POLL: Is it a cap issue, or is Dream thrawting growth

Both.

This is not his team anymore. It really never was. It's Alexander's. If he thinks differently, then he has decieved himself.

And Les wants a return on his future investments. Stevie, Cat, and Mo will get him that. Hakeem will not.

I know that sounds cold, but... I stopped feeling all warm and fuzzy inside for our greatest player ever when he decided to make himself "unavailable" to the organization at a critical time...

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It would seem that Hakeem is coming full circle; he is exiting the league in the way that he came in... being tempermental.

Rudy is in charge of the team; if Hakeem won't do the job ascribed to him, we need to move on without him.

I think both issues are at play, but the team is more willing and able to deal with the "role" issues than with the "cap" issues as long as there are other viable candidates.

So at this point in time it is a "cap" issue.

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"How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak. Because someday you will have been all of these."

 

I guess what upsets me about this whole situation is dream wants to win another championship, but he does not want to make the sacrifice nessesary to make that happen. what if he took the vetrans minimum for a year, ( like chuck did to get pip) so we can land webber how good would the rockets become. I think they could chalenge for a championship. but that is a pretty big pipe dream. Still why wont the dream take a slight pay cut so the team can improve its depth and overal talent. . . that is what he wants isnt it a better team than last year one that will make the playoffs. Well it all starts with him $$$

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Hakeem Olajuwon has stated what he wanted and all he has done since is remain quiet. No one is under any obligation here and as a result we should feel comfortable in the fact that the Rockets are not talking to anybody else and he is not touring up and down the place. The additional time also gave everyone a chance to see what he should be paid. And given what Mutombo, Davis, Robinson, and even Eddie Robinson got, there should be no doubt how much the Dreams should get. The Spurs came to their senses and now Derek is exposed. The Rockets are sitting pretty since they do not even have to consider luxury tax issues like the Jazz has to.

There is no real need to rush. All the FA's in waiting cannot do better elsewhere (especially that Anderson) and they know they should just wait. If they can wait, with money on the line, so can you guys.

If Hakeem, and I know it is a big if, plays like he did in the second half, he is well worth $10 mil, at least, and the Rockets would be making some serious noise. We have the luxury of pacing him and improving his chances of having a very productive season.

The message is to relax.

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Nah Stuff the Cap, this is a Team Chemistry issue.

He had so much trouble last year adjusting to a reduced role at the beginning of the season and when he eventually did come to the realisation that he wasn't the MAN anymore the team excelled. But something tells me it was just him biting his tongue and biding his time and finish his contract.

His Ego is just to big to play 3rd string to Steve and Cat for a whole season, let alone solid offensive contributions from Mo.

What's the point of having a Gizillion year Legend veteran on your roster to be a leader, get some boards, play some Defense and score a few points if they SET such a BAD attitude example.

I can't believe someone in his position would be so into themsleves they would be 100% sure their skills don't decline over age and as a result their role on the team changes.

Either he accepts his reduced role or renounce him, cause bad attitudes cause trouble.

Smeg

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"The things I enjoy most, I suck at:
1) Sex: everything's fine until she makes noises." - Achebe

 

Smeg, how many games did you actually watch last year? Your recollection of Hakeem's play is absolutely wrong.

At the beginning of the season, Dream was on the bench, virtually the entire 4th quarter of virtually every game, while Bullard was out there, bottle-assing around, pretending to try to defend the middle. It's pretty damn hard to do anything when you're sitting on the bench.

Then, after he complained, Rudy started playing him in the 4th. The things he was doing on the court weren't much different in the second half from the 1st half. The difference was he was on the court in crunch time and not on the freakin' bench.

I am sure as hell happy he complained, because if he hadn't and rotations had stayed the same, the Rockets would probably lost at least 10 more games last year.

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CAP ISSUE.

I think both sides respect each other enough not to screw one another over when it comes to long term planning.

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Thanks for your opinion Moe, watched plenty, get them on tape

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"The things I enjoy most, I suck at:
1) Sex: everything's fine until she makes noises." - Achebe

 

Smeg, pretty gentlemanly reply to my fairly strongly worded exception. My compliments.

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"He had so much trouble last year adjusting to a reduced role at the beginning of the season and when he eventually did come to the realisation that he wasn't the MAN anymore the team excelled. But something tells me it was just him biting his tongue and biding his time and finish his contract."

-BS. If Hakeem hadn't "whined" about not getting minutes, the rockets would probably have ended up with 35-38 wins last year at the pace they were headed.

Did Hakeem complain about not playing enough? Yes he did and he most CERTAINLY backed up his statements with excellent play on the court, propelling the Rockets to a 25-10 record their last 35 games after starting off 22-25.

