Who is the biggest bust in Rockets history?

Hard to say at the moment, but Eddie Griffin has a real shot at it.

 

JEFF VAN GUNDY












Just kidding. Do you mean player or coach?

Coach: Mr. Mean (but he did what he could)

Player: Bryce Drew(we could've had freakin 'Shard!)/Dan Langhi

 

You guys have some short memories!

John Lucas should get some votes, for a number one overall pick he didn't do a whole hell of a lot for Houston.

Ralph Sampson as well, I mean he was a several time all star but he was supposed to be the next in the line of Russell-Chamberlain-Jabbar.

Scottie Pippen was a major disappointment as well.

 

sampson/mccray

sampson was a great aquisition....but then the injuries....in hindsight.... thinking back.....wasnt clyde in that draft?

 

I dont know but your moniker is awfully scary......

 

Yeah your moniker needs to change! But for your question, I would say Eddie Griffen for now since he hasn't lived up to expectations yet. I still haven't given up on him yet, but he needs to work hard this offseason.

 

I agree with SF.....Pippen.

McCray is probably up there too (I watched the '87 Rockets/Sonics Game 6 not too long ago....Rodney was just not very good. Sucked about his daughter though.). And Lucas.

This may be reaching a little....but maybe Sleepy Floyd.

I remember having decent hopes for Tim McCormick as well (could've been my fault as much as anything), but he ended up sucking. JB Carroll was an underachiever already, hard to have not seen that one coming.

D Chievous, for a 13th pick...you would have liked to have seen more I guess.

 

I was thinking Sampson as well. With everything that was expected of him, to be traded for Joe Barry Carroll in his 4th season was a huge disappointment.

We had a lot of first round busts, but did we really expect anything from the likes of John Turner or Steve Harris?

j

 

Steve Harris -- a shooting guard who was supposed to take the Rockets to new heights. However, he was too shy and timid to play in the NBA. Roderick Rhodes is a close second.

 

First of all, I don't consider Sampson a bust. He was a center that made the move to pf (although he really wanted to move to pg ) to accomidate Dream. He was just starting to become a force at pf when he fell in Boston. His knees were never the same after that.

Secondly, if you have a 1st round pick; you should expect him to at least be around for the next season. There for a while, our 1st round picks seemed to be a list of who wasn't going to made the team.

 

Well there have been plenty of busts over the years:

Rodrick Rhodes
Mirsad Turkcan
Bryce Drew
Jason Collier
Derrick Chievous

 

John Lucas was no bust. Finished 2nd in the voting for Rookie of the Year in 1976 (Alvan Adams won) When Lucas played, he was one of the best point guards in the NBA. An addiction to drugs ruined what could have been a great career.

Ralph Sampson, while he didn't live up to all the hype, was not a bust. Averaging 20 ppg and 11 rpg his first 3 years is hardly a bust. A knee injury ruined his career.

Steve Harris and Derrick Chevious were busts.

 

Dude, Lucas played about 5 years for the Rockets total. He was good, but he was GREAT in college and was supposed to be a hall of fame type player. He didn't come anywhere close to that. Your number one overall picks with that kind of rep should be better.

Sampson was indeed a bust when compared with the expectation level coming in to his NBA career. Sampson was among the most decorated College players of all time. He won the Naismith award three times, the only other person to do that was Bill Walton. he did everything there is to do at Virginia save win a title. He was LeBron James and Yao Ming, yet with a first rate pedigreee.

Chevious? Steve Harris? what were these guys, mid round selections from where, Tulsa and Missouri? Sorry but their record just doesn't compare. Lucas and Sampson were number one overall selections who were supposed to be great, but drug addiction and injuries, etc. relegated them to being merey good, for a short period of time.

When a number one selection isn't a cornerstone/franchise player, especially number one players as celebrated as Lucas or Sampson, I consider that, IMO, to be a bigger bust than a mid first round selection who doesn't really catch on.

 

Dude?

Did you even see John Lucas play? Lucas took the Rockets to within 1 game of the NBA finals in 1976-77. That is not a bust in my book.

Ralph Sampson WAS a cornerstone of the Rockets franchise. Remember the "Twin Towers"

But I guess in your book Bill Walton was a bust.

 

I know Pip's my all time favorite, but I gotta agree and say Pippen. He was a great Bull (go Bulls!), but he didn't do much for the Rockets.

 

Buck Johnson

 

Excuse me. When Sampson was healthy he was an All Star player capable of dominating.

I don't consider that a bust. A bust is someone who just couldn't play.

Ralph had that very nasty fall in Boston and his unfortunate weak knees.

Chris Washburn was a bust. Shawn bradley was a bust. Ralph Sampson was not.

 

Bill Walton was a hall of famer who took his team to the championship. His NBA career, though shortened by injuries and disappointing, was more productive than Sampson's if only for that. I don't know how you extrapolated that I would say he was a bust.

What you say about Lucas only reinforces my point, that was like his first or second year, he burned brightly for a short stretch and showed flashes of brilliance, yet faded away.

Are Sampson and Lucas locks to make the Hall of Fame? No. not by a longshot. Why do you think that is? Their college careers are beyond reproach, as good as anybody out there; it's their lack of consistent success at the porfessional level that keeps them out.

YEs, Ralph was rookie of the year, then an key member of the 86 team, but it was all downhill from there, and less than 2 years later, he was out of Houston, and his nba career was for all intents and purposes over. I consider that a disappointment, don't you? And I equate that with being a bust.

What if Francis was on his way out of the league by this season? wouldn't we consider him to be a bust?

Castigate me for it, harass me for it, do whatever you will, but I've stated my case on this.

 

Did Chris Washburn and Shawn Bradley ever play for the Houston Rockets?