Just looking back at some old Rocket tapes from the mid-80's, and I began to wonder how different the Rockets -and perhaps the NBA - would be had Sampson stayed healthy and the original twin towers could have stayed intact longer. So in this endless off-season where even trolls arent bothering to show up like in off-seasons past to create some excitement, I invite you to ponder the "what if's" with me. Had Sampson stayed healthy .. did he have the goods to ultimately rank among the best center's of his generation - ala ewing, robinson, dream? Could he have been top-50 material? would hakeem have still turned out the legend he became? would sampson's presence impede his growth to superstardom and perhaps limit him to second-fiddle, or perhaps on par with Ralph? would the rockets eventually have matured by the late 80's after the 86 finals apprearance vs. the celts, added a few pieces and perhaps taken the place of the pistons as back-to-back champions? Or maybe even challenge the Bulls during the early 90s? could this have been a dynasty? Feel free to add your own 'what ifs' ... perhaps it can at least help us through until training camp. If it doesn't, I apologize in advance.
Doc interesting thought but don't forget Ralph had also developed a Robinson-esque habit of disappearing in quite a few games. DRob is a monster in the regular season but shrinks in the postseason, especially if he has to be "the man", as in before Tim or when Tim was hurt or when the opponent has two superstars and Tim needs help. If memory serves, Ralph might as well have not shown up in alot of those regular season games the last couple of years in Houston. It seemed as though, injuries aside, his mental readiness for a game could not be counted on. In the end, IMHO, Dream's overall physical and mental toughness would have still won out and made him the clear leader. A better scenario, in hindsight of course, would have been the old hashed one where we traded Ralph to Portland for the second pick(and probably Drexler,too) and draft Jordan with the pick. Woulda, shoulda, coulda... It sure would've been nice to have Ralph stay healthy and focused and see what could've been. By the way, not a related topic, but does anyone else notice that Lisa Leslie looks alot like DRob when playing? Except for Lisa producing this time, of course.
Realistically? The twin towers possibly could've worked 2-3 more years. The Rockets could've won one title. Dissension would've set in, and Sampson would've been traded. If we really want to go out on a limb, it would've been to Philadelphia circa 1990 for...Charles Barkley. The other side of this coin is that Rudy possibly wouldn't be head coach. and we'd still be in the Don Chaney era. (not Fitch, as everyone knows he's a "builder, not a maintainer")
All the people that hate the inconsistent play of modern-day players would have hated Sampson. Sampson could average 20 pts/10 rebs a game, but he did it the painful way. He'd get 40/20 one night then 0/0 the next (ok, so I exaggerate). Had Sampson stayed healthy, we maybe could've made it to the Finals again, but we were no lock to win them; especially not with the likes of the Pistons coming up. If you remember, one of Sampsons biggest knocks was that he was too weak a low-post presence. Against the Bad Boys from Mo Town, he would've been abused and pummeled. As for Don Chaney still being the head coach, it makes me shudder. There are 2 coaches in the history of Houston sports that I could not stand to watch... Don Chaney was one simply because he would always have the "confused, dazed, bewildered, but angered" look on the sidelines. Annoying. The other was Jack Pardee. We're down 105-2 and every shot of him on the sidelines was one in which he claps his hands and says "come on" or he would have a "confused, dazed, bewildered, but nice" look. Annoying.
No matter how you look at the prevailing reasons Ralph Sampson missed the bulk of the successful years with Houston they got to be confined to these two: 1. He was small bodied for a "big guy". I mean even on the lighter standards of that era he was small. Think an anorexic Loren Woods. He tried in vain to bulk up, listened and attempted several strategies, but could not hold any weight. He remained a talented, swift but "pushable" skinflint in pajamas. When you talk about his inconsistentcy it should be measured against the teams he played against. When he played against a broad front court he got hammered, when he played against a more lightened front court he scored almost at will. 2. He was worn out by the time the end of the season arrived. That " fading peformance" and "disappearing act" that some have attached to him ( a la Admiral) was basically him giving it his all, being beaten up and laid out for 60-70 games, then just not having the strength at the end. I would suspect in todays game he would be playing the three-four with emphasis on the three ..... he certainly was fast enough to play the three.
For the Ralph doubters in the crowd, remember that he won the MVP of an allstar game, with mega thanks to Magic. If Ralph had been teamed with Magic his entire career, he certainly would have been in contention for the top 50. For those a little weak in their Rocket history, the year after the twin towers lost to Boston in the finals (Boston last great year btw) the Rockets went to h*ll because three of their guards got the boot for drug use. All three were in the 8 man rotation. As I remember it, it was Fitch who pushed for the trade the hardest. The Rockets got Sleepy and Joe Barely Cares. Sleepy was a "near" all star guard and Joe was a servicable big man. I think Fitch saw Sleepy as the key to the trade so the Rocket back court would be shored up. Ralph was not thrilled with the trade and his play suffered. He also may have let his training go, seeing it would not matter on a basement team. If the Rocket back court had stayed intact, Ralph may have never been traded, Ralph may have then been a fixture in the Rocket line up for his entire career, and he and Dream may have had several championship rings to show for it. Staying in Houston, Ralph may have made the top 50, as a power forward.
Doubtful. Sampson was not good at recuperation. Here, the eye injury, and the knee injury changed his game pretty drastically. The "softness" and incinsistency came very much to the fore after he had been cut-on. Post-trade, he had a good first year at GS (17/10), but the second knee surgery basically ended his career.
