It's understandable being upset that he quit, but MadMax is something its looking like Wesley will never be, a champion. and I don't care if they had Dream, Maxwell and Thorpe were easily the second and third best player on the team. If this team didn't have Yao, and Howard and Wesley were the second and third best players, would they even be a playoff team? And I like Wesley. but com'on your post should get you banned. arguing that any of these chumps are better than the championship teams when they haven't gotten out of the first round is plain silly.
Riiight. Maxwell and Thorpe have been in more playoff games. Maxwell and Thorpe have more playoff wins under their belt. Maxwell and Thorpe have won a championship ring. Both were starters on a championship team. Howard better than Thorpe?!?! Howard is not even half as tough as Thorpe. Thorpe was the kind of power forward Yao needs beside him. Tough, snatching up all the rebounds. An enforcer. Thorpe roughed up Karl Malone and Charles Barkley in playoffs. Could you imagine Howard going up against Malone and Barkley. *shiver* Get your head out of Howard's @ss! Maxwell was a nutcase but he was bad@ss!! The man single-handedly got the Rockets back in the playoff run in Game 3 against Phoenix in 94. He went nuts and was the catalyst for Houston becoming clutch city instead of labeled choke city forever. Maxwell was also a great defender.
I'll take some flak for this, but I never loved OT as much as many. He was a better fit for the 90s Rockets than JH is now, no doubt. He was also a better player. But there was a reason he was traded in '95. Without that trade for Clyde, I'm convinced we wouldn't have made the playoffs. Team chemistry was way off and the Rockets were in a deep spiral. It took circumstances like that to break up the roster that won the championship the prior year. And Clyde carried the team when Dream went down with the blood problem. There is no comparison between Max and Wesley, especially since Wesley is way over the hill now. Max was much faster and quicker, a better defender and his manic intensity and emotion inspired the team to play at another level. He was a combo of Wesley and Sura, but much nastier. A borderline Artest. Too bad he went off the deep end when we got Clyde. In all honesty though, Max and Kenny were sorry against the Knicks in the '94 Finals. We were very fortunate to have Hakeem the Dream and such a weak and divided opponent. pgabriel, I suppose if you include only the regular season in 93-94, OT and Max were "easily" the 2nd & 3rd best players on the team. But if you count the playoffs, remember Horry and Cassell. If you count both championships, Horry and Cassell beat them in a landslide.
dude calling maxwell a quiter has unleashed the NEO of the MATRIX on you. Maxwell was an emotional guy with lots of PRIDE. this is good and this is bad. you take the good with the bad. Maxwell DEFINED CLUTCHCITY. let me give you a history lesson: (May 13-15, 1994) Two hours after blowing the biggest lead in NBA playoff history, the Rockets flew out of Choke City down 0-2 to the Phoenix Suns. Four days later, the Rockets flew into Clutch City with the series tied 2-2. In Game 1 of the 1994 Western Conference Semifinals, Houston built an 18-point lead but lost. In Game 2, they had a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter but lost in overtime. "I'll never forget getting on the charter flight after Game 2," Rockets television commentator Bill Worrell said. "It was like a morgue." The Rockets didn't rise from the dead until the second half of Game 3 when they found themselves behind 49-41 at halftime. Then Vernon Maxwell got hot, scoring 31 points in the second half as the Rockets won 118-102. Houston finished "Desert Sweep" by winning Game 4, 107-96, to even the series. Maxwell left the team because he was too proud of a player to give up his starting position to Clyde Drexler. Maxwell wouldn't let MICHAEL JORDAN take over his position. You have to admire his pride.. The players VOTED to give Vernon a second championship ring. Plus Kenny always talks about Vernon's vocal leadership on TNT. Maxwell is among the greatest players in Rockets history and true Rockets fans feel pride when he is mentioned. that 93-94 Rockets team will DESTROY Detroit, San Antonio and any other team in this freaking league now. Hakeem was our all-star, but that team produced ROBERT HORRY, MARIO ELIE, SAM CASSELL, OTIS THORPE, KENNY SMITH, VERNON MAXWELL. HEROs. Horry proved he was a clutchplayer 5 more times . Mario helped the Spurs win. Sam has been to the playoffs and had marvelous games and is playing well with the Clippers. Otis Thorpe is a working man's hero, we'll never see a PF like him again. Give me 1 Otis over 100000000000 Juwan Howards or Jimmy Kings or Jalen Roses. Kenny is a celebrity on TNT. Vernon is down on his luck, but he's 2pac. Keep strong soldier!
Wesley is total garbage. Playing a position where he is undersized. Dude needs to retire, be traded or waived. We have been getting burned by the opponents' SGs or PGs time after time this season. JVG has a decision to make.
