I agree with your feelings ZRB but you do take your opinion of Olajuwon too far. You are the PETA of Olajuwon support. This is however the darkest day in Houston sports history and the article says it all.
So, in essence, he is saying that Olajuwon won't help us reach the finals in the next two years, he's been oft-injured, we'll keep our young nucleus together, we got a pair of draft picks and we have a trade exception that could easily turn into a young serviceable big man. He also essentially said that keeping Olajuwon meant giving up the draft picks, Taylor, Anderson, the exception and the chance of signing a young serviceable big man. And he wonders why we did it? I can live with it.
It's funny how Dream asks to be traded, and suddenly their are a segment of Rocket fans who are suddenly agreeing with the national media about the demise of the Rockets and agreeing with the media who say that the Rockets are a lottery team. The same people who came to the Rockets defense are the same people who are turning on them, and doubting them, and agreeing with EVERY negative thing the media writes about in light of Dream leaving. I bet these will be the same people jumping on the bandwagon when the Rockets get to the playoffs next year. Remember, these are the same writers who claimed the Rockets weren't going to do anything WHEN we had Dream, now they act like we were world beaters and blew it when we lost him. Oh well. The funny thing is he says "look how much the Knicks missed Ewing", they didn't miss Ewing, they had the 4 seed in the East without Ewing. Van Gundy's refusal to use a running game is what hurt the Knicks, who are a better team without the slow, plodding, injury prone Ewing to slow them down.
Most of the interest in Hakeem came from the East, who have no true dominant centers. That is why the Todd MacCulloughs and Nazr Mohammeds receive so much attention and money. Like the writer said even with Olajuwon at center the Rockets would have a tough time in the playoffs because it is the West. So a 3 year $13-17 million guaranteed contract for a 38 year old center who has missed at least 20% of the games the past 4 years is a brillant move for the Raptors and a huge folly for the Rockets? The Rockets made some mistakes this season with Hakeem but they have done everything to change the situation (more PT, additional years and money for his contract, holding off on renouncing him or talking to other FAs) for him, and that is showing disrespect?
Obviously Ewing must have SOME game left because I wasn't the one comparing the situations, it was this writer. And how do we know Dream has anything left after ANOTHER season of pounding that saw him fall to the wayside again near the end of the season? We're talking about a guy who went from averaging 18 points a game in 1999 to around 10 ppg in 99-00. The guy is getting older, slower, more banged up, and more injury prone, and a lot more expensive.
Hehe, they say we'll go after Olden "You're Under Arrest" Polynice. Nice to see them write off a 24 year old PF. It's truly Francis' turn. Whether or not he can be the Franchise will be seen, but delaying his time won't help the future either.
