Do you consider Yao Ming to be in the top five greatest Rockets?

Hakeem Olajuwon - Who needs no explanation.

Elvin Hayes - While he only played in Houston the first year the franchise was here after the move from San Diego, he was the top pick in the 1968 draft, Rookie of the Year, averaging 28.4 ppg, 17.1 rpg (stats for blocks weren't kept then!), and playing 45 minutes a game while doing it. It's remarkable that in his first season in the NBA, Elvin essentially produced the same stats that he cranked out at UH during his career, and is the last rookie to lead the NBA in scoring average. Folks here, myself included, love to praise Scola for his motor, and justifiably so, but Elvin's motor was one in an entirely different class, easily equal to Hakeem's. Hayes brought me to the Rockets as a fan before the team had the good sense to move to H-Town. A Hall of Famer.

Moses Malone - Took the Rockets to their first Finals appearance against what became our early roadblock to a championship, the Celtics, losing in 6 games. Possibly the greatest offensive rebounder to ever play the game, Moses was relentless on the boards. A great shot blocker, with the stats for blocks, like the stats for Elvin, not being kept by the league until he'd played 6 seasons (and Malone played 2 seasons in the ABA before that), we don't know how many he had. Like Hakeem, he was "only" about 6'10", but like Olajuwon, was a true center, something damn near extinct in today's NBA. A Hall of Famer.

Calvin Murphy - A member of the All Rookie team, Murphy, The Pocket Rocket, had a unique skill set, even more remarkable for his listed height of 5'9". A terrific defender, his steals numbers weren't kept his first 3 seasons, a problem for stat geeks for players who began their careers in the early '70's, although Calvin was known for his over all defense, not just picking pockets. Murphy was lightning fast (I would love to see him go up against AB in his prime. He would have killed him!), which he used to great effect on defense (hear that, AB?). And Murph could score when needed. Some might say when it wasn't needed! He could fill it up and had an amazing mid-range game. And Calvin was an excellent passer, having 2 seasons with over 7 assists per game, but he was more a SG than a PG, although he certainly could, and did, play both. What some don't know is that Murph was one tough cat. Fighting was "part of the game" back then, very common (if you got into a fight, you might get suspended for one game, but probably not, unless there was a lot of blood), and no one wanted to get into a dust-up with Murphy, who was truly a bad ass. A Hall of Famer.

Rudy Tomjanovich - A 5 time All Star, a hell of a shooter, a good rebounder, and Calvin's roommate, Rudy T is arguably the quintessential Rocket. Averaging over 20 points a game in 4 out of the 5 seasons before The Punch, shooting over 50%, a lot from the perimeter, and over 8 rebounds a game... while he wasn't known for his defense, the guy could do pretty much everything else on the court. Rick Adelman would kill for a player like Rudy T in his prime, who would be perfect for his offense. But what puts him in the top 5? The rest of his career with the Rockets. Beginning with breaking down film, RT worked his way up the coaching ladder, until the firing of Don Chaney gave him his break. The perfect coach for the players the Rockets had, the one man who could "reach" Hakeem and get him to trust his teammates enough to pass them the ball, who built an offense around the Dream that made full use of his incredible talent, Rudy T took the city of Houston to its first major championships. Not once, but back to back. He deserves to be a Top Five Rocket.


Are there several other deserving players? Clyde the Glide, for example? Sampson? Of course, but these are my top five Rockets players.

 

Dream
Malone
Hayes
Murphy
Rudy
Drexler
Barkley
OT
Sleepy
Sampson







Tracy Murray
Charles Jones
Earl Cureton
Chris Jent
David Wood
Dan Langhi
Steve Novack



Yao Ming

 

What no luv for Derick Chevious?? Come on old skool rox fans!

 

Yao Ming
Luis Scola
Shane Battier
Kevin Martin
Aaron Brooks

Yes, he is in my top five.

Btw, no mention of Max, Horry, Elie?

 

in terms of fame? yes.

Wouldn't be close to top 5 on any NBA team. well maybe some...

 

Deckard,

As an addendum to your post, did you know that Calvin was a Golden Gloves champion? There's good reason for people not wanting to scrap with the Pocket Rocket.

 

That's an interesting way of deciding things. Otis, Horry, and Cassell were all good contributors but those wins came from riding on Hakeem's back. To say that Ralph is better than Yao is a bit of a stretch because they both had very similar injury prone careers as Rockets with the difference being that Yao was the leader of the team when he was healthy. Ralph did have more success in the playoffs but once again he had the privilege of playing with the Dream. Putting Clyde as a great Rocket also seems a bit much to me because outside of the championship half year he was never all that healthy and continually declined after he got here. Dream, Calvin, Moses and Rudy T(for now) are ahead of Yao but anybody after that is debatable to say the least.

 

No, but his career isn't over, I hope.

 

Beautiful, just beautiful!! Ah, the memories!

 

that bs dude. That's because Horry's accomplishments post Rockets were heavily exploited in the media.

1995 Rockets playoff Robert Horry was the greatest Robert Horry of all time hands down.

 

LOL op stole your name..

 

Drexler was a better Blazer than he was Rocket and that's not disrespecting his championship year.

He was spoken on the same level as Jordan in his Blazer days.

 

The people throwing Sampson as 'injury prone' didn't see him play when he was healthy.

For the billionth time, he was INJURED IN BOSTON, and his INJURY was NOT TREATED CORRECTLY, that lead to MORE INJURIES that ruined his career.

For you slow people if Yao played in the 80s, they would have forced him to play with his broken foot and his career would be over. period.

 

if the topic was clutchness/heart/toughness these dudes would rank high.

 

Even though he was a better Blazer than a Rocket, doesn't mean that he wasn't a better Rocket than most others who have donned the uniform.

 

I think Maxwell was a better Rocket, but that's just my opinion.

 

Well...he did have the heart of a champion. :grin:

 

Ralph and Yao are comparible right now...due to their injuries etc.

DD

 

Yao is great
but hope it's not too late
for him to show
that his fate
will be
part of another
clutch city
for real this time
coming back from his injuries
a big hill to climb
so we can start a new story
like clutch shots from robert horry
the master mind of rick the ruler
and daryl morey
it's gonna be a thriller
pass the ball to brad miller
something, wanna be startin
with a scorer like kevin martin
aaron brooks and lowry throwing dime
then we can sing remember the time
with scola and patterson
we're tough
don't stop til you get enough
it's on me?
no we let that willy free

 

No.

He's top 10 at best. You could probably argue he's in the top 5 of centers we've had, though.