thanks for reading the interview. I made this thread for a few education reasons. I guess some other people don't appreciate CLUTCH's work like we do. At least Clutch appreciated having a chance to interview a major NBA superstar like Charles. Now that Clutch is a star himself it seems like a formality, but back in the day, getting a Barkley interview, that's showed the BBS that Clutch was the real deal and that he was dedicated to giving us the Rockets fans news and education to make us better fans.
Both Olajuwon and Drexler were doing just fine without Barkley, the knee jerk reaction to trade Horry/Cassell was in part by Alexander's warped thinking that winning a championship was easy and that good role players were a dime a dozen. Having to big men crowded the paint and closed the lanes to the basket, it affected everybody but especially Olajuwon.....As far as Drexler he was still playing at a high level but personal issues with Barkley and the fact that he already had his ring made him think that it was best to retire. Horry got five more rings after he left.....seven totall !!! Cassell got one more ring after he left.....three totall !!! How many rings did we get with Barkley?......0 totall !!! How many rings did Barkley get?.....................0 totall !!! BC----BEFORE CHARLES 1994-95____Olajuwon______Drexler points..............27.8..................21.4 rebounds.........10.8....................7.0 assists.............3.5.....................4.4 1995-96____Olajuwon______Drexler points..............26.9..................19.3 rebounds.........10.9....................7.2 assists..............3.6....................5.8 AC----AFTER CHARLES 1996-97____Olajuwon______Drexler points..............23.2..................19.2 rebounds...........9.2....................6.0 assists...............3.0...................5.7 1997-98____Olajuwon______Drexler points..............16.4..................18.4 rebounds...........9.8....................4.9 assists..............3.0....................5.5
What are you talking about tmoney was referring to the fact that San Antonio and LA were the top contenders in the West during the time of the interview and that it is pretty much the same today
Hakeem Playoff Numbers (When it actually counts) Year Team Lg G Min Pts PPG FGM FGA FGP 1995-96 HOU NBA 8 329 179 22.4 75 147 .510 1996-97 HOU NBA 16 629 370 23.1 147 249 .590 1997-98 HOU NBA 5 190 102 20.4 39 99 .394 1998-99 HOU NBA 4 123 53 13.3 23 54 .426 17 56 73 9.1 31 3.9 15 17
Here's a look at the playoff numbers, yes it shows a steady decline as do your regular series numbers. 1995 was the last year those numbers allowed him to get out of the West and they are monstrous. Legendary performances we all recount. Good, absolutely until the last playoff run but not good enough. Not when Jordan came back and the Jazz and Sonics had such great teams. There is still no way Horry helps, neither Sam. They both won titles on teams STACKED with talent. SA, BOS, and LA? Horry was pretty good with the Lakers early on, but lacked strength to play with the bigger boys. Then he became a bench warmer that only really played in the playoffs. Regardless, they could not produce enough to get the Rockets over the hump those years alone. Bring on Charles and move Robert back to SF and there is an argument. There was not enough chemistry to get those guys going that year, I don't know why. The team went anemic and had major problems they thought Charles would fill. Your not getting out of the late 90's west with Bob, Clyde, Dream, and Sam Cassell as 4 of your starting 5. It was not as strong as Seattle, no way we were going to beat them with that squad until after Kemp burned out in 98~99. Utah was a machine, I won't name their hated players but that squad was equal to or better than the Rockets every year after the rings. Hakeem Playoff Numbers (When it actually counts) Year Team Lg G Min Pts PPG FGM FGA FGP 1995-96 HOU NBA 8 329 179 22.4 75 147 .510 1996-97 HOU NBA 16 629 370 23.1 147 249 .590 1997-98 HOU NBA 5 190 102 20.4 39 99 .394 1998-99 HOU NBA 4 123 53 13.3 23 54 .426 ORB DRB TRB RPG AST APG STL BLK 1995-96 17 56 73 9.1 31 3.9 15 17 1996-97 46 128 174 10.9 54 3.4 33 41 1997-98 9 45 54 10.8 12 2.4 5 16 1998-99 5 24 29 7.3 2 0.5 5 3 I'm too tired to post Clydes Playoff stats, too many spreadsheets today. Same results though, he had good numbers. But not good enough those years, he was NOT THE CLYDE DREXLER I grew up watching. Either he didn't have the drive or his age caught up with him. I'm not talking about the Clyde you see on TV. I don't know who that guy is. I'm talking the dude that would light the arena on fire or break an opponents will with the glyde dunk. That guy was there in 1995 and I never saw him again. Flashes but never the same. Chuck is a Hall of Fame Player, Robert and Sam are not. It was that simple back then, and it is that simple now. Bad trades are things like Trevor Ariza.
i only know charles when he was with the phoenix suns. did not watch any of the rockets championships. no jordan to watch there. haha!
wasn't meaning to criticize tmoney, one of the best posters on the board. I was trying to mention that he actually read Clutch's interview. i'll go back and fix the response.
If that is all you remember?....... Really? That was was a 64win team who had the best record in the western conference! They went to the finals and lost to the team with the best record in the NBA.....the 72win Chicago Bulls! I know no one want's to get swept but that was a very good team. If you want to dwell on the sweep go ahead but I firmly believe the trade happened for PR motives. When your one year removed of a championship and your still one of the elite teams you tweak the roster you don't make drastic changes to the roster! They got swept......They got swept......They got swept......
Barkley had one good year with us!......That's it! He was a good rebounder.......but his Superstar years were behind him! Barkley was good for business but not good for the team! Olajuwon's numbers went down because Barkley clogged the paint! Regardless Barkley didn't bring any rings!.....nuff said!
Since joining Clutchfans the one thing that has baffled me was so many poster's hatred of the Barkley trade. I love Horry and Cassell, but we were not winning another championship with them. We were not beating Seattle with them. Barkley put the Rockets back among the elite. Save the vitriol for the Pippen acquisition. That's the one that set us back.
This is true, I looked at his numbers but I still like the trade. I'll admit that there might be some nostalgic no homo Barkley love from me. Chuck brought toughness which I value, hardheadedness that gets people thrown through windows. I like that. I wish I could put an unruly bar patron through a plate glass window at will. Barkley, Maxwell, and Artest are three of my favorite players. I'll defend anyone of them.
Where the hell does the idea that Barkley and Olajuwon couldn't play together come from anyway? The Rox were 38-11 in games where both of them played. That translates to a 62 win season if they play all 82 games (or put another way, tied for the 22nd best record of all time). If that is not working, I don't know what is. If you only look at games in which all of the big three played, they won at an .800 clip, which would be the 14th best team of all time. Only four of the teams with a better than .800 record didn't win the title.
I agree that was a great moment. I took my boys to the practice game that they have at the beginning of the season. Barkley was injured and didn't play that game or he got dressed at the half because of an injury. Anyway after the game all of the Rocket players went to a certain section and sign autographs. Barkley went to his section at the end of the 3rd quarter and started signing autographs and after the game when all of the other players had finished signing and went to the locker room Barkley was there for at least another 20 minutes making sure he signed autographs for everybody that was in line.
