What is the most talented Rockets team in History (on paper)

The 1997 Team was great with Olajuwon, Barkley and Drexler in the starting lineup but they lacked a a very good bench. There bench was ok.

 

strictly on paper... and i hate the guy... but what about the Pippen squad?

 

On paper, that 85-86 team had not one, not two, but THREE #1 PICKS in Lucas, Ralph, and Dream, plus a #3 overall pick in McCray. And they were all in their prime, not over the hill like the 95 big three.

We all know Dream is one of the best. But Lucas would certainly be a HOFer if his career didn't get ruined by drug. Ralph was suppose to be "the Player of the Century" coming out of college. He could easily be one of the all-time great if not for the injuries.

 

This was the year Kevin Johnson was available. He wanted to play with Chuck. Chuck wanted him to play for Houston. It made all the sense in the world as we didn't have a dribble-driver penatrator without Sam Cassell anymore, but for some reason we stuck with Maloney. KJ was the missing piece--I have no doubt.

 

it's weird reading the posts and then looking at the results. from the thread 85-86 would be winning in a landslide.

i think 85-86 is being overrated a little. while the 4-1 win over the lakers and taking the celtics to 6 showed what they could do, going 51-31 in the regular season also showed what they couldn't do. i certainly don't see that as such an impressive record that we have to say they would easily dispatch other squads.

and while the 93-94 team has the most wins (58) and won the title, just on paper i'm not sure they're #1. it just all came together amazingly well (which is separate from "on paper").

the 94-95 playoff team could potentially be #1, but again that was just an amazing run of destiny. the playoff version of the roster was i believe 17-18 in the regular season, though with many injuries.

this year's team, on paper, has a great deal of talent, is very deep, and very versatile. while it remains to be seen what happens and knowing if a team has the championship mettle it takes to win is difficult to know, on paper, this team is great. if they stay healthy, i can see them taking down the 58 win record and making a deep playoff run, and that's why i voted for them.


HOWEVER, about 3 seconds after i voted and was thinking "if they stay healthy," i remembered how good the 96-97 team would have been if healthy. i believe they were 32-8 when hakeem, clyde, and chuck all played. that's a 66 win pace. the top 7 or so on that team was as talented as we've ever had and put up 57 wins w/ significant health problems. and the utah team they lost to was no chump team (cheating bastards though they were). i think they still have the best second half record ever (36-5) and were super tough by the time we faced them. and if we had beaten them, we'd have had to face a 69 win bulls team, so not winning a title doesn't necessarily make them worse than other rockets teams. so if i could vote again, on paper i'd say 96-97 was the most talented team.

 

the 85-86 team was a young team, so you have to factor that in for the regular season. beating the 86 Lakers who had the best chemistry in the 80s era was a historic feat. it showed our full potential as a basketball team. keep in mind health. Ralph got hurt in the Boston series, who knows, that could have gone 7.

the 94-95, if people watched the season know there were tons of things going on like major injuries to maxwell, dream, then the trade for clyde. Getting the team to gel and become healthy to become the true 'team' was a process that took the whole season.

the 93-94 had the best chemistry from start to finish. they took the attitude from the previous playoff series to the new season and came in with the hunger and confidence of a champion. And let's not forget who the MVP and defensive player of the year was that year.

 

Pippen? He was never a Rocket, understand me? That never happened.

 

I agree with that. Though KJ was a little past his prime, he still had a very quick and effective drive to the hoop and was still a good shooter.

 

If you just mean the most talented on paper ,of course , the hakeem and barkley and drexler team is .Even though Charles Barkley has something againest Yao .