clyde will never be as important to the rockets as thorpe was. there is just no two ways two ways to slice it. and you must have forgotten all the games that thorpe had to carry up when dream was out or was having a bad game. like i said, you are not going to convince anyone who actually watched the rockets BEFORE 93-94 that Thorpe was a great player BUT. He was a great player period. most of yall saying this came to the rockets in 94 or later.
Barkley's addition probably cost us a 3rd title .. He was not a good fit and it was painful to see him backin it in ...backin it in ...still backin it in ..clogging up the middle while everyone watched. I love OT but Drexler was a good fit and payed off .. Barkley just hogged the paint and the ball.Dream owned the paint and was the best ... idiotic to bring in another dominant post player. It's nice that Thorpe is at least in that huge painting on the wall.
Love the photos, especially the one with the championship team(s) on the wall. At least some love for OT big in the front and Maxwell in the back. Any video footage? Tnx a lot for sharing this
complete video coverage of the ceremony? Does anyone have the complete video coverage of the ceremony? Can someone please upload this! We would all be grateful! Those were the best days in Houston sports history! GO ROCKETS!!!
Ha. Thats all I have to say to you because if you only knew..... As for my comment, I was simply stating it was a fan vote and not a choice by the Rockets organization. So again i ask, who do you take out for Thorpe? Personally, i voted Hakeem, OT, Smith, Max, and Drexler (just barely over Elie)
If you look at it: Hakeem and Otis are the locks. Drexler, because he came in and revitalized Hakeem, probably deserves a spot. Horry deserves a spot, he was clutch. The rest of the team you could shake up and any one of them could be there: Kenny, Max, Cassell and Elie. People forget that Kenny was surrendering a lot of minutes to Scott Brooks and Cassell by then. I don't really view Kenny as an integral part of the team as I should. I know people will point out some of his "big" games, but Kenny was a liability a lot of the time.
I was watching the Rockets back when Moses Malone was the center. I am not taking anyway from Thorpe but without the trade its doubtful we win the second championship or even get there. There was a very good reason why the trade was made the Rockets were in a funk and Clyde was hungry. Rudy T and the rest of the organization very much wanted to keep Thorpe but to get a player like Clyde they had to part with something.
But you are taking away; you don't even know what you are talking about. The rockets were 29-17 before the trade and ended up 47-35 after. The clyde move was short-sided. Debating if they would have won another title is fruitless. The rockets were nearly bounced by Utah AND the Suns that year. I feel that the rockets COST themselves championships, because they kept reloading and reloading. By the time barkley and pippen came in it was a 3 ring circus. Compare that to what the Spurs did. They keep their players. The spurs snatched up; horry, Elie, and Cassell went on to a great career and Otis with Portland. You don't make trades just because you can't BEAT the sonics. That was the first mistake.
So here is the tribute video that was played right before the half time ceremony began last night......still loading the full ceremony. Enjoy - if this doesn't give you goosebumps, not sure what will http://www.nba.com/rockets/video/2012/03/23/90sTeamTributemov-2044348/index.html
Arguing about the OT/Drexler trade seems so... stupid. The trade happened. Drexler averaged 20 pts, 7 rebs, and 5 assists during those 1995 playoffs. When the Rockets got down 2-1 against Utah in the first round of those playoffs, he dropped 41 points in Game 4 to help carry the team. In Game 5 he dropped 31. I'm definitely not going to argue against Otis being on the 90s all-decade team, he deserved it. But Clyde stepped up huge in those playoffs.
OT must have had some of the biggest hands ever. I remember his full court passes. Heck, he'd pump fake the basketball with one hand like he was holding a baseball. OT also went up against some of the best PFs in the game in the playoffs in 94 on the road to the championships. He guarded Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Cliff Robinson, and Charles Oakley/Anthony Mason.
