No way We got swept in 1996 by Seattle. They always had our number and George Karl knew how to defend Hakeem.
Unfortunately he was just the round mound, no longer the round mound of rebound. Love Barkley, but wish he wouldve been next to Hakeem in his prime.
Naturally you'll find plenty of both responses. I had mixed feelings-- mostly negative. Hey it was fun in some aspects to have Charles on the team-- very quotable, intense competitor. But he was also a black hole on the offensive end; got tired of watching him back down his opponent to launch some fadeaway. It also cost us our future, so it was risky... and didn't pay off. We lost Horry and Cassell!
For all the heart break, I still love every single season he is here. At times he is the best player for Rox. Yes, even better than the dream.
That was my opinion also. However, would Willis have signed with us if we didn't have Barkley? That's the question.
Trading Horry was definitely inevitable. My family used to travel alot to games on the road. I remember going to Vancouver when the Rockets played the Grizzlies. We sat right behind the Rockets bench and even baked Calvin and Bill some cookies (shaped like jerseys with each players # on them). All Horry did was complain and absolutely refused to go back in the game when Rudy called on him. Sarcastically yelled out "Naw, I have a headache" I'm sure there was a lot more going on behind the scenes/in the locker room. After those two championships, I experienced them being very arrogant...even remember the first couple games, Horrys play in particular was horrible. He was attempting a lot of sloppy behind the back passes n such. Good trade. Pippen was the disappointment.
it is definitely a good trade. everything worked for rox until charles blew his knee. rox had been doing good after his arrival. his knee injury in the playoff really blew the hope we had in that year. we were a sure title contender in that year. his injury and eventual retirement got us on the bad side of the deal.
Sure it was better than 2011. But the expectation was to relive 1994 and 1995. In that respect the experiment failed. I didn't care about the hype he brought or the more televised games that came with it. I wanted the Rockets to win again and didn't think he was a good fit. Like I stated earlier Willis may have been enough in itself to bypass a Sonic team, that was a year away from imploding btw, without giving up the intangibles in Horry and Cassell that helped make the championship teams great. I didn't like Charles before the trade because he always seemed to be talkin "stuff" about the Rockets like we were some type of push overs. That's why it felt especially good to boot their asses on our way to titles. Peoples expectations have been lowered over the years by mediocrity but in 1997 I had a championship-or-bust mentality about that team. Still do. That's why a 20+ game winning streak was fun and all while it was happening but who really cares. I don't even remember the exact number. After being to the mountaintop nothing else is comparable.
I loved Barkley ever since Encarta (96?) had a video of him dunking and celebrating. Was so glad we got him, but wasnt meant to be.
I was in my early 20s. I remember that it was controversial even then. Some people thought it was great and others thought we were giving up too much of what got us our championships. I was against it then but cautiously optimistic that it'd work out. I think he was a bit of a bad fit because he took the same low-block that Dream did. I think signing Willis might have been enough to get past Seattle. But, who knows?
I just think we have a different point of view on this, Barkley was brought in to win a champsionship but also to get past Seattle and he did accomplish the latter. I don't think Willis by himself would have done that. Winning 57 games and being within an eyelash of making the finals along with competitive teams for the next few years was enough for me. Horry and Cassell were FANTASTIC but neither close to a franchise player and while Cassell became an all-star a few years later, Horry was just a real great role player. Chucky Brown was a nice 10th man, nothing more...well also a good luck charm. Also note, Seattle had taken us out 4-0 the year before in the semis.
I was sad to lose Cassell and (especially) Chucky Brown. I was happy to lose Horry, whom I regarded to be a chronic underachiever. I was ecstatic to get Barkley. I still remember where I was when the news came over the TV - that was still the place where most news broke back then. I was at McElroy's Pub off Shepard and I couldn't believe what a huge bombshell it was. Barkley came to be one of my favorite all-time Rockets and his wit and humor made it a real joy to read the sports section of the paper each day. He also had zero quit in him and that made each game in which he played a pleasure to watch. I was sorry when the league changed the rules to combat his unbeatable backing it in, backing it in strategy, as it was nearly undefensible. I was at that last game, through a group ticket buy by heypartner, and I got a little teary during the speeches after. I'll always treasure Chuck's time here.
Yeah I know. We had no answer for Seattle's zone. Never did. Luckily we never faced them during our championship run. Chuck did help us overcome that hurdle. No denying that. In the same breath it could be argued that losing Bob and Sam was the catalyst in us no longer being able to beat Utah, a team we had owned until they were traded away. And I don't care if we lost in game 6 of the WC Finals on a near buzzer beater as we beat many teams on our way to rings in the same manner. A win is a win. A loss is a loss. But you're right, we definitely have a different point of view on this. Nothing wrong with agreeing to disagree.
It was a good trade that gave us a big three with one more shot to win it all -- we were oh so close to an epic finals against the Bulls. Also, as has been mentioned several times we weren't getting by Seattle without Barkley.
