[Hoopsworld] NBA AM: Olajuwon Feels The Rockets’ Pain

[Rockets34Legend]

I know, I know.....it's Poopsworld, but hell, it's the Dream.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/nba-am-ola...-rockets-pain/

If any team could turn back the hands of time, it would definitely be the Houston Rockets. They long for the days when Hakeem Olajuwon was patrolling the paint and leading them to back-to-back championships. Olajuwon left the team in 2001, but the glory days really ended in 1997. Since then they’ve been to the playoffs just seven times, only making it out of the first round once. They’re currently three seasons removed from their last trip to the postseason.

The post-dream era has been difficult for the Rockets and especially their fans, which Olajuwon is now one of, to endure.

“It is tough (to see them struggle),” Olajuwon said to HOOPSWORLD. “I know management especially is trying to get back to the glory days, having a championship caliber team. It’s very difficult when you’re in the middle, where you don’t get a chance to pick the best (in the draft). We have an average team, maybe get in the playoffs or first round. Being in the middle is very difficult. How can you end that cycle where you stand in the middle of the pack all the time? That’s been their challenge.”

The Rockets actually had a center in Yao Ming who at one point looked capable of taking the Rockets to the heights they reached with Olajuwon. Unfortunately, right as Yao was establishing himself as the game’s best big man he suffered a string of injuries that eventually led to his premature retirement in 2011.

“That was tough especially knowing Yao and how bad he really wanted to play,” Olajuwon said. “I could see the disappointment in his will. It was like a joke. I thought maybe ‘ok that’s not true I’m not reading that right’. To really realize that was like ‘wow, that’s it’. I felt for Yao. He responded positively. He took it very well, moved on. It was tough for the Houston Rockets, especially the owner with all the investments in China and Asia and how that put the popularity of Rockets in Asia. Just to see it for so short, then that was it. Just for the NBA as a whole, I think it was a huge loss for the league and especially the Rockets.”

The Rockets had hopes of adding center Dwight Howard, who has taken the mantle as the league’s premier big man, this off-season. For a few weeks it looked like they were the odds on favorite, but in the end the Orlando Magic traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The addition of Howard has a lot of people pegging the Lakers as the team to beat for the 2013 championship, but Olajuwon knows first handed that what looks great on paper doesn’t always translate to greatness on the hardwood.

“You have to put together the players with chemistry,” Olajuwon said. “When you look at the Lakers, everyone knows what Steve Nash brings to the team by distributing the ball. That makes it easier for Dwight as a finisher and also as a go-to guy. Then, there’s Kobe to operate in the mix of that, so there’s a legitimate chance. It’s not automatic that they’ll win a championship, but they have a legitimate chance just like Oklahoma and Miami. Those three teams, any one of those teams can win it all.”

As far as Olajuwon’s Rockets go, they’re once again projected to be a middle-of-the-pack team in the Western Conference. Probably not good enough to make the playoffs, but not bad enough to get a top five pick either. There just aren’t enough franchise players to go around right now with so many joining up to play together. That lack of balance is something Olajuwon would like to see addressed.

“Now you see superstars are playing together at the expense of other teams,” Olajuwon said. “Where if you have an average team or a losing team, it’s supposed to feel uncomfortable to go and play there. But they really need them to go to the next level. That’s the dilemma the league has to balance to make sure each team at least have the opportunity to have a superstar and have the opportunity to be a championship contender. That’s the goal of every team but now the quality of players, true franchise players, is less than what it was.”

Make sure to read today’s edition of the NBA PM to hear the rest of HOOPSWORLD’s extensive sit down with Hakeem Olajuwon, where he talks about the difference between franchise players and superstars, the growth of international basketball, and his feelings on current pros coming to him for help.

[BamBam]

Thanks OP..........this is one of the few times
I've actually enjoyed reading somthing from
Poopsworld.....

I wish Dr. Emmett Brown was a Rockets Fan!!!!....
....
....
....

[Raven]

Dream = pure class.

[okierock]

Franchise player = Somebody who excels/leads on the basketball court with enough tallent to build a team around and carries the franchise financially.

Some really tallented players aren't very marketable and don't fit the "franchise" tag imo.

Lin could be close from a marketing standpoint but doesn't have the tallent to build around just him, he needs a flashy scoring big. Here's hoping that donuts can be that guy. White has potential to be a franchise guy with his unique skillset and personality but I don't think anyone else on the roster does.

[MadMax]

You don't have to have a great personality and be marketable to be a franchise player from my view. Karl Malone was a jackass and I can't remember him being involved in many (if any) national ad campaigns...but there's no doubt he was a franchise player.

I think Hakeem here is talking very specifically about on the court contributions...not franchise from the standpoint of being a media face.

[tinman]

Originally Posted by MadMax You don't have to have a great personality and be marketable to be a franchise player from my view. Karl Malone was a jackass and I can't remember him being involved in many (if any) national ad campaigns...but there's no doubt he was a franchise player. I think Hakeem here is talking very specifically about on the court contributions...not franchise from the standpoint of being a media face.

Man I guess we are old since we were spoiled by a "true franchise player", we had it so good.

