Whenever people ask who was the Greatest Rocket ever

can't say dat shiz here without sharing the stories with thorpe.

 

Passing, knowing when to pass and letting others shine are not signs of degradation.

 

Rocket never won during that time. League was diluted with the expansion in the 90s. Besides the Bulls most teams only had 1 star and maybe one borderline all star. It's why I don't think Jordan is the best player ever. He might have had the most stacked team of all time if you look at his competition. He benefited a lot from circumstances, but the media will push it differently.

 

Depends on what ERA of Hakeems career. When he first started yes teams were stacked. But by the time he reached his prime. Expansion teams were added and it saturated the league. Few teams had more than 1 star. Bulls, Jazz probably only ones with 2 sure fire hall of Famers. There was no 5 all star team warriors. Or 2 mvp paring up. Plus no one shot threes which made it easier to win a certain way.

As much as people give Morey and Warriors credit for the 3 pt boom. Honestly you can probably look back to Hakeems Rockets to see where it all started. 1 man inside 4 out shooting threes.

 

Jazz —> Stockton & Malone
Sonic —> Kemp, Payton
Trailblazer—> Drexler, Sabonas, Porter and more

Please don’t rewrite history to fit a narrative. The Rocket had Thorpe that took a lot of pressure of Dream. Most games would start with Otis getting 10-15 points in the first quarter because the other team would try to double Dream. Rocket where a very good TEAM that could have probably made the playoffs (first round exit) without Dream and a different center in his stead. Was the rest of the team all-world less Hakeem? No. BUT they weren’t a bunch of guys from the YMCA either. Dream had help. There was a reason Portland trade Drexler —>to get Thorpe.

 

Kelvin. Cato. 12. Blocks.

 

Supreme FocASS

 

I'm not rewriting any history. You are since Sabonis came around way after Drexler. Porter isn't even close an all star or hall of famer.

Those teams don't come close to warriors with 5 all stars. Tim Duncan's Spurs, big 3 Celtics. Big 3 heat. Lebron and AD. None of those teams can match the talent now: I'm sorry too many stars just want to team up now which makes it so much harder to win.

It be like back in the day Barkley and Malone playing on the same team. KD and Steph are probably best duo individually and they complement each other soo well.

When Drexler made the finals with Portland he was playing with cliff Robinson and Kevin duckworth.

Not to mention the sheer volume of three pointers gives any team a chance to win.

I don't think any team in the 90s could win in today's game because they didn't shoot threes. Bulls won plenty of playoff games without making a single three pointer. It's why Reggie's pacers actually gave them trouble. Because in an slow paced game the 3 pointer affects outcome soo much more. That Pacers team had no business winning any games against that stacked bulls team. It's humanly impossible the hold the warriors to 80 points. They can get that in a half.

 

So far no doubt it is dream.

 

Lol...i was torn between Petruska & Tabak. My favorite Tabak moment was watching him attempt a non-contested 12ft shot that went over the backboard by like 5 feet....legend.

 

We may have gone off topic by comparing the different eras. You mentioned Barkley but forgot about the point guard he played with, Kevin??? & thunder Dan. The point I thought we were talking about was a single superstar caring a team to a championship.

 

Yo....there was this one team in the early-mid 90s. They had a big man that was pretty good. They played inside/out & took a fair number of 3s. I think they even won a couple rings. They had this crazy idea about having a PF that could stretch the floor. Imagine how that would look in today's game.

 

Dream is clearly hands down the best Rockets player of all time. An honorable mention should go to Rudy T for his longevity and overall contribution: All-Star player (should have been longer and would be better remembered without the punch), role player for the 80s Finals team, assistant on the 86 Finals team and coach of the Back to Back Finals teams.

 

Read my previous post. I said that Rockets team actually prove to started the birth of the three pointer. But they still didn't shoot enough.

 

After this season, Harden will be just another dude who passed by this team.

I regret supporting this guy who is quitting on the entire fanbase and his teammates just because he wants out.

 

This, on the previous page I wrote a book w/o even mentioning Portland - the barkley/kj duo was no joke either (as you mentioned). I even highlighted that the the roster in 94 were composed of guys that were good but - KJ alone had more individual career accolades alone than the entire roster during their entire careers combined in the nba (w/o Hakeem). I don't think people remember that. Not taking away my love for the team but Hakeem/Rudy got something from those guys that I don't think anyone else will ever repeat.

And At the league being diluted?!!l Please.... 70s-90s had some of the toughest/physical play that today wouldn't even be allowed. The competition was there and there were teams going at it that had multiple stars.

With that said, I do think harden would be able to play in any Era, my posts are not trying to take away from his greatness but Hakeem.... No one questions Houston for taking him in the 84 draft over Jordan. He was the real deal, I wish people would go back and just watch his footwork alone.

Then not to get further off topic - 95, when Drexler joined at the trade deadline for Thorpe - remaking part of Phi Slama - and it clicked when it needed to. People even forget Clyde got sick in the 95 phx series and was a freaking decoy (he played his version of a real flu game too) and don't forget Max gave up during the Utah series 1st round ... A 6th seed - finally clicking with a real duo and being down to phx in round 2 and you now have your 2nd star with a high fever/iv fluids and he goes out and plays - yeah it wasn't a pretty performance but teams had to respect Clyde - and that's what a duo can truly do. If you had another player in that role in 95 that wasn't a star that got sick - putting him on/off the court doesn't take the focus off hakeem and Co like it did with Drexler. Hands down w/o Glide Houston doesn't repeat. They were going nowhere and needed the trade. Don't get me wrong, I think Thorpe was awesome but was he a HOFer like Drexler? Not even close.

 

I think Harden has slipped out of the Top Five just in the last twenty minutes.

 

Lol, my long winded posts probably get too long.... Especially discussing the duos hakeem went through in 94 on the previous page or so (not even doing a deeper dive like you did on cast, I definitely agree with you) ... But seriously even the 70s/80s had some of the toughest teams/stars and don't forget the physical play...

This rewriting of history is a damn joke. 90s had some of the all time greatest players and someone wants to state there wasn't competition because of expansion teams? Seriously???? please have all of them watch that Clutch City special from 2015, I might even have some vhs tapes somewhere of the playoffs in the 90s if they think the other proof on yt is fake??

I should probably just make simple bullet points, but exactly your point - I seriously don't think we'll ever see a repeat performance of a player doing what hakeem did in 94 ever. I know there were stars back before and great teams but trying to state the 90s were bad teams?? Hahahaha