There's a Vernon Maxwell inside Horry and Cassell. Keep in mind they were rookies when Vernon was a veteran. He D-up Michael Jordan and pass his confidence to the other Rocket heros. The role players for Hakeem were the best role players EVER. Contrasting our role players now, either hurt, old, slow, and overrated (Stromile). Put TMAC and Yao with a young kenny smith, vernon, horry, Otis Thorpe thats DYNASTY. Starters: PG kenny smith SG vernon maxwell SF TMAC PF Otis Thorpe C Yao Bench PG Cassell SG Mario Elie SF Horry PF Herrera
If we had Howard? thats answering your own question. WE DIDNT HAVE HIM. We had Otis Thorpe for the playoffs, you could ALWAYS count on OT. Besides being overpaid and having a decent stat line, juwan didnt do much in his career. Let me drop some OT on you. 1993-1994: As the only Houston player to start all 82 games in 1993-94, did the dirty work on the Rockets' front line ... While teammate Hakeem Olajuwon was having an MVP season, ended up ranked third in the league in field-goal percentage (.561) and 15th in rebounding (10.6 rpg), setting a personal single-season high for rebounds in his 10th NBA season ... Also tallied 14.0 points per game, second on the club to Olajuwon ... On 1/20 at Denver, blistered the Nuggets for 24 points, 20 rebounds and three steals in a career-high 54 minutes ... On 3/17 he beat up the Golden State Warriors for 21 points, 21 rebounds, three assists and two steals ... Also became the 54th player in NBA history to grab 7,000 rebounds in a career ... Thorpe and Olajuwon are the only active teammates to have reached that mark ... After winning the Midwest Division championship, Houston advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1986 ... The Rockets then took home the title after a seven-game victory over the New York Knicks ... Averaged 11.3 points and 9.9 rebounds in 23 postseason games. 1992-1993: Finished the 1991-92 season having played in 542 consecutive games, the ninth-longest streak in NBA history but suffered a bruised right kidney in a preseason game against Detroit on 10/20, ending his streak ... Missed first nine games of the season ... Finished the year ranked among the league's top 10 in field-goal percentage (.558, fifth) for the fifth straight season ... Residual effects from the kidney injury may have caused Thorpe's production to drop, as he averaged 12.8 points and 8.2 rebounds, his lowest numbers since the 1985-86 season ... Recorded his third career triple-double on 12/17 against the San Antonio Spurs, totaling 12 points, 19 rebounds, and 10 assists ... Averaged 14.5 points in the postseason as the Rockets advanced to the Western Conference Semifinals before losing to the Seattle SuperSonics in seven games Scored a team-high 28 points in Houston's Game 3 victory at The Summit. 1991-1992: Long been considered one of the league's best power forwards, was selected to play in the 1992 NBA All-Star Game, his first All-Star appearance ... At the time of the All-Star Game, was in the midst of a fine season, the sixth straight in which he played all 82 games ... Finished the year ranked second in the NBA with a franchise-record .592 field-goal percentage, also placing 12th in rebounding (10.5 rpg) and 36th in scoring (17.3 ppg) ... Notched his second career triple-double, on 1/14 against the Denver Nuggets: 16 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists ... Burned the Los Angeles Lakers twice during the year, with 19 points and 21 rebounds on 11/15 and then 30 points and 12 boards on 3/31 ... Scored the 10,000th point of his career on 1/13 at The Summit ... In a turbulent season that saw Don Chaney exit and Rudy Tomjanovich enter as the Rockets' head coach, Houston finished 42-40 and out of the NBA Playoffs. 1990-1991: Set a franchise record when he shot .556 from the field in 1990-91 (... and broke it the following season) ... Ranked seventh in the NBA in field-goal percentage while placing ninth with 10.3 rebounds per game ... Was the only forward in the league to rank in the top 10 in both categories ... Led the Rockets in scoring 22 times en route to an average of 17.5 points per game for the season ... Was asked to play a larger role when Hakeem Olajuwon missed 25 games with a fractured eye socket; responded with 21.1 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game ... In early February, earned NBA Player of the Week honors after averaging 24.8 points, 11.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.0 steals in four games ... Also led the team in dunks with 69 ... The Rockets advanced to the playoffs but suffered a first-round sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers ... Averaged 15.7 points in three postseason games. 1989-1990: Led the Rockets with 172 dunks in 1989-90, so it comes as no surprise that he also led the team in field-goal percentage (.548) ... Shooting accuracy ranked eighth in the NBA and, at the time, third-best in Rockets history (He bettered the mark in each of his next four seasons) ... Played all 82 games for the fourth straight year, averaging 17.1 points and 9.0 rebounds ... Racked up 261 assists (3.2 per game), leading all NBA power forwards ... Best shooting effort of the year came against the Minnesota Timberwolves on 3/31, when he hit 12 of 13 field-goal attempts ... Had another outstanding performance on 2/15 against the New York Knicks, scoring 21 points and grabbing a career-high 26 rebounds in 42 minutes-the best rebounding night ever for a Rockets forward ... The Rockets advanced to the NBA Playoffs but lost in the first round to the Los Angeles Lakers ... Had a stellar series, averaging 20.0 points in four games while shooting .600 from the floor. 1988-1989: Acquired by Houston Thorpe from Sacramento to serve as Olajuwon's complement at power forward in exchange for Kings Rodney McCray and Jim Petersen ... Worked well with Olajuwon ... Ranked eighth(9.6 rpg) in rebounding while Olajuwon led the league, marking the first time in franchise history that two Rockets finished in the top 10 ... Also made the leaderboard in field-goal percentage, ranking seventh at .542 ... Averaged 16.7 points for the year ... Scored a career-high 37 points in 43 minutes at Philadelphia on 4/2 and recorded his first career triple-double on 3/16 against Milwaukee (10 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists) ... The Rockets finished the year at 45-37, then lost to the Seattle SuperSonics in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
I remember Juwan going up against Barkley and Malone. it was called washington getting beat by the Jazz and Suns.
