Wow, how the hell does this thread only have TWO stars??? Shameful. Anyway, thanks Tinman. That game at MSG was so sweet. I recall how pumped I was going 15-0 and forcing the NY media to take notice of our tremendous start. Also remember having to stay up after the game (all morning) to finish up a term paper. Good times.
Perhaps the Rockets' biggest doubters were the New York Knicks, their opponents for the 15th game of the season. If the Rockets won that game in Madison Square Garden, they would tie the NBA record for wins at the start of the season, set in 1948 by the Red Auerbach-coached Washington Capitols. The Knicks themselves were 9-2 at the time, and they were eager to put an end to this Rocket nonsense. ''This is the wrong place to try to set a record,'' warned Knick forward Anthony Mason. ''It may be lopsided,'' said his teammate Charles Oakley. http://www.si.com/vault/1994/07/04/...-lifted-the-rockets-off-to-unexpected-heights
That Horry entry pass to Hakeem; miss the beauty of inside out basketball...you just don't see it executeded now a days with such precision
1. Horry was one of the best entry passers. 2. I forgot how good Ewing was. He was probably the third or fourth best center in his era. He could dominate in today's NBA. it just tells you the big gap between now and then in terms of the big man's game.
Atlanta was a very good team that season, so I'm not saying the Rockets WOULD have won their 16th straight to open the season on the second night of a tough back-to-back, but . . . The Rockets' plane got delayed leaving New York after their win vs. NYK that night. From everything I've heard, they didn't get into their hotel in Atlanta until AFTER 4:00 A.M. the day of the Hawks game! I don't know about you, but I'm not exactly at my best on a couple hours sleep. Going against one of the league's best teams (Atlanta) on such little rest wasn't even fair. Oh, well. Them's the breaks, I guess.
I care much less about that game after the Knicks' game than the last game v the Knicks, and that's a Stark reality!
I was at that game (living in Manhattan at the time). I was probably the only Rocket fan in the Garden that night. Watched the game from a suite (wife's company), and all i heard was how Ewing was going to destroy Olajuwon. Needless to say I had a blast :grin:
Amazing to hear MSG oohing and ahhing at some of Dream's moves. Spinning baseline off a double team and he's basically behind the backboard, swishes it.
2nd yr Akeem was making that shot in 1986 while beating Magic and Kareem four games straight...and they were oohing and ahhing back then, too. People always say it took 10yrs for Hakeem to develop. No it didn't. He had that baseline jumper first year. Better offensive player than Duncan year for year in their development. It took him 10 years to do a quantum leap that maybe no big man will achieve in our lifetime. . I remember a famous quote by Coach Riley in the '86 series when asked after their third loss in a row with Akeem scoring 35+ppg, "What are you going to do to stop him?" And remember, this was the defending world champions. Riley said, "We are going to have to do something different. We didn't know he was this good." One of these days tinman will find and post this Rockets vs Lakers in '86.
very easy to watch basketball. games were flowing, lots of player movement, intelligent passing. league has really gone to hell now, very boring to watch.
