. The 95 team wasn't healthy and had a trade in the middle of the season. It's a tough call but I'd go with the 95 team just from an experience standpoint. They were cold blooded in 95. They proved they could go into any arena, against the best of the best, and stab teams right through the heart when it mattered most.
huh? you mean 43-24 after going 15-0 is .500 ball? (math says that 64%) you mean having the 2nd best record in the NBA and home court advantage? maybe your forgot these games: http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/1994_games.html 16 Fri, Dec 3, 1993 @ Atlanta Hawks L 17 Sun, Dec 5, 1993 @ Cleveland Cavaliers W 18 Tue, Dec 7, 1993 Charlotte Hornets W 19 Thu, Dec 9, 1993 Miami Heat W 20 Sat, Dec 11, 1993 Seattle Supersonics W G Date Opponent 21 Tue, Dec 14, 1993 @ Miami Heat W 22 Sat, Dec 18, 1993 Dallas Mavericks W 23 Tue, Dec 21, 1993 @ San Antonio Spurs W 24 Thu, Dec 23, 1993 Denver Nuggets L 25 Sat, Dec 25, 1993 @ Phoenix Suns L 26 Sun, Dec 26, 1993 @ Los Angeles Lakers W 27 Tue, Dec 28, 1993 @ Seattle Supersonics L 28 Thu, Dec 30, 1993 @ Minnesota Timberwolves W 29 Tue, Jan 4, 1994 Portland Trail Blazers W 30 Wed, Jan 5, 1994 @ Dallas Mavericks W 31 Sat, Jan 8, 1994 Philadelphia 76ers W 32 Mon, Jan 10, 1994 @ Orlando Magic L 33 Wed, Jan 12, 1994 @ Boston Celtics W 34 Thu, Jan 13, 1994 @ Washington Bullets L 35 Sat, Jan 15, 1994 @ Chicago Bulls L 36 Tue, Jan 18, 1994 Boston Celtics L 37 Thu, Jan 20, 1994 @ Denver Nuggets L 38 Sat, Jan 22, 1994 Utah Jazz W 39 Tue, Jan 25, 1994 Cleveland Cavaliers W 40 Thu, Jan 27, 1994 Sacramento Kings W G Date Opponent 41 Sat, Jan 29, 1994 Indiana Pacers L 42 Tue, Feb 1, 1994 @ Utah Jazz L 43 Thu, Feb 3, 1994 Los Angeles Lakers W 44 Sun, Feb 6, 1994 Minnesota Timberwolves W 45 Tue, Feb 8, 1994 @ Milwaukee Bucks L 46 Thu, Feb 10, 1994 @ Detroit Pistons W 47 Tue, Feb 15, 1994 Atlanta Hawks W 48 Wed, Feb 16, 1994 @ Charlotte Hornets L 49 Sat, Feb 19, 1994 Phoenix Suns W 50 Tue, Feb 22, 1994 Denver Nuggets W 51 Thu, Feb 24, 1994 New York Knickerbockers W 52 Sat, Feb 26, 1994 Utah Jazz L 53 Mon, Feb 28, 1994 @ Utah Jazz L 54 Tue, Mar 1, 1994 Orlando Magic W 55 Sat, Mar 5, 1994 Los Angeles Clippers W 56 Tue, Mar 8, 1994 @ San Antonio Spurs L 57 Thu, Mar 10, 1994 Seattle Supersonics W 58 Sat, Mar 12, 1994 San Antonio Spurs L 59 Sun, Mar 13, 1994 @ Dallas Mavericks W 60 Tue, Mar 15, 1994 Portland Trail Blazers W G Date Opponent 61 Thu, Mar 17, 1994 Golden State Warriors W 62 Sat, Mar 19, 1994 Detroit Pistons W 63 Mon, Mar 21, 1994 Washington Bullets W 64 Tue, Mar 22, 1994 @ Minnesota Timberwolves L 65 Thu, Mar 24, 1994 Los Angeles Lakers W 66 Sat, Mar 26, 1994 Utah Jazz W 67 Sun, Mar 27, 1994 @ Phoenix Suns L 68 Tue, Mar 29, 1994 @ Sacramento Kings W 69 Wed, Mar 30, 1994 @ Golden State Warriors W 70 Fri, Apr 1, 1994 @ Los Angeles Lakers L 71 Sun, Apr 3, 1994 @ Los Angeles Clippers W 72 Thu, Apr 7, 1994 Golden State Warriors W 73 Sat, Apr 9, 1994 San Antonio Spurs W 74 Sun, Apr 10, 1994 @ Denver Nuggets W 75 Tue, Apr 12, 1994 Minnesota Timberwolves W 76 Thu, Apr 14, 1994 Sacramento Kings W 77 Sat, Apr 16, 1994 @ Seattle Supersonics L 78 Sun, Apr 17, 1994 @ Portland Trail Blazers W 79 Tue, Apr 19, 1994 @ San Antonio Spurs L 80 Thu, Apr 21, 1994 Dallas Mavericks W G Date Opponent 81 Fri, Apr 22, 1994 @ Dallas Mavericks L 82 Sun, Apr 24, 1994 Denver Nuggets L
In 94 we beat Utah and Phoenix In 95 we beat Utah and Phoenix hmm. pretty close if you ask me. We actually had a tougher time with Utah in 95 than in 94, notice Karl Malone's points vs Rockets average BEFORE Otis Thorpe and look at it AFTER Otis Thorpe. Maybe this is because the 1994 team was the best defensive team that we ever had. Dream won Defensive Player of the Year too. So let's not forget that achievement.
I didn't realize I was upgraded to sophmore. I guess I'm a little smarter and wiser now. Maybe I should be downgraded from not knowing that