He was right all along. Yet no one blames Rudy T for not playing him at the beginning. I guess we had to allow 40 year old Matt Bullard and CBA bound Jason Collier to "develop" though.

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Get Cato out of there...

 

The only problem I have with Hakeem Olajuwon is the way he is going about these negotiations, and his asking price. The guy is up there in age, and though he could help us for awhile, how much does he have left? And is it worth 10 million dollars the next 2 years? Now if he gets that much money for a 1 year deal I wouldn't mind.

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"Instruments are like women: After a while, you want to make love to another."

- Nicolas Godin of the musical duo Air

 

I assume you can provide some quotes from Hakeem to support this "apparent fact". I wasn't aware that he had spoken since the season ended, certainly not since the draft.

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"I guess that's YOUR theory"

 

Moe-
In football superstar players renegotiate their contracts frequently. McNair, Bledsoe, Elway are a few that come to mind. In baseball, Griffey deferred a portion of his contract to go to the Reds. In basketball, Barkley signed a one year deal which allowed us to sign Pippen and Robinson swallowed his pride and gave Duncan the opportunity to florish.

I answered your question. Please answer mine. I really do not remember him "taking one for the team."

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Fuggetabout it

 

Let him go.

He was great, but the team needs to move on.

Let him get what he can on the FA market.

BahDakota

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How long do I have to endure this ?

 

hakkem still has a place on the ROx offense. THe issue is the $$$.

Best of both worlds: give him a contract which will pay him $6-7m with expected bonus' (count against the cap), and has lots of unexpected (can't remember teh exact term) bonus' (which don't count against the cap). we could then give Hakeem $100k for each game he plays after 50, $500k for reaching the 2nd round of playoffs (i think 1st round would be an "expected" bonus), $1k for each minute over 30 played per game, etc.

as an aside, I think we should oofer MO t a contract with lots of rebounding performance clauses (offensive, total/magic number, per minute).

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"Hakeem gets a 3 with the final shot" - my second favorite moment of 95 finals

 

Is it just me, or do all of these 'bonuses' sound insane? No offense to the newbie, but I'd hate to think of Mo looking at the ball and thinking "just one more rebound, and I can get that new (insert desired item here)"...

Hey, maybe it will be a great motivator. I know I'd try xtra hard for that reb, or 3, or whatever the bonus is for just to deck my baby (my Jeep) out. But - and not to sound too sentimental - what the hell ever happened to beating the other guy? When did making the other guy look like a fool cease to be a great motivator?

When did winning cease to be the primary motivator?

I feel like an old man. And people wonder why attendance is dropping.

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TheFreak,

As far as system/play changes, haven't got that yet.

Money issues:

Topic: Vecsey: Hakeem seeking $10 million per season from Houston

You posted several times in that thread questioning the source (Vescey).

About a week later:

http://www.clutchcity.net/news.cfm?NewsID=691

I found the full text in the Chronicle Archives, but there are copyright issues in regards to a cut-n-paste of it here.

I am unable to find a quote of Dream denying the Vescey and Chronicle articles. Perhaps you could provide that link.


Mango

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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 July 12, 2001).]

 

I think this is going to be a Cap issue for pretty much 90% of the people on this board. Only the extremists don't want Hakeem on this team for a reasonable price.

What makes Hakeem and the whole situation so vexing is the fact that it IS a cap issue. Disrespect is one thing, but this isn't about disrespect. It's about Hakeem strapping the team progress by making unrealistic demands. There are rules in place in this league that the Rockets must abide by in terms of players salaries, and Hakeem is being selfish and bullheaded in trying to force the issue with his contract.

You're the oldest player on this team, Hakeem. It's time to grow up, don't you think?

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"There are three kinds of lies:
Lies, Damned Lies, and STATISTICS..."
- Mark Twain -

 

I too want Dream back. Only if he excepts his role on this team. He will be our 4th or 5th scoring option. This is not his team anymore. It is Steve's. We are a running team now that depends on penetration not the post.
I do NOT want him back if he demands a new team structure.
If it is money I think that we should be willing to give on that. Just out of respect. He does not deserve more than 8mil a year though and at most a two year deal. 8 mil at his projected minutes makes him very well paid.

I do agree that we need him back if he can commit to our new team. Maybe the fact that the Admiral is looking to dock somewhere else will get Hakeem's attention.



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Reporter asks "How close were you to the victim?" Shorty says,"Real close until the roofies wore off. Then she woke up talking about pressing charges, so I took my tongue out of her ass and left." Shorty - Marlon Wayans "Scary Movie"

Go Rockets!!!
SS