here is another vote: "bye bye hakeem dont let the door hit your a$$ on the way out" by the way I am from Houston grew up in Houston and feel this way.. it was nothing more than money and while I appreciate what Hakeem did the championship years..i do not find his lack of loyalty impressive or acceptable.. i want to see him get dunked on.. the rockets first..the person second.. see ya Hakeem..
You know what? You can say the same thing about the people who are still upset at the Rockets and ripping them for "lowballing" Hakeem, and "pushing" him out the door. It takes two to tango, and while Hakeem helped put Hakeem on the map, Rockets management added to his legend by giving him the proper compliment of players to be successful. The same way people are ripping on Malone and Ewing for not winning a championship could easily be Hakeem if he didn't get any help, so what's good for the goose is good for the gander. The same people who don't want people to rip Hakeem shouldn't rip Houston management every other day for trading Hakeem. He wanted to leave, the Rockets could have let him walk, but instead got him some money and sent him to a playoff team, the team he wanted to go to, without tearing apart that team. That shows some respect to the guy.
1) 5 separate Raptor players called to tell him they wanted him in Toronto. Not Stevie, Cuttino, Mo... he said not one of his Rocket team mates called to try and convince him to stay. This, I will give you. I did not know this, but I will assume it is true. It is a shame that none of the Houston players called Dream personally and let him know that they wanted him to come back. But do you really feel it was necessary? How could Dream NOT know that our players wanted him back on the team? I saw numerous quotes by MANY of our players this offseason stating that we desparately needed Hakeem back. I don't think that 5 phone calls trumps that kind of support. Dream's teammates wanted him back, they just chose a different way of conveying it. 2) Mamadou N'Diaye - a fellow African and muslim - and Raptor, called to thank him for opening the door to Africans and that he would be homored to learn from him. Apparently Mamadou spent several weeks in Houston working out with Hakeem prior to training camp. This is nice that he did this, but I don't especially see it as a big factor. For all you know, the Rockets players might have thanked Dream for what he did hundreds of times in his stay in Houston. Secondly, none of the current Rockets players are were born in Africa, to my knowledge, so they don't have as big of an appreciation of the doors Dream opened for those people. This is not necessarily appreciation that Houston could have shown, the circumstances are just a little different in Toronto. 3) He may not play a larger role in Toronto and I don't think that's the issue. The issue is that this WAS his team and no longer is. Toronto never was his team so his status isn't of the "pushed out" sort it's of the "added support" sort. Again, a product of circumstance and not really the result of any more "appreciation" that is shown by Toronto. They are doing no more for Dream's role than Houston would have, but it is a new location. That is the only difference, and that is really just a reason why Dream might "prefer" Toronto, but not a reason why Toronto has appreciated Dream more. 4) Toronto has a very diverse population and is home to many Nigerians and very many muslims. Houston will always be his home - but there was a whole community here waiting to welcome him. Houston is one of the most diverse cities in the world with a very large Muslim population. Hell, we are the 3rd biggest city in the US, population-wise, so I doubt that Toronto has many more Muslims there to welcome him over what he is leaving behind. 5) The Raptors spoke of maybe reaching the Finals with Dream. Whether this happens or not is irrelevant. Houston wanted him to stay out of loyalty and what he "was". Toronto wanted him to help them win and what he "is" or "could be". Maybe some of the fans wanted Dream to stay for what he was, but many fans wanted him to stay because the Rockets need a good rebounder/shotblocker underneath, plus Dream is still pretty good offensively. Dream said himself this offseason that if Houston just resigned all its free agents, then we had a good enough team to go to the finals. I didn't hear any Rockets refute that statement, and from what I gathered from quotes, most agreed. I don't feel that Toronto has shown anymore appreciation in this situation either. The reasons you gave above are largely just reasons why Hakeem would want to go to Toronto. I will not refute that the situation there might be better. Personally, I think he is trusting too much what people are saying up there for cosmetic reasons, plus the fact that Toronto has not been struggling with Hakeem's health for years and years like Houston has. They have an overblown idea of what he will contribute, I think. My simple point is this, Houston did no less to convince Hakeem to stay here than Toronto. My stance is that Dream just wanted a change, and an opportunity to go to the Eastern conference where he won't be pounded on by so many big centers. There is nothing wrong with that, it is fully within his right, but don't go and bad-mouth Houston and say it is <b>our</b> fault he left because we didn't "appreciate" him enough.
