<a href="http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/bk/bkn/918568">Hometown discount unsavory to Hakeem</a> Hakeem implies he would not sign with the Rockets if they renounce him for the cap room. THEN, and this kills me, he implies we're ready to win it all right now. This team, we started too late playing for the playoffs," said Olajuwon, who was speaking at the Dream Foundation's annual scholarship awards ceremony. "We should put the same team together. And if we do, we would surprise people. I believe that strongly. We have all the ingredients. Nothing is missing on our team. We don't go into the season looking to get into the playoffs. We go in believing we can win it all. That's the mindset. This team is set to win it all. That's the challenge." Yeah... we have all the ingredients alright. Everything except a frontcourt, and has Dream turned on the TV to see the Western Conference Finals lately? The second he signed an agent he was gone. ------------------ NOTHING BUT .NET CLUTCHCITY.NET
Barring something unusual, I got this one right. Mango ------------------ Get it right or just don't do it! Resistance is futile....you will be assimilated. Start more Webber threads!
Bye bye. Gotta move foreward. ------------------ "Chucky who? I thought we were talking about basketball?" Charles Barkley
Oh wait, there's still a chance. The Rockets could lose all of their other free agents and retain Dream. hahahahaha. The Rockets, I guess, could pull off signs & trades to retain Dream. His arrogance though suggests that he'll go for Fegan's brilliant logic as well: sign for far less than your own team is willing to pay. Way to go Fegan! Fiduciary trust is for people that don't understand your world of numbers!! ------------------ women love me, fish fear me.
Achebe & Clutch et al, Does Dream and his agent realize that the teams in the playoffs are lacking in cap space to take Dream on at the money he is looking for? Mango ------------------ Get it right or just don't do it! Resistance is futile....you will be assimilated. Start more Webber threads! [This message has been edited by Mango (edited May 22, 2001).]
Bye bye. I will miss him. If he leaves and does not win another championship then he is making a mistake. ------------------ Fuggetabout it
Man, I knew when he signed with Fegan that it was bad news. That snake must have "put the moves" on the Dream. Poured a little poison in his ear. Either Hakeem wants his money and wants to stay, which means playing on an also-ran, or he simply knows (as I have suspected) that his demands cannot be met and he will sign for the exception with Orlando or Miami (I would say the former; didn't Doc Rocket hint that Orlando is gonna deal for Toni Davis, [not Webber?]) We have other options I suppose, and we have to move forward with young players, but it's kinda sad that it comes down to Hakeem trying to force the organization's hand. I'll hate to see him in another uniform. Does anybody have Nate Huffman's cell phone number? ------------------
Mango, I've been wondering if he truly cares. His actions seem like that of a 'road paver'. He's paving his way right out of town. ------------------ women love me, fish fear me.
Bye hakeem , thanks for the nice ride. You are always a rocket. Time to hit the road and lose somewhere. ------------------ "Break off the block like Maurice Green" --- Steve Francis President of the Moochie Norris fan club.
Achebe, How will people react to this situation compared to Dream's demands for a trade/release to join the Heat back at mid-season? Will there still be a strong vocal Pro-Dream contingent or will they be muted? Mango ------------------ Get it right or just don't do it! Resistance is futile....you will be assimilated. Start more Webber threads!
Do I smell Washington??? First, Jordan, then Barkely, then the #1 pick. Could Dream be next? I definitely smell a rat! ------------------ The internet is about the free exchange and sale of other people's ideas. - Futurama
Great question/point Mango. I think that most people will lose respect for Dream. Noone will say anything vocal, for the sheer shame of speaking ill of an icon. Unfortunately, there won't be anything nice to say either. IMO, it will be very, very quiet. Unless... Jeff can stage an even bigger grass roots effort: saveourdream.com. Com'on Jeff! Forget all of the bad stuff about Dream, Les is a billionaire! saveourdream! saveourdream! ------------------ women love me, fish fear me.
for god's sake retire already! Would be fun to watch him play with jordan and barkley though.. [This message has been edited by ChenZhen (edited May 23, 2001).]
