I think that the Rockets are not attracting any fans to the games because the current team lacks likeable personalities (except for Cuttino and Francis). Francis has been hurt lately and people know this, so they don't show up. Think about when the Rockets sold out all those games from 95-99. We had Barkley, Dream, and Clyde. Three unique and distinct personalities. Not only did they have unique personalities, they all had different game styles..Barkley the low post, Dream with the shakes, and Clyde with the slashing. This year's unit pretty much plays the same way (Except for Cato, he just doesn't play). We didn't get any championships with Barkley, but we got some great quotes and the guy played hard. Even before Barkley, the Rockets had the likeable group with distinct personalities such as Mario Elie -The Junkyard Dog, Sam I am (people here still love this guy), Kenny (now the Jet) Smith, Carl 'Amigo' Herrera, Vernon (MAD) Maxwell, and Robert (the girls love him) Horry. Notice how people wore Barkley, Dream, even Cassell, Maxwell, and Horry Jerseys. Now, people just wear Steve's. Lets look at this year's group. Steve -The Man and main attraction Cuttino -kinda Vernon like Moochie -his hair is better than his game Glen Rice -people think he's a bust Cato -no one will buy a Cato jersey Kenny Thomas -plays hard but isn't the lovable Carl Herrera Eddie Griffin - Say something man! Mo Taylor - has an image of being 'soft' What do you guys think?
The fans are not coming because first of all, tickets prices are too high for the average fan and second of all, face it; the product on the court just isn't worth watching right now. I don't believe the personalities on this team are any worse than a lot of personalities on other teams that are drawing much more.