Loyalty would have been signing a low contract so the Rockets could get the most talent in free agent signings. Take a look at Cat - who seems to realize that getting the largest paycheck is not the most important thing. . . . Some would say he needed the money. Fine - then don't string Houston along and make it impossible to replace you as well. . . . I don't blame Hakeem for leaving - if I was his age and wanted one more chance to get to the finals, I would have run to the Eastern Conference as well. Hakeem saw the Western Conference get destroyed by Shaq - and wanted no part of it. I just don't believe that he behaved honorably.
Los Angeles = 9,519,338 New York = 9,314,235 (14 mil if you count the greater area) Chicago = 8,272,768 Philadelphia = 5,100,931 Washington = 4,923,153 Toronto = 4,680,300 Detroit = 4,441,551 Houston = 4,177,646 I've been to Houston and while it is diverse - there is no comparison with Toronto - stated by many inside and outside Canada to be THE most diverse city in the world. Hakeem made clear comments upon arrival here that he welcomed the chance to play outside the US because he feels himself to be a "citizen of the world". Raven Lunatic - I appreciate your response to each of my points. I fully agree that Toronto may or may not have done more - but as I stated in my other post - it may have been Hakeem's perception that Toronto did and that is what matters. The way I see it, hakeem mat have left and he may even have done so under questionable terms - but at no point has he blatantly dissed the city of Houston or the fans of the team like other players have (Oneal, Francis, McGrady, Webber, JWill...) so I don't think he has earned the derision that he is treated with by some members on this forum. It's just my opinion - no more or less valid than those who choose to express (understandable) anger over Hakeem's departure - but I still think some respect is due - that's all.
My knowledge of the population was apparently inaccurate. But regarldless, my point still stands. courtside, I was not dissing Hakeem, nor was I condoning any who were. I loved the man while he was here, and will continue to praise him for what he did for Houston. My only concern was that people claimed the reason he left was because of shortcomings by Houston as a city that were inside its control. I have no desire to debate what Hakeem might or might not have <b>perceived</b> to be the better place, it would be pure conjecture and speculation. I merely did not like people blaming Houston for "letting Dream go" when he was more than obviously wanting to get out of here well before this offseason. He wanted to be traded to the Heat during midseason. Do you think Miami was "appreciating" Dream more in midseason than Houston? No, he just didn't want to be in Houston anymore, for whatever reasons he had. Lack of appreciation should not have been one of them. But I would not be surprised at all if he kept a home in Houston and lived here during the offseason, because Houston <B>does</b> appreciate him, and he knows it. On a side note, I think Dream might actually have a harder time defending the centers he will encounter in the East, not because they are better, but because overall, they are smaller and faster. In the West, you have people like Shaq, Robinson, Divac, etc who are big, but generally don't run the floor a great deal. In the East, you have guys like Jermain O'Neal, Ervin Johnson, Mohammed, etc. He will have difficulty keeping up with them. But Iwish him the best anyway.
Raven Lunatic - you're speaking up for Rockets fans but my post wasn't really even directed a you. Props for standing up for the rest of em. I think it's a better situation for Hakeem, the smaller east. He won't be playing 40 minutes - so I would gues that he'll average 23 - 27 mpg and most will be against Cs like Zo, Mutombo, Campbell, and Western Cs. Eric Montross and Mamadou N'Diaye are 7'+ 255+ Cs who will get time against the bigger 2nd tier guys like McCulloch, Cato, and Reeves. We happen to have All-Star (reserve) Antonio Davis who matches up well against the smaller Cs like Camby, Ratliff, Oneal and DDavis. Guys like Keon Clark and Brian Skinner can play both the 4 and 5 against smaller line ups as well. The Raptors are sort of stacked up front with Yogi Stewart, Michael Bradley and Jerome Williams to add to the list of frontcourt players above. JYD will likely get 12-15 minutes at the SF spot since Morris Peterson and Vince Carter have trouble with bigger 3s like Mashburn, Robinson, Kukoc, Peja, Rice and Odom. There's reports that Denver will try and pry one, maybe two of those bigmen away and with the Knicks looking at an Injury Exception for LJ - them and Boston have een in touch as well. Expect to see a deal where the Raptors trade big for small to have a more balance squad - with an almost perfect 3 players at each position. What's this I hear about the Washington vs Houston game being sold out but the Toronto vs Houston game is not??
