[1560 Approved] Top 10 Rockets Contributors of all time...

More than 10 for me....

Hakeem Olajuwon - The main reason Houston has 2 and only championships in any sports. Tooo many individual accomplishments to list....

Rudy Tomjanovich - Coached the championship teams and built a team and system around Hakeem.

Ralph Sampson - The shot that killed the Lakers in 86 Western Conference Finals.

Moses Malone - Took team to finals in 81. Also helped develop Hakeem at Fonde.

Robert Reid - Second leading scorer on team that went to finals in 81.

Calvin Murphy & Bill Worell- Calvin was a Sharpshooter and still hold record for FT% in season I believe. Calvin and Worell formed a good team (broadcasting) until Calvin pissed Les off.

Robert Horry - Hit numerous big shots and redefined PF position for Rockets after Thorpe was traded.

Clyde Drexler - Criritcal in Rockets winning second championship. One man fast break in the Finals.

Sam Cassell - Big shots in Game 3 of 94 Finals. Big games in playoffs against Suns, Spurs, and Magic.

Vernon Maxwell - Single handedly led the surge in second half of 94 Western conference finals. Rockets were down 0-2 in series and down at halftime in game 3 in Phoenix. Maxwell caught fire and changed the momentum of the series.

Kenny Smith - Was always a thorn against the Jazz in playoffs. Stockton paid for helping on defense. Also, big game in game 1 of 95 finals.

Charles Barkley - Accomplished one of the objectives he was brought in for - to help eliminate the Sonics in playoff series.

Mario Elie - The kiss of death. The shot that completed the 1-3 series comback in 95.

If I had to take out 3 to make it top 10, I would probably take out Worell, Murphy, and Barkley.

Honorary mention - Eddie Johnson for the game winning shot against the Jazz in 97 playoffs.

 

I'll go with:

Hakeem Olajuwon
Moses Malone
Yao Ming
Calvin Murphy
Rudy Tomjanovich
Clyde Drexler
Elvin Hayes
Otis Thorpe
Robert Reid'
Tracy McGrady

 

1. Hakeem
2. Moses
3. Elvin
4. Calvin
5. Clyde
6. Yao
7. Reid
8. Maxwell
9. Scola (personal favorite)
10. I guess McLady

 

hmm no particular order:
hakeem
rudy t
moses malone
calvin murphy
clyde the glyde
carrol dawson
yao ming
ralph sampson
sam cassell
robert horry
mad max
steve francis

 

This is easily the best list there is. For those that have added Yao and Tmac are fooling themsevles...you might as well add SF3 on that list too because he has done for us what Yao and Tmac have done. (a first round playoff exit)

 

Forgot to add Elvin Hayes. Started the great center tradition for the Rockets. Led the league in scoring in his rookie year and led the league in rebounding in his second year.

Also, I wanted to put Otis Thorpe and Carl Harerra in there. While Otis Thorpe did not have any outstanding performances, his solid as a rock presence helped Rockets win first championship.

Carl Harerra was a Knicks killer and he killed them in the finals.

 

1 hakeem
2 steve francis
3 hakeem
4 steve francis
5 hakeem
6 steve francis
7 hakeem
8 steve francis
9 yao
10 super von wafer

 

I would go with.... (in no particular order)

Elvin hayes
Moses Malone
Ralph Sampson
Hakeem Olajuwon
Rudy Tomjanovich
Clyde Drexler
Robert Horry
Sam Cassel
Mario Elie
Vernon Maxwell

I really wanted to get Robert Reid in there but to me, Hayes, Malone, and Sampson made larger contributions while not winning championships. And I could not get others off the list because they made vital and specific contributions to Rockets winning two championships (I listed what their contributions were, but if you want me to be more specific as to which games and when, I can list them as well).

 

Well, sure Yao has given us first round exits all the time, but he is the one that potentially put Houston on the map, so to speak. Not that Houston wasn't on the map before, but Yao has brought so much attention to the NBA, and to Houston.

 

1. Dream
2. Calvin
3. Rudy
4. Clyde
5. Yao
6. Elvin
7. Steve "I built Toyota Center" Francis
8. Sam I am
9 Ralph
10. Moses

Tracy is in here somewhere I don't know who to bump.

 

When thinking about this, I started thinking about how successful the Rockets of late have been relative to the history of the franchise. The Rockets have only won at least 60% of its games (roughly 50-win season) 10 times, and they've gotten past the first round 12 times.

I'll award a point for winning 60% of the games and getting to the playoffs, 1 point for getting out of the first round, 2 more points for getting to the Finals, and an extra 3 point for winning it all. This is my way of accounting for the "success" of each era. I divide the history of the Rockets in the following way:

San Diego: 4 years, 0 points
Pre-Moses: 5 years, 1 point
With Moses: 6 years, 5 points
Pre-Olajuwon: 2 years, 0 points
Twin Towers: 3 years, 5 points
Pre-RudyT: 5 years, 1 point
Olajuwon-RudyT (contending years): 7 years, 17 points
pre-Yao (stevie francis years): 2 years, 0 points
pre-Tracy: 2 years, 0 points
Yao-Tracy: 4 years, 3 points

Most successful eras:
Olajuwon-RudyT (contending years): 2.4 success rate
Twin Towers: 1.67 success rate
With Moses: 0.83 success rate
Yao-Tracy: 0.75 success rate

Not strictly related to the thread topic, but just something I was thinking about.

 

If we were to go with these numbers and who I picked on my list, there is a strong correlation. The only exception being Elvin Hayes.

I don't agree with the small margin between "with Moses" and "Yao-Tracy" (0.08). The margin should be higher. Moses led the team to Finals. To me that's worth a lot more that regular season wins. If it were up to me, I would penalize for accumulating regular season wins but choking in first rounds.

 

Hakeem
Rudy
Calvin
Malone
Hayes
Cassell
Elie
Drexler
Barkley
Yao

Honorable mention: Chucky Brown, Mad Max, OT, Robert Reid

 

Yao-Tracy definitely leads the way in unfulfilled potential.

 

Hakeem
Clyde
Moses
Hayes
Murphy
Rudy T
Dawson
Worrell
Balke/Clutch
Yao

 

This is something I'd have to think about, but I think the players would all be the same in the end. You may rank them differently, but they'd all be up there. The 2 nobody's really mentioned that I think should be on the list are Gene Peterson and Jim Foley. Those guys saw just about every player you'll mention come and go. They were here for that sucky season most of the board probably never experienced ('82-'83) when Kobe Bryant's dad played for us, when Moses was here, when we drafted the Twin Towers, the championship years, etc. As a kid, I used to fall asleep at night listening to the Rockets listening to Gene do the PBP, and here I was in my 30's still listening to Gene do the PBP when I went back to Houston to visit friends and relatives.