I know this question has been asked before, but after that ESPN Classic presentation, I feel compelled to ask it again. Which championship did you like better: '94 against New York and Ewing, or '95 against Orlando and O'Neal? There are such compelling arguments for both: in '94 Hakeem finally beat the player that stopped him from winning it all in college (Ewing) in a decisive game, and Hakeem won MVP, Defensive Player, and Finals MVP. In '95 Clyde Drexler returned and helped complete what he and Hakeem left unfinished in college, and they became one of the few teams ever to sweep the opposing team out of the finals. Hakeem also destoyed MVP David Robinson in the Western Conference Finals. It's really close, but I pick '95 because of Drexler's return (uh, check the username...). Hakeem is of course my second favorite player.
The first was the most important...To Houston. They won for Oiler fans, Astro fans and Rocket fans. It was a championship shared by all. Eased the pain of years of disapointments. Ended a twenty year plus battle for Houston sports recognition. All Houstonians were champions that year...
absolutely the first one for me. After all the heartaches following the self perceived cursed teams of Houston (Oilers, Rockets, Astros, Cougars)... the Rockets redeemed the self-worth of Houston's sports fans, or at least mine!
First, Ewing didn't beat Olajuwon in college. That game was decided by Georgetown's power forward (I forget his name, but he washed out later) who was all over the weak side and the Cougs had nobody to play him. It was essentially 2-on-1 in the paint. That guy was the difference maker for Gtown, not Ewing. Second, it's impossible for me to decide. I don't think we beat the Knicks without OT and I don't think we get past Utah without Drexler. Both were sweet. And speaking of the first one: Sports Illustrated can blow me! I still haven't forgiven them or forgotten the feeling I had when my copy arrived with a freaking soccer player on the cover. Man, I had waited my whole childhood and young adulthood for an SI cover with Earl or Scott or Moses representing a championship for Houston and now there was finally going to be one with Dream. What a letdown. I cancelled and will never again subscribe.
I remember that. It was Tony Meola laying on the pitch. heheh, i used a soccer term. i think some country scored on us. anyhoo. i couldnt find that cover over on cnnsi.com.
We really booed that SI guy the next year during that celebration at the Summit. I remember on TV, when asked for comparison, Dream said that it was like comparing his children. He couldn't rate one over the other.
I hafta vote for '95, not because of the finals but because of the Western Conference playoffs. Phoenix with Barkley saying, "A champion won't die, you hafta kill 'em." Robinson winning the NBA MVP award, yet Dream teaching him how to play the game. By the time we got to the finals, winning was just a technicality. We defended the '94 crown incredibly well! Oh, and besides, the '95 championship partying was much better organized than the '94 celebrations.
I have to go with 94, because it was cool to see the Rockets wipe the smug sense of entitlement off the faces of all those arrogant New Yorkers. Also, the Knicks were sore losers, with some of them still claiming that they were a better team after the Rocks closed out game 7. At least Orlando was humble about their loss and said nothing, but good things about Hakeem and the Rockets afterwards.
'95- you have to love the underdog. Sixth seed. Never had home court. Punked the Jazzholes in Utah. Kiss.............. of............... Death. Bamboozled MVP. Nick the Brick. Swept Shaq. Clyde got his. The second one was just so much more memorable.
Absolutely impossible to decide.. they were both sweet for their own reasons. 94- the inspiring team play and tenacity of that team to wipe the smug "we're gonna win it all" attitude from the NY players and media..and seeing that little t*rd Starks go like 0 for 300 in game 7... I just saw this one the other night..that 3 from MadMax was awesome.. 95- Finally seeing Clyde in his proper uniform for that series was just too sweet for words.. The education of Robinson..and the grand sweep of the Magic..
i went to ALL of the home playoff games in 94, except for the Clippers' series...i was an intern at the houston chronicle that summer, and had the privilege of escorting robert horry up to the stage for a pep rally the chronicle held for the rockets in Jones Plaza....i worked primarily on the whole believe it campaign the chronicle carried out... i went only to the final championship game in 95... but 95 was the most amazing run of any team i've ever seen in my life. in 94, even though it was our first, the championship was not unexpected... it was unexpected in 95...falling down 3-1 to phoenix with two of the remaning games on the road...and the way they pulled out that 7th game...unbelievable...and then hakeem's dominance overe robinson after he got the mvp trophy.... the second title validated the first....it was so unexpected coming from the 6th seed...it was a great story, even outside of houston...so much so that there was some talk that there would be a movie about that run....apparently a few scripts were written, but ultimately never picked up on. the day after the 95 championship i was with my father....he said something i'll never forget, "there's almost a sense of sadness that it's all over. i'm so glad we won...but i get the feeling i'll never see anything in pro sports like that ever again." AGREED!!!
