Houston is a football first city, LA and NY are basketball first cities. Miami has the trend factor right now. Texans win or lose will always have a the spotlight. They have sold out every game they have played at Reliant even when they sucked. Houston gets Toyota center half full for a .500 basketball club. I know ticket prices are out of this world but a city of 4-5 million should fill toyota center up. There is not a lot of energy surrounding the rockets if they are not a top 4 team in the west. Regular season games at Toyota center are quiet and down right boring unless you are a diehard fan.
another thing to consider, the Nets are moving to Brooklyn, Brooklyns population is larger than Houstons population, at around 2.5 million..
It's like that for most teams. The season is simply too long for fans to go to every game. NFL sells out because it restricts the no. Of games
We were a hot spot for players back in the 90's...Barkley wanted to play here...Pippen wanted to play here...Francis loved it here and didn't want to leave. A ton of NBA players and pro athletes make Houston their home during the offseason, anyway. The franchise is the problem...not the city.
I dont really understand when people bash the franchise...The Rockets knew they needed a star...and in the end they tired...in a desperate fashion to acquire Pau from LA...and that blew up right in the face thanks to the commish... If the mgmt was not a good one...they wouldn't be one of the most profitable... even with a half filled stadium... Maybe cheaper tickets might be the answer to get more diehard fans there...Maybe the team needs to make a stronger marketing ploy to available free agents... Something just doesn't attract athletes to play in their primes here...Its becoming a retirement center for aged atheletes...
The last time the Rockets were in the NBA Finals, all these kids in college these days were toddlers or not even born, they don't give a crap about our tradition or that we once had one of the greatest players in NBA history on our team. Great selling point, Hakeem the Dream played here 15 years ago, don't you wanna play in Houston? The only way that works is if its with some kid born in the area. This organization just needs to be run better, we need some stability, we don't need our GM pissing off all our players and trying to turnover the roster every chance he gets. I know Morey is in a pickle, but he has to try and remain under the scenes more and not openly talk about how anyone on the team is up for grabs. Outside players take notice. Are we like Toronto, at this point sure, we are collecting foreign players and it isn't really paying off (give Gogi time, bring in a big that can cover up Scolas defensive miscues). You do that though and have success, look at the Spurs. There is no reason we can't be the next San Antonio, but that starts with stability and luck. They were lucky enough to transition from the best player in franchise history to the best player in franchise history. Imagine if Duncan succeeded dream...
i dont buy it... blame morey all you want even tho i support him... but if your an allstar wouldnt you want a gm that worked nonstop and turned the roster over all the time in an effort to get better? ask deron or dwight if they want better support cast... any superstar who came here would know he wouldnt get traded... but he would know that the gm is tirelessly trying to make the team better... something orlando doesnt do and which is why dwight wants out... that being said, other mediocre starters or role playing free agents might not wanna come here because they know they would potentially be traded....
Morey might have worked nonstop but the Rockets are not getting better. Superstars see that. They won't come.
i think the way the rockets organization handled the t-mac situatiojn before he left made other stars not wanna sign with us.
superstars don't wanna work hard for success anymore. rockets have a better supporting cast of players compared to alot of other teams, it's just that nba superstars are pussies these days.
it's an accumulation of things. nationwide, people think Texas is socially backwards. just like the many of us think east-coast people are loud and obnoxious and west-coast people are pompous and vain. you have bad apples everywhere, i guess.
Someone name me the last free agent STAR to go somewhere that had basically nothing when it comes to stars... Shaq? And he went to the LAKERS..extremely rare. Name the last star player in the NBA to demand a trade to a place that didn't have all-stars there already...don't worry, I'll wait. History lesson for you: When T-Mac demanded a trade from ORL in 2004, what 3 teams did he name on his "wish list"? Indiana (Prime-Jermaine O'Neal), Houston (Young Yao), and Phoenix (recent ROY winner in Amar'e). That, people, is how you get stars. Don't you DARE diss Houston as a city and use it as a reason to say THAT'S why we can't get anyone. You really look moronic. Peace.
that is really a mirage. FT Worth is the only reason why Dallas's metro is bigger. That is two major cities in one metro.