I maintain that the 2008/09 Rockets was the greatest team on paper in the league that year, and could have been special in the Playoffs. If Morey deserves credit for one thing, it's this roster right here http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/2009.html Had Brooks when he was playing at a very high level, and then a young Lowry off the bench. Rotation of McGrady/Artest/Battier/Wafer, awesome combination of offense and stellar defense. Scola/Landry/Hayes at forward, talk about rock solid Yao/Mutombo at center, were set. So yeah, talk about being deep at all 5 positions, great combination of defense/offense, enough star power (Yao/Mcgrady). Took champion Lakers to 7 games without what we counted on as our best player. This might be the homer in me, but if McGrady had simply shown up healthy, especially in the Playoffs (where you know he turns it on), I don't see how anyone could have stopped us.
Older posters have talked often about the 80's Twin Towers and the what-ifs there. Though that team DID actually go to the Finals and lose to arguably the greatest frontcourt in NBA history.
Everybody already knows this a million times over. We would have taken the Lakers if Yao and Deke stayed healthy and if T-Mac was there. We just had a terrible string of luck and it wasn't meant to be unfortunately. Now all those guys are gone and it's different team...time to move on
Actually, it's not a widespread opinion that we had a good team. It was a widespread opinion at the time. But for the past two years, 2008 was the year when Morey should've "rebuilt" the team by trading away T-Mac and Yao, and tried to get a tank instead. That the trade for Ron Artest to contend has since been viewed as r****ded by Morey due to his obvious lack of foresight. According to fans the past two years, Morey should've seen the demise coming and pre-emptively traded away at the time two star players for draft picks and tanked. So your statement there is blatantly false. Rockets fans today view that season as an abomination of everything wrong with the Rockets. That was the year when we could've rebuilt by trading away two all-stars. And in Les Alexander's greed the Rockets instead tried to win. While Morey backed up Les as his mouthpiece and just added mediocre role plaeyrs. The 2008 offseason represented everything wrong with the entire Rockets organization.
The most you can say is Morey did his job. That was a team with a 22 game win streak the year before. Morey added that "third scorer" everyone's been wanting for 5 years. You can look back and say Morey should have gotten DeAndre Jordan in that draft for the future. But you can't ignore all the other moves like Scola, Landry, Brooks, Lowry, Artest, Wafer.... After that there's too many hypotheticals. Too many injuries and coaches kicking players out of playoff games and egos and dramas like that.
You know, if you actually listened to the interview, the person asked what team APART FROM THE ROCKETS do you think is the favorite/most likely to win. But obviously you're just gonna ignore that
Crazy season. Great playoffs. We did it as a team and answered a lot of questions that season. I don't care about the "Ifs", but if you want "Ifs" the most obvious one is what if Yao Ming didn't hurt his foot in the Laker series.
You know what really happened right? http://www.clutchfans.net/news/1545/the_day_t-mac_lost_houston/ Great description of the TEAM at the end in this article.
The 2008 team that went on the 22 game win streak was absolutely lethal. Throughout the course of the first 12 games of that streak, before Yao went out, they were completely destroying teams. I specifically remember them thrashing a hot Hornets team that was one of the tops teams in the conference that year.
The Rockets did trade TMAC to New Jersey for Vince Carter, TMAC found out about it and instantly scheduled knee surgery, the Nets voided the trade. Add that to your what ifs.
IF the Rockets didn't get robbed in Portland earlier that year (Roy's 40-foot "game-winner")... -OR- IF the Rockets didn't **** the bed against Dallas the last game of the season... ...they would've clinched, what the 2 or 3 seed? Then circumstances would've been different (ie: Mutombo wouldn't have gone down versus Portland in the first round). IF Mutombo was available for the Lakers series... Yao may not have gone down... -AND- ...the collective interior D would've shut down Bynum/Gasol. -THEREFORE- That seven-game series very well could've been won by Houston (which may have come in the conference finals with a higher seed)...and Dwight Howard would've done nothing. Sucks doesn't it?
You mean Vince Carter called his cousin and said "help Mac, I don't want to go to houston." Mac said " I got this" and scheduled knee surgery.
I believe its a myth Mcgrady could of helped. When he was a superstar and in the playoff he became me mac. Meaning get out of the way let me go one one one, freezing his team mates out.
Could have beaten the Lakers with out Tracy. We needed the big guy and his backup. You can only play with your heart so much, but it takes talent to win.
Merely subtracting McGrady earlier in the year (with nothing in return) would have made for a better season. The Rockets ended up a 5th seed, but could have been 2nd with one more win. McGrady cost them several games that year simply by playing and bringing everyone down.
