After listenting to 610 tonight and hearing the Sun Sentinnel beat writer as well as hearing from Rudy, it is apparent that Hakeem apologized for making comments that may have come across as derogatory towards Rudy. Rudy said he was "moved" by Olajuwon's gesture and that it was not out of context for him. The Sentinnel writer said that the comments stemmed from him saying that Pat Riley was very complimentary of Hakeem's skills and said he would make a great addition to the Heat. He said Dream's eyes "got really big" when he said that to him about Riley and that is when he talked about Riley and playing for the Heat. Most importantly about Hakeem's apology, he DID NOT apologize for saying he wanted to or would play in Miami this year. All he apologized for was his concern over the perceived shot at Rudy. ------------------ Me fail English? That's unpossible.
Jeff, Did you expect Dream to apologize for everything or was this about what you expected him to apologize for? Mango ------------------ Spring cleaning
So are we to assume from this that Hakeem's "goal" remains to play in Miami? ------------------ "Of course, everything looks bad if you remember it!" Homer Simpson
Well... I guess I'm slightly appeased... At least he's not lashing out against Rudy, after all Rudy did for Hakeem and his game. Still, that's only a very slight improvement. I'll be very interested to see what Hakeem's attitude will be like in the coming days. (and weeks?) Will this affect his perfomance on the court? I like what he has done recently. Now he just needs to shut up and play. He can't really expect us to jetison him for nothing. Horrible... ------------------ "There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and STATISTICS..." - Mark Twain -
610am said two newspapers carried the quotes. I guess two guys that work for competing papers confused the very same thing. If Rudy accepts the apology, fine. I'm still benching anyone that mentions wanting to play for another team this year after giving Les his word he would not.
I'm a little surprised he apologized for anything, to be honest. Hakeem is not some idiot that just got off the boat yesterday. This is a smart guy who has been dealing with the media for years as a professional. The very fact that he said he wasn't supposed to be discussing it but did anyway is the biggest red flag of all. The Rockets won't do it but I would be very tempted to fine the guy or suspend him for a game or something. That borders on insubordination. I just think this is getting way out of hand and Hakeem is facilitating it, not just doing it accidentally but encouraging the talk and rumors. That is a very bad thing and he knows it. He probably was surprised that his comments came out the way they did about Rudy, but he was pretty clear about the other things he said. ------------------ Me fail English? That's unpossible.
Going on the air to apologize for offending anyone with a quote whose essential meaning you don't retract (much less regret) is a PR move. It seems pretty clear that Hakeem did this because Houston sports fans as a whole were developing the same opinion of him that's overtaking this BBS. This is the problem with acting like a jerk, Dream: Eventually, people begin to suspect you're a jerk. In my case, a guy with a 40x60-inch collage of photos and clips from your 1994 championship is beginning to wish we'd traded you when you were worth something. You're embarrassing the magnificent player immortalized in those photos. If you're not a jerk, skip the apologies and stop acting like one. Losing your physical skills is part of life, and nothing to be ashamed of. But losing your honor and dignity -- that's on you.
Will rules the roost as usual. "I wanna be like Will." C'mon, everyone sing along... ------------------ Me fail English? That's unpossible.
come on,,,achebe,,,now say Will is whining. And by the way, Will humbles me with words...Barkley humbles me with words. Dream does not humble me! Hey Dream, "You humble me." Like a man who is only humbled by his God, would want to even hear a fan say that. <font size="1"> upon further review of my post, this is a fitting 4000th for me to pay tribute to Barkley and Will in the heat of a glorious cc.net moment. Now can we turn off the post counter Clutch </font> [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited January 31, 2001).]