Wasn't there a recent story about Dream wanting double digit millions and the Rockets counter offer of about 3 million? That would have tested the bounds of the CBA about negotiating as did the story of Cat and a new contract reported on this BBS last year tested the limits and patience of several here on this BBS. Now, Jeff's mention of a possible Washington angle on this deal which would also test the bounds of the CBA as far as negotiating and recruiting. Mango ------------------ Get it right or just don't do it! Resistance is futile....you will be assimilated. Start more Webber threads!
Lose respect for Dream? For expecting money close to that of Kelvin Cato? Ridiculous. I still think he will sign for the 4.5 million exception, but if he does leave, I wish him good luck. I will root for him, unlike some Rocket fans who would just as soon boo the franchise's greatest player. That 16-10 he was averaging in the season was real retirement material, uh huh. I would love it if he ended up in Washington with Barkley and Jordan. That will be a contender. Good luck Hakeem, and thanks for everything! (Unless you do stay). To all you bashers- at least wait until this is set in stone. Don't rip the man until he gets to negociate with the team. He is not an arrogant prick for wanting to get market value, he's just a good business man. But for those of you who don't care about that, just wait until August, when he actually makes a decision. Oh, and maybe Hakeem knows a bit more about basketball than those of us sitting at our PCs. If he could average 16-10 with an improved Taylor and the rest of the team in tact, then they probably could contend for the title. Despite that, he only said that they had to go in with the right mindset. I happen to agree. Teams should always go into the season expecting to win the title, rather than setting their goals lower. ------------------ The Protrolls.com message boards! Protrolls.com! Don't visit my site. [This message has been edited by ZRB (edited May 23, 2001).]
I never thought I'd say it, but: thank you very much ZRB. The question is, when will the Dream Bashers learn??? Who suffered when Rudy Tomjanovich had the gall to exile the team's starting center for the last 16 years to the end of the fourth quarter pine behind Kenny Thomas or Jason Collier or Matt Bullard? Dream. After people had the nerve to call out the greatest player in Houston history to retire and forgo $14 million that he EARNED every penny of, who came back and showed that he could still play, could still dominate on both ends of the court? Dream. Who doesn't deserve to suffer the indignity of a significant pay cut when he is still one of the top 5 centers in a big-man starved league? Dream. The Rockets should happily pay the man the market rate. If it's $5 million, it's $5 million. If it's $8 million, it's $8 million. If they want to chase their tail after Chris Webber, go ahead, but don't b**** because Dream won't sit around all summer and wait for an insulting, below market offer. Dream has proved the bashers wrong time and again (do any of the bashers even remember all the way back to, oh, the last time the Rockets were on the court?). I hope he does it again, whether it's for the Rockets or not. Chris Webber showed what he is in the playoffs -- a younger, better Pippen/Barkley but a Pippen/Barkley all the same, a guy who wants to be paid like a superstar but get carried by a real superstar like Dream or Franchise. Dream is right about the team. It needs to make a couple of semi-major moves, moves that are right there to be made with a decent amount of cap room even if Dream resigns, assuming the Rockets can make a deal or two and get some benefit out of 2 or possibly 3 1st round picks in a deep draft. SA is Duncan and a bunch of old guys. LA is Shaq and Kobe and . . . Shaq and Kobe. They're going good right now but they'll be back to hating each other this time next year, and they're going to be the favorites no matter what the Rockets do in the offseason. Who else scares you? Webber is going to the East. Phoenix? Dallas might be the best other team and for some reason the Rockets have always held their own against that team. Portland? Utah? The Rockets are up and coming, maybe a year away from being the kind of team that teased us in the conference semis against Seattle in 93. Clutch, you think the Rockets have no frontcourt? Then by all means, ditch the one guy you do have in the frontcourt. This is Nolan Ryan all over again. Disgusting. ------------------
i dont think he is going anywhere. he will be back. he will fire that b*stard agent of his and come back to sign with the rockets! ------------------
I don't know why you guys are blaming the agent. Dream was talking like this during the regular season, I remember him saying that he's looking forward to being a free agent and checking out his options. We just all hoped he'd actually give a damn about retiring as a Rocket. Just because the Rockets made a stupid deal with Cato, doesn't mean they should make another stupid deal with Olajuwon. ------------------ If you want it you got it, You just got to believe, Believe in yourself, Cause it's all just a game, We just want to be loved
