Agree or disagree: this is by far the most disappointing season in Rockets history

from wcf to the 9th seed at all star break. that should be one of the worst drop offs in history. and we have more talent this season!

 

1997, 2007

This year, I was expecting it.

 

Couldn't agree more. I was going to make a similar post agreeing with topfive, crash, and B-Bob, but add a couple of details. You filled it in first. The members not around back then, or not old enough, just can't comprehend how the Rockets were viewed by the media, along with GM's and coaches in the NBA, not to mention fans of Houston and, heck, fans around the league. Fans of the Rocks today would be shocked at the overwhelmingly positive media coverage, coverage well deserved.

We were viewed as the young team that would be a dynasty for the next decade, and there was no reason not to believe that. Sure, at the end of the '86 playoffs, we'd still dealing with losing our terrific starting point, John Lucas, but it didn't keep us from making road kill of the defending champion Lakers. We still took arguably the best team in NBA history, the Celtics of that season, to 6 games. No one knew that Sampson was toast. No one knew that Lloyd and Wiggins would be history. It was the worst. This season? As bad as it's been, we still have hope for the future. I do, at least. After '86/'87 we were wandering the NBA wilderness for years. First round food in the playoffs after '86, more often than not, until the '92/'93 season.

 

One of the more disappointing half seasons.

 

Do you mean that you were expecting what has happened this season?

Clutchfans was near an all-time high in optimism after the Lawson pickup. I was posting everywhere about how he addressed our PG / ballhandler weakness and we were going to be a threat to everyone.

I never expected that everyone on the team would get the coach fired and choose not to play defense after a Western Conference Finals appearance.

 

The silver lining, I guess, is that with some major retooling the Rockets still went on to win about 5 years later.

 

Yeah, but back then we didn't have the prevalence of message boards full of people piling on and constantly moaning and groaning about everything... so obviously this is worse. Teh dissapointorz.

 

Yep. Just went to the finals and then everything fell completely apart.

 

The best thing to happen, in my opinion (and it took years to occur), was that the Rockets finally got a coach who not only knew how to use Olajuwon to best advantage, but actually got Hakeem to buy into his system - Rudy Tomjanovich. Who could have imagined that when he was the surprise replacement for Don Chaney after the surprise firing of the previous season's Coach of the Year, that this hero of the team, a 5 time All Star, who had been in relative obscurity as one of several assistants after retiring as a player, would lead us to contention and two championships?

Great days, after enduring one hell of a lot of frustration. Maybe Morey thought that lightning would strike twice. So far, it hasn't happened.

 

I'm glad that there are plenty of people here on this board talking about the 1986-87 Rockets. I was sure disappointed with how that team just simply came apart with drug abuse, and Ralph Sampson getting injured. I was disappointed with how they would not get in the way of the Lakers' runs to winning their back-to-back championships in both 1987 and 1988.

I see that no one on this board has even made mention about the 1977-78 Rockets. That was a team that won only 28 games (Good for a last-place finish in the Central Division) after the season before having won the Central Division title with 49 wins and taking the Philadelphia 76ers to six games in that ECF. However, I'm pretty sure that most everyone who remembers that what marred the Rockets that season was Kermit Washington's punch on Rudy Tomjanovich's face that ended his season, and the Rockets struggling the rest of the way without him.