if we had a heathy Tmac and Yao this year.. if Katie Holmes didnt date that wacko.. if we had mike james...
howard unfortunately is like SAR. sure he has better skills than thorpe, but right now if you could have a young thorpe or a young howard who would you take?
Juwan's best year, he had .489% field goal percentage and 8.1 boards/game. Otis had .561% and 10.6 boards/game in 93. 1993-1994: As the only Houston player to start all 82 games in 1993-94, did the dirty work on the Rockets' front line ... While teammate Hakeem Olajuwon was having an MVP season, ended up ranked third in the league in field-goal percentage (.561) and 15th in rebounding (10.6 rpg), setting a personal single-season high for rebounds in his 10th NBA season ... Also tallied 14.0 points per game, second on the club to Olajuwon .
I never said Howard was better than Thorpe. I said I would take Howard and Wesley over Thorpe and Maxwell. 2>1 Maxwell is a quitter. I liked Maxwell's game when he was on the court but the dude was ALWAYS a headcase which culminated in him eventually quitting on the team. I liked Thorpe. He'd be perfect for this team. Unfortunately, he ain't here. But to be fair, Thorpe always took a lot of heat because he was very inconsistent. He'd have up/down games and many people called him lazy. Howard ain't as tough but he is a professional that understands the game. So I'd give the slight edge to Thorpe and the clear edge to Wesley. Again, I'd take Howard and Wesley over Thorpe and Maxwell. Are you done? ...And then he quit on his team in 95. Quitters suck. Period. EDIT: Fixed typo on a quote tag.
I'm sorry HISTORICAL FACT is problematic for you. Maxwell quit on the team. I liked Maxwell but the question was would I take Maxwell and Thorpe over Howard and Wesley. The real question is would I take Thorpe over Howard and Wesley since Maxwell gets ejected from games and utlimately quits on the team outright. 2 players is greater than 1.
Maxwell didnt quit, he got kicked off the team. He wanted to be the starting guard and couldn't take to being #2 from Clyde. Comparing Otis Thorpe to Juwan Howard is not even a choice. Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles could tell that Otis Thorpe was the best PF the Rockets have ever had. Wesley never hit any important shots, Vernon sealed the Rockets first championship in game 7 with a 3 pointer. The Knicks called time out then he was mobbed by his teammates, Mario Elie and Kenny smith. Opps I forgot, you aren't a rockets fan.
Oh, well that makes it ok then. Better than Barkley...I think not. But apprently championships is the one and only determining factor on the quality of a player. Context is irrelevant. Like Howard has also never played with an MVP. Phooey. Who cares. Chuckie Brown is better than Chalres Barkley because Chuckie got a rebound in a playoff game that eventually led to a championship. Wesley has never had the opportunity to play with an MVP. Again, this Rockets team is good enough to win a championship ...if TMac and/or Yao can have an MVP type of year.
Howard and Wesley have behaved admirably and professionally in this injury-stricken run of losses. I hope we can trade them both, in a package for a younger starter. I wonder who would take them? If you can't come up with any answers - it means they don't have much value. I can come up with a couple of places they could go, but it's kind of a long shot. The target team has to need a couple of professional, dependable, older bench guys, and see value in Wesley's expiring contract. Preferably an East team with playoff needs. Indiana. Miami. NJ.
I wanted him until his latest tyraid on Magic Johnson. Well, Artest called Magic Johnson an idiot for sleeping with women while married and getting AIDS simply because Magic commented that Artest is an incredible talent but unknown commidity regarding his behavior. All this while Artest is suspended by the Pacers. He can't even keep his mouth shut in speculation about a team that MIGHT be interested in him. No thanks to Artest. But coming from a guy who thinks Vernon Maxwell was the second coming, I guess you would like Artest. What other TOTAL idiots do you idolize?