Will, you're a whiner. just kidding, but I think you took Dream's comments out of context. If I compliment how your wife is dressed, that doesn't mean that I think that my wife is in shambles, eh? Dream apologized for complimenting another coach oh my gosh. How horrible! Dream wants to win. This team isn't winning... how can any of you fault him for that? Don't you want to see Dream do well? Don't you want to see Dream have one last shot? The Heat are exactly that... near the top of the East in a weak conference. Would you guys have accepted it more had Francis gone down w/ an injury... or worse yet,,, if Dream just said 'these pjs suck, i'm outta here'??? ------------------ I keep plugging away, but I just can't get a 3 way to work on realwife.com
I actually feel kinda sorry for the guy...I dont think Dream intentially means to hurt anyone (and "anyone" probably includes a bunch of know-it-alls basketball freaks like us). After doing so much, he just doesnt know how to exit. I mean he's like a ballet dancer who glides and flies and wows everyone, but never really practiced when and how to leave the stage when the curtain begins to drop - so he just kinda clumsily lumbers off to the side, farting the whole way. Everyone has faults. Is Dream wrong?? Sure he is...and it pisses me off...but let's remember, the man is human. ------------------ Moochie Norris Hair Club for Men - I'm not only the president, I'm also a client
man I need to learn how to spell "intentionally" ------------------ Moochie Norris Hair Club for Men - I'm not only the president, I'm also a client
achebe, you are totally missing the point, and refuse to respond to the point I, and most everyone else, is making. Hakeem said "the goal has been to play for Miami this year". "this is confidential." He has not attempted to retract that. He also went against an agreement with Les not to say anything. Quit protected his honor, because we are not attacking it. No player should ever publicly talk about wanting to play for another team in the same year...never! This is the second time he's gone public. Plus, several of us here know that it is indeed worse behind the scenes. Word on the street is, Hakeem is pissing off CD and the coaches by making heavy demands and wanting to be released (WITH CASH). This behavior hurts the team's bargaining position, effects the current players, and screws our growth this year, cause we have to play w/o a center willing to learn new tricks. The man is trying to force a release by going public--bottom-line. That cannot be refuted as he has said it. We cannot allow this to happen twice in two years. Les owns this team, and CD is working the trades...not Hakeem. You say (and TheFreak re-quotes) that "this is a man's life". Well, that is why I'm not personally attacking him. But, that $16.5m is Les's money. And Rudy's life is culminating right now in having fun rebuilding a team in a new system. And CD is trying to make some blockbuster trades. There are a lot of men's lives here. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited February 01, 2001).]
It's not like Dream is signed here for the next 3 or 4 years, if he wants to win he should wait until the end of the year. And if he wanted to be traded so badly why didn't he say so at the beginning of the year? Did he think this team would be better then they are? If that is the case, is he jumping ship and bailing during the bad times? Think about that. I can't fault him, but he can wait to the end of the year instead of bailing on the team when times got tough. And if Francis went down with and injury or worse I would expect Dream to stick around to the end of the year to help the team instead of run. I don't know this whole Dream thing has just rubbed me the wrong way. It sounds to me like he is trying hard to bail when things get rough. ------------------ Dream a deadly Dream. . . [This message has been edited by RocksMillenium (edited February 01, 2001).]
heypartner,,, no, I think you misunderstand that the major argument that the detractors (for lack of a better word) are making is that: Dream hurt wittle ole me. Wah Wah, call a waaaaaa-mbulance. The other argument is that Dream is screwing up deals, or in your words: The problem that I have w/ this last reasoning (and I don't have insider information, so you filling in the gaps in an argument doesn't shine through), is that Dream is not Scottie. Scottie had 4?, 5? years left on a $65 million dollar deal??? He screwed the Rockets, sure. There was perhaps one or two teams at the time that could even afford to deal for Scottie. He was certainly playing w/ fire. Dream is in the last four months of an expiring contract! He's not going to count against the cap for years on end and his contract doesn't cripple the franchise. Whatever teams that the Rockets are potentially dealing w/ in a Dream acquisition (gee, how exciting... Donnell Harvey? someone to adopt Penny from Phoenix? Indy crap players for Dream? That 3 way between Charlotte + Van where we get a PF and SAR? oh yeah,,, sure, I forgot that Van Gundy is going to try to beat Riley and trade Camby + Houston + filler for Dream, silly me. I also forgot about Shaq straight up.). None of those trades are threatened merely b/c CD can threaten the bench or IR to Dream rather than a waive. Dream doesn't have the Rockets cajones like Scottie did. That's a very weak analogy. ------------------ I keep plugging away, but I just can't get a 3 way to work on realwife.com
Why should we just release Hakeem at his will? That's the only thing I don't get. What happened to a commitment to the TEAM? What is so bad about being paid 16.5 million dollars to play basketball in a city that you've lived in for half of your life? What is so bad about staying with the Houston Rockets? WHY should we release Hakeem just because he's not getting the minutes he wants? Because you think he can put up more than 10 and 6? Look at Patrick Ewing! These guys are essentially the same age, aren't they? Look what good a new team did him. Just because Hakeem will have a new place to play doesn't mean he will contribute anymore than he is here. WHY should Hakeem have another shot at a championship? A meaningless one, at that. What if Steve Francis decided he didn't want to wait 10 years to win a championship, that he wanted one now, and demanded a trade to the Lakers (yeah, I know they aren't doing too well...)? Would you be okay with that? ------------------ Who's ya daddy?
Or what if the Rockets sent OH to Vancouver? Oh wait... Or what if Otis Thorpe had the rug pulled out from him after 7 years? Oh wait... ------------------ I keep plugging away, but I just can't get a 3 way to work on realwife.com
