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Favorite player succession from the time you started watching the Rockets

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Plowman, Sep 2, 2021.

  1. Nook

    Nook Member

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    It is funny because an "era" doesn't always go the way it looks like it will go.....

    There was the Elvin Hayes era...... a great player, but he needed more help than he got in Houston and the franchise was in it's infancy. Hayes is probably the most underrated Rocket in history and one of the most underrated Hall of Famers in basketball.

    After Hayes left, and the Rockets settled in Houston..... Rudy T and Calvin Murphy became the heart of the team..... they started to have a fan following but just were not good enough, and we overall below average. While Calvin gets all the love, Rudy T was the better player.

    Then the Rockets got a 20 year old Moses Malone, a franchise player to put next to Rudy T and Calvin and the Rockets were suddenly very good.... not good enough to win a title, but a legitimate tough team. I believe they won their first division title in 76 or 77 with that group. That group culminated with Moses Malone becoming a true franchise player and arguably the best player in the world.... the Rockets went to the NBA Finals in 1980 and lost to the Celtics.

    That group bottomed out after Rudy T and Calvin got old, and Moses went on to become a legend with the Sixers.... the Rockets then went back into the lottery and pulled out..... Ralph Sampson, Rodney McCray and Hakeem Olajuwon over a 3-4 years span..... that group would crest with a Finals run back in 1986 where they lost to the Celtics.

    Sampson broke down.... McCray wasn't good enough......... Olajuwon was one of the 3-4 best players in the world during this time and kept the Rockets competitive, which kept them from getting lottery picks.... so the team just plowed along until Carroll Dawson and Rudy T drafted Robert Horry, brought in some shooters to surround Olajuwon and focused on defense.... the Rockets won the title and then repeated after getting Drexler.

    The Rockets tried to extend the window with Pippen and Barkley. Those teams were very good but didn't win the title.

    The Rockets then lucked into Steve Francis...... he had a tremendous amount of natural ability. There were very few point guards in NBA history that had his level of athleticism at that point. Francis was extremely explosive, he was an all time great rebounder at the position and he appeared to have the ability to be a true franchise player. It never happened - he was a good player, but never became great and his off the court issues caught up to him. Overall, to me this is one of the most depressing eras in Rockets basketball.

    The Rockets won the lottery and got Yao Ming. I have mixed feelings about this era, because I am bitter that he never had the opportunity to be as good as he could have been. He was surrounded by players that were poor fits, he wasn't used properly by either JVG or Adelman. Even with all of that, for a brief period was a legitimate franchise player. He was up to 25/10/2 a night on high efficiency at 25 years old when the injuries ruined his career.

    In that tail end of the Yao era the Rockets had Tracy McGrady. It is quite possible that Tracy McGrady is the most physically talented player to ever play for the Houston Rockets. He had the court vision of a top end point guard, the athleticism and body control of an elite shooting guard, the height of a small forward and the wingspan (7'3") of a top center. He was only 25 years old when the Rockets got him, and he was coming off leading the league in scoring several times........ what wasn't known was that he lacked any leadership ability, lacked the drive to be great and was a coward. It was IMO the worst era to be a Rockets fan because Yao and McGrady were always hurt, and McGrady had the ability to be the best player in the world but never did it.
     
  2. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
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    @Jontro
    Houston to Florida


    oh that’s the succession of our trophies
    Being stolen
     
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  3. Buck Turgidson

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    You also forgot Purvis Short. I remember messing around in the driveway trying to copy his shot.

    Lol, 1st rounder out of the league after 1 year, I remember when he was drafted and remember literally nothing about him on the court.

    Nah, I went with Tree Rollins then, mainly because his name is Tree Rollins.
     
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  4. tycoonchip

    tycoonchip Member
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    Dream The greatest story of them all.
    Then Yao... watching him grow as a basketball player and a person was amazing. I remember him having a translator and then being able to handle interviews and conversations on his own. The man worked his butt off. Then watching what he did for Houston that game when he clearly should not have been on the court against the Lakers.
    Rudy T- allstar.. got punched and despite all odds became an all star again. Then because of unfinished business as a player came back to coach Houston to win two titles.
    James Harden- 6th man to mvp
     
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  5. Caesar

    Caesar Member

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    I remember the all star game Yao spoke perfect English and they put subtitles on the screen(and let's not forget Shaq being racist TNT). I felt so offended for him so many times and this wasn't being offended over small things but straight up blatant racist and ignorant acts. Boundaries were crossed over and over again. There was also the Starbury crossover breaking Yao's ankle that played on the jumbotron highlights in NBA 2k for HOME games. Yes. Home games low lights just to make fun of Yao. Absolutely there was a lot of xenophobia toward him, so it made those career highs so much more impactful for me personally. He's #2 behind Hakeem for me for sure. Cheering for Yao was such a joy and arguing against the fools who said that he's a bum because he didn't average 50 and 20 at his size was a joy as well because it just showed the hidden expectations of such a skilled and fluid and mobile GIANT.
     
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  6. Sweet Lou 4 2

    Sweet Lou 4 2 Contributing Member
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    Hands down - Yao.

