I've been lurking around her for years and just recently started posting. To get to know some of you better and to get away from some of the Ming Madness / Crazy trade talk for a while and to avoid getting bogged down as to who the better player is by position, I was wondering who everyone's all time favorite Rockets were. Here are mine & my reasons why... C. Hakeem - I prefer to remember the good times and forget the little incidents that would come up every couple years. He was a joy to watch play in his prime and when he schooled the Admiral it was timeless. Runner-up - Moses Malone - If we could have only beat the Celtics, hated to see him go to Philly. PF. Rick Barry - I paid less attention when I was younger as to who was playing what position so I don't if he spent more time at the 3 or 4 but those underhanded free throws were money and he was a great team player who could fill it up. Runner up - Otis Thorp - Pick and Roll, touchdown pass fast breaks. SF. Clyde Drexler - Wish he had been here his whole career. The one man fast break. Very near to the complete player. Runner Up - Mario Ellie - Kiss of Death and defensive intensity. SG. Calvin Murphy - Man could the guy score. I had a friend who was lucky enough to attend a Murphy BB camp when we were kids and we spent the rest of the summer perfecting the reverse layup. Runner Up - Louis Lloyd - Stop and Pop Rainbow Set shots and those long strides finishing the break. Kids learn from Lou and stay away from the rock. PG. John Lucas - When not high he ran the team better than any point guard we ever had. Too bad he was high so often. Glad he turned his life around. Runner Up - Steve Francis - Love his offense, if he ever dedicates himself to playing D, and learns to involve his teammates he may be one of the best all around PGs in the game, ever. Coach. Rudy T - Life long Rocket who coached us to our world championships. He almost made my list at forward, I loved those Hook shots from the top of the key when I was a kid. Those are my Favorites... who are yours?
Center- Dream Power Foward - Moses I know he played center but he plays PF on mine Small Foward - Robert Horry SG - Drexler PG - Calvin Murphy That team would definitely win some championships
rockbox - Murphy at PG? Talk about a scoring PG, I can almost hear the other players on your team b****ing about him never passing them the ball.
PG - Steve Francis SG - Clyde Drexler SF - Robert Horry PF - Charles Barkley or Moses Malone C - Hakeem The Dream
don't forget these guys...... Derick "The Band-Aid Man" Chevious John Turner Buck Johnson(always remembered for the half court shot against the LA Clippers....and danny manning hitting a half court the other way in less then 5 secs....) Chuck Nevitt Steve Harris Lewis Loyd Mitchell Wiggins Purvis Short Eric "SLeepy" FLoyd JOe Barry Carroll CHucky Brown Allen Level Robert Reid ......damn...how many rockets can u name before the championships.......???
Center: Hakeem Olajuwon/Moses Malone Really opposites but both so much fun to watch. Power Forward: Charles Barkley No one compares to the Mouth that Roared. Small Forward: Robert Reid/Robert Horry Bobby Joe Reid had the bad ass socks and the smooth-as-silk game. Horry is one of my all-time favorite Rockets, period. Shooting Guard: Calvin Murphy/Clyde Drexler I used to carry around Calvin's card in my back pocket as a kid. The whole story of the second championship with Clyde is like a movie. Point Guard: Steve Francis I love the guy as a player.
Favorite Rockets of all time: PG - Cassell SG - Drexler C - Dream SF - Super Mario PF - Chucky Brown Somone should start a thread listing the least favorite Rockets of all time. Here are mine PG - Maloney SG - Mobley C - Cato SF- Pippen PF - Pete Chilcutt
Jeff - I loved Robert Reid's game. Excellent Rocket for many years. Here are my least favorites C. Jim Peterson F. Derick "The Band-Aid Man" Chevious G. World B. Free And all those draft picks that never panned out...