I most thouroughly enjoyed the Knicks losing! I was living in Mexico City and proudly wore my bright red Rockets shirt to the bar!
I have to go with 95, I remember the way that they beat Utah after being down 2-1 in round one on the road that was great. I also liked the way that our 3-point shooters lit up Orlando after being down 20 points at half-time. It was all good do you guys remember the Horry blocks and Ellie dunks? Those were memorable things, then you have Dream hitting that 3 to close out game 4, 7 steals for Horry setting a finals record it was a memorable year after all of the injuries especially. So far it has been our last one two hopefully a certain point-guard can help us get back to that level it will be a good time again if that does indeed come to pass.
95' The first one was getting a monkey off our backs, and that was sweet. The second one was history making in so many ways, and I think was so much more remarkable. Clyde coming back, the turmoil, no Power Forward, Maxwell going nuts, the 6th seed, being down to Utah and Phoenix with Barkeley telling the media to bring their golf clubs. Hakeem putting on one of the greatest playoff displays in modern basketball history, and who would have thought that the Rockets Championship run would have been topping two teams that won over 60 games, one the won 59, and sweeping the top team in the Eastern Conference (which won 57 games). People didn't think the Rockets would get past Utah or even take them to 5 games. Houston entered every series the underdog. Finally, it game Houston back-to-back and made their first championship more then a fluke. I believe that 95 team would have been the greatest challenge to the bulls second dynasty if Hakeem and Clyde hadn't begun to age so quickly afterwards. It's really too bad we never got to see a Rockets Bulls finals in 96. The Houston team that got swept in 96 just wasn't the same team that won it all in '95.
Heh. I remember reading about that. There were rumors of trying to get Will Smith to play Robert Horry and John Travolta as Rudy Yeah, that pretty much sums up my feeling about it. It's funny because I sometimes talk to people not from Houston about how magical that whole run was, and they just can't seem to grasp it. It's like Rudy said in that documentary the other night, if you tell people about that run, they'll say it might make a good movie but it just doesn't happen in real life. But yet it did happen and that's what so @!#$ing cool about it.
for once, I am going to have to AGREE! It was summer of '94. I was visiting New York City for the first time. A whole bunch of families from Texas were there cheering for Houston in a bar in the middle of midtown. you should have seen us! we were about to be lynched. thepolice were waiting outside the streets with riot gear(the Rangers had just won the Cup and NY wanted to go nuts) UNFORTUNATLEY, WE RAINED ON THEIR PARADE that was when I knew I wanted to be an arrogant New Yorker
Much like World War I and World War II, I don't think you can think of the two championships as separate entities. They feed off one another. While the '94 championship got the monkey off our back, there were lingering whispers that it was a fluke. The second championship bolstered the first one and showed it was legit. The second run was magical, coming from behind, finally gelling at just the right time to pull out some tight games against top-shelf competition until we finally peaked in the Finals and just embarassed the Magic. But, it wouldn't have had that same air of a Shakespearean tragic hero -- the great man who falls due to his own tragic flaw but then redeems himself before his final demise -- without having the first championship to establish the character of the team. Without the first one, it would just be some team that turned on the jets at the right moment. As it stood, it was a great team that lost its identity and its chemistry only to find it in the nick of time.
Anti, The greatest time in my life! To shut up all of the Bulls fans made it the best. Just wished the Bulls came to the Finals instead. Sweeping them would have invalidated the first three rings! I could have died the next day, content!
The first one by far was the greater championship for the City of Houston. Although the second one had more exciting individual performances by certain players; like Kenny Smith 7 three pointers in game one. Simply unbelievable!
