Just to share my videos what the 2008-2009 rockets really meant! <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/YixqKpB0u-I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/UFCdMIiRz3w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Give me the 2009 squad all day! Yao / Mutumbo > Howard / Asik: This is probably the most even match up, talent and production wise, but Yao constantly ate Howard's lunch, dinner and midnight snack. Scola / Landry >> Jones / DMo: Is it even a question? Scola was in his prime and Landry was the high flying, fourth quarter monster. Jones and DMo would be lucky to see any time in the 4th quarter of a close game Artest / Battier >> Parsons / Garcia: Parsons is probably the best offensive player but the Artest/Battier combo was deadly defensively. I still remember the time they held LeBron to without an assist; never done before. McGrady / Wafer < Harden / Daniels: This one is pretty close. Harden was amazing during the season but we can all say he struggled in the playoffs. Of course, McGrady didn't play in the playoffs and Wafer saw his minutes decrease but when McGrady was healthy he was still a heck of a player. Brooks / Lowry < < Beverley / Lin: This one is like the power forward matchup: not even close. I mean Lowry is the rich man's Beverley as Brook is the rich man's Lin. Bottom line: the 2009 squad was by far the best and most complete team. Not a knock on our current team because we are far from complete. The 2009 squad was pretty much our "all in" to winning a title. Shame that injuries, once again, was our downfall. I truly believe that if Yao was healthy we would have won the championship. Lakers did not have an answer for him and the Nuggets and Magic were just as bad, if not worst. And that doesn't even bring McGrady in the conversation. With him healthy as well, the sky was truly the limit.
I loved that team as well. At full strength, I think that roster would have beaten the current Rockets squad. But that was the heart-breakingly frustrating thing about those years- it seemed like they were never at full strength. It seemed like there were always injuries. It felt like one of T-Mac or Yao were constantly getting injured. Every offseason we would anticipate big things for the Rockets, but would always say "if healthy", only to go into the season and start to see the injuries pile up. That 2009 team was about the finished product of the Yao/T-Mac era. This current team is still very young and very much in the process of being built. If we want to compare to then, we need to wait just a little bit longer to see the direction this team will go. Then, when it is finished, we can compare to the end result of 2009. And I fully expect this team to pass that one, both in talent and results.
2008-2009 would've absolutely dominated if it wasn't for injuries. our perimeter defense was epic with Battier and Artest too. no perimeter stars, no matter how "bright" they are, did well against us. not kobe. not lebron. no one.