Just to make it interesting, I will exclude anyone who is best or in contention for best at each position. No Hakeem, Charles, etc. I also excluded anyone I didn't see in person (before 82-83 season). Center: Major, Caldwell and Charles Jones (didn't see Dwight). All the Jones boys could play some D, and were ready to contribute come playoff time regardless of how little action they saw during the regular season. Honorable mention to the human stringbean Chuck Nevitt, a fan favorite who could block some shots. Power Forward: The toughest pick. Chucky Brown, the consummate team player, edges out Jim Petersen. Honorable mention to Othella and Kenny T for scrapping. Small Forward: Easy. Matt Bullard (he mostly played the 3 early in his career). Honorable mention to Rodney McCray for his all around game and Purvis Short, with his patented rainbow jumpers. Shooting Guard. The Junkyard Dog. 'nuff said. Sweet Lew could bring tears to your eyes, and the crowd loved to love him. Honorable mention also to Craig Ehlo, who sucked (at that time) but was a huge crowd favorite. Point Guard. Robert Reid for almost leading us to the promised land. Robert edges out Scotty Brooks, the energizer bunny. That was fun.
PG- Kenny Smith SG- Vernon Maxwell SF- Robert Horry PF- Otis Thorpe C- Hakeem Olajuwon How can you not like a team that first delivers the glory?
I wasn't aware that Caddilac ever played for the Rockets... 1st team C- Dream PF- OT SF- Horry SG- Drexler PG- ET 2nd team C- Moses PF- Mr Mean SF- Ellie SG- Mad Max PG- Francis Honorable mentions: Chucky Brown David Wood Scotty Brooks Bullard KT Charles Jones Slick Watts Chuck Nevit Sleepy Tree Rollins Sweet Lou I know there are more but I can't think of them. These were my favorite players for various reasons. I saw all of them play except Watts. I put Watts up their because he was the first player to go completely bald and always wore that goofy headband.
Great post. I tend to like quirky players a lot. So since it's not by the best at the position here it goes. C- Granville Waiters. The guy was in his mid 20's and looked like he was 40. PF- Otis Thorpe. His hands were so huge he made the basketball look like a grapefruit. SF- Buck Johnson "The Blade" It's where I got part of my screen name from. I was at a game where he blocked Jordan, and I liked his tomahawk Jam. SG- Sleepy Floyd What more needs to be said. PG- Steve Francis.
Favorites, not necessarily the best: PG - Steve Francis. I love having a point guard with a 40+ vertical ... against anyone other than Vince, he wins the dunk contest. And you don't lead your team in rebounds as a PG unless you have heart (and a lousy frontcourt). Honorable mention: Sam Cassell -- clutch even as a rookie. SG - Lew Lloyd. Yeah, I know he turned out to be a big disappointment. But the dude was a one-man fast break. Scored in 1 on 2 opportunites more times than I can count. I mimicked his "snap the ball back over your head, then float the running jumper" move so much in high school that Elmer Bennett used to call me "Lew Lloyd." Honorable mention: Clyde -- great to see him win a championship at home. SF - Bobby Joe Reid. Did whatever the team asked of him. Ralph's shot against the Lakers might have won the game, but it was Reid's three that tied it up. Honarable mention: Horry during the first championship. Loved the way he cut to the basket for power dunks. Remember the litte shimmy he did after rocking the rim? PF - OT Just loved the way he palmed that ball like a grapefruit. (Edit: FranchiseBlade, you stole my "grapefruit" line while I was composing this post! Great minds, man ...) Honorable mention: Othella: turned himself from a project into a career NBA player through nothing but hard work. C - Hakeem. Did things no big man has ever done. Brought us our first pro championship. Honorable mention: no need. Hakeem gets both slots. 6th man - Mario Elie Do I even need to say why? Heart, baby. Honorable mention: Kevin Willis (first tour). Just a solid big guy off the bench and great spot starter. Yeah, he was a black hole, but he was a beast also.
Center: Dream / Moses Malone Power Forward: Elvin Hayes / Ralph Sampson / Charles Barkley Small Forward: Rudy T. / Robert Reid Shooting Guard: Calvin Murphy / Cutino Mobley / Clyde Drexler Point Guard: John Lucas / Steve Francis
C - Hakeem Olajuwon PF - Charles Barkley SF - Sleepy Floyd SG - Calvin Murphy PG - Scotty Brooks We'd have a Mini Me backcourt
