Hakeem dishes it out to Houston! (Dream article)

This thread is definitely gonna be jumpin by the time morning gets around. I don't even know who has the credibility anymore.

 

I agree with Hakeem. This pretty much sums up my thoughts in the recent "Offseason" thread.

The Rockets didn't want a 38-year-old Olajuwon. So they brought in a 39-year-old Kevin Willis. The Rockets didn't want Olajuwon's aches and pains that come with age and his high salary. So they picked up Glen Rice with bad feet, no shot and a contract that will keep them hamstrung for three more years. The Rockets didn't want to be trapped into no upside. So they shackled themselves to Kelvin Cato and Moochie Norris.

Shackled.

 

Just want to get my two cents in before certain individuals jump to Hakeem's defense about this subject. It sounds like Hakeem is a little upset to say the least. Saying that the Rockets organization showed no loyalty and and made him out to look disloyal is completely ludicrous. I mean that is some nerve, why say it now? Why not leave it in the past? But besides that Hakeem did a great job making himself looking disloyal by hiring the devil's advocate, Dan Fegan. Hakeem and the Rockets could have squared this thing away from the beginning, there is no doubt in my mind about that. However, to bring this up is completely classless. So before anyone gets there proverbial panties in a bunch (ZRB), tell me Hakeem bringing this up is not a classless act. I grew up watching and admiring Hakeem, and being awestruck with his play and poise on the court, but I can't help but feel that I'm losing respect for the former great Hakeem Olajuwon. Either way its done and over with, and the fact that he is wearing a purple uniform that says Toronto on it, and not a hideous blue uniform that says Rockets on it. The way I see it Hakeem could have had the same role on the Rockets now, maybe an even bigger role now with all the injuries, that he has with the Raptors, he left out of selfishness and greed, bottom line.

 

All Rudy and Carrol had to do is call Hakeem in and say we have a 1 + 1 deal at 7mil per. That means 7mil per first yr with a player option for the 2nd and I'm willing to bet he would have taken it. You want to know what their initial offer was? 4.1 mil! why do you want to knock the man down from 16 to 4? I know you want him to take a cut, but damn!! It wasn't Fegan fault it was managements fault. He can't dominate like he used to , but when the Rockets hit that spurt, it can be directly pointed at Hakeem. During that time he was 16pts 10rebs and 2 blks. Do we ever think Thomas, Taylor or cato can put together strings like that, I didn't think so. I hope when he comes back he rips the **** out of Cato.

 

Hakeem dishes it out to Houston!

http://espn.go.com/nba/news/2001/1213/1295034.html

Toronto Raptors center Hakeem Olajuwon lobbed a few criticisms at his former team of 17 seasons, the Houston Rockets, on his first return to Texas since being traded away this summer.
Olajuwon and the Raptors were in San Antonio on Wednesday to play the Spurs. San Antonio beat the Raptors 108-95, but Olajuwon's seven first-half blocks tied a record for the most blocks in one half by a Spurs' opponent.
Olajuwon said he felt rejected by the Rockets, who last season shifted the team's offensive focus away from him and on to then-second-year point guard Steve Francis.
In the offseason, Olajuwon turned down the team's final offer of $13 million for three years. Houston then completed a sign-and-trade agreement in August that sent one of the city's greatest sports heroes to the Raptors for first- and second-round draft picks.
"There was very clearly a disagreement between myself and members of the organization about what I'm capable of doing," Olajuwon told the Houston Chronicle for its Thursday editions. "I was rejected by them. It was never handled honestly.
"The Rockets organization would say one thing -- what they thought was the right thing -- to the public. But minds were made up all along."
Olajuwon pointed to his productivity in this, his 18th season, as evidence that he can still contribute to a championship-contending team.
"I can still help a team. If they don't realize that, then you have to go to a team that does realize that," Olajuwon told Houston television station KRIV. "The most important thing is to be where you are wanted, where you don't feel like you are trying to force yourself in.
Olajuwon was averaging 8.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in about 22 minutes a game this season entering Wednesday's game in San Antonio.
In his 17 seasons with the Rockets, Olajuwon averaged 22.5 points and 11.4 rebounds. He is the NBA's career leader in blocked shots and is a 14-time All-Star.
Without Olajuwon, the Rockets have struggled this season and are in the midst of an 11-game losing streak, their longest since 1977-78 when they had a 13-game skid.
"I think they have made poor decisions in the past, and they still continue to make them," Olajuwon said.
But Olajuwon reiterated that he fondly remembers his years in Houston and hopes the Rockets snap out of their recent slump.
"My experience in Houston for all those years cannot be duplicated," Olajuwon said. "I am so grateful for all of that -- to the fans, to the city. That will never change. Houston will always be my home, and it will always be the high point of my basketball career."
Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson said the feeling was mutual.
"Hakeem is a great player. He was the centerpoint of our success during the championship years," Dawson said. "It was unfortunate he wasn't able to finish his career here. But we wish him the best."

