Everyone, Hakeem is the reason i started watching basketball and will always be my favorite player. BUT..he cannot carry a basketball team anymore. He could still and I feel he will be one of the top 5 centers in the league. Last year he played the entire season and averaged 19 pts a game and made 3rd team all-nba. He has the rebounding and defensive presence that we lack. He has said he will embrace a new role to win, which he did earlier this year..taking jumpers and clearing out to let the guards drive in. Franchise will be the leader...Hakeem was never a vocal leader anyways...but Hakeem finding his niche will prove to be whether we are successful. This same team next year w/o Hakeem's presence is nothing better than a 7-8 playoff spot. But with Hakeem they can excel in every form. I think thats what Rockeem was trying to say. This team will not go anywhere far w/o hakeem..not that Hakeem is better than Steve..which is ludicrous at this poing in Dream's career. ------------------
I for one am hoping that Dream will be back next season and at least somewhat healthy. I don't think he or Francis will carry us to the championship next year, but -- with a healthy Dream -- we'd make the playoffs. Olajuwon is capable of getting us 15 and 10 now, if his body will allow him to play. Will it hurt the team overall, as Darkhorse suggests? I doubt it. With Dream missing this season and the transition to the new game-plan, I think it will be much easier to plug Dream in than it was to try to revamp with him in there. He won't be the center of the offense, I don't think, but probably still an important cog. And I think it will rehabilitate Dream's relationship with the team and the city if he has one last successful season. If he went out like this, I don't see how he could continue working for the organization. ------------------
Ideally, I had been hoping for several weeks that Hakeem would go ahead and decide to retire, and play one final game- the final game with Barkley. Could you imagine how special that would be? Farwell to two of the greatest ever? Man. But now it looks like he's staying out the rest of the games. And I just can't imagine that the Rocks would let the game in Cleveland be his last one. I just can't see him retiring over the summer. He's going to complete his contract next year. So what do we do? Hakeem is not so one-dimesional that he can't be fit into our present system. Seattle and New York certainly don't have any problem mixing up their post game wih their motion game and the fast break. It isn't like he has to run up and down with the guards. How often do all five players run down court on the break. Usually it's two, sometimes three. Hakeem still has the moves to juke a good number of centers in the NBA. All we need is practice to flex from the post-up play to clear out to a second option if it won't work. And I think most will agree that Hakeem's 10-15 foot jumper is just as Money as his jump hook. His jump shooting is awesome. He would be perfect for screen and rolls with Cuttino and Steve. Or that double screen that freed up Walt for like four jump shots above the free throw line vs the Jazz- there's no reason not to have Hakeem take that open shot- it's like money in the bank, I don't care what his age. Or even keeping him 15 feet out on the weakside when Mobley/Francis penetrate- yet another deadly jump shooting threat. A lot of Cato's most dominant games came in the preseason starting at PF to Hakeem at C. How's that for height? Imagine both of them waiting on the weakside when the guards penetrate. One of your big men has to go in to help- you leave Cato, and SLAM. You leave Hakeem, and wide open jumper. There is room for Hakeem to fit in. If he can still breathe okay, I say he's welcome to it. ------------------
Mango, If you are comparing Francis to Dream you are nuts. Hakeem is the kind of player you need to win you a championship, and Francis will never get there. Of course other teams respect his skills because he is the only decent player on the Rockets now (with the exception of Hakeem). Sure he is a good player, but the kind to lead us, I don't think so. It is just like Elton Brand and the Bulls. We ain't going nowhere for a long time, Unless of course Hakeem can get it done next year. ------------------
Listen, The Dream is quite possibly the best man to ever play the five. I don't know what percentage of Houston fans feel as I do, but this city was lumbering through the doldrums of sports before Hakeem lifted us all up and delivered our first glory since the AFL championship. No team has ever delivered on the promise of glory exept the rockets. Odd, the one team we may lose to another city due to the oddity of Republican vs. Democrat in our fair berg pitts the traditional opponets of business for the new arena and vice versa. The glory years of the rockets are gone, but we owe them something. They gave everything they had for us and we are now required to give something back. Hakeem is the only thing left. If he wants to play until he is fifty years old and sucking the life out of our young players, I say we have no choice but to allow it. He is and always will be the man. This must be acknowlaged. ------------------ Bring guns, drugs and lawyers, the s**t has hit the fan. -Aspen Gun Club Motto
