Which Rockets team was your favorite? (sans championship years)

This...and not even close.

 

1976-1977 - Malone's first year, Newlin, Tomjanovich, Murphy, Lucas' rookie year, etc....Newlin made what I consider one of the greatest defensive plays I have ever seen a guard make in the playoffs that season.

 

2008-2009.

 

Post title years. Barkley's first year and 04-05.

 

this. fascinating cast of players that fit together in a way that made them a real threat to win the title that year.

 

This. That team was so fun to watch with all the veterans gelling late in the year (Jon Barry, bobby Sura, David Wesley, mike james)... Really thought that squad was good enough to go the distance had we not lost juwan Howard (lol I can't believe I just typed that) late in the year.

 

Yeah 08-09 team was very good and 1 of my fav as well. Like you said, Yao was a very good centerpiece. Scola was very good. Had defensive bully Ron Artest. The tough Carl Landry. I miss that team.

 

Yeah, that was a great run, losing game 7 to the Lakers in the second round. A hard fought, if uneven effort by the Rockets. Although Yao's injury dimmed most of the good feelings about making progress, I still felt like we had accomplished something. Had we done anything remotely similar last season in the playoffs, I would have been a satisfied man.

 

It's 08-09 for me, and then the Ralph Sampson finals team after that.

As a matter of fact, that 08 team is one of the reasons I joined CF (09/08).

 

After 1993-4 team...nothing really until 2015

 

Other than the Championship years of course it would be the 2000 - 2001 season. The Rockets missed the playoffs by 2 games but it was one of the most exciting seasons the Rockets have had. We were lob city at the time. With scrappy player like Carlos Rogers. I remember all Cato points coming off lobs. Every game Franchise did something spectacular that you never seen before. And we still had the Greatest Rocket off all time the Dream.

 

mine were the ones with ron artest he was the reason i started following rockets.

 

I believe that was the year we also lost Lloyd-Wiggins to coke. We were winning at a good clip too until that happened.

 

YOU REALLY HAD THE POINT! I LIKED THAT SQUAD VERY MUCH! MISS THEM ALL! THOSE PLAYERS WITH A ROCKET HEART!

 

We lost them during the next season, 32 games in. John Lucas was lost during the '85-'86 season, all 3 for the same thing, coke. With Sampson's injury, the loss of Lucas, Lloyd, Wiggins, and essentially Sampson (who was never the same after the Boston series), put paid to a nascent dynasty. The media thought that Houston would be in the Finals and winning championships for the next decade. It was not to be. As lucky as we've been to get players like Malone and Dream, Murphy and Rudy T, and a host of other guys, we've had more than our share of bad luck.

 

1996/1997

Barkley, Bullard, Clyde, Elie, Othella, Eddie Johnson, Charles Jones, Hakeem, Willis

...Kevin Willis was fun to watch if you were too young to know him.

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ok

Ok thanks. It was a long time ago. I remember we were winning a lot of games until that happened.

 

Seen it mentioned a couple times and I will add to it. My favorite non championship Rockets team is the 97-97 squad. Before the season we make the huge trade for Barkley to add to Hakeem and Clyde. All three were on the wrong side of 30, but still had game for sure. Willis was a beast that season and the following season and Elie was still around from the championship squad. We were weak at the point with Maloney and Brent Price but that team still finished top 3 in the west, took out a young T'Wolves team in the first round with Garnett and Marbury, exercised their Sonices demons by finally knocking them out of the playoffs before ultimately falling to the Jazz in the WCF (still a top 3 most heartbreaking sports moment for me).

The shame is that we were so close to finally getting that Jordan/Olajuwon finals. Even if we lost it I wish we could have seen that because not many things piss me off more than people brushing aside the back to back championships with Jordan wasn't there or he only just came back for the end of 94-95. Would have loved a chance to knock off the all mighty Jordan in the finals.

 

'92-'93.. Prime Hakeem trumps all and since champ squads aren't an option.
HM- '08-'09.. gritty team with plenty talent. Injuries did us in.
Too young to remember anything 80's, but I imagine Twin Towers would've been fun to see. Hakeem's athletic + super talented Sampson