<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GSH7nFW9X_8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> "I'll be happy to play with Maxwell, one of the SEC boys, and Otis Thorpe" young Robert Horry with the Rockets <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HkQNEJ2as-4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I remember that night like it was yesterday. I was listening on the radio and I was hoping for Harold Minor and I remember just waiting for the paper to hear more about this kid I knew nothing about.
Harold Miner was his nickname, Baby Jordan was his real name. Remember Horry's sweet 17 foot bank shot his first few seasons. He dropped it or radically reduced it after year 2 or 3.
Craig Sager :grin: They nailed Horry's strengths (outside shooting, shot blocking) and weakness (intensity). Horry treated the entire regular seasons as a pre-season but then came to play in the playoffs.
I remember that a lot of fans were upset when we picked Horry and I was one of them. But it all worked out for the best.
I was semi excited with the Rox made that pick. I remember a dunk he did in college as 1 of his highlights that made me optimistic about his potential.
That summer in 92 the future turned bright for Houston. Hakeem got his problems with Charlie Thomas fixed and stayed and now its save to say with Horry the Rockets select the best player available at 11.
I loved Horry...I remember for half a season he'd do a head wobble in an opponents face after a dunk.
Spoon was a solid player. Because of his size and the team that drafted him he instantly got the Barkley comparison. Still he had multiple seasons where he came clse to 20/10 status. By the time Brown got to Philly they moved Spoon over at the 3 and that hurt his game. After that failure he was on the other side of 30 and never the same player.
Don't forget with every year he advanced in age, his neck grew shorter. I think that was also a primary reason of his decline.
Horry had a great career, but I feel like he could have been so much better than what he became. When he came into the league, he was so versatile even though people now only remember him for his clutch 3s. I'm sure he is happy with how his career played out, but I will always think that he had some unrealized potential.