 

a few things:

first of all, we don't know if hakeem was asked to comment on houston or it was his own idea. and granted his reply was long-winded and bitter, but probably his honest opinion. i.e., i don't think what he says is only short-term anger, i truly think he (and a lot of other rocket fans) beleive much of what he describes is an accurate depiction... but thats beside the point.

i don't think there was ever a point last year that he slipped to being a below-average center given the shape the leagues big-man situation is. he certainly isn't a below average center currently. (hell in this league, i still think he is a top ten center).

while there was a lot of things said off the court last year, i don't think hakeem ever played in a manner that could be construed as pouting. off the court pouting- yes. but on the court - whatever problems the rockets system had last year, i don't think people (with a neutral eye) believed he played like a jerk.

lastly, i think history will judge hakeem, to be the city's basketball version of nolan ryan. we gave up on him too early and he left because of bad feelings between himself and management.

 

Without Olajuwon, the Rockets have struggled this season and are in the midst of an 11-game losing streak, their longest since 1977-78 when they had a 13-game skid.

That just pisses me off that this writer does not mention the fact that 4 or 5 players who should be in the rotation, including our best player and 2nd or 3rd best, are injured.

Hakeem acts like a child and a man in the same breath. If he gets his ego bruised at all, he becomes a little boy.

His contributions on the court (when he finally got healthy enough to be there) would not have come if the team didn't feel that he could contribute at all. Hakeem's problem was that he thought the offense should still go through him all of the time.

 

I am withya Cohen! It blows me away that Hakeem just cannot move on and shut his freakin pie hole. Even if his comments are true, you do not hear the organization saying anything negative about him from the time this whole thing started in the summer until now! In fact, the organization has taken the major high ground on this with CD and RT saying that they owe their careers and success to him!

 

He wasn't saying anything when Francis was healthy.

 

I agree, Olajuwon should just go on an do his thing quietly. He himself said "We should do everything to keep the same players (himself, Anderson, Norris, Taylor, and Bullard) for this season". That is the reason the Rockets did not go after coveted free agents like Chris Webber. Then Olajuwon goes on and pulls the rug off the organization and bolts for Toronto.
\m/.

 

Forgot about his "we should keep the nucleus together" comments!

I appreciate his game and his charity contributions to this city, but man he is just dropping out of my top ten favorite players list and it is disheartening!

 

Olajuwon said he felt rejected by the Rockets, who last season shifted the team's offensive focus away from him and on to then-second-year point guard Steve Francis.
...
"I can still help a team. If they don't realize that, then you have to go to a team that does realize that," Olajuwon told Houston television station KRIV. "The most important thing is to be where you are wanted, where you don't feel like you are trying to force yourself in.
Olajuwon was averaging 8.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in about 22 minutes a game this season entering Wednesday's game in San Antonio.

I am confused.

1. Does he think that his production this year of 8, 8 and 1.8 proves that he should still be the focal point of the offense (and not Francis who averaged 20, 7, 6)?

2. He is #6 in scoring on the Raptors and # 5 in minutes. He was #4 in scoring and #5 in minutes on the Rockets. Why are the Raptors not "rejecting" him this year? 2nd year man Mo Pete gets more offensive focus than Olajuwon.

3. If the Rockets's minds were made up all along, why did they offer him more years than he would play?

4. In spite of everything, I am glad he hasn't become completely useless like Ewing. 7 blocks would be nice for a Rockets game, but wouldn't help much if shots on the other end clang clang clang.

 

Hakeem thinks he's the reason Toronto's winning.

 

It's not the like Toronto is any better this season w/ his grand addition. That team is hampered by the new zone rules nearly as much as Houston. You take Carter and AD out of the lineup and I'd be very interested to see just how many wins 43yr old Dream can rack up for em. He needs to worry more about making his layups and not getting boxed out to the 3pt line than worry about how far Houston has fallen solely due to his grand subtraction.

 

Wow! I love the guy and all, but for a man who prides himself on his honor, that sure was a dishonorable thing to do. I can live with him saying "they didn't want me" or whatever but that whole "they've made bad decisions in the past and they continue to make them today" thing is just weak.

To take cheap shots at your hometown team while they are struggling is a really low thing to do. Nice going, Dream.

 

I said it in another thread and I'll say it again here:

For a man whose supposed goal in life is to be honorable, this was the opposite. Whether or not he agrees with the team's decision, to call them "ignorant" or criticize what they do now is low and pretty pathetic.

Be bitter if you must, but to drop that on your hometown team when they are in the midst of a really bad run is the least classy thing you could do.

Nice going.

 

One other thing, because this is just starting to piss me off. The REASON the Rockets said the nice things about Olajuwon in public but made the decision differently in private isn't just because they didn't want to offend fans but because it has always been their policy not to take shots at people even if it might help them.

What did he expect them to say? "Well, we love Hakeem and all but they guy is a washed up piece of crap has been. Plus, he's a whiny cry baby and he's disrupting our young team's chances of growing together."

Don't be ridiculous. He was whiny (this proves it) and he was a disruptive influence around the team. The Rockets offered what they thought they could and Dream felt so rejected, he bailed. Fine. But, don't come back cryin' and calling your former team "ignorant".

That is such an incredibly childish thing to do.

 

what a pippen-esque thing to do...

I was starting to warm up to Hakeem again and then he opens his big mouth, well fug it. I will definitely be rooting against the Raps and "the dream" now.

Very biased article btw.

 

Agreed.


What gets me is this: Olajuwon should know the business of basketball. Any team that is not looking two, three, or four years down the road is not going to do very well. Olajuwon had stated publically that he was going to retire when his contract ran out, so the Rockets put in motion a two year plan of scenarios for when Hakeem retired. Then he expects management to throw all that aside because he "feels good"?