the 95 rockets were a team of destiny...everything was clicking like crazy...they beat teams they clearly didn't match up well with on paper...and they beat some of those teams pretty handily. hard to say because even if you say the current lake show is more talented on paper, that didn't tell the entire story in 95 with the Rocks. one thing's for sure...shaq would be challenged..just as was back then.
rockets 95 would take the lakers/celtics 80's team as well as any other team in the history of the league.no one could stop the dream in that run
From a non-biased point of view (although i am biased) I would definitely say that the Rockets of that era could have consistently beaten the Lakers of today, especially if in a 7 game series. Hakeem's moves were unstoppable one on one, even with shaq. Drexler matches up favorably with Bryant. I would actually give him the edge in head to head play because he is so much more aggressive and physical. I think the backcourt of smith/cassell outplays the laker's back court. I think the Horry/Fox match up is basically a wash, except Horry was so deadly from 3 point land those years (fox is pretty good too though) I also think the coaching would be pretty even. Rudy had the perfect game plan with the perfect team to execute it. the western conference finals would have gone to the rockets 4-2 (maybe 1)
Are we playing with '95 rules or '02 rules? How would have Rudy's inside-out game faired against a defense that can go zone or put multiple defenders on Dream before he even got the ball?
the robert horry- robert horry matchup would be pretty good except horry would probably be a little quicker than horry. i take the rockets in 5.
Lakers would win in 6. The Shaq of now is probably slightly better than the Olajuwon of then. What would make the Lakers so tough to defend, is that we would have to double team Shaq, to prevent Olajuwon from fouling out, and Shaq is great at hitting cutters and 3 pt shooters. I know that Olajuwon did that too, but he rarely would hit a cutter. The Lakers simply score more easy buckets than the Rockets, so there you have it. Another key factor in LA's favor is Phil Jackson vs Rudy T. Phil and his cohorts would be able to throw out new schemes on offense and defense to confuse the Rockets. While LA will be able to devise a way to defend the Rockets and their predicatable offense. Moreover, I think Kobe would do a pretty good job of shutting Clyde down. The Rockets would need Cassell and Smith to badly outplay the Lakers PG's.
kidrock i have to disagree completely. hakeem up to last season was still guarding shaq pretty well, imo i think shaq has a much harder time containing the quickness of dream. shaq isn't the defensive presence hakeem is either. if anything it's probably a wash though. secondly i don't buy the argument that phil can throw all these plays out and confuse rudy. it just doesn't work like that. some may argue against it, but rudy actually understands the game of basketball. anyways we fared extremely well against the phil led bulls during their dynasty. finally, i think kobe is the best defensive guard in the league right now, but there is no way he can shut down clyde. a superstar and hall of fame guard isn't just taken out. maybe with team help kobe could contain clyde and hold him a little below average but nobody is so good to shut him down. just my thoughts
The Lakers would fold like chumps. Their intimidation factor they've been cultivating wouldn't work against the '95 Rockets. Remember, Phil Jackson's MJ led Bulls team lost 4-2 to the same Magic team that got swept in the Finals. Without intimidation, the Lakers are nothing.
heretic- thats a good point that i didnt really used to believe. i don't want to take anything away from the lakers but shaq intimidates the hell out of alot of teams come playoff time. see chris webber for one example. phil adds to that mystique as well. it wouldn't affect the rockets, especially with heart of a champion mario elie.
Let's break this down - should be fun. Lakers would win in 6. The Shaq of now is probably slightly better than the Olajuwon of then. How is Shaq better now than he was in 95, when Olajuwon got the better of him? Shaq 95: 29.3 points, 11.4 boards, 2.4 blocks Shaq 02: 26.4 points, 10.8 boards, 2.2 blocks He was better in every category 7 years ago. What would make the Lakers so tough to defend, is that we would have to double team Shaq, to prevent Olajuwon from fouling out, and Shaq is great at hitting cutters and 3 pt shooters. I know that Olajuwon did that too, but he rarely would hit a cutter. He hit plenty of three point shooters, though. Rudy's system wasn't built on cutting to the basket, but there's no reason to think that the Hakeem of 95 couldn't have done the job as well as Shaq does. In fact, Hakeem picked up more assists then than Shaquille does now. The Lakers simply score more easy buckets than the Rockets, so there you have it. You couldn't be more wrong - that was a very good fast breaking team in 1995. Clyde in particular was excellent at pushing the ball up court. Another key factor in LA's favor is Phil Jackson vs Rudy T. Phil and his cohorts would be able to throw out new schemes on offense and defense to confuse the Rockets. While LA will be able to devise a way to defend the Rockets and their predicatable offense. Phil Jackson is a good coach, but new schemes??? He's been running the triangle offense for the last decade! There's nothing new or unpredictable about Phil Jackson's offense. Moreover, I think Kobe would do a pretty good job of shutting Clyde down. I really doubt it. You don't become one of the top 50 players of all time by getting shut down by a good-but-not-great defender like Kobe. Heck, MJ didn't shut down Clyde in the Finals, so I don't see how Kobe could. The Rockets would need Cassell and Smith to badly outplay the Lakers PG's. Cassell and Smith could do that, but the matchup the way I see it heavily favors the Rockets even without that. Olajuwon > Shaq Horry 95 > Walker/Horry 02 Elie/Chucky > Fox/George Clyde > Kobe Smith/E.T. > Fisher It'd be a rout.
Of course not! If we're playing in '95 rules, the Rockets would win in 5. With '02 rules, we'd win in 6. No, I'm just trying to establish the hypothetical. Rudy T's offense in '95 was predicated a great deal on rules about what the defense could do. He used the reaction time when the ball went into Dream and came back to the 3-point line to create open shots. The new defensive rules would present his '95 offense with new challenges: the Lakers could try to deny Dream the ball with multiple defenders, for example. It's hard to tell now how well that would have worked.
Hey Cassell do you feel the Old Magic would of came close to the Lakers of 02? I thought the Magic of 95 were just too young to beat the veteran rockets of 95, but eventually would of became a great team had shaq and penny still been together. What do you think?
That's an interesting question. Penny was supposed to be the next coming of Magic - big point guard who could do it all. If he hadn't suffered numerous injuries and regressed, if Shaq hadn't left for LA, if Nick hadn't bricked those free throws and gone into a coma for the rest of his career... sky was the limit for that group. Of course, if its and buts were candies and nuts, we'd all have a merry christmas.
Hey Sam you mentioned Drexler was greater or better than Kobe when comparing 95 rockets drex to present Kobe. In what ways would you say he was. I agree they would be very close ina matchup with 32 year old drexler vs Kobe but why do you feel this way. Also how do you think Fish and Hunter would stack up against Smith and Hunter?
Here you go. The 1995 Houston Rockets vs. the 2001 Los Angeles Lakers. You can set the lineups as you want them. Feel free to play as many games as you want (best of 7?) Enjoy http://www.whatifsports.com/nba/default.asp?setteam=143&name=1994-95+Houston&team=home&owner=
