Yah but your failing to keep in mind the basis of the argument. I referenced Howards accomplishments as a pick n roll big man...without any help in forms of PG or SG of note. To show how much more dangerous he would be with a super star in Harden. Lakers were a GREAT team... the best in the league that year...crushed everyone. Also had a great coach who focused on Howard. If you have Harden and Howard you cant focus on either. This allows for much more one on one for both of them...where they are deadly. We have seen Harden limited...as good as he is. By proper defensive schemes. ALL of which were designated around trapping around the picks and double teaming the drive. Forcing him to shoot going left. There are only so many players on the court at once. SOOO If you roll with Lin Harden Parsons Smith Howard you cannot double team anyone really. All effective enough offensive players to take advantage of the match up (unlike asik and or PF rotation today) If the defense doubles up on harden at the PNR that leaves Howard an elite finisher rolling to the basket one on one against a help defender (advantage howard) If defenses double up on Howard on the roll (LIKE LA DID) that leaves Harden able to go one on one with either the SG or the bigger help defender. (advantage harden) If they double to trap harden and double the roll with howard. That leaves Smith and either lin or parsons completely wide open depending on how the defense chooses to double. At this point who ever receive the Ball first makes a strong move and either draws the last defender and takes him one on one (advantage parsons or lin or smith ) OR takes one extra pass to a completely wide open man with no chance of the defense to close out. Advantage...dang thats a bad a offense.
Barkley was WAY past his prime. Howard is still in it. Pippen also had a skillset unbecoming of our system, and he had an attitude due to drinking Jordans tainted nectar.
Just because you think it may happen one way doesn't necessarily mean it will.... The only good think that will come out of landing Howard is that Morey would be on the gas to trade Parsons, Asik, and definitely Lin to try to land LMA or Love so our SG and PF can carry Howard to a championship. Howard and Smith ____ No flipping way...
Well why didn't the GM who traded championship winning players for Barkley consider that...??? My point was that GMs don't always make the best decisions (and neither do fans)...
I think that was a push by the owner because he got championship hungry. Had we won our 3rd in a row no one would be complaining about that.
The Rockets were a better team after trading spare parts for Barkley than they were before. The fact that they didn't win a title after doesn't mean it wasn't a good decision or a good trade.
Sam and Big Shot spare parts...??? Okay... And the fact they didn't win a title doesn't mean it wasn't a good decision...??? Okay...
That's possible about the owner... Hard for me to say because of ridiculous moves made after that by the same GM (Kato for example)... And we didn't win a third championship so that means people are free to complain about it...
They were absolutely a better team in 1997 than they were in 1996. I don't think there's any question about that. In 1996, they won 48 games and they got their ass handed to them by the Sonics in the second round. In 1997, they won 57 games and beat those Sonics in the second round finally losing in 6 games in the Western Conference Finals.
Man you are just looking at one global list. And that list the GAWC has the worst criteria for identifying "global cities". Look at some of those ranks. If you want a real global list, look at Foreign Policy. Houston is a beast of a city. Houston's GDP is closing in on double that of Miami and Atlanta, for example, and growing at a faster percentage than both. I can go on and on with this. But ite clear people underestimate Houston. There is a reason why Yao's people didn't mind the rockets drafting him versus what happened with Yi. Howard would do just fine hear. Houston is a low key but major important ass city.
You can't judge a move solely on whether it won you a championship. Very few teams win titles but most teams still make good moves more often than they win a title.
Do you think Howard cares about Houston's GDP or how well the medical industry is doing here? I'm not saying he won't end up picking Houston, but IF he makes a choice based on wanting to be in primetime, sexy city-ville it won't be here.
People way overrate winning a "chip" these days. In the 90s and earlier people knew how to enjoy a team and appreciate enjoyable sports, recognize improvement and accomplishment regardless of whether a title was won. Not sure when the whole "if the team doesn't win a title the season was a waste" mentality actually set in, but I loved every minute of the Rockets teams growing up even in the years they weren't winning a title. I sure would have liked them to win every year, but that doesn't mean every move that was made in years they didn't win was a bad one and all those seasons were a waste of time.
Horry never even had a PER of 15 his entire NBA career and never averaged double figures after leaving Houston. He was a good role player, but those don't win you rings unless you have superstars around them. Hakeem was capable of elevating the supporting cast to a championship level in the early-to-mid 90s, but by the late 90s, he was on a downward slide and the Rockets had to try and bring in other stars to be a serious contender. Cassell did develop into a very good PG by 2000 or so, but he wasn't the caliber of player to lift Clyde/Hakeem in their final years to a contending level. That's why the '96 team was swept in the second round. Then, with Barkley, the '97 team went deep into the WCF and came within two games from the NBA Finals. If Clyde hits his shot in Game 6, who knows? The '97 Rockets didn't win a title. But unlike the prior year's version, they were a serious contender, and the acquisition of another All-Star talent had a lot to do with it. One team out of 29 wins a title every year. If you have to win a title in order for a decision to be good, then the other 28 teams are all idiots. I think that's a little silly.
