You have to look at it relative to the expectations when he was drafted. He was supposed to be a franchise-player. A sure thing. There have been other number 1 picks with more futile careers (Kwame Brown springs to mind), but none with the same expectations that Sampson had. The combination of Olajuwon and Sampson should have made the Rockets a powerhouse team throughout the rest of the 80s. The failure of the Twin Towers after 1986 must be the biggest disappointment in Rockets history.
It was silly of you to compare Steve Harris to Von Wafer. They were completely different as players. Von was very aggressive with the ball and could knock down the three or take it hard to the basket. Steve Harris was a very timid player that took mainly mid-range jumpers. How old were you when Harris played for us? Did you actually see him play?
Sampson was fantastic for a few seasons but dam injury bug got him(Sigh) so not going to count him. When they traded for Eddie Griffin on draft day I was PUMPED, saw the kid play in College and thought he would be the next Kevin Garnett so yea he would be top of my list. I knew they had F'd up when they signed Cato to that stupid contract after a preseason game so not really suprising. I actually thought Randy Livingston would be a steal and turned out ok but not what I thought he would be. Pippen too, so much hype and anticipation but that season was SOOOOO fustrating, Pippen just never fit in at all. Griffin Pippen
I think it's because it would take a career like Jabbar's, Shaq's or Olajuwon's to equal the hype that Ralph came into the league with. I consider it disappointing in the fact that injuries ultimately cut it short. When you consider all that hype, anything less than multiple rings is probably disappointing whether it's his fault or not. But then I'm one of the folks who don't think he was as great as people make him out to be, either. As I think about this, there are 2 kind of disappointments : 1) The player just choked his career away : drugs, slacker, was an ass, etc. 2) Injuries or some other untimely demise caused him to never live up to expectations. Those saying Yao was a disappointment - I have to disagree. Many people thought he would be a 7 foot stiff and flop in the NBA because he never played against "real" competition. The hype Yao came in with was nothing like the hype Ralph came in with. People expected Ralph to be the next Wilt combined with a 7'4" Magic Johnson or something. With Yao people even said the Rockets blew it by drafting him instead of Jay Williams - he wasn't even a unanimous #1 that year whereas Ralph was heralded as a once-in-a-generation player.
durvasa, the 86 team got destroyed by drugs. If Sampson never got hurt, who knows, but we know it wasn't his fault for the injury in Boston. Those other dudes did drugs, no Celtics ever forced them to do them.
Who is the most disappointing Rockets player that gets paid the most? Tracy McGrady by a landslide. Period.
you might come off as a Tracy hater, but this is legit and you can put Yao and Tmac in the same boat. Do you remember when Magic Johnson said we're the next Kobe/Shaq when we were up 2-0 on the Mavs? Not being able to get past the 1st round till last year, truly disappointing
The problem is, The Rockets unwritten franchise tag has been placed on Tracy McGrady until last season.
Because there is only one left block...and all three superstars were most comfortable there. Not that any of them are on the level of a Griffen, Sleepy Floyd for Joe Barry Carroll (Sampson was still considered a top tier talent at the time of the trade..and we got...), but I always expected more out of our hired guns. For some reason I always thought they would have a little more juice in the tank. Here's my list: 1. Purvis Short - He was a 20 point man for 5 years before he joined the Rox..then he washed up. He had the sweetest jump shot I've ever seen. 2. World B Free - completely washed up when he came to the Rox to play with Purvis Short, Joe barry Carroll, Sleepy Floyd, Buck Johnson and the rest of the stellar crew. 3. Mike Woodson - Looked like he had plenty of game.. coming from the Clips...but proved to be just another bomber on a bad team. 4. Glen Rice - Purvis Short revisited 5. Walt Williams - The Wizard - he just never..well...he just seemed to enjoy life.
Ralph Samson is a very good player. His last second shot elevated the Rockets to the 1986 NBA Finals. Dream and Ralph made up the Twin Towers. They were well known throughout the NBA. The Twin Towers were the 1-2 punch to lead to the first championship in Houston. You need to look at that team in the mid 80's. It was a great team and extremely talented. I understand most of you were not fans of the Rockets at this time. So you would not understand the excitement and expectations of Rocket Fans. You need to really look at the team. Then, you may realize the Rockets of the eighties should have made more than one appearance in the NBA Finals. That is a disapointment. Some of you do not want to include a player with injuries for the all-time disapointing Rocket. Injuries will always be a major factor to determine a player's success. How many players would be in the Basketball the Hall of Fame if it were not for injuries? If we are going to throw out injuries, then we cannot include McGrady, Barkley, Francis and many other players who did not live up the level of fan's expectations. Injuries are out of the player's control. However, an injured player will lead to disapointment.
Steve Harris was a gunner off the bench and was supposed to provide the same spark for us that Von would later. You're right Von is probably better than Steve was but I remember some good games from HArris too. As for your last question... I have been a die hard since 1981 when I was 8. So, yes I rememer well those mid 80's teams and all of their players. My handle should give you some clue as to my knowledge of Houston sports in the 80's. Steve Harris was not really a bust. I think I remember him being a late first round pick. He wasn't even the best player on that Tulsa team - that was Paul Pressey.
I'm not trying to blame him for what happened. But his career was still a major disappointment for a guy with so much hype entering the league.
Who had high hopes for the Wizard? I remember him as just a tall guy who liked to shoot threes. Looking back on the post-Dream, pre-Yao days our teams were actually pretty crappy. Its funny how we had this false hope that all those guys were young and would naturally just get better. I mean Kelvin Cato, Walt Williams, Moochie, Glen Rice (Washed up version), Shandon Anderson, Carlos Rogers, Joaquin Hawkins, Oscar Torres Yuck...
