The TEAM didn't FIT together very well as the championship years' team did. Chuck and Dream worked in the same spot on the low block. Barkley and Drexler BOTH needed the ball to play at their best. PLUS the point was weakened by the loss of Sam. With all the rule changes over the years IDK how good 96-97 team would be in today's NBA. Where BOTH championship teams would still be fomatable (if there was a time machine).
The big three, when all playing, had a 31-8 record (.795). Over a full season, that would be the 16th best team of all time. The only teams that had a better winning percentage that didn't win the championship were: 1973 Boston Celtics (Lost in 7 to Champion NYK in ECF) 2007 Dallas Mavericks (Lost in 6 to GSW in first round) 1947 Washington Capitols (Lost in 6 to Chicago Stags in first round) 2009 Cleveland Cavaliers (Lost in 6 to Orlando in ECF) 1950 Syracuse Nationals (Lost in 6 to Champion LAL in Finals) Hard to make an argument that the 96-97 Rockets were not a championship caliber team. The only teams with a better record that didn't either win the championship or lose to the eventual champs were the Cleveland LeBrons, the Mavs in that 8 seed 1 seed upset series, and the Washington Capitols in 1947.
For real, that team when healthy was a dominant force. We started the season like 22-3 or something until the injuries started kicking in. Also, it didn't help we had fossils on the bench such as Sedale Threat and company. That game 6, our bench let the Jazz come back into the game to start the 4th. We had something like a 12 point lead and with the starters on the bench Stockton and company came roaring back. People forget the run Utah had in order to just get to the point of Stockton hitting that 3. Our biggest weakness on that team (the bench) was our achilles heel **** THE JAZZ
The first month of the 96-97 season was the most exciting time in the history of clutchfans (then clutchcity.com) - Barkley was a rebounding beast and the team started off something like 21-2 and one of those losses was in 2OT. I thought we would dominate at that pace for the whole season (which didn't quite happen...). That Jazz series was something else...probably my all time favorite Rockets win and all time least favorite loss happened in the span of a few days. Anyway, it'd be really really great if the Rockets could get back to at least the WCF - The last time the Rockets made it to the WCF (in 97), the number one song in America was....MMMBop and the number one movie was....The Lost World: Jurassic Park
A lot of you guys complaining about the 1996-97 team (and the Barkley trade in general) don't remember how mediocre the Rockets were in both the 94-95 and 95-96 regular seasons. After the 1994 season, teams pretty much figured out what the Rockets were going to do on offense. Didn't mean they could always stop it, simply because Hakeem was so great, but the book was definitely out on them. The Clyde trade helped keep them afloat as the rest of the team floundered to the finish (esp with Hakeem missing some games)... and the team just caught absolute fire in the playoffs (with Robert Horry playing out of his mind both offensively AND defensively being a big part of that). The 1995-96 team was far more disappointing than the 96-97 one. They coasted, at times, during games/regular season thinking they could just "turn it on" come playoff time (as they had the year before). Horry was very inconsistent, Kenny Smith was in a sharp decline (and probably should have been benched for good in favor of Cassell), and they still couldn't figure out how to beat Seattle... a problem they had since 92-93. Hence the trade... hence the need for a change. Even with the championship in 1995, that was still an underachieving #6 seeded team that played its best when it mattered most, but was unable of sustaining that level over an entire season thanks to inconsistent players on the roster.
The 1995-96 team was plagued with injuries though. Even by Rockets standards, that bunch was just snake bit. Clyde had knee surgery. Sam had elbow surgery. Elie had that horrific spill and shattered his wrist in Denver when Jalen Rose undercut him. And to make matters worse, Kenny Smith was washed up by then and even lost his job briefly to Eldridge Recasner. I recall one game where 4 or 5 guys in the starting lineup were CBA castoffs. This wasn't some scrub NBA team on pace for 15 wins. We're talking the 2-time defending champs being forced to send out a starting five where their best player was Sam Mack. Frankly I think it's a minor miracle they beat the Lakers in Round 1 and even got to the series with the Sonics. As for the Barkley trade, some have retroactively trashed that move since the Rockets failed to win a title with him. But I'll defend that trade til my last breath. They had to do something in order to deal with the Sonics. They'd lost 13 in a row to that team before the 1996-97 season. Think about that. 13 straight losses! And considering they just barely beat them in the playoffs in 1997, I'd say getting Barkley was a wise decision. Yes, losing Horry and Cassell took away some of the edge we had over the Jazz, but keep in mind that Utah won 64 games that season. As much as it pains me to say it, the Rockets just weren't as good as them. Even if Stockton hadn't hit that 3-pointer at the buzzer in Game 6, I never really thought they stood a chance at winning Game 7 on the road in that arena.
Agreed on both counts. Even the 94-95 championship team had to resort to castoffs like Chilcutt and Chucky Brown to play significant minutes. Robert Horry's inconsistency was a big factor in the eventual Barkley trade... the Rockets thought he would have finally "gotten it" after the 1995 playoff run, but he once again only showed up in the playoffs (amazing 4th quarter in that elimination game against Seattle). Little did they know he would do that the rest of his career. Also, there's no way they beat Seattle with Sam/Horry. Just like the Rockets could never figure out how to beat them without Barkley, the Sonics could never figure out how to beat/contain Barkley (either when he was with the Suns, or with the Rockets).
I've been thinking about this season a bit lately as well. Pour big three didn't quite gel as well as you'd have hoped, but they were still tough to beat. It was a fun time to be a Rockets fan and we were so close to heading to the finals...where I think we would have won. Barkley might not have been in the best shape when he played for us but when it counted he gave as much as he had to give. Let's hope the current team gives us some memories that are even better!
It's not really hard to make that argument at all. Regular season record over half a season is not that compelling. It took them 7 games to dispatch a Seattle team that was nothing compared to the ones that gave the Rockets trouble previous to that. The series against Utah was not really close despite the CF conventional wisdom (none of the games in Utah were close). Is it really far-fetched to say that a Matt Maloney led team was not championship caliber?
this was my first season following the rockets during their playoff run. stockton's shot was just dreadful especially after ej's shot in game 4. utah was the better team because of the refs :grin: and seriously their bench.Eisley, foster, and anderson were better than whatever we had on our bench. that series loss was worse than the 2007 game 7 loss to the jazz and schaub's pick 6s. new era, must make it back and make this clutch city again.
That Seattle team was just as dangerous as the ones from before... finished with 57 wins, Kemp/Payton in their primes, Detlef/Hawkins still capable. I guess Perkins and McMillan weren't as good, but they still had enough to beat a Rockets team with Cassel/Horry. And if you're saying the PG's "led" the team to the championship, I guess Kenny Smith "led" the Rockets to title in 94 and 95. Also, game 5 in Utah was close, and the Rockets should have won.
That's true, I do. I remember Clyde modeling them and trying to say nice things. I never felt more sorry for him than I did then. It was at that moment I knew we were screwed.
Championship team, no... ugliest? I would have to say the Bucks' that came out around the same time with that huge buck on the front or the first Raptors jersey. I actually thought the pinstripe jerseys were cool when they came out because I was in grade school and I loved the cartoonish logo.
I'd take every other starter on that team over the current squad, even though they had lots of miles in the tank. Hakeem > Dwight Glide > Beard Barkley >>> TJones Elie > Parsons (consistent defense + 3s) And I'd take Trex-arms Willis over Asik or Monte as far as a bench big. Really the only thing the current squad has is at PG, and Beverly / Lin isn't exactly a dominant unit.