And here you go. Full halftime ceremony honoring the 1990s All Decade Team (including intro video): http://www.nba.com/rockets/video/2012/03/23/90sHalfCeremonymov-2044413/index.html
I will keep it simple.... NO. This one will not be as simple... You are accusing him of something you are doing as you type. You have made some outlandish comments in the past which have made it very clear you are not very knowledgeable about the Rockets and you are doing it again. The bolded part is exactly THE REASON why the trade for Drexler had to be made. The Rockets were faltering towards the second half of the season because of injuries (Horry, Harrerra) and then Hakeem was out after the trade as well. At one point the Rockets were thinking they might not even make the playoffs. And this was because..... ....the Rockets offense was built around Hakeem. 90% of the offense was Hakeem. He either scored on one-on-one coverage or passed the ball out if double teamed. Ther were no ifs and buts other than the occasional explosion by Maxwell. When Hakeem rested for couple of minutes, Kenny Smith or Maxwell would run pick and role plays with Otis Thorpe. While the pick and role play was sufficeint for a short period of time, they could not live on it because of two reasons: 1) Rockets guards were decent at it but not great. Their forte was spot-up shooting. 2) Otis Thorpe did not have a jump shot. None. Most of his baskets were dunks. Which is why he shot 60%. You need a decent jump shot if you want to live on this play. With the injuries to the players, predicatble offense, and suspension, Rockets offense suffered greatly. Drexler was brought in for two reasons: 1) To make sure the Rockets get into playoffs. With Hakeem out, Rockets had NO ONE who needed to be double teamed. With Drexler on-board the Rockets were immediately able to run isolation plays and command double teams. The trade paid of immediately. 2) To get Hakeem some help in terms of carrying the offense. I am not talking about just scoring points here. I am talking about creating shots for yourself and others. I have never seen a championship run where the team had relied so heavily on one man to carry the offensive load as was the case with the 94 team. Rudy used to struggle to give him a couple of minutes of rest a game. This was taking a toll on Hakeem and Drexler was brought in share the offensive load. 3) Easy baskets. Drexler was one of the best open court players. The trade worked on all accounts. Drexler kept the Rockets playoff hopes alive with Hakeem out. He also helped out the Rockets offense: -1st round against the Jazz - He was a tough cover for Jeff Hornacek throughout the series. He scored 40+ points in elimation game 4. He was instrumental in the closing game 5 in Utah where he led the charge in final minutes of the game. -2nd round against the Suns - Again a tough cover for Dan Majerle and kept the Rockets in it with his offense when Hakeem was in foul trouble in game 7. -WCF against the Spurs - Hakeem dominated this series and Clyde was probably the least effective in this series. -Finals - Was a one-man-wrecking crew for the Magic. The Magic could not control him on fast break and they paid dearly for it. More importantly, the trade had an interesting side-effect that proved rather invaluable to the Rockets. When the Rockets traded for Otis Thorpe they thought that they would play the PF by committe with bulk of minutes going to Carl Harrerra. That plan came to a screeching halt when Harrerra suffered a dislocated shoulder injury in the first round of playffs and was out for the season. This actually worked out rather nicely for the Rockets because it made Horry the player he turned out to be.... a) Rudy made Horry play the PF and gave him green light to shoot the three. Horry at the PF and all 4 players' ability to shoot the three opened up even more space for Hakeem and Clyde to operate in the post. b) Horry nailing threes took Rodman out of the equation in the Spurs series. Horry nailing threes took Hoarce Grant out of the equation in the Magic series. So in essence, the Drexler trade made Horry a more important factor on offense. This was a significant by-product of the trade. Could the Rockets have won a second championship had they kept Thorpe? That is, if they even made the playoffs. I guess it was possible, but most likely no. I just do not think the Rockets could have relied on Hakeem alone and won it all again. The fact remains that they traded for Drexler and had one of the best post-season runs EVER by any team.... -No home court advantage in any series. -thwarted countless elimination games. -won 2 series as the away team. -most road game wins in playoffs.... ...with Drexler being a significant contributor. Very very unlikely they would have been able to do any of those without him.
Having said all that, I thought Thorpe was an excellent classic power forward. -He was reliable -He was tough -He was consistent -He gave you 15 points/10 rebounds per game -He played solid position defense -He was a initiator and finisher on fast break He played his role perfectly and you knew exactly what you would get out of him. Problem was that in 95 Rockets needed more and they felt that Drexler would bring more to the table. One other thing that a lot of folks might not know/remember is that Thorpe was a little bit of drama queen. He and Rudy had a couple of run-ins because he wanted more plays run for him. Thopre was a decent post player at best and I dont think Rudy was convinced that running too many plays for Thrope was a great idea. Also as a side note: Couple of players were not very happy with the trade. Besides Maxwell of course. Particularly Horry. Horry was very close to Thorpe. However once he saw first hand what Clyde could do on the court, he quickly warmed up to the trade.