Was it all a DREAM?

[okierock]

Originally Posted by MadMax You don't have to have a great personality and be marketable to be a franchise player from my view. Karl Malone was a jackass and I can't remember him being involved in many (if any) national ad campaigns...but there's no doubt he was a franchise player. I think Hakeem here is talking very specifically about on the court contributions...not franchise from the standpoint of being a media face.

This is true if you only hope to make money for your franchise by getting the arena full. If you want your franchise to transend your local market then you need more than Karla Malone.

[MadMax]

Originally Posted by okierock This is true if you only hope to make money for your franchise by getting the arena full. If you want your franchise to transend your local market then you need more than Karla Malone.

I'd take a Karla Malone type player (one of the greatest PF's of all time) right now.

I don't care about Les' investment beyond what it accomplishes on the basketball court.

[jayhow92]

get rid of the max contract (or at least increase it). Guys like LeBron and Durant are worth more than they're getting.

[SkyrimOwnsAll]

Originally Posted by jayhow92 get rid of the max contract (or at least increase it). Guys like LeBron and Durant are worth more than they're getting.

This!!!

[Aruba77]

first poopsworld article i could actually read without slamming my d#ck in a drawer.

[MambaJoe]

Dream is right about how superstars nowadays only want to group up together. What happened to the days where stars compete against each other and work hard on their game each summer to beat the other superstars.

It is sad that even if the Rockets somehow drafted a superstar, I have a feeling that they will probably leave this team to join up with others. Its like guys are too lazy to try to win it by themselves so they just team up together to make it easier. It started with Boston but the Heat is really the start of all the stars teaming up. Now LA Lakers and Nets. I wouldn't say OKC because they drafted their players and build a good team.

[NL Rocket]

People seem to forget Olajuwon embraced creating a superteam when he got Drexler followed by Barkley and finally Pippen. I also believe it has become worse but don't act like this never happened before. MJ, Pippen & Rodman was also a superteam, it's just that now it is much easier for guards to dominate. Another difference is that now these players forming 'super teams' do not compliment each other. Wade and Lebron are the same type of players and Bosh included need the ball in their hands to impact the game.

[htownbandit]

Lol in my head I read that as if Olajuwon was speaking it in his accent.

[Angkor Wat]

But but but it's hoopsworld! How was their credibility able to land The Dream?!?

[jocar]

Originally Posted by htownbandit Lol in my head I read that as if Olajuwon was speaking it in his accent.

lol me too, everytime I read his quotes

[rocketman4325]

Originally Posted by NL Rocket People seem to forget Olajuwon embraced creating a superteam when he got Drexler followed by Barkley and finally Pippen. I also believe it has become worse but don't act like this never happened before. MJ, Pippen & Rodman was also a superteam, it's just that now it is much easier for guards to dominate. Another difference is that now these players forming 'super teams' do not compliment each other. Wade and Lebron are the same type of players and Bosh included need the ball in their hands to impact the game.

Drexler, pippen, and Barkley were not all in their prime when the rockets got them. It wasn't a super team it was a one last chance before we retire team.

[merrrlo]

Originally Posted by NL Rocket People seem to forget Olajuwon embraced creating a superteam when he got Drexler followed by Barkley and finally Pippen. I also believe it has become worse but don't act like this never happened before. MJ, Pippen & Rodman was also a superteam, it's just that now it is much easier for guards to dominate. Another difference is that now these players forming 'super teams' do not compliment each other. Wade and Lebron are the same type of players and Bosh included need the ball in their hands to impact the game.

Jesus, not this argument again. How old were Dream and Barkley when they teamed up? 32. When Barkley joined them, they were all at least 33. When Pippen joined them he was... 33. Older stars teaming up to chase one last (or in Clyde and Barkley's cases, their first) ring is nothing new.

The oldest member of Miami's Big Three was 28 when they teamed up. It's the fact that three stars in their primes teamed up that people don't like. Plus both Drexler and Barkley were traded to the Rockets for fair value. Hell, there's a bunch of people here still regretting giving up Horry and Cassell for Barkley. So there's zero points of comparison with the Rockets, really.

[tinman]

Originally Posted by NL Rocket People seem to forget Olajuwon embraced creating a superteam when he got Drexler followed by Barkley and finally Pippen. I also believe it has become worse but don't act like this never happened before. MJ, Pippen & Rodman was also a superteam, it's just that now it is much easier for guards to dominate. Another difference is that now these players forming 'super teams' do not compliment each other. Wade and Lebron are the same type of players and Bosh included need the ball in their hands to impact the game.

you seem like a former poster from awhile back.
yeah, just like the other people who here who remembered. Barkley and Dream were old and Pippen didn't compliment them at all.

MJ/Pippen/Rodman played when they were younger.

Miami went to the finals twice and won last year.

Superteams have always been around. Lakers, Celtics, Sixers etc

[MadMax]

No one at the time thought that pairing Drexler and Olajuwon was creating a superteam. No one. The pundits thought it was a mistake because we were giving up too much rebounding...and we were already one of the worst teams in the league that season in rebounding.