dude, you need help.. *reaching the phone and calling 911*.. its gonna be ok.. they are hear to help you with your problem.. too much weed and alcohol can cause some serious dumbness...
The 1995 Rockets record was deceiving. They had a 47-35 record. But in reality, the TEAM was better than that record suggested. If Drexler had joined the team at the beginning of the season (with a full training camp), the team would most likely had won more than 55. And that's being conservative. Add the fact that they had play-off experience, chemistry and an incredible defense with Hakeem, Drexler and Horry. I'd have to say that no, our 2003 team has no chance. P.S. Maxwell was not on the team the 2nd half of the season.
'95 no question Dream would obviously dominate but look at the other matchups. Thorpe vs ?Eddie or Mo... Thorpe would break Eggie in half and Mo would have 0 rebounds. Ellie vs ? since we don't know who the 3 is I give this to Ellie. Clyde vs Mobley this would be the best battle but the edge has to go to Clyde. Francis vs Smith this one goes to Francis but the combo of Smith/Cassel is superior to Francis/Mooch and in a seven game series Francis can't play all the minutes.
Elie wasn't a great player, he was as good as, say, Adrian Griffin, but but with a better 3 point %. Elie + Horry < (Pike + A. Griff) + Rice & Boki. Clyde didn't start the '94-'95 season, and though he didn't say that in the beginning of the thread, I'm arguing the point this way. The Rockets can pull of a trade of bullsh!t for superstar by the end of this year too, who knows, Kobe for Cato might happen. (kidding) Maxwell isn't better than Mobley though. Francis for 42 minutes and Mooch for six is better than Smith for 24 and Cassell for 24. Who was Thorpe's backup that season, BTW? Otis wasn't very young and could never pull many minutes in '94-'95. Nonetheless, Thorpe and Drexler never played on the same team, so you can't use both of them in your evaluation. Besides, Thorpe sucked ass on offense, his hands were too big to shoot past 5 feet and he didn't get many touches down low with Hakeem on the opposite block.
After Thorpe left and we were platooning Chucky Brown, Mark Bryant et al, we were still solid. They held Charles Barkley scoreless for one of the playoff games. I think positional comparisons are a little weak because it doesn't take into account how much oen player's dominance can affect other match-ups. Olajuwon's dominance at the center position pretty much wins 4 match-ups all by itself.
That '95 team had the heart of a champion thing. The '03 Rocket team had the bladder of a champion. Advantage: '95
I'd say the fact that Elie could shoot puts him way over Adrian Griffin. A player like Elie, who can shoot the 3 and play defense is exactly what our current team needs. Too bad we don't and probably never will have that type of player again. Your next statement is even more ludicrous. a one dimensional shooter, a purely defensive player, a has-been who can't play any D and boki are better that 2 of the most clutch players in playoff history? Horry and Elie have probably combined for 20 game winning shots in the playoffs. Who wants 4 one dimensional players when you can have 2 very well rounded ones?
After our midseason trade of Francis and Cato for Kobe and Fisher we will revisit this and I will let the 03 team have Kobe and Francis.
i think if the two teams played today...it would be a matter of what type of game was being played if the rockets '03 could get into a fast tempo running game or if they had to adjust and play the '95 inside out half court game the only reason a debate can be made between the two teams, champions and the 4 time eliminated before the playoff team can exist is bc the two diff types of play todays game has more athletic and agile players then there was 8 years ago
But the problem is, the current team doesn't even run. None of our guards can successfully run a fast break. This current team has been playing the slow, half court style of game, and not very well.
Unfair. Hakeem is old and hurt, Clyde is a tennis player, Kenny has no jets, Pete is frozen, and Mario is super gray.
Whoa....everybody hold up a second! Let's see if this old man understands this correctly. Those who say today's Rockets could beat,or even seriously challenge,the '95 squad with either Drexler OR Thorpe(doesn't matter)...according to your reasoning and predictions...what you're saying,in effect,is that the '95 squad would be a lottery team today!!! They would have to be if they couldn't beat our current "4 years and counting" squad of underachievers who also have ZERO playoff experience to fall back on as they challenge a defending NBA championship team. Yet somehow we're to believe they could beat or challenge the '95 squad?! Come on people...think...please.
thanks for saying that...i thought i was the only one who noticed. by the way...if there's one thing we all should have learned by now...it's that better athletes don't necessarily make better basketball players.
I don't know why I'm back on this,but oh well. The Clyde and Drem matchup is much larger than any other matchup the current Rockets have. Francis and Mooch vs the Cassell/Smith combo is pretty even as eveidence by how that same combo basically cancelled Penny out who was a better player than Francis is now. Not only that, but that team would fast break with Clyde,Kenny,Max,and Horry or just give it to Hakeem or Cldy in the post. In a 7 game series, i can only see the current team winning 1 game maybe. Anyone who thinks they even come close to matching up, must be a rook.
If they played a best of 15 series, the 03' Rockets might, and I stress might, be able to win one game. Yao isn't ready to defend the Dream and if they're playing by 95' rules, Francis is not gliding to the hole without being put on his azz.
I actually preferred the following 95 line up (one that we used often).... Smith/Cassell Drexler/Ellie Horry/Bullard Chucky Brown/Chilcutt <---these guys played very well! Olajuwon/Jones Chucky Brown held his own! And Bullard would give us that crucial three.
