Who was more responsible for the Rings? Hakeem did it on the court but i remember before Rudy . . . Don Chaney and Hakeem was not so hot. . . I remember the Rockets going on a tear when Hakeem went out the last season with Chaney then start losing when Hakeem come back So I think Rudy should get some credit. Rocket River
I can't believe there was even a poll! The team won 53 games and Cheney eas coach of the year. Rudy gets credit for getting players to buy into the system much like Phil Jackson, but take away Hakeem, thats a lottery team. Once Jordan left, then he came back in chicago, that team with pippen was a little better than .500. Hakeem was a dominant player before Rudy start coaching the Rockets. A good coach can make a good team better, but he can't make a sorry one a championship team. Coaches coach and players play.
That is all fine and good but the question is not would Rudy have a ring with hakeem but would hakeem have a ring without Rudy? Would MJ have a ring without Phil? Probably would he have as many? Probably not Same with Shaq and Kobe And IMO Hakeem without Rudy would not have rings Could another coach have gotten the Rockets rings with the team we had at the time? If so who? I think maybe George Karl, Larry Brown, *bitingtonguetilitbleeds* Phil Jackson, and maybe Riley Honestly this is not to degrade hakeem but i seriously think people underestimate the impact Rudy had on this team. Rocket River
I'll buy the argument that you wouldn't have the titles without the team - and with a different coach, you probably wouldn't have the titles either. However, Hakeem, as the most dominant player in the league at the time, was definitely the *most* responsible.
RR, Too bad you can't go back in time and take this poll in the fall of 1995..... I think the results would be a little different. You're talking about something that happened almost 6 years ago. I, too, agree that basketball is a team sport, but would Jordan have won any titles without Pippen or without Jackson? Without Pippen (or a similar-type player), probably not. Without Jackson, probably yes. Charlie Thomas was simply not a "Mark Cuban". The team failed to put any semblance of talent around the league's most dominant player for a long long time.
Basketball is and allways will be a team sport. One man can not do it by himself. I don't care how great you are. You got to have that support. Look at Jordan in the early days when he was scoring 60 and more a night. Did they win a championship then, no I don't think so. Look at Iverson scoring all them points last yr. and did he win.? AS good as Hakeen, Jordan, Kobie, and Iverson is they still need H-E-L-P !!!!!!!!!
While I agree that bball is a team sport, many players are replacable; Stars are not. The Rockets Team won those titles; however, I believe that for every Kenny Smith, Robert Horry, etc. you can find other players who can fit that role. Dream was the only Rocket that was irreplacable . Jordan wouldn't of won those titles without Pippen, but I think he could of won them with Reggie Miller or Dominique or even Glenn Rice. There are only a few Robins in the world. Every championship team has them. There are even fewer Batmans. Dream was a Batman; thus, he was the MOST important aspect of team, the best reason they won.
No offense, but this is the dumbest poll on this bbs. Your question is who is "more" responsible for the titles. If anyone thinks Hakeem is not the most important factor of the championships they need to b**** slapped. Yeah Horry, Clyde, Sam and Kenny were awesome role players. Yeah Rudy outcoached everyone during those playoff series. But without Hakeem those teams would not even make the playoffs. Does Hakeem win a championship without Horry, Clyde, Sam, Kenny and Rudy? PROBABLY not. Do Horry, Clyde, Sam, Kenny and Rudy win the title without Hakeem? HELL NO!
Ridiculous poll, absolutely ridiculous. How could it even be suggested that anyone else was more responsible for those rings than Hakeem?
Scottie Brooks is why we have 2 Championships. He came here the year before we won our first one (one year adjustment period to new team). He carried us to both Championships & was gone the next year. Both Rudy & Dream were still here, but we haven't won one since. The evidence speaks for itself. SCOTTIE BROOKS WON US THOSE 2 RINGS!!!
I know bbal is a team game, but you have to have at least one star. When Rudy took over at the end of the one season and Hakeem didn't play because of a hammy, they lost like all the games and missed the playoffs. Take hakeem off the team then and Rudy wouldn't have even wanted to coach. Its true you have to have evrything in place, but you take a dominant player like that and it doesn't matter who's the coach. Look at Orlando, they are just now starting to recover while Shaq has 2 title and suppose to have 2 mvp's. Tkae Hakeem off that talent thin Rockets team of the past and you're talking about lottery every year.
Let's see, could Hakeem and rest of the team have won without Rudy? Probably, but don't know for sure. Could Hakeem and Rudy have won without the rest of the team? Probably, but don't know for sure. Could Rudy and rest of the team have won without Hakeem? No way in hell. Could Hakeem have beaten the Spurs in the Western Conference finals with only three other Rockets on the floor? Probably. Could Hakeem have beaten Shaq in that Taco bell one on one thing that was supposed to happen right after the sweep of Orlando??? I think so. Could Rudy?? Could the rest of the Team?? The world will never know.
Dream was the person most responsible for the championships. Don't deny it. He hit his peak those years and was MVP. I know some people want to bash Hakeem for bailing, but give credit where credit is due. He was the leader and everyone else revolved around him.
I do't like the fact that he isn't here anymore, but he carried us alot of years, not just the championship years.
No way would Phil Jackson win the championship with the team we had in '94, and probably not '95 either. Phil Jackson is good at taking the most talented team, and having them live up to their potential. In 94 we had Dream and 4 other guys (basically). I don't think Phil Jackson would even express interest in coaching a team like that. He surrounds himself with talent, and then gets them to perform. Rudy did a fine job in those championship, and I think he's up to the challenge of rebuilding this organization into another championship-caliber team.
I watched Dream carry the team from 93 until 97, I don't remember Rudy scoring one point. I also remember Dream playing D, Rebouding, Blocking Shots, and Scoring. I fault Rudy and management for playing him with crack heads (Lloyd and Wiggins), small forwards who couldn't shoot (Rodney McCray), the weakest power forward ever (Ralph Sampson), knuckleheads (Vernon Maxwell), and soft point guards (Kenny Smith - one game wonder smith). I forgot to mention Allen Levall (whatever), Steve the shooting guard from Tulsa, Buck Johnson, Derek Chevious, and list goes on and on!!!
Man, we did have all those guys didn't we? What idiot was responsible for our GMing back then? homer simpson? DOH!
Fate, is what kept the Rockets from winning championship early in dreams career. The Rockets had a bomb team in the making. They could go big in the backcourt with Reid and Lloyd or small with Levell and Wiggins. When I watched that team dominate a good Lakers team and play pretty good and the team with the best record , boston, they were on their way. What happened with the injuries and drugs were just fate. Had that team stayed drug free and Sampson knees giving out, that team would have been a dynasty for 10 yrs. Hakeem didn't get good 93-97, he was dominant from the time he came step into the league. Try this 49pts,22reb,and 9blks in the elimination game in 87 against the sonics. What happened with Hakeem is they didn't have anyone else to help him out for yrs. Once he got help and they played together, people really took notice, just like Shaq. Hakeem will always be the greatest Rocket in history of the franchise.