    His transformation from raw to dominant was fast and remarkable
     
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  7. dmenacela

    dmenacela Contributing Member

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    My favs:

    Wiggins
    Sleepy Floyd
    Buck Johnson
    Ralph
    Dream
    OT
    Mad Max
    Barkley
    Franchise
    Yao
    TMac
    Linsanity
    Jalen Green
     
    #47 dmenacela, Sep 5, 2021
    Last edited: Sep 5, 2021
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  8. JW86

    JW86 Member

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    Cool, nice topic!

    Mine is a bit odd in the beginning so I’ll explain:

    Started watching the NBA in 1996 and loved Olajuwon from the highlights I was lucky to get here in Europe. Took a break from following between 2001 & 2007 during which I did collect vintage games. Fell in love with Dream again, but also Mutombo, and soon after Maxwell became my favourite. Once I really wanted to follow current NBA again, Rockets love was there and Mutombo was my guy. Also loved Francis and his return. Ever since then was hooked.

    Dream
    Maxwell
    Mutombo
    Rafer
    Von Wafer
    Landry
    Lowry
    Scola
    Camby
    Garcia
    Brewer
    Beverley
    Capela
    Tucker & Prince Luc
    Gerald Green
     
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  9. Corrosion

    Corrosion Member

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    This thread makes me feel old .....

    I bet most of you don't know that the franchise first draft pick was Pat Riley.

    I'd have to start with The Big E. Was PISSED when he got traded. Even more PISSED when they traded away then MVP Moses Malone to Philly and he goes on to win another MVP , Finals MVP & a Larry O'Brien Trophy while the Rockets won 14 games.

    71 Elvin
    72-75 Rudy T
    76-81 Moses.
    82 Bobby Joe.
    83-86 Sweet Lou (I literally cried when they got suspended after reaching the finals).
    84-2000 Akeem. (Mad Max gets an honorable mention for the championship years).
    01 Cat.
    02 Yao.
    04-08 Yao McGrady
    09-10 Yao Scola Lowry Chuck. that whole team was likable
    11-19 Harden
    20-21 Tate.

    Whole lot of memories ....
     
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  10. Swapshop

    Swapshop Member

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    Ty Lawson is the start and end to my list. Rockets legend.
     
  11. Ben Frank

    Ben Frank Member

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    Started Following the Rockets in 94, after to moving to Houston from Louisiana as a young pup.. In Louisiana I was a Bulls fan, since at the time they had no team, moved to Houston and the Rockets won back to back chips, and I immediately threw my support behind them since.. Only other player I have supported in that time was AI my fav player.. as far as Rockets..

    Became a fan in the Dream Area, the GOAT
    Love'd the Francis, Yao, TMac Rockets.. just wished they could have stayed healthy
    Harden became my fav Rocket of all time, and then he broke my heart
    One of the few who loved the Pajamas Uniforms.. they grew on me

    With that said.. The Dream probably edge out Harden as my Favorite all time..
     
  12. BigM

    BigM Contributing Member

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    Hakeem was already MVP level when I started watching.

    Francis
    Yao
    Harden
     
  13. Plowman

    Plowman Contributing Member
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    Lewis Lloyd was definitely one of my all time favorite Rockets. He was great on the break, and that soft as a feather short/midrange J....WHOOOOEE!
    That squad IMO was the greatest team we ever had...Nobody would've stopped us. (I'm looking at you LA & Boston)
     
  14. conquistador#11

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    Yao just makes me sad. He bamboozled Tim Duncan with the same move Dream used on Robinson only it was at .80x speed.
    What could have been.

    I didn't realize what a great season Rudy T had after the near fatal sucker punch. The Western media always made it seem like it ended his career.
    Best comeback story. (Yeah I just recently watched Clutch City)

    Dream was and will always be Houston.

    I wanted to get behind Francis but it was all dribble dribble dribble.
     
  15. gotsis

    gotsis Member

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    Started watching during the Yao/T-Mac era. Remember the excitement of the 22 wins in a row fondly.

    Enjoyed those Aaron Brooks led teams, loved Brooks game, just a small dude surprising everyone.

    Harden era was incredible, second best rocket ever. Still hurt we didn't win in 2018.

    Got really excited when we managed to get Howard in free agency, too bad it didn't work out.

    Now, although it's more fun being a contender, it will be cool to grow through the draft and hope green is the next big thing.
     
  16. Kevooooo

    Kevooooo Member

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    Chuck Hayes
    JVG handed that man a DVD (probably was a VHS!) of Anthony Mason and said learn. He did. And he became the greatest 6’6” center ever — on defense!
     
  17. DCkid

    DCkid Contributing Member

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    Dream
    Francis / Cuttino
    Yao
    Scola
    Harden
    Wood
     
  18. RasaqBoi

    RasaqBoi Member

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    Leslie Alexander would answer with

    Yao
    Lin
    Jo Chee
     
  19. kgw

    kgw Member

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    Rudy T
    Reid
    Paultz
    Moses
    Dream
    Cassell
    Mario
    Cat
    Moochie
    Mike James
    Yao
    Battier
    Dragic
    Beverley
    Tucker
    Porter
     
  20. Magicsaint

    Magicsaint Member

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    Hakeem, Francis, Yao, Scola, Harden, Wood, Green/Sengun, and maybe Wall if he sticks around help to lead and build this young team.
